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Author Topic: Does it get any worse?  (Read 1368 times)

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Offline Raineypark

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Does it get any worse?
« on: May 16, 2002, 11:44:15 PM »
Mother of Pearl....somebody PLEASE promise me that the "Failed Experiment and Demise of Eric Lang" IS, in fact, the very worst acted episode of Dark Shadows!!

I've never seen much of the later stuff.....tell me it's not possible for anything coming up in the next couple of years, to be as bad as what I witnessed today....please?

No Frankenstein flick in the history of movie-making ever had a worse portrayal of "Creating Life" than this, with the flinging, and the flailing, and the gasping and the clutching......Lang tossing himself about like a man in a lifeboat on a rough sea, and Julia shrieking in horror like a first-year nursing student at her first sight of a bed-pan!!!  :o

I'm SOOOO glad they didn't let Willie play any part in this....I can just imagine what antics Mr. Karlen would have added to the wretched piece.

Rainey
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Offline Gothick

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2002, 01:22:36 AM »
I'm afraid I can't promise you anything, RP.  Ever see Willie's Dream Curse episode? Or his "we're gonna get Cousin Barnabas" routine as Carl in 1897?

And then, there's all the wonderful Jeff/Peter freakout scenes coming up in the next weeks.

Dark Shadows is like the little girl with the little curl.  Nuff said.

Gothick
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Offline Luciaphile

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2002, 01:45:10 AM »
Quote

Dark Shadows is like the little girl with the little curl.  Nuff said.


Excellent way of distilling the critical quality of DS, lol.

And let's not forget what's-his-name, the kid with the lisp and the soupbowl haircut . . .

Luciaphil
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Offline kuanyin

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2002, 05:10:48 AM »
Interesting. Grayson Hall screams and plays it extreme and we clap and cheer. Addison Powell does it and we groan, and feel ill. Maybe it is because Julia knows when to play it straight. Maybe being a woman makes it more fun. I find Lang VERY hard to watch. I can't help but think that he would have been a misery to work with. Maybe that is just because I don't know a thing about acting on a soap, but it sure looks like a painful experience! It hurts me just to watch it....don't know whether to [uzi] or [puke].
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Offline ProfStokes

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Heads Up! Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2002, 07:43:05 AM »
Quote
Mother of Pearl....somebody PLEASE promise me that the "Failed Experiment and Demise of Eric Lang" IS, in fact, the very worst acted episode of Dark Shadows!!

I've never seen much of the later stuff.....tell me it's not possible for anything coming up in the next couple of years, to be as bad as what I witnessed today....please?


Well, Rainey my friend, I've got good news and bad news.  Next to these episodes, I thought that some of the scenes in the 1970 storyline (David and Hallie, Quentin and the lilacs) were pretty horrendous.  Donna McKechnie's Amanda Harris made me want to scream too.  However, those episodes won't run for at least a couple more years.

ProfStokes
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Offline jennifer

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Re: Heads Up! Does it get any worse?
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2002, 03:03:22 PM »
Quote


Well, Rainey my friend, I've got good news and bad news.  Next to these episodes, I thought that some of the scenes in the 1970 storyline (David and Hallie, Quentin and the lilacs) were pretty horrendous.  Donna McKechnie's Amanda Harris made me want to scream too.  However, those episodes won't run for at least a couple more years.



ProfStokes


Yes it does!
Ha ha I'm with you Prof S
Hallie/Carrie and Amanda are far worse makes me want to scream and shriek like Julia when I HEAR them!

jennifer



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Offline Gothick

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2002, 05:13:16 PM »
Grayson Hall is a LEGEND.  Everything she does, from the septic sniff as she loads the hypo, to the frantic clutch of one psychic hand at her throat, to the worrying tug on her gloves, to the twitch-purse of her lips as she prepares one of her wry comments, to the flick of her cigarette ash over the carpets of CALLANwood, to the arch of her eyebrow as she Magda-booms "I don' know NAHthinnn," to the toss of her head as she b*tchslaps Cassandra to the back of beyond ... ALL of it is infused with a legendary quality.  

Addison Powell is a pathetic refugee from Off-Broadway little theatre hades.  The only thing funnier than seeing him try to keep up with Grayson (were those arm movements because he thought they were doing a Supremes routine for Ed Sullivan?) is the scenes were Donna McKechnie is supposed to be a Broadway veteran and Julia mentions having seen some of her plays.  Julia's smile is SOOO tactful.

Just my not-so-humble opinion,

Gothick (a charter member of Hall-o-holics Anonymous)
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Offline Mark Rainey

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2002, 06:04:51 PM »
Quote
Well, Rainey my friend, I've got good news and bad news.  Next to these episodes, I thought that some of the scenes in the 1970 storyline (David and Hallie, Quentin and the lilacs) were pretty horrendous.  Donna McKechnie's Amanda Harris made me want to scream too.  However, those episodes won't run for at least a couple more years.

Heh; I never particularly minded Amanda Harris, and Dr. Lang is a hoot, painful though he may be. However, Hallie Stokes nearly turned me into a slobbering, raving axe murderer. STOP THAT GOD-AWFUL WHINING!  ;)

[shadow=maroon,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
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Offline Julia99

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2002, 06:31:18 PM »
Quote

Addison Powell is a pathetic refugee from Off-Broadway little theatre hades.  

Gothick (a charter member of Hall-o-holics Anonymous)


As another member of Hall-o-holics Anonymous, I couldn't agree with S more.. I found Addison excrutiating. .was that the longest, most boring monologue ever!!!!!!! And I had to laugh when Grayson tried to say "its only a dream" and Addison tromped over her line.. .its one of the few times you see Grayson struggling to not break character. . it was terribly quick since her back was to the camera but you saw a smile as she said, "Its only a dream".. Bye Bye Eric. . .bad doctor, bad. . .uh... acteur!  

J99
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Offline Gothick

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2002, 08:19:42 PM »
Julia darling,

It's been a couple of years since my last viewing of this episode, but my memory of those lines was that Lang was wide-eyed-ly telling Julia:  "I saw you ... I saw you, but you didn't SPEAK!" and then Grayson says:  "That's how you KNOW it must have been a dream!"  It's a cute line because the way she said it made it seem like something she could have said in real life.  Remembering how on the restaurant tape she commented:  "Everyone knows my voice CARRIES!"

xo  Steve
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Offline Dr. Eric Lang

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Re: Does it get any worse?
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2002, 10:35:12 PM »
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Interesting. Grayson Hall screams and plays it extreme and we clap and cheer. Addison Powell does it and we groan, and feel ill.


I find the two actors comparable, frankly. Addison Powell is certainly hammy and over-the-top, but Grayson Hall is often the same way. With Powell I thought it worked OK in his "mad scientist" roll - however, his dying scene was laughably bad.

I often find myself laughing at Grayson Hall's exaggerated facial expressions, as well as her "crying" scenes. I don't think her hamminess works for "Julia," although her talents are marvelously suited for over-the-top characters like Magda and the evil Miss Hoffman of PT.
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