Slightly OT: Strange Paradise

[drwhotrades]

Hello All:

Longtime lurker, but very infrequent poster on these boards. I thought that fellow Dark Shadows fans might like to know that www.strangeparadise.net, the website for the Canadian soap opera "Strange Paradise", often called the "Dark Shadows of the North", has been updated.

For those who might not know, there are plans in the works for a book about "Strange Paradise" and the website is a companion piece to it. Although the website is not yet complete, it currently features a brief summary of the show, the beginnings of a feature article section, detailed synposes of the first 65 episodes of "Strange Paradise" and some hopefully interesting archive materials. The site will continue to grow and will soon feature more rich content, including in-depth production articles, behind the scenes materials, rare photos and  exclusive interviews with almost all of the surviving cast and crew, including some comments from DS writers Ron Sproat and Joe Caldwell, both of whom were brought in to write for "Strange Paradise."

Please feel free to take a look at this work in progress. Hopefully you'll find something interesting.

Regards,

Bryan Gruszka
www.strangeparadise.net

[Gothick]

Bryan, the updates are fabulous!  I'm more excited than ever about the book.

Excellent work!

Best,

Steve

[drwhotrades]

Steve,

Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it! The website and book are a labor of love and it's been a long process, but the good news is that I think I've got enough good information to last for quite a long time...!

[JWGucciEnvy]

I have never seen Strange Paradise, but always wanted too. Do Dark Shadows fans like usually like Strange Paradise?

[Gerard]

Check on youtube; I saw a complete episode or two of SP on it some time back - don't know if they're still there.  If they are, it's great fun to watch and gives you an idea about the show.

Gerard

[The Doctor and K9]

I enjoyed the first 65 episodes a great deal. My interest  waned at about episode 120 or so, but I'm not sure if that was because I was stressed out and had less time for TV or whatever.  I'm going to go back and finish the series, when I have less on my mind.  The story moves slower than DS, but it's definately worth checking out.  The nice thing about it also, is that the first 65 eps are more or less self contained.  A person can watch those and then make a decision to walk away or continue watching.  You don't get left hanging with many major plot points unresolved

[Gothick]

I thought the series jumped the shark after the completion of Tudi Wiggins' second story arc.  The last 13 weeks of that show are something of a puzzlement--they brought in a new writer and had some really egregious disruptions of the story continuity.  It's still fun to watch, mainly because of such stalwarts as Colin Fox, Cosette Lee, Jack Creley, and the delightful Pat Moffatt--but some of the additions to the cast (I'm thinking particularly of Trudy Young and Jack Goodier) are at the level of bad community theatre.

G.

[drwhotrades]

I thought the series jumped the shark after the completion of Tudi Wiggins' second story arc. 

Very interesting - I have to say that, in my opinion, the second 13 weeks of the show kind of ran out of steam about 2/3 of the way through. I was very interested in the first part of the 2nd storyline, but then there seemed to be a lot of "What do we do next?" type of plot decisions (I don't want to get specific and spoil anything for anyone). Ironically, I find the last 13 weeks to be some of the most interesting, and I actually tend to disagree somewhat with the notion of the radical change in continuity. There was a shift, to be sure, but to me there are at least somewhat valid reasons for it.

On an interesting note, I actually asked Harding Lemay (the writer for the final 13 weeks) why he did what he did plotwise, and he did say it was very deliberate, as opposed to being a case of a writer unfamiliar with the previous episodes simply writing based on lack of previous continuity. Again, I don't want to spoil anything by revealing the plot twists. Sorry to be so vague, but I wouldn't want to ruin anyone's potential viewing!

One tidbit of information about the second 65 episodes - one big plotline that was dropped was the character of Cort as an evil warlock type who dabbled in necromancy in order to manipulate events to his liking. Although this is vaguely hinted at on screen, originally it formed the basis for a lot of the plotting of episodes 66-130.

[Gothick]

Well, I am going to be revisiting the final 13 weeks of Strange Paradise at some point, since I finally got hold of decent copies of the episodes--several of the tapes I had gotten hold of previously for those weeks were really horrendous quality--so, I may revise my opinion somewhat.  I just find the major plot twist of those weeks very difficult to swallow, because both the major premise and a lot of the related supporting stuff flatly contradicts what we were shown in the previous two storylines.

I'm pleased that you have been able to get hold of info regarding plotting, story outlines, etc. because I have been wondering ever since I got to see the series as an adult why it seemed to change stream so abruptly on a couple of occasions. 

G.

[MagnusTrask]

I definitely watched the first episode when first aired in the US.   I was pulling for it to be good, but for whatever reason I couldn't stay with it back then.

[Brian]

I have a box of fan-copied VHS tapes, stored away in the spare-room closet, with the first 65 episodes.  The quality is not horrible, maybe 2nd  or 3rd generation--but after watching about 20 episodes, I gave up on this show.  Maybe someday I'll go back to watching again, but I found the show a pale (can I say again, PALE!) imitation of DS, and I just could not get into it.  That's my "humble" opinion, for what it's worth.

Brian

[MagnusTrask]

I got that impression too, on first airing.  That's not to say I wouldn't appreciate it more now.   Anyway, I do find that a fuzzy or washed out picture can ruin things for me, even if I can tell perfectly well what's going on.   Visuals matter to me.

[drwhotrades]

but after watching about 20 episodes, I gave up on this show.  Maybe someday I'll go back to watching again, but I found the show a pale (can I say again, PALE!) imitation of DS, and I just could not get into it.  That's my "humble" opinion, for what it's worth.

I'd have to agree that the first portion of the show moves slowly, but really it would be more akin to the first months of Dark Shadows, albeit with the supernatural items already present. The show picks up about episode 35 or so, and chugs along (with some slow bits) until the  end of the first story arc, which is episode 65.

A lot of the issues with the program came during the first 13 week cycle, where production problems, lower than expected ratings and some lack of direction wound up taking their toll. Simply put, the production was unlike anything that had been attempted in Canada at that time, and both the cast and crew were somewhat unaccustomed to the rigors of a daily serialzed drama. However, things straightened out eventually, and the show found its feet. Unfortunately it was a case of "too little, too late" in terms of keeping the show on the air.

Still, though, there is a lot in the show that can be recommended IMO.