WB 2004 Pilot Redux

[Zahir]

Picking up from this topic:

The 2004 WB Pilot

I finally saw the 2004 pilot last night in Burbank.  Jim Pierson introduced it, and generally had lots of criticisms to make--about how Marley Shelton was "allowed" to be blonde, about what he saw as "odd choices" by Jessica Chastain as Carolyn, and in general whining about how it wasn't "Dan's vision."

Honestly, I didn't care.  After all the bellyaching I'd heard from those who'd seen it--it was awful, the characters didn't make any sense, the actors couldn't act, etc.--what I saw was an excellent re-imagination of the basic story.  A few plot holes along the way were closed as well.  The look was extraordinary (although methinks it would have been tricky to sustain for a weekly series), the hints of where there going with the whole idea were fresh and interesting.

Yeah, some stuff was different.  Julia was an attractive younger woman rather than a severe older one--but with a speculative reaction to the attacks suddenly happening in Collinsport.  David seemed genuinely disturbed, the most-impacted person in what is clearly a dysfunctional family.  Roger, rather than a sarcastic dilletante, came across as a stubborn and extremely withdrawn man with his own dark secrets.  Perhaps most startling was to see Willie Loomis as someone well-groomed and articulate, if not the sharpest or most ambitious pencil in the box.

For the record, I thought Jessica Chastain gave the single best performance.

A minor complaint--I just didn't like the full portrait of Barnabas.  Methinks it eliminated the power of a "close up" portrait and made less explicable everyone's reaction to their english cousin.  Another complaint (which is also a problem IMHO with the 1991 version) is making Victoria Winters the reincarnation of Josette.  Apart from the fact it is now a cliche, this does not follow the original storyline at all.  That in and of itself I don't mind, but this is weaker than the original.  If Josette has not been reincarnated (as it was in the original series--because we saw her reincarnated in 1897 and know what that would be like) then Barnabas is just trying to turn a look-alike into a brainwashed copy of his love.  Not only is this more disturbing, it creates a most specific conflict in that he has the potential of another, real love in the present--Victoria Winters, not as a reincarnation but as she herself right now.

Anyway, I wrote a fuller review and am posting it on my blog tomorrow morning.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

and in general whining about how it wasn't "Dan's vision."

Thanks heavens it wasn't. And as I said in the topic from the '05 showing (the topic that's linked at the top of Zahir's post), the fact that it wasn't was one of the best things about it. (One can only wonder if Pierson is fighting for "Dan's vision" with the Depp/DS film? If so, then no wonder a final script hasn't been decided upon because one can probably presume that most of the other parties involved are looking for a fresh take and not a complete and umpteenth rehash of everything that has gone before. But that's a discussion for the Depp/DS film topic...)

I think it is truly unfair to air criticisms during an introduction to the pilot, thereby planting seeds in people's minds rather than letting people make up their minds for themselves. And I know I'm not alone in that as several members have mentioned their problems with the various ways the pilot has been introduced at the Fests...

what I saw was an excellent re-imagination of the basic story.  A few plot holes along the way were closed as well.  The look was extraordinary (although methinks it would have been tricky to sustain for a weekly series), the hints of where there going with the whole idea were fresh and interesting.

I couldn't agree more.

Roger, rather than a sarcastic dilletante, came across as a stubborn and extremely withdrawn man with his own dark secrets.

I'm really disappointed that we never got to see how Roger would have been developed because, according to Mark Verheiden (Exec Producer/Writer), Roger was intended to be the real villain and I think Martin Donovan would have been great at it...

Anyway, I wrote a fuller review and am posting it on my blog tomorrow morning.

I look forward to reading it.  

[Taeylor Collins]

I hope it's played next year so I can be depressed! LOL

[petofi]

Sounds li9ke Mr. Pierson wanted everyone to drink the Koolaid BEFORE they got a chance to check out  the list of ingredients.  : )

Petofi

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That's a perfect way to put it, petofi.

[Zahir]

Here is my review:  http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2010/07/dark-shadows-2004.html

[Taeylor Collins]

Great review Zahir!  I know I will depressed when I watch the pilot; however I want to see. As I said on your blog I tend to have like minded DS friends who like I are open to new DS interpretations!   I don't tend to agree with this 'the original' is the end all to end all mentality! Thanks for the great review!

[Phil]

Here's the opening shot from the WB pilot, contained on someone's VFX reel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6DhOQjcIA0#t=04m40s

[Cousin_Barnabas]

That's great!  Thanks for sharing.  Those first few seconds definitely seem to capture the feel of the show.  However, there's a little too much computer-generated imagery for my tastes and the short, blonde haired Victoria would have taken QUITE A BIT of getting used to. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That is wild! And an amazing bit of luck. Considering there's no mention of DS on the page, how did you ever come across it?!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I took some captures from the video (Click on each to see the larger version):

the short, blonde haired Victoria would have taken QUITE A BIT of getting used to.

Actually, making Vicki blond was really returning to a convention that all the other soaps played by back when DS was originally on. The virtuous heroines were played by blonds, while the villainous bitches were played by dark haired actresses. DC stood that convention on its head when he had his heroine be dark haired and the bitches (early Carolyn, Laura, and particularly Angelique) be blonds.

I honestly had no trouble accepting a short haired and blond Vicki in the pilot - or a dark haired Angelique. And had the pilot gone to series, I suspect that after a while their hair color wouldn't have mattered in the slightest.

[jimbo]

Thanks Zahir for that excellent review of the pilot; thanks Phil for finding that footage; thanks MB for those amazing screenshots

[Taeylor Collins]

I have actually heard you can download the pilot on some of these media share sites. I am thinking about looking it up!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

MB, thanks for those captures!

I believe I read that blonde/brunette tidbit before.  It's really interesting!  I suppose that had I had a chance to see the pilot, I probably would have grown more accustomed to the new 'do for Vicki.  Without sound or much context, it's sort of jarring, though. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I have actually heard you can download the pilot on some of these media share sites. I am thinking about looking it up!

Be very careful about doing that! If indeed it is available from one of those sites, you may not be lucky enough to find it the first time you try. What you will more likely find are sites that are up to no good. Some will tell you that you need to install their software in order to download files with them - but what you'll actually end up doing in downloading viruses or spyware. And even if they don't ask you to download their software, that still doesn't mean you're safe because sometimes the file you'll download is itself the virus or spyware or contains the virus or spyware. In particular, be very careful of downloading anything with a .rar extension. Yes, many are legitimate - but so many more aren't. And after decoding/reassembling anything that comes as a RAR file, under no circumstances click on/open any .exe files no matter what any accompanying TXT file(s) might tell you to do! And it's not just viruses and spyware that these people want to install on your computer - I've read that there's something going around that once installed on your computer will prevent you from using a search engine again because every time you click on a link in a search engine, instead of going where you want to, you'll end up at some site that seems to be trying to sell you something (which is bad enough) but is actually attempting to gather any personal information you might provide to it (like e-mail address, street address, phone number, etc.)... These people are very sneaky, so I reiterate: be very careful!