Oh No.....not Betsy Durkin!!!!!!

[Anubis]

Gee, I felt deprived of hearing Alexandra Moltke's voice saying one more time I DON'T UNDERSTAND when Barnabas was telling Vicki about Vampires. Anyone else?

I thought the same thing.  I kept saying it to my husband during Barnabas' speech.

[Cassandra]

At least they could of found someone who resembles A.M. somewhat.  I gather that they found this one in a hurry.
The second Vicky replacement isn't all that bad though, at least the hairstyles the same! :-)

[Josette]

I just found it funny that after all this time, when Vicki finally regains her original daring and intelligence and actually goes to and stands up to Nicholas, that has to be the first time without the "real" Vicki!!

[ROBINV]

I know AM was pregnant and they released her from her contract, but surely they knew her departure date and could have auditioned a few more appropriate actresses for her replacement.

For me, the problem with Betsy Durkin is her voice.  It's so shrill!  Vicki had a refined, cultured-sounding voice, soft and nice.  This choice might have been made in haste, but there was really no reason for it.  

Joanna Going, who potrayed Vicki in the 1991 series remake would have been wonderful, but probably not born yet.  And I think Kate Jackson, who joined the show later, would have been a decent replacement for Moltke, but she was still in acting school then.

It's a pity.  Vicki's was a pivotal role and they used Durkin, a huge mistake to big fans of the original actress.

Love, Robin  

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Hey gang,

From these rather pointed and candid statements about AM's replacement, I guess it's safe to say that, along with the great Addison Powell, Ms. Betsy Durkin will most definitely NOT be attending any Dark Shadows festivals in the near future!

Bob the Bartender, who's grateful that Dan Curtis never replaced Bob O'Connell, at least, during any of the so-called "real time" DS episodes.

[jennifer]

Um, you did.  Really.  

Do your kids watch The Fairly Odd Parents on Nick?  The little boy calls his babysitter "Icky Vicky", and one episode has a whole song number with that title...

Hey Vicky, you're so so icky,
just the thought of being around you makes me oh so sicky.
Hey Vicky, won't you please explain
why you get so much enjoyment out of causing kids pain...

Hmmm.  

(lyrics provided by my daughter)

really Midnite but i knew i got it from somewhere
(my original thought days are slim these days)heehee
my daughter watches that show and i remember she told me it after i told her i almost named her Victoria
it suits this Vicki though and i agree it is the voice!

jennifer

[Bobubas]

it really seems like a HUGE mistake to replace the character of Victoria.  I think the show would've been a whole lot better off with just the void left by a character's departure than with Betts.

I couldn't agree more. They should have just written the character of Vickie out of the story. Like Robin alludes to in her post, the writers and directors had to have a good idea when Alexandra would be leaving the show, and had ample time to rewrite or revise the story line.

Lets face it, we as a society are pretty much creatures of habit. As such, whether we're conscious of it or not, we tend to fight change. Replacing an actor/actress who the audience has become very familiar with in a particular role over an extended period of time is just not gonna fly

Personally, I don't think Betsy Durkin was that bad of an actress. She just had the misfortune of stepping in to a role that someone else had already established and nurtured over an extended period of time. As audience members we became accustomed to how Alexandra played the role of Vickie, and more often then not we knew how she would react (in character) to certain circumstances.

I'll go even further out on the line and say; that regardless of whom the show had chose at the time to replace Alexandra as Vickie, we as audience members would have never been completely satisfied with their performance.

                                        Bob

[scout75]

They should have just written the character of Vickie out of the story...the writers...had to have a good idea when Alexandra would be leaving the show, and had ample time to rewrite or revise the storyline.

It does seem like bad planning.

But Dark Shadows always seemed to have a bad habit of cutting the emotional resonance down to nil when a character exited.

It's like when Burke Devlin died offscreen or having another actor play Dave Woodard in that character's emotionally charged final days.

[Minja]

[color=FF00FF]Have *I* mentioned lately how much I HATE Betsy Durkin?

Besides just being a horrible actress.....Soemthing else occured to me as I was tolerating her so called performance yesterday.  Unlike Alexandra, she has no class or style about her.  Even when AM's Vicki was acting clueless, saying "I don't understand", she had a very classy style, presence if you will.  Durkin is just like a little rabid critter, snarling and spitting..."You're not marrying Maggie, Nicholas...blah, blah, blah..." If I were Nick I'd put a spell on her giving her permanent laryngitis.  Grrrrr, Arrgh, glad she is only temp.

Y'know, Gail Strickland (1897's) Dorcas Trilling, wouldn't have been so bad as a replacement Vicki.[/color]


[color=87CEEB][shadow=FF00FF,left,300]Always, Minja [/shadow][/color]

[Cassandra]

Durkin is just like a little rabid critter, snarling and spitting..."You're not marrying Maggie, Nicholas...blah, blah, blah..."

Her voice really got to me. It sort of reminded me of Minnie Mouse.     I never saw her again in any TV shows or Soaps after that.

[scout75]

I never saw her again in any TV shows or soaps after that.

According to imdb.com, Dark Shadows was Betsy Wetsy's only television or film work.

[Craig_Slocum]

Dark Shadows always seemed to have a bad habit of cutting the emotional resonance down to nil when a character exited.

Worse than that, some characters had no explanation for their leaving, and were never mentioned again. Bad planning indeed!

[Dr. Eric Lang]

Like Robin alludes to in her post, the writers and directors had to have a good idea when Alexandra would be leaving the show, and had ample time to rewrite or revise the story line.

Not necessarily. Jonathan Frid was asked about this particular situation at a Fest once (I read the transcript here in this forum) and he said he had wondered the same thing at the time; he didn't know how much "the front office" knew about what was going on w/Alexandra Moltke. The writers may well have been unaware that her departure was imminent.

It's also important to consider that, by Moltke's own admission, she used an obscure "act of God" clause in her contract that allowed her to leave. It doesn't seem to be the case that she simply asked to be released from her contract and was granted her request.

I'll go even further out on the line and say; that regardless of whom the show had chose at the time to replace Alexandra as Vickie, we as audience members would have never been completely satisfied with their performance.

I think the audience would have accepted a recast . . . if it was a good one. If they had the time to find a suitable replacement, and found a really good actress, I think it might have worked, given how little Victoria was involved in the present story line. But I guess we'll never know for sure.

[Joeytrom]

What they could have done is send Vicky away for a while and have her return in a month or two and concentrate on Chris and Quentin in the meantime.

Betsy Durkin probably thought she made it big time when she got this part...I feel sorry for her.

[VictoriaWintersRox]

I agree that a replacement could've worked, but they should've looked further then Betsy. Betsy Durkin and AM are just not a like in the way they talk. AM has that sorta 'classy' wandering voice at times, but Betsy just has that SHRILL voice. Betsy Durkin reminds me of the actress who played Sandy in episode one (I think I stated that in this thread, forgot if it was in this one or the other BD thread LOL). They should've just have had Jeff and Vicki get married in #626 or #625 like they planned before Jeff went into Petermadness. That would've wrapped up the Vicki storyline, Jeff and Vicki go back into past, kablam. No more Vicki involved in the storyline, no need for replacement (and probably no Roger Davis for a few weeks - an added plus!). I can see Jaclyn Smith making a good replacement Victoria. I haven't seen Carolyn Groves act, but in terms of looks she looks more like Alexandra.