Prediction re: New Series

[Philippe Cordier]

Originally posted by Vlad on the Dark Shadows: General Discussion Forum on February 05, 2002 at 18:31:18:

This is rather hazardous, I know, but I was reading the "Dark Shadows Resurrected" book about the 1991 revival series, and Dan Curtis talked quite a bit about his plans for the 1991 series. Since those plans weren't realized when the show was cancelled after only 12 episodes, it seems likely that he would want to take them up again.

One thing Curtis mentioned was that there were several storylines in the original series that he liked and hoped to revamp for the new series. One that he specifically mentioned was the Quentin story, beginning with the two children talking with Quentin on the antique telephone in the West Wing.

That would be a great place (Quentin, West Wing) to start a new series! The storyline has *only* been done once before. It would give those of us who loved the original show the chance to see one of the best storylines in a fresh light; it would be "our" Dark Shadows, yet new.

The show could certainly go off in just about any direction from that point on -

Let's keep our fingers crossed -

- Vlad

[Luciaphile]

Originally posted by Luciaphil on February 05, 2002 at 19:40:47:

Vlad wrote:

That would be a great place (Quentin, West Wing) to start a new series! The storyline has *only* been done once before. It would give those of us who loved the original show the chance to see one of the best storylines in a fresh light; it would be "our" Dark Shadows, yet new.

The difficulty with this is that it still requires resurrecting the Collins family as we knew it, and therein lie a number of problems.

I honestly don't see any way this could work unless they do a next generation thing.

Luciaphil

[arashi]

Originally posted by arashi on February 05, 2002 at 20:37:36:

Considering what a cool job they did with the 91 series, that would be the storyline, if they chose to redo the show, I would be looking for. They did an awesome job with Sarah's ghost.

::crosses fingers::

Let's just hope things go in the right direction, and Fox doesn't turn it into a hokey tenny-bopper monstrousity.

~arashi

http://hollowmoon.net/stl-web/b2/

[joe integlia]

Originally posted by joe integlia on February 06, 2002 at 01:27:20:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by Luciaphil on February 05, 2002 at 19:40:47:

i agree that the only way to go is a next generation. forget the 91 series. forget remaking the original stories. we need to see carolyn as the head of household and the son of julia and barnabas and the daughter of angelique etc. starting with quentin wont work. everyone will wonder where the vampires are.

[Stuart]

Originally posted by Stuart on February 06, 2002 at 07:01:19:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by joe integlia:

I've commented on the next generation angle before and I don't think any of the arguments for it have won me over in the meantime. To the casual audience, "Dark Shadows" equals "that soap with the vampire", it if you are going to revive the series, then that's the notoriety the producers and network will be buying into.

The important thing to remember is that any new series is not being made for the fans -- it's being made to find a new viewership, not to appease a hard-core minority of viewers. The only advice I would give a new producer is to be less reverent to the original than 1991 was -- you don't need a cast as big as 1991 did, it's no longer sustaining two hours of drama a week, 52 weeks a year...

On the same note, the writers didn't always make the best decisions first time around and had they had the luxury of forward planning, wouldn't have always taken the routes they did. All that is needed is the silhoette of the original show and its stories. Let a new team play about with it, nothing's sacred. A remake that is confident enough to make changes where improvements can be made with the benefit of a more streamlined cast is the way I think it should be approached.

Stuart

[Luciaphile]

Originally posted by Luciaphil on February 06, 2002 at 08:23:36:

Stuart's

The important thing to remember is that any new series is not being made for the fans -- it's being made to find a new viewership, not to appease a hard-core minority of viewers.

If the aim (and I agree with you on this) is to attract lots of new viewers, then going back to the original setup is really not going to work. The governess thing is old, very old. They tried that in 91. They tried the old plots, redressed them with some nicer production values, but there were still huge problems with it. Having more than the three extras in the courtroom is great, but you still had people who dimly remembered their high school history and were questioning witchcraft trials at the dawn of the 19th century and wondering why the hell David wasn't in some kind of military school where he belonged.

It's old and it's tired and it needs to be rethought out if it's going to work. If they took it from a next generation approach, they would accomplish two things:

1. the old fans would have a framework to fall back on--it doesn't have to be the be all and end all of the structure, but it would be there and it would work

2. the new audience would have something a lot less creaky and clunky and out of date--the show can still have vampires; let's face it, it would have to, but instead of patching up something that is just too old to be resurrected for the umpteenth time, the show would have a freshness to it.

The same approach worked with ST:TNG and it brought a whole new set of fans to the show and the spinoffs.

(All puns intended)
Luciaphil

[Gerard]

Originally posted by Gerard on February 06, 2002 at 09:54:43:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by joe integlia:

You know, I could go either way on how to do a possible new series: remake, or next generation. There are plusses and problems with both.

As for the former, even though I didn't like the '91 remake, I was awed by Jean Simmons, so I could see how it could work if done right. They don't necessarily have to redo all the original stories, and the ones they do remake, they can remove all the inconsistencies that happened with the original series.

I can see them even starting it with a retelling of the Vicki-and-Burke-arrives-Roger-is-scared-David's-trying-to-kill-him-Matthew-is-killing-everyone story, more compact, but it could be utilized to "introduce" the history of the family (kinda like Elizabeth doing a Jackie Kennedy tour of the White House with Vicki, pointing out portraits of this ancestor and that ancestor, including you-know-who).

If they retell the Quentin story, by wanting to keep it in the proximity of the present day characters (Jamison was the father of Elizabeth and Roger), they would have to "move it up", at least into the 1920's. Now, as much as we loved the 1890's Victorian element, I think that would be really neat. The clothing, music, dancing, all that from the 20's. Edward would be friends with Joe Kennedy; Quentin would get his kicks from helping Prohibition-era rum-runners; you'd have speak-easies, gangsters (what an angle!), and Pansy Faye wouldn't be a dance hall hoochy-koochy girl - she'd be a flapper wanting to break into the movies. What a riot!

As for the latter, a next generation would be a stitch as well. Of course, the problem - as pointed out - is that many of the original characters would still be hanging around. Carolyn as the mistress of Collinwood, absolutely, but would Nancy Barrett want to reprise the role? David married with kids, sharing ownership and operation of Collinwood and the family businesses, but would David Henesey return? I doubt that one. Would we accept new actors and actresses, who might look and sound somewhat like them, playing the parts? Well, if we accepted the second Darren, maybe it would work. And there are a myriad of storyline possibilities. I can think of a bunch right now.

Gerard

[Gerard]

Originally posted by Gerard on February 06, 2002 at 10:02:35:

Luciaphil's

Having more than the three extras in the courtroom is great, but you still had people who dimly remembered their high school history and were questioning witchcraft trials at the dawn of the 19th century.

You know, that always bothered me. Certainly, no one would be tried for witchcraft as the nineteenth century was dawning. Salem took care of that a century earlier.

However.....they could use the witchcraft angle and make it plausible, even in the context of a crime and trial. Vicki (or Phyllis Wick) could not be tried for witchcraft in the 1790's (practicing it was not a crime at that time), but she could be tried for murder, and the weapon being witchcraft. Now, they could bring in the whole controversy, even back then, if there is any such thing, but Trask could use his wiles ala LA Law, twisting evidence, blah-blah-blah, to make Vicki (or Phyllis) look guilty.

Gerard

[Joeytrom]

Originally posted by Joeytrom on February 06, 2002 at 12:22:35:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by Gerard on February 06, 2002 at 10:02:35:

We really do not need a fourth time scene of Willie Loomis going to the Collins Mausoleum and accidentally releasing Barnabas Collins.

Of all things, they could follow the Marilyn Ross DS novel's version of Barnabas Collins, which had him as a wandering (and unchained) vampire from 1795 to the present. The novels indicate that Joshua ordered Barnabas out of the country while the members of that Collins family were still alive.

Joey

[Gerard]

Originally posted by Gerard on February 06, 2002 at 12:32:15:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by Joeytrom:

The Ross novels (may he rest in peace - yes, "Marilyn Ross" was a man) are a fantastic source of plots and storylines, and if the hopefully re-reconstituted novel series does actually get off the ground, there you go with some more. Even "Angelique's Descent" by Miss Parker would make an intriguing tele-filmed story.

Gerard

[Julia99]

Originally posted by Julia99 on February 06, 2002 at 19:33:46:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by Gerard on February 06, 2002 at 12:32:15:

I'd like for some red hot young dude (about 30) with red hair and green eyes to come to town, Barnabas Hoffman Collins. Somehow Angelique crossed the Atlantic, where B & J have lived since 1972 say, and cursed their son. . He journies to Collinwood to try and understand what occurred to his Mom and Dad there all those years ago. . .and why HE is now a vampire! That way Frid could have a cameo, perhaps returning to Collinwood with Julia's ashes to bury her or something. . ?? Anyway they need a Barnabas Collins as a vampire. . this way they could get one and the next generation thing. . .I do like the idea of Carolyn being the matriarch and maybe Quentin has aged. . .he finally found Petofi or something, that way we could have the wonderful David Selby back on PRIMETIME!

J99

[arashi]

Originally posted by arashi on February 07, 2002 at 08:22:08:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by Luciaphil on February 06, 2002 at 08:23:36:

As for the witchcraft angle, we have to remember, Collinsport is a fishing town on the coast of Maine, surrounded by forests and fields and such. New Englanders as a general rule are superstitious folk, and sea-faring fishermen even more so. It doesn't surprise me that the general populace may have cried witchcraft, but on the other hand, for the judge to convict her of witchcraft, well... that's another story.

~Arashi

[kuanyin]

Originally posted by kuanyin on February 07, 2002 at 18:10:38:
In Reply to: Re: Prediction re: New Series posted by Luciaphil on February 06, 2002 at 08:23:36:

I REALLY like the idea of Carolyn being the matriarch and bringing back as many of the old cast as would want to return. After all, the original show had a nice mix of young and mature. As a vampire, it would be assumed that Barney wouldn't age. So he would have had to go away, and then he could return to pretend to be his own son.