Mr. Grayson Hall joins the show!

Originally posted by Julia99 on the Dark Shadows: General Discussion Forum on February 14, 2002 at 20:08:00:

For those unaware, today's 2nd episode was the first fully credited to Grayson's husband, Sam.

Smart girl, get a good gig, throw a raucous party where your boss gets drunk and offers you your hubby a job. Smart cookie.

Originally posted by MrsJ on February 15, 2002 at 04:54:13:

And I find it interesting that many "authorities" on the subject (ie. cast members) insist that Sam came on board first, and that it was he who got Grayson cast as Julia. WRONG...

MrsJ.

Originally posted by Julia99 on February 15, 2002 at 07:43:41:

what 'authorities' would that be?? KLS (i forgt you whole guys acryonym) faulty memory. . I know newbies here have assumed it BUT we perform a course CORRECTION immediately. . .J99[smash]

Originally posted by Midnite on February 15, 2002 at 09:18:45:

what 'authorities' would that be??

For one, Dan Curtis. Or at least he once told an audience, when asked how Dr. Hoffman came to be female, that Sam showed up one day with his wife and after Curtis took a look at her face, he decided she HAD to be on the show. Interestingly, he also said her character's name was originally "Julius"...

Originally posted by Julia99 on February 15, 2002 at 10:27:14:
In Reply to: Re: Mr. Grayson Hall joins the show! posted by Midnite on February 15, 2002 at 09:18:45:

how very interesting. . .I thought it was Fellini who wanted to do stuff 'cuz of Grayson's unique face. Does DC fancy himself on the same level as Fellini?? J99

Originally posted by Linda on February 15, 2002 at 12:28:05:

Midnite's

For one, Dan Curtis. Or at least he once told an audience, when asked how Dr. Hoffman came to be female, that Sam showed up one day with his wife and after Curtis took a look at her face, he decided she HAD to be on the show. Interestingly, he also said her character's name was originally "Julius"...

Although not a formal member of the DC team at the time, perhaps Hall was trying really hard to sell DC on his script ideas and showed up on the set frequently...and then one day his wife tagged along and just as Sam was whipping out the pages of his latest gothic inspiration, DC (who probably ALSO knew that SHE had a much more impressive show-biz pedigree) took one look at the flaming hair and prominent cheekbones and decided that SHE had to be on the show...

THEN, a few months later, Grayson casually mentioned to DC that her husband was chummy with the Gambinos.

Cheers,

Linda
(NOT a Sam Hall fan)

Originally posted by RingoCollins on February 15, 2002 at 13:14:52:

Does DC fancy himself on the same level as Fellini??

Best laugh of the week J99!

No matter how it happened, I am sure glad it did!

Ringo

Originally posted by MrsJ on February 15, 2002 at 15:09:42:

MrsJ's

what 'authorities' would that be??

I have personally heard KLS as well as Lara Parker state this on more than one occasion. Also, have seen a taped interview with Dan Curtis where he says the same thing. I guess it isn't all that important, lol, maybe it's just my anal retentiveness rearing it's ugly head, but...Grayson WAS on the show for many months before Sam's name ever appeared in the credits.

MrsJ.

Originally posted by Vlad on February 19, 2002 at 18:08:01:
In Reply to: Re: Mr. Grayson Hall joins the show! posted by RingoCollins on February 15, 2002 at 13:14:52:

Does anyone read comments that are four days old and far, far down on the board, I wonder?

For what it's worth, I can't believe that Sam Hall joined the DS team AFTER Grayson Hall. I have read specifically in print in several sources that he was a writer on the show first and that Grayson joined afterwards. I am pretty sure that one source stating this was an interview with Sam Hall!!

-Vlad 

Posted by mfmiozza on February 19, 2002 at 20:27:52:
In Reply to: Re: Mr. Grayson Hall joins the show! posted by Vlad on February 19, 2002 at 18:08:01:

Sorry, Vlad, but you might want to get used to believing it because here's an excerpt from Sam Hall's most famous (or is it infamous? ) interview in the DS Files books:

Q: What got you interested in writing, particularly in writing soap operas?
A: I'd gone to Yale Drama School to become a playwrite. When I came back to new York there was a television director who asked me to do a show for Fred Cole, which I did. Then I did all sorts of things and it was simply during one terrible fallow period in our lives that Grayson had gotten Dark Shadows, and I had nothing to do with it. I just cued her as she learned her lines.
One night, after she'd been on for about six months, Dan Curtis, who owned the show and was a magician of sorts...a really incredible man...hadf talked the actors into crossing a picket line, because he said the show would go off the airif they didn't. Grayson was a firm labor union woman, but he was so persuasive that he got all these actors to do it and continue filming the show.
Dan arrived there one night, the first time I'd met him, with this triumph ringing in his ears, and he said, "Will you write Dark Shadows for me?" I said, "No, I really don't want to do it and, besides, you don't know me." I hate people who say, "Would you do this," and they wake up in the morning with a hangover saying, " My God, why did I do that?" So I said, "I don't even want to answer that," and the party went on.
The next day he called and said, "I meant it." I asked him, "Well, do you know anything about me?" And he said, "Yes, I know your credits. Why don't you start next week?" So I did.