STRANGE PARADISE - Supernatural Canadian Soap Produced By DS's Robert Costello

[Phil]

Any fans? A Canadian soap about a man trying to revive his dead (or simply nearly dead?) wife via a deal with the evil spirit of his ancestor (represented by a portrait, and who possesses him from time to time). There's a petulant blonde daughter in the mix, a maid with voodoo powers, and an ancestral mansion and a local drinking establishment as its two main sets....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AWO3f7PM2Y

I stumbled across this on Youtube and it's been a...I dunno, a pleasant curiosity? Looks to have more of a budget than DS, but seems to lift so much from it. Its premiere seems to coincide with Costello's departure from DS (please correct me if I'm mistaken). It's also the whitest piece of Caribbean-set drama I've ever seen. 

I don't think they're all on Youtube, but there are less than 200 total; I'm going to try to get through the nine-month run if I can.

[Uncle Roger]

Sure, I used to watch this all the time until WNEW moved it to the middle of the night. It wasn't DS but it was fun. The first 13 weeks, set on Maljardin, were quite spooky and atmospheric. And all of the initial characters seemed to have DS counterparts.

[joe integlia]

they realeased some of it on vhs way back in the late 80s/early 90s but they stopped and i think the company went out of business and yes robert costello left ds to produce sp. if u cant find them all on youtube there are bootlegs floating around.

[Charles_Ellis]

Why isn't this on DVD yet?  A definite missed opportunity!

[Robot_Quentin]

Completely missed this show, but strangely I ran across it about a month ago on You tube and was intrigued!! There are no official DVD releases but found the complete 195 episodes for sale on seven volumes at:

http://www.skaryguyvideo.com/strangeparadise.htm

Probably taped off TV but that's all that's available so far. Twenty bucks a volume. If I get one I'll report back here as to the quality.

[Ronny G]

I have about 40 episodes. I purchased them from ioffer a few years ago. They were recorded from TV on the Chiller channel and the picture quality was good. The pace of the storyline was a little too slow moving for me. There was something supernatural going on, but it wasn't scary. I remember the lead character had an ancestor who looked just like him. There was a painting of him and it would come to life and talk back to him. I think the production values were impressive, though for late 1960s. The mansion interior set was huge. I may have to give it another try some day.

[Uncle Roger]

Yeah, the antihero/Barnabas surrogate was Jean Paul Desmond, who would periodically get possessed by the spirit of his evil ancestor, Jacques Eloi Des Monde. During these moments, Jean Paul would be compelled to kill (usually strangle) various day players.

[KMR]

I enjoyed watching this show back in 1969 or 1970, although I only saw it for maybe a couple months. Paperback Library published a series of novels based on the show and written by Dorothy Daniels. I have three of them (I don't know if any more than that were published).

[Uncle Roger]

That's all they did. It was around the time that Warner Brothers acquired Paperback Library and a lot of the Gothic stuff was discontinued.

[Gothick]

All surviving 194 episodes of Strange Paradise are availabe on Youtube, I believe.  You may have to check a couple of different channels to see them all.

It is outrageous that dealers on the grey market are charging such prices for the fan produced set from the Canadian Drive-In channel screenings  (The series has never been shown on Chiller.)  I know the fan who produced the original set and he's been upgrading the original recordings (which were recorded on DVD, not VHS).  He is very devoted to the conservation of the original series.  The current rights owner is based in India and has no interest in an official release.

Some of the best episodes start, ironically, after episode 40 with the arrival of an important new character on the island.  I also really like the story arc that ran from around week 14 through week 24.  After week 24 it really kind of went downhill, unfortunately.  Still fun to watch but the continuity, which had been carefully followed in the first couple of storyline, goes right out the window for the 3rd and final arc.

G.

[Gothick]

And another announcement related to Strange Paradise.  An ambitious fan has written and produced a full scale radio drama continuation of the series with full cast and new music, and the results are surprisingly impressive.  Check it out for free here:

http://thedramapod.com/drupal/node/448

I don't know whether the story would make sense if you haven't seen all 39 weeks of SP.  The dialogue does include a number of backstory references, some of them expository.

Best, G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The current rights owner is based in India and has no interest in an official release.

That's really too bad because the show deserves to be seen - particularly in better quality than can be offered on YouTube. Though at the same time it's great that the YouTube videos are available...

but the continuity, which had been carefully followed in the first couple of storyline, goes right out the window for the 3rd and final arc.

I don't know if I ever saw the 3rd arc. I definitely remember the 1st arc quite fondly and the 2nd a bit less so, but what was the 3rd arc even about?

[tragic bat]

I just watched episode 40 on youtube, and this definitely does have a DS feel with obvious character correlations.  Very atmospheric and something I would watch, though doing so entirely on youtube isn't that appealing.  A Canadian show but the visuals really remind me of BBC production style from that era.

[Gothick]

Hi Tragic Bat,

if you're interested in seeing stills, anecdotes, info and more about Strange Paradise, check out these two excellent websites:

http://www.strangeparadise.net   (scroll down and look for the ENTER button to click on the lower right hand sign of the front page)

http://www.maljardin.com

And to MB (sorry for the delay in response), the 3rd story arc involved the departure of Holly and Quito and the arrival of some new characters, including one played by Trudy Young who went on to appear with SP veterans Jack Creley and Colin Fox in the occult thriller feature film, "The Reincarnate," in 1971.  The third story arc involved changing the pivotal role of Raxl from a force for good to the outright villain of the series.  The original backstory established in the first 13 week arc was dropped in favor of a new backstory to "explain" the "Desmond curse."  I found the writing often clumsy and repetitive, although there were still great moments, thanks almost entirely to very strong and imaginative actors such as Colin Fox, Cosette Lee, Jack Creley, and Pat Moffatt.

Best, G.

[Uncle Roger]

Thanks for the info, Gothick. I never got to see the third arc. WNEW may have stopped showing it by then.

I remember being quite tickled when I saw Jack Creley pop up unexpectedly in Videodrome.

Long live the new flesh!