Leviathan....the beginning of the end?

[murph]

Now that we're into the beginning of this new storyline, I was wondering what the rest of you think..................

I have not seen these episodes since they originally aired back in 1969, I was ten, and so far I don't remember the story at all.

Reading this forum for the last year it seems that the Leviathan storyline is one of, if not the least favorite plotline of all at least those since Jonathan Frid joined the show as Barnabas.

I was wondering if the people of this Forum think that this storyline was the beginning of the end for this show.  I know that the 1897 episodes brought the show some of it's highest ratings and barely a year after that storyline ended the show was teetering on the brink of cancellation and was given the boot at the beginning of 1971.

I know that other very popular shows never recovered after introducing a storyline that their audience rejected.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,

Murph


 

[Annie]

Hi, Murph i was ten yrs old too and i don't
recall the Leviathan series either. Not sure
if was the end of the show. I'll i remember
is seeing The Q-man in the dwg room sipping
on his Brandy!!!!! YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!
And then of course the vampire scenes as
well and so on.   Sorry, i'm not that much of
a help .   Love Anne

[Cassandra Blair]

I watched the Leviathan storyline for the first time during its last airing on Sci-Fi.  Have to admit, I was less than impressed - it somehow just didn't seem in the usual DS vein to me, and it was disappointing to see Barnabas back to being a baddie.

However, this time I have to admit I'm intrigued, and am sort of looking forward to seeing the storyline through.  It's wonderful to see Julia again, and the rest of the 1969 gang.  I'm even looking forward to seeing Jeb Hawkes! (sarcasm, anyone?) 

[Joeytrom]

Other shows that never recovered from a bad storyline:

Falcon Crest:  The Nazi plot (1984-1985)
Dynasty: The Moldavian massacre (1984-1985)
Dallas: Bobby's death being a dream (1985-1986)
Knots Landing: Trying to harvest energy from the sea. (1990-1991).

[CastleBee]

The whole Leviathan storyline really left me cold.  So, if I were to pick a point where DS "jumped the shark" I would cast my vote for this. The way I saw it is they were drifting a little too much into Science Fiction and too far away from the Gothic Romance that defined the show.   :- 

[Julian]

I thought the shift from 1795 to the Dr. Lang/Adam story was very jarring (it seemed like a completely different show) but the show seemed to find its way again with the intro of the Quentin and Beth ghost story which of course lead to the entire 1897 saga.  Once that ended it was again very jarring - a whole new show where everyone seems to be hanging around the antique shop.  I think the times DS gets off track is when it strays too far from the Collins family and brings in too many outsiders.

[Gerard]

"The Dark Shadows Companion" states:

"In November 1969, after nine months of some of 'Dark Shadows' most intricate, intelligent storylines, an end came to the adventures in 1897.  Now the writers were faced with a dilemma....The ratings were at an all-time high.  What could they do next to hold the audience?  Their decision, unfortunately, signaled the beginning of the end of 'Dark Shadows'."

As for my own personal opinion, I liked the Leviathan storyline.  The one I couldn't stand was the whole Adam plot.  How I wished somebody would've tugged on that one, little stitch that was hanging lose and unravelled the whole thing, meaning both that annoying creature and the story.

Gerard

[Gothick]

Well, I personally LOVE the Leviathans storyline, especially the first 6 weeks or so.  I enjoy it because it is so different and yet also brings up some themes from previous storylines.  And, unashamedly, I love it because in these first weeks, JULIA is at the center of the storyline!  Some of my favorite Julia shows are the ones that are going to be broadcast in the next few weeks.

Though I hesitate to challenge the canonical statements of the Dark Shadows Companion, I strongly disagree with the statement that the Leviathans was the beginning of the end.  The reality is that the ratings were dipping already during the latter half of 1897 as the story became too complicated for many who had become fans in 1968.

In 1970 the ratings went down and I think a lot of it had to do with ABC affiliates dropping the show.  When the movie came out in the Summer of '70, it both stimulated interest and also horrified parents many of whom felt the series was inappropriate material for their children, based upon what they saw in the movie.

Finally, I may never be able to produce proof in print, but I do not believe that DS was canceled due to low ratings.  It IS documented fact that the ratings were climbing again during the widely-viewed-as-disastrous PT 1841 storyline in 1971.  I think the real reason the series ended was because Dan Curtis wanted to close it down so he could move on to other projects.  There were others as well who were ready to move on--I believe Jonathan Frid, Lela Swift and the Halls among them.  Also, DC was ready to film the second DS feature, and I think he preferred closing the series down to having to go through the strain of doing the movie AND running the series at the same time, as had been the case in the Spring of '70.

I'll make a separate post at some point as to why I think the Leviathan storyline should be rated as among DS' best moments...

Gothick

[Raineypark]

"The Dark Shadows Companion" states:

"In November 1969, after nine months of some of 'Dark Shadows' most intricate, intelligent storylines, an end came to the adventures in 1897.

Intricate?  Well, maybe...if you think 'intricate' and 'chaotic' mean the same thing.   

[Joeytrom]

The writers had a golden opportunity for some real soap opera with the return of Paul Stoddard.  If they had allowed for that to be separate from the Leviathan plot, it may have been better off.

[VictoriaWintersRox]

As for my own personal opinion, I liked the Leviathan storyline.  The one I couldn't stand was the whole Adam plot.  How I wished somebody would've tugged on that one, little stitch that was hanging lose and unravelled the whole thing, meaning both that annoying creature and the story.

I agree. I've only seen the Leviathan episodes so far broadcasted so I don't really have an opinion, but reading summaries of the episodes makes me think this is a very interesting story. *shrug*

The ratings didn't fall that much, and they were already falling by the end of 1897 (like Gothick said). The ratings for the 1969-1970 season (Leviathans included) were about the same as 1967-1968 (with the Adam storyline), with around 16 million viewers watching. 1968-1969 (1897) had 18 million viewers. The ratings started to dip in mid-1970. ABC affiliates started to drop the show. Other 4:00PM shows [both on ABC and other networks], such as The Edge of Night and Somerset, also had that problem.

By 1970-1971, DS was ABC's #3 soap - after OLTL and GH and before AMC and A World Apart. I think that the cancellation of DS was a joint decison between ABC and DCP. I think everyone wanted to end it and move on. *shrug* I don't know if I'm imagining it, but I swear reading something where Dan Curtis said he wanted to move on from the TV show.

[DStoDA]

I agree that the cancellation of DS was not because the ratings. I cant see why ABC would want DS gone if it was the #3 ABC soap. Why would ABC affiliates drop it? It was still a successful show! 16 million viewers is still a good number considering that it is daytime. I read somewhere that DS reached 20 million viewers and was ABC's #1 soap in June of 1969. The ratings at the end of 1897 were probably down because the writers made the mistake of stretching it for 8 months. Now, what kind of soap viewer would want a show to drag on that much.

Dan Curtis must have been tired of the show and i dont think it would be successful if he sold it to ABC (like most ABC soaps at that time.) But, he should have finished the story in the present day 1971 and solved all the mysteries  like Vicki's parents.

Its funny how we are on the topic of Cancellation. I had a dream last night that DS was cancelled because Sam Hall and Gordon Russell were having fights. kinda crazy.

[onyx_treasure]

The writers had a golden opportunity for some real soap opera with the return of Paul Stoddard.  If they had allowed for that to be separate from the Leviathan plot, it may have been better off.

     This aspect of Dark Shadows has always disappointed me.  It would have made for some great character development and continuing storylines to have Paul Stoddard be an integral part of the show.  I would have loved to see the writers explore the relationship dynamics between Paul Stoddard and Elizabeth, Roger, and Carolyn.  The writers seemed to focus so much on the supernatural they forgot about the human side.  Jonathan Frid said in an interview(on one of the videos) that the show just ran out of gas.  Well, if they didn't put the pedal to the metal and took time to develop the characters the show would have had more natural plot development which would have been character driven and not plot driven.

[Joeytrom]

Jonathan Frid said that he didn't want to play Barnabas Collins anymore, so they created Bramwell/1841 PT to accomodate him.

DC really depended on him to carry the ratings for the show.  If he knew DS was to be cancelled in April 1971, perhaps he could have let JF leave DS and after 1840 ends, return the show to 1971 and tie up looses ends for the next three months.

[Gothick]

I could be completely misremembering here, but it seems to me that I was listening to the Grayson interview tape from 1973, and she corrected a fan who said she had read that JF no longer wanted to play Barnabas.

According to Grayson, what he refused to do was play a vampire any longer.

I've wondered whether this would explain how little of an "active" vampire Barnabas was during his final months in 1840 (up to the final "miracle" cure of course).  I know that JF used to get annoyed when the fans would play clips of the show at the Festivals and they often included a montage of all the different bite scenes.

Best wishes,

Gothick