The Creepiness of Anthony George

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I like Anthony George as Jeremiah; he's much more believable.  Perhaps I take issue with his take on Burke and the way the character is written because the pre-Barnabas storyline (the whole thing) is one of my absolute favorites.  I dislike where they took the Devlin character after the vampire's arrival.  He was made to be almost completely different (and in such a short time!).  Burke as portrayed by Ryan was one of my favorite characters on the series.  I cheered for him almost as much I cheered for Joan.  He was a terrific anti-hero and very well played.  The new identity they gave Burke, the softer side he adopted, his attitude and outlook...  it wasn't Burke Devlin as I had originally seen him.  And that is why I'd rather he had just gone away.   

It's interesting to note that I can hear Ryan delivering a lot of George's lines immediately following his being re-cast.  But, as the series progresses, I don't hear Ryan delivering many of the lines written for the new Burke.  I've always wondered how the famous "duel'' scene would've played out with Ryan.  I'm not sure it could have happened. 

[MagnusTrask]

Burke 2 has a different world view.   Stodginess is his religion.   He's all caught up in being the straight-arrow, while Burke 1 was a maverick.   "Two" is a prosletizer or inquisitor for his religion of unimaginativeness too, guilting Vicki over and over for not being like him in this.   "One" would have been bored out of his skull by the ordinariness Two needs.

I used to see the Blue Whale sparring scene with AG and J Frid, before I saw pre-Barnabas, and thought how anemic and yet aggressively unpleasant in general AG was, and was sure MR would have done it so much better.   I suppose Burke One wouldn't have been a sort of aloof businessman, so some lines may not have fit, but Mitch would have been a lot more "there" than George, relatively speaking, even though Mitch was gradually less and less "there" himself as time went on.

One was sort of masquerading in a suit, and he always seemed too "big" for it, or too big to be confined by it.  Two sleeps in his.

[Janet the Wicked]

I totally agree with the both of you. Dead on. They should have gotten rid of the character and kept Buzz on or Jason. I like Jason's sparring with Barnabas. Don't know how far they could have gone with that, but it would have been interesting. Buzz meeting Barnabas - heh, heh...

I definately don't care for Anthony George as Burke, but I've seen him in other things, and I really like him. Go figure.

[DarkLady]

I never warmed up to Anthony George as Burke, for reasons I explained in another thread: Ryan was totally believable as a guy who had done hard time, then roamed the world making his fortune. George (referred to in some places as Burke Lite) seems as if he might have gotten a parking ticket and traveled as far as-- Augusta. I have to admit that George was a better fit as Jeremiah than Ryan would have been.

But once the whole cannery vs. cannery story was dropped when the show went supernatural, Burke became extraneous. It would have been fun to see Buzz kept on as a fly in the Collins ointment. He might even have made a very interesting Jeremiah!

[tragic bat]

Wow, a lot of comments!  I definitely agree that it was a mistake to recast Burke Devlin.  His foundation storyline was already over, and having a different actor come on to play a completely different character with the same name just didn't work.  They could have said that he went away on buisness or something. I do think George was much better as Jeremiah.  It's too bad to read that Frank Garner was gone because the actor wanted a payraise.  He and Viki were so good together, maybe there wouldn't even have been a jeff clark if Frank stayed on. 

I agree Cousin Barnabas, Burke #2 was so hung up on being conventional and straight laced, I don't think he would even have liked Mitch Ryan's Burke, and he seems out of place at the Blue Whale.  I can imagine him saying to Viki one day (in a whining, nagging, complaining manner) "can't we just stay home?" 

Burke was correct about Barnabas, but as Viki yelled at him several times, "is this how you're going to be when we're married?"  He never really found out about Barnabas, but was so sure that he was right anyway.  I don't really see any good option for Viki in this love triangle.  Sadly, that fact didn't change when Jeff Clark came into the picture.   

MichaelC does have a good point, seeing Burke #2 act so agressive and hostile to Julia and Barnabas doesn't hold up too well considering that the storyline didn't have it's original (HODS) ending.

Lydia, I really don't think that most of these lines would have been written the same for Mitch Ryan.  I think (and hope) they would have maintained character consistency even if they had thrown him into a romance with Viki.  I'm sure Anthony George may have been a nice guy, I just don't like his performance here. 

Buzz was actually a really nice guy, I wouldn't have minded seeing him stay on. 

[MagnusTrask]

As for AG as Jeremiah, I think he was just "neutral".   I think he walked through that part, too.  The thing is, he didn't speak lines that made him seem to have a bad attitude of any kind, so we're left with a sort of mild, vaguely amiable, agreeable character, and people generally find that to be "likeable".   Not me-- I'm leery of the bland.   Too often they hold others up to their middle-of-the-road standards and find them wanting, so... not so nice after all.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Haha, Magnus.  It has been a while since I have seen 1795, but I am getting there quickly in my viewing.  So I will come back with more thoughts after seeing him again.  All I know is that I didn't have an immense dislike for him like I did when he played Burke.  And I usually really like DS actors in particular roles or hate them, which is why George's Jeremiah is an interesting case I will have to review again. 

[michael c]

i had no idea that AG's burke was so unpopular...

i will say this. i felt that with burke it was the last time vicki seemed somehow safe and protected. after his disappearance she was totally at loose ends.


i mean jeff clark could not walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone care for another human being. vicki was pretty much toast.

[Uncle Roger]

I don't think that Anthony George was a bad actor but I think he was miscast as Burke. As a performer, he was more suited to a traditional type of soap, as his long runs on Search For Tomorrow and One Life to Live show.

Whether the writers didn't know how to write for him or if he just didn't put much into the character, the end result is still the same. By the time Barnabas really caught on, Burke outlived his usefulness.

[MagnusTrask]

In the Burke Two vs. Barnabas contest, I can't for one moment see Burke as the hero and Barnabas as the villain.   No matter how horrible Barnabas gets, there is apparently no way for him to equal the "evil" of Burke Two.   I root for Barnabas and want Burke tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

[michaelhacketttodd]

In support of Anthony George, he probably was rushed into the part due to the sudden departure of Mitchell Ryan.  Even though Burke's Storyline was a "flop" he was on the show from the very first episode and had become a fixture, if not the central character, of the show since the very beginning.  Wasn't there an Actor's Strike around this time?  Other "expendable" actors were also cut from the show about this time, such as Robert Gerringer and Daniel Keyes.  And Dark Shadows Fans are notoriously intolerant of change.  Look at what happened to the role of Victoria Winters when Betsy Durkin replace Alexandra Moltke.  Burke was on his way out, but his part had to be phased out gradually.  And Anthony George, who probably knew his days on the show were numbered, did the best he could.    

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Ryan was not ousted because of the actor's strike, and I don't think there were plans to phase Burke out at the time of the replacement.  The actions taken on the part of actors (and the subsequent consequences) during the strike happened a couple months later.  And I still can't forgive Curtis for having Gerringer replaced.   

[Josette]

I think Anthony George has a weak-looking demeanor.  Is that why the writers thought it was OK to give him control-freak lines?

I think that was probably the main reason I didn't care for him as Burke.  We were used to Burke being one sort of character, and strength was a main attribute, and with the change, he just seemed so different that it was hard to accept him as being Burke.

[Joeytrom]

I could see Anthony George as Frank Garner.  Having him be a lawyer would certainly make for an interesting adversary with Barnabas! 

Interesting the way things work out: MR stays, Burkes fate is changed, no Peter/Jeff.
MR as Jeremiah who lives on and defends Vicky.  Burke vs. Nicholas & Cassandra!

AG as Frank Garner: No more Burke, probably no Tony Peterson.  AG as Jeremiah, though still leaves the show & then possible recast of both Jeremiah & Frank.

[MagnusTrask]

I'm going to guess that most fans got used to AG first, before MR, because it usually takes us a while to get access to pre-Barnabas... so if we were intolerant of change we'd probably never accept Mitch.