Anyone know anything new on WB dark shadows pilot

I'm not a fan of all those teenage shows but aren't the actors who portray them in their 20's?  For instance, "That '70's Show" has a bunch of 20 somethings portraying teenagers.  I believe "Dawson's Creek" was the same.  My point is this, when we think about it the original "Dark Shadows" had a several actresses barely out of their teens when they began appearing on the show.  To name a few:  Kate Jackson, KLS, Alexandra Moltke, Nancy Barrett, Donna Wandry, Lara Parker.  These women were younger when they began appearing on "Dark Shadows" than some of those actresses who appeared on "Dawson's Creek" and the like.  I don't understand all the fuss if this show has actors and actresses in their 20's just like the original did.  Several of the men were in their 20's when they appeared on DS: David Selby, Roger Davis, Christopher Pennock, Don Briscoe.

As for the age of Barnabas, I disagree that he has to be at least 32.  All of his love interests on the the original show were all the women mentioned above who were in their 20's while the character of Barnabas was likely supposed to be in his mid 20's, clearly Jonathan Frid was in his 40's when he played Barnabas.   The obvious age difference between Barnabas and his love interests was a little hard to watch sometimes and I'm currently a man in my 40's.  In the current episodes airing when Bramwell, played by JF is supposed to be the same age as Catherine, played by LP is too ludicrous for words.  They have great chemistry but Jonathan is almost 18 years older than Lara and believe me it shows.

I believe if they have the character of Barnabas in the new show and he's going to be attracted to women in their 20's than he should be a man of say no older than 30-35.  I get bored watching a man in his 40's continuously falling for 20 somethings.  I'm sorry but Ive learned a lot since my 20's and I want to be with a woman who is age appropriate to me not some 20 year old.  If I was 20 than a 20 year old would be great but I'm not and I think men look ridiculous when they're with women young enough to be their daughters.  Most of the women Barnabas was attracted to were young enough to be Jonathan Frid's daughter.

That said, I have no problem with Barnabas and Angelique as a viable couple.  It worked for me 30+ years ago and it works for me now.  I'm not sure why the age difference never bothers me, it's probably the chemistry between JF and LP and the timelessness of their characters.

Please don't get me wrong Jonathan Frid is and always will be my favorite from the original but in a lot of ways
he was not age appropriate for his character.

...............Just my opinion

Murph

My point exactly, Darren.  Since one can't conclusively say what a uniquely "Dark Shadows" story is, I don't think you can discount any new version outright.  You can't reasonably bemoan that a new version won't match a set of criteria that you can't articulate yourself.  To me, that's like saying: "Well, I'll love that radio show, so long as it's yellow."

There probably isn't a single story from the original show which isn't cribbed from somewhere, so I think the possibilities are endless.  Personally, I find that very exciting -- you have a totally blank canvas to play with once you've set up the cast... horror, romance, mystery, period drama -- all valid possibilities providing you can tell a good story.

But, for the sake of argument I'll have a go at a concept:

"The lives and loves of the residents of the Collinwood mansion, and the dark shadows that the supernatural casts casts upon them."

Endless possibilities -- which is the best future any new show can have.

I would like to see a retelling of the original Dark Shadows. They could use the opportunity to tie up loose story ends, such as who  Vicky's parents were. They could keep around some of the more interesting characters like Tony Peterson. They could eliminate some of the more unpopular storylines. They could further examine some of the characters and plotlines of 1897 (Quentin in Egypt and more about Magda and Sandor).

One sentence--Victoria Winters arrives at the great estate of Collinwood to be a governess to young David Collins and in searching for her own origins discovers a world of supernatural secrets and complex family relationships.

I think johnathan frid was the right age protrayal of barnabas, so what if he was older that the women he interacted with, it  was very believable and except for the fact that he was a vampire when barnabas was trying to make maggie into josette it could possibly more true than real love, espically when he tryed to get vicki to be his bride, it was the closest a person in love could be without going mad on each other. Can you imagine an actor in his mid 20's protraying barnabas in the original series, he would have bad acting and not very good for the kind of 19th century guy released in 20th century 1967  because he was a vampire thing, it would be the same thing today, so i hope that they be very careful in selecting who will play barnabas in the new pilot, he was emotionally the most hard character to play,he was also the most complex  because he was so popular they had to find a way to make it last as long as  possble and barnabas became a complex person and character to play, i also think that a relative unknown play barnabas, and at least should have some experince in the dramatic arts, because just no ordianary actor can play barnabas the way he should now be intended to be, complex.

replying to maria_ merriweather, i totally agree that dark shadows as it was originally intended should be fully explored , though not in prime time but in daytime, of course you would have to add light touches of supernatural such as the phoenix, ghosts and things but  not as heavy as in the 2nd season on.

Picard,

I believe Jonathan was the perfect person to portray Barnabas.  I doubt I would have watched it if he wasn't on.  I just believe the character of Barnabas should have been at least 30 something instead of 20 something because Jonathan was clearly not in his 20's.

I believe most everyone would agree that Jonathan is a very good actor with all the complexities he brought to the character of Barnabas.  The few times he seems awkward in that role, IMO is when he kisses one of the SYT's, especially Donna Wandry.  Maybe it was because it was uncomfortable for him as a man in his 40's to be kissing on a woman just barely out of her teens.  The one exception is Lara Parker who as I've stated before, IMO he had great chemistry with.

BTW,
the reason I believe Barnabas to be in his mid 20's is because Jeremiah who died in his early 30's was supposed to be older than Barnabas plus he had a nine year old sister and his parents were clearly not in their 60's but likely in their 50's.  (Although Louis Edmonds was barely one year older than Jonathan)

Murph

Can we please have this discussion without trying to annoy each other?

Midnite -- I think there's just a little pot-stirring going on here... and it's a fine stir. Enjoying it immensely here.

--Mark

oh my gosh a challenge. . . ::rusky away to scribe::

All I want is a decent script. They want to have Victoria Winters arrive on the Greyhound bus or whatever to home school David Collins. Fine. They want to redo the same story. Fine. I want good dialogue. I want character development. I want subtlety. I want decent plotting.

I second that emotion Lucia. 

I would like to see some of the original cast members given the opportunity to either reprise their roles, or develop new characters.

                                 Bob

Like before me, I want certain storylines to be redone, (where does Viki come from, etc).  I dont want this series to be about Barnabas (WB already has a show that revolves around a Vampire, Angel).  I think the show should evolve around the Collins Family.

And remember Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera.  So what I was  wondering are they going to write it like a primetime soap or more the monster of the week show with overall season arc.  Similar to Angel and Buffy Vampire Slayer.

If Dark Shadows is to be a success, I think the following things are a must.

1) Focus on the gothic
2) Make it easy for viewers to keep up with the show in case they miss a show.
3) Have some light moments (comedy)
4) Have some emotional moments.
5) Character Driven and Not Plot Driven
6) Focus  on other Characters besides Barnabas.

who knows how it will be, but I think these ideas are some good ones.

To me, that's like saying: "Well, I'll love that radio show, so long as it's yellow."

Perfect!!......even if I did end up with tea on the monitor....

I think it's reasonable to say that those of us who are prepared to leave the new production in the hands of it's creators, and wait to see what they have done, have at least a chance of enjoying a new DS.....while those who expect the new production to meet their own specific, personal and detailed criteria for success are pretty much asking to be disappointed.

Although this reply is coming a little late, Nicole I loved what you said!

And I agree with others who say just give me a good script.  I believe that there's tremendous room for interesting television with a gothic premise and thoughtful writing.  Even if they choose to retell some of the original series' storylines, that could be okay.  There's always room to breathe new life into Dark Shadows.

And I really don't agree with the poster(s) who opined that the WB shows only pay attention to teenagers, or rely too heavily on comedy.  Have you ever seen Angel?  It's dark as hell.  And the last couple seasons of Buffy dealt with some pretty heavy stuff.  And it's true, the actors on such shows aren't teenagers.

I for one wouldn't necessarily need a new Dark Shadows to go that far towards the dark side.  Heavily gothic with a sense of brooding and doom would be nice, though.  Although I'm pessimistic about this proposed new series ever seeing the light of day, I'm excited as anything that it actually might happen!

BTW, does anyone watch Fox's Tru Calling?  There's a guy on the show who would make a terrific Willie Loomis.  He plays Tru's brother Harrison.

Raineypark wrote:

I think it's reasonable to say that those of us who are prepared to leave the new production in the hands of it's creators, and wait to see what they have done, have at least a chance of enjoying a new DS.....while those who expect the new production to meet their own specific, personal and detailed criteria for success are pretty much asking to be disappointed.

Very true. I think the reasonable majority among us agrees mainly that a general high level quality is more important than actual specifics of plot and character. As yet, we're far from even having a show to judge at all. I would consider just having one on the horizon an agreeable prospect.

--Mark

replying to cassandra blair, angel may be dark as hell, but dark shadows was never dark as hell, nor should it be now.

replying to cassandra blair, angel may be dark as hell, but dark shadows was never dark as hell, nor should it be now.

Actually, picard, I believe Cassandra_Blair's comment (that Angel is "dark as hell") was in response to characterizations made about the WB which she also pointed out were not made by only one person, and probably also your comment that Buffy is "fluffy" and Angel is "garbage"; not about DS.

I realize that some are enjoying the course this topic has taken-- I do appreciate your comment, Mark, and agree that there's some fantastic input here-- and some are apparently even finding it amusing, but I'm finding the arguing and the sarcasm at someone else's expense (not all of it still available) and the defensiveness very disconcerting.