WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT

I believe Wb television makes a formal presentation to other networks to see if they are interested and then takes it from there.

The WB passing on the pilot has a huge effect on the restoration...Hopes for it essentially have gone down in flames along with the pilot...

If a series had been picked up or if another network picks it up, that would change things drastically, but as it is, the pilots failure make restoration seem even less likely now.

Sorry to hear that. It seems the WB has shattered more than our hearts. Hopefully they will be eager and successful in finding a home for DS.

I believe Wb television makes a formal presentation to other networks to see if they are interested and then takes it from there.

Any idea of when the formal presentation will be taking place?

Who knows? Whenever they arrange appropriate meetings with other networks, or officially decide against using it for mid-season.

By formal presentation, I don't mean public presentation, I mean 10 execs in suits showing it to 15 other execs in suits and seeing if anyone bites.

Well, after all the hype ... erm, I mean INFORMATION released about this, it would be nice if some kind, connected soul would arrange for the pilot to be shown at the DS Festival this Summer.  just so we could see what all the fuss was about.

Not expecting it to happen... just saying it would be nice.

G.

Wouldn't it be unlikely for them to screen it at the Festival if they're still trying to get it on the air somewhere else?  If that's the case, I could live with not seeing it in August.

But if it's clear that it's not going to be picked up anywhere else, then I'm with you....let us see it in Tarrytown!!

Check out the news page of my site to see a new photograph from the pilot:

http://www.collinwood.net

Wouldn't it be unlikely for them to screen it at the Festival if they're still trying to get it on the air somewhere else?  If that's the case, I could live with not seeing it in August.

But if it's clear that it's not going to be picked up anywhere else, then I'm with you....let us see it in Tarrytown!!

In Shadowgram #101 April, 2004 edition on page 7, under Festival events, "exclusive preview of the WB DS pilot". So at least we will see something from the pilot at the Fest. Hopefully, the preview will be for another network.

Check out the news page of my site to see a new photograph from the pilot:

Great photo, Stuart!

And I keep meaning to post that I'm both intrigued and horrified by some of the things Mark Verheiden said in the exceprts you've posted from his SFX article. His remarks certainly grabbed the attention of the heretic in me. 

Be a sport... which aspects horrified you?

I was heartened by his comment that: "I want to make the characters, old and new, feel real within the the context of the show, so people can empathise with them and understand their situations."

I think that's something that the 1991 series could have done with a lot more of.  The idea that *no one* seems to have any comment or opinion on Michael Woodard being turned into a vampire and bloodily staked whatsoever - least of all Julia - seems absolutely lunatic in retrospect.

I was heartened by his comment that: "I want to make the characters, old and new, feel real within the the context of the show, so people can empathise with them and understand their situations."

Yes, I was very pleased to read that too.

I think that's something that the 1991 series could have done with a lot more of.  The idea that *no one* seems to have any comment or opinion on Michael Woodard being turned into a vampire and bloodily staked whatsoever - least of all Julia - seems absolutely lunatic in retrospect.

Agreed. At the time I chalked it up to the possibility that something like that might have been scripted, even filmed, but it didn't make the final edit. (We know there was at least one scene shot for that episode that ended up on the cutting room floor because, not only was Wayne Tippit's name listed in the credits yet Dr. Fisher was never seen, there's a picture from at least one of Fisher's scenes from that episode in PomPress' DS Resurrected - and from the expressions on the characters' faces, they were certainly getting some sort of awful news.) But, of course, even if is was a case that something was scripted/shot, all that's important is that nothing was ever made of it in the final version of the episode - and that was absurd. 

Be a sport... which aspects horrified you?

The thing that horrified me - but intrigued me, too - was Verheiden's remark about really wanting to go for it with the vampire horror. Vapirism has always been used best as a metaphor in the DS universe, not as a major focus. Making it a major focus in hoDS was one of that film's many failures, IMO. (And then there's the '91 series. As much as I love the show, one aspect of it that I've always thought ridiculous is all that vampiric/animalistic snarling that Barnabas does in the woods.  ) The idea of ratcheting up the vampire horor horrifies me IF it was merely being done for its own sake and, I suppose, shock value. But at the same time, it intrigues me if it might also be a case that the very horror of it was to pay off as a way to deepen Barnabas' self-loathing. The heretic in me would be more than willing to accept it on those terms.

Of course, the only way to know which it would be, would be to see how it would develop over the course of a series...

Vapirism has always been used best as a metaphor in the DS universe, not as a major focus. Making it a major focus in hoDS was one of that film's many failures, IMO.

I'd like to hear more.  Sounds like an interesting article or essay, MB.   

I think I know what you mean since the same words gave me slight pause and made me think for a moment of the difference between the original Dark Shadows' atmosphere of Gothic romance and the direction most "horror" seemed to go off on in the decades since ...

Vapirism has always been used best as a metaphor in the DS universe, not as a major focus.

Go for vampirism as a major focus, IMHO!   Hee hee! 

Check out the news page of my site to see a new photograph from the pilot:

http://www.collinwood.net

I was expecting a still from the actual pilot, Stuart. Not a photo op.  Great pic though. The "new" Willie is so cute.

Some of the comic book stores in the New York area end up with copies of unaired pilots/bootleg DVD/videos.

Hopefully, I will be able to find the DS pilot sometime.

Let the wake begin

And so it continues:

Upfronts 2004: What You Won't Be Seeing Next Season

But if anything, at least this article shows that DS is in some good company. It also delves a bit further into what I was saying the other day - that pilots "get scrapped for any number of reasons, and quality isn't always atop the list." And it's also the most interesting article I've come across so far...