DS episodes scheduled for Decades network broadcast

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - I almost completely forgot that DS was starting on Decades today!    I didn't remember until 7. And very interestingly, even though the synopsis on my DVR for 7pm says "Liz agrees to cooperate with Julia, posing as a historian," which is Ep #287 from August 1, 1967, they're actually showing Ep #212. Who knows? And what looks to be the last ep, which will run on Saturday at 1:30pm, is listed as Ep #414 from January 25, 1968. But if Decades runs DS in order, obviously they will never get that far along.

Also, DS isn't listed as being on between 10am and 1pm on Saturday.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Apparently Decades has created several different DS bumpers to run during commercial breaks. 

[The Doctor and K9]

I question the wisdom of showing DS in this "mega-binge" marathon. Who is going to be watching that long? Let's say a person comes across the program and watches for a few hours. He or she will go away and come back later totally lost! Are they expecting people to record and watch at another time? DS is the type of show that needs to be watched regularly and in order. I hope they put it on a regular schedule once this marathon is finished.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've noticed that no matter what the series is that's being shown during this binge, Decades' promo bumpers for them almost all feature the line "Stay with us as your favorite episode may be next as the binge continues." So, rather than new viewers, it would seem as if they're expecting most of their audience for the binge to be people who are already familiar with the shows featured.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And speaking of when a favorite ep might be on, if Decades continues the way it has been, these should be the eps that run on Thursday (all times ET):

12am - 222 & 223        12pm - 247 & 248
 1am - 224 & 225/226     1pm - 249 & 250
 2am - 227 & 228         2pm - 251 & 252
 3am - 229 & 230         3pm - 253 & 254
 4am - 231 & 232         4pm - 255 & 256
 5am - 233 & 234         5pm - 257 & 258
 6am - 235 & 236         6pm - 259 & 260
 7am - 237 & 238         7pm - 261 & 262
 8am - 239 & 240         8pm - 263 & 264
 9am - 241 & 242         9pm - 265 & 266
10am - 243 & 244        10pm - 267 & 268
11am - 245 & 246        11pm - 269 & 270

[KMR]

Seems to me that serialized stories are totally inappropriate for the concept that Decades TV appears to be.  How many sane people are going to want to record--much less watch in real time!--three straight full 24-hour days of a series?  Pretty much any non-soap series lends itself well to "drop in anytime and watch one or a few episodes" because each episode is going to be a more-or-less fully contained story.  But a soap certainly does not, unless--as MB points out--this is aimed primarily at fans of the shows.  But even then, people who are fans of DS aren't going to be watching it in the kind of schedule that Decades has.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just peeked in on the end of the current ep (253), and it really was one of my favorite moments. It's when Barnabas slyly informs Maggie that he's been able to retrieve her ring and rather than give it back to her, he's going to keep it in a safe place because of how she's obviously been so "careless" with it - but then he turns on a dime and, dispensing with the pretense, he congratulates her on the improvement in her attempts to be found but won't offer any sympathies for the attempt's lack of success. Great stuff!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

On the other hand, Sarah hasn't stopped singing London Bridge for the past 10 minutes!! 

[dom]

"London Bridge" always reminds me of Midnite, lol.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   I'm sure she'll be flattered to know that!!   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Buzz!! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

"If ya feel it, sit it" - one of my favorite Buzz lines!!

[Gothick]

In DARK SHADOWS history, the arrival of Buzz is noted by all authorities as THE pivotal turning point.  Ratings shot up and fans wrote in by droves, demanding to know the secret of the Buzz hair and the products used to treat it.   Special security arrangements were required as mobs of "teeny-boppers" (in the lingo of this bygone era) made the area around the front of the studio impassable to traffic around the end of taping time.  Fortunately, fans still were not aware of the secret "back door" exit from the building, described in one later interview by Thayer David as "like a rip in your sleeve that disappears if you look at it from the wrong angle."  Shirtless photos of Buzz dominated 16 magazine in that legendary month of June 1967.  It was only when the dazzling glamour of Grayson Hall appeared on the scene that the Buzz legend began to fade.  Scholars of Shadows continue to debate the ratings miracle of the "Introduction of Buzz" storyline and how radically it changed daytime television for all eternity.

If you feel it... SIT IT!

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just love the little smirk Barnabas momentarily displays after turning away from Dr. Woodard after Woodard has just told Barn at the end of Ep #261 that Maggie is "dead" and never told anyone anything about what had happened to her. It's the little moments like that that make Frid's performances so wonderful...

[michael c]

In DARK SHADOWS history, the arrival of Buzz is noted by all authorities as THE pivotal turning point.  Ratings shot up and fans wrote in by droves, demanding to know the secret of the Buzz hair and the products used to treat it.   Special security arrangements were required as mobs of "teeny-boppers" (in the lingo of this bygone era) made the area around the front of the studio impassable to traffic around the end of taping time.  Fortunately, fans still were not aware of the secret "back door" exit from the building, described in one later interview by Thayer David as "like a rip in your sleeve that disappears if you look at it from the wrong angle."  Shirtless photos of Buzz dominated 16 magazine in that legendary month of June 1967.  It was only when the dazzling glamour of Grayson Hall appeared on the scene that the Buzz legend began to fade.  Scholars of Shadows continue to debate the ratings miracle of the "Introduction of Buzz" storyline and how radically it changed daytime television for all eternity.




If you feel it... SIT IT!

indeed. teens began to take note during the Portia Fitzsimmons period. her lunchbox and action figure are covetable to this day...

but it was not until the arrival of "The Buzz" that the phenomenon truly took off. girls (not to mention a few guys) were known to weep and fall into a faint at the sight of him.


in his later years Frid spoke candidly about how difficult it was to take a back seat to that sort of star power. his was a thankless role.