Dark Shadows early VHS

My curious is close to killing another feline, but I had another question:

As we all probably know, in the first eight VHS releases of DS, MPI edited the episodes to highlight the Barnabas storyline, but not having those tapes, what exactly was edited out?

Thanks!
Nelson Collins

It's been awhile since I've looked at my Collector's Volumes but I want to say they they edited out a lot of the Liz/Jason confrontation and Carolyn's reaction to it. However, I might be having a 'senior moment' and getting this confused.    There were some gems of scenes betweend Jason and Liz and Jason and Roger and Jason and Carolyn that are incredibly good.  If you get a chance to get the Collector's Volumes you won't be disappointed. 

the liz/jason confrontation was so good!i know the early vhs tapes are trying to highlight the barnabas story,but at expense of some good stuff.we're all grown-ups here,we can handle life w/o barnabas collins for a few minutes,why edit out the other actors work?joan bennett and nancy barrett had some of their best mother/daughter scenes during this time.

btw, i've never seen d.s. on dvd,do the dvd's do the same "editing jobs" the early vhs eps. do?

the liz/jason confrontation was so good!i know the early vhs tapes are trying to highlight the barnabas story,but at expense of some good stuff.we're all grown-ups here,we can handle life w/o barnabas collins for a few minutes,why edit out the other actors work?joan bennett and nancy barrett had some of their best mother/daughter scenes during this time.

I couldn't agree with you more - particularly about how Barnabas isn't the end all and be all of DS. Sure, he's absolutely fascinating. But he's hardly the only DS character to be so.

No- the condensation of the episodes was only done for VHS and on tapes 1-8.

The DVDs have the complete episodes, albeit with some blooper 'fixes' as has been discussed on the board prreviously.

Well, while we're asking, does the DVD set (vol. one) start with the episode that Willie goes to release Barnabas? I guess what I'm really asking is what episode the DVD starts with? Just curious, so anything that would help me place the episode visually in my mind would be appreciated. You know, like Willie's first appearence or maybe Jason's? I don't know where I'd start if it were up to me to pick wich episode to start the set with. (Actually, that's not true, as I would have started with episode one - but that's another story. )

Got a few more questions, none really related to this thread (not that my first question was either, heh).

Does anyone know if the lost episode is "not lost' with the master tapes they are using for the DVDs? I would guess not, because they probably would have used it instead of how they recreated that episode on VHS.

Also, does anyone know if these master tapes (are they master tapes or just "better" tapes than those used for the VHS tapes?) they are using for the DVDs will eliminate the use of the acetates they used for some of the episodes on VHS?

And I am wondering; You know the episodes on the film reels dubbed into Spanish that they were giving away at the Vegas Fest? Does anyone know if that lost episode may have been available in that lot? I imagine they would have thought of that but I'd like to satisfy my curiosity. I mean can you imagine if one of us actually had that episode on film. What a find that would be!

Thanx in advance for any questions answered.

Dom,

There were no Kinescopes made for later DS episodes, which is why the lost episode is lost. That episode and later ones were never shown in Spanish, so there's no physical copy on film or on original 2-inch video. Unfortunately that episode is lost in every sense of the word.

The original master tapes are 2-inch videotapes. Anything else is a submaster. A submaster a few generations away from the original was used for the VHSes 1-200. The collectors series used submasters closer to the original tapes.

The DVDs are made from submasters closer to the originals than any of the VHS releases.

Not sure what you mean about 'acetates' though.

No- the condensation of the episodes was only done for VHS and on tapes 1-8.

I believe that's for the regular series of tapes 1-200 where they had to condense some parts of the early story in order to pretty much start with the arrival of Barnabas.  But, when they were finished with the series and went back to the Collector's Series, I'm sure those were complete early episodes.  I only had a chance to see the first 16 and that was several years ago, but I don't think those were condensed.

Meant kinescopes. 

Acetates? Gawd, that's those nasty scratchy sample 45s that singing groups would record demos on in the fifties and sixties.

Thanx for all the info.

Having collected the tapes before acquiring the DVD's, I was amazed how much they edited out. I am one of Barnabas' biggest fans, but I do love the other characters as well, and it didn't make much sense to me why they felt they had to edit some of the other stories at the expense of the other actors just to accomidate Barnabas' story.

For instance [spoiler]in the tapes it shows Roger and Elizabeth arguing over the shape the Collins bankbook is in (Roger rightly believes the money is being withdrawn for and paid to Jason) but it DIDN'T show Elizabeth and Roger making up later and Roger offering his support to her and Elizabeth expressing her need for it. A very poigent scene and a crime that they edited it from the tapes.[/spoiler]

Just one example of many wonderful scenes with the other main characters that weren't included in the early VHS editions on the show. I noticed they finally did stop with the editing at Volume 9, still I don't think there should have been ANY editing at all from the episodes on volumes 1 to 8.