In The Shadows

Well, here's a very interesting article about the WB pilot. It repeats the same line that we've gotten from Garth Ancier - that the project "just didn't quite gel the way we hoped." However, what's much more interesting is that John Wells lays the blame on the WB. In part, the article says: The problem, Wells said, was the network wanted to WB-ize the concept. "We liked it and they didn't. They wanted young and pretty. ... Barnabas was never a handsome leading man. He was a 215-year-old with bad skin. They wanted more Interview With a Vampire. We wanted Dark Shadows."

You can read the entire article with this link: WB trying to age gracefully


And according to another article I recent came across, it also seems as if the WB's mid-season pickup, "Global Frequency" might be in trouble with the WB. Commenting on some recent problems that show has been experiencing, creator Warren Ellis said, "...nothing is guaranteed, even now. The pilot for 'Dark Shadows,' produced by John Wells, has just been scrapped and will never air -- despite having been shot at a cost somewhere between two and five million. That produced show and that money is just tossed in the bin. That's American television. And it could still happen to us."

"... Barnabas was never a handsome leading man. He was a 215-year-old with bad skin."

Oh horseshit.

No wonder these present-day TV people can't get their act together.

 

"... Barnabas was never a handsome leading man. He was a 215-year-old with bad skin."

Oh horseshit.
No wonder these present-day TV people can't get their act together.

Thank you, Connie!      That'll learn em'...  

Oh horseshit.

No wonder these present-day TV people can't get their act together.

You got that right.  The original cast, Jonathan Frid in particular, may not have had the plastic oh-so-pretty looks that producers love so much today but they did have loads of character.  They had so much charisma, charm and (yes) sex appeal that they could convey pure atmosphere despite inexpensive sets and an awkward taping schedule.

That's a reason I like so much of the stuff produced in the late 60s (DS, Star Trek, Hammer horrors, British comedies).  They had great talent.  Sure, I like modern stuff well enough but too often producers rely on pretty people (boring!) and computer graphics to make up for a lack of imagination and talent.

Anyway, I love the original Barnabas...bad skin and all 

Very interesting article.  I thought Wells was supposed to have walked away because the pilot turned out so horribly (because of bad direction).

Here Wells seems to imply that the pilot was good, and that the fears many of us expressed about a "WB" Dark Shadows ("Dark Shadows 90210") was, in fact, the problem WB had with it when the pilot didn't turn out that way.

Barnabas was never a handsome leading man. He was a 215-year-old with bad skin. They wanted more Interview With a Vampire. We wanted Dark Shadows."

I think too they are forgetting Dark Shadows was and is a SOAP OPERA.

Think daily....think LIVE!!

Think of some of the bloopers you've seen on other soaps; no editing time, and hey, that lending to fun & charm.

I think of an episode of All My children like more than 20 years ago where Brooke in a huff, is walking away from whomever she was fighting with. There was a metal cabinet and she walked right into it!!! You couldn't help feel bad for her but, again, no editing...and hey...I still remember that all these years later.

Dark Shadows 90210...yup...sounds right.

'Cept Maine aint no wheres like California.

As Warren Ellis is quoted saying in the article at the top of this thread, the DS pilot cost between 2 and 5 million dollars to create.  And one of the ramifications of that large amount is the absolute unwillingness of anyone involved to step forward and say "This was my project, I was responsible for how it turned out and I got it wrong".

Wouldn't you be astonished to hear that coming from ANY of the very-well paid people who get to work in this industry?  It's always someone else's fault, mistake, stupidity, lack of talent, or lack of integrity.  Never, ever their own.

But then again, when was the last time you heard anyone in ANY position of authority and responsibility, in ANY field of endeavor, do that?

Re:In the Shadows article

If it wasn't so tragic it would almost be funny. Here we have the Chairman of the WB and the powerful tv producer John Wells saying total opposite comments at the same time period. Why would Ancier claim to be willing to place DS on its schedule if John Wells came back to them for further discussions? Is this some type of calling card to Wells reflecting something like {we (CEO Levin) did consider DS dead but we are now again interested}? Then you have Wells say at the same time that the DS project at the WB is dead as dead can be. Is Wells trying to stir some competition up for the DS pilot? I guess this is Hollywood at its best but all of this has my head spinning. lol

Here we have the Chairman of the WB and the powerful tv producer John Wells saying total opposite comments at the same time period. Why would Ancier claim to be willing to place DS on its schedule if John Wells came back to them for further discussions? Is this some type of calling card to Wells reflecting something like {we (CEO Levin) did consider DS dead but we are now again interested}? Then you have Wells say at the same time that the DS project at the WB is dead as dead can be. Is Wells trying to stir some competition up for the DS pilot?

Two of the things that Garth Ancier said in the Sci-Wire piece puzzled me greatly: 1) that the pilot was "unsalvageable," and 2) that if Wells had approached him, the WB would have moved forward with the series. #1 seemed odd not only because DC had commented at his Museum of Television Arts salute that what he'd seen of the pilot "looks good," but the review that was posted on the Creature Corner site was positively glowing in many respects. And as far as #2 goes, I couldn't understand why Wells wouldn't have been willing to address whatever problems the WB had with the pilot and move forward with the series if the WB was still willing to do so. But now Wells' comments seem to clear up the discrepancy and mystery. When one considers Ancier's comment that the pilot "didn't quite gel the way we hoped it would gel" with Wells' comments that the network wanted to WB-ize the concept, "they wanted young and pretty," and "they wanted more Interview With a Vampire; we wanted Dark Shadows," it seems apparent that the WB wanted what many fans feared: Dark Shadows Creek (a hybrid of DS and Dawson's Creek  ). It might really be true that Ancier had been willing to move forward with a DS series - but it would seem as if it would have only moved forward on his terms - not actually doing DS the way it should be done - but remolding it with a WB-ized concept. On the other hand, Wells, DCP, and Mark Verheiden's vision seems to have been to update the concept a bit but to still remain true to DS. Given those diametrically opposed concepts, it's no wonder that Wells et al. didn't want to move ahead with the series and replace their vision with the WB's. And frankly, as much as I would have loved to have seen a new DS series, if Dark Shadows Creek was really what we were going to be served up with by the WB, I honestly prefer to see the WB series scrapped rather than have DS compromised in that way.

So this was what....a case of miss-communications between all the parties involved in this project?  The WB wanted one thing, and the producers wanted another, but no one understood this?

But I can picture it....a studio office full of people: all of them talking, not one of them listening.

So this was what....a case of miss-communications between all the parties involved in this project?  The WB wanted one thing, and the producers wanted another, but no one understood this?

But I can picture it....a studio office full of people: all of them talking, not one of them listening.

I wish I paid more attention in my philosophy class in College because none of this is based on any logic pattern that I know of. lol
BTW Didn't the WB approve the script that was NOT geared to DS Creek? I mean the WB kind of knew what they were getting and expecting with the script and the selected actors.

BTW Didn't the WB approve the script that was NOT geared to DS Creek? I mean the WB kind of knew what they were getting and expecting with the script and the selected actors.

All true. But translating a script form page to screen doesn't necessarily turn out the way everyone who read it might have envisioned. Not having seen the pilot and not being able to read their minds, it's impossible to know what the WB's specific problems were. But perhaps some of the characters didn't appear as "pretty" as the WB would have liked, be it because of the way they were shot, dressed, or made up. (The WB has frequently been criticized for taking a page from the soap opera handbook where a character can escape from a harrowing fire with every hair in place and not so much as a smudge on his/her face.    And believe it or not I've read where the WB has actually called for reshoots on some of its series when characters didn't originally look the way they felt those characters should be projected to the audience.) Or perhaps the WB thought Todd McIntosh's horror make up was too grotesque and gory. It's even possible that they didn't like the way the sets/locations were dressed and lit. These are all things that the script and casting would not have necessarily indicated - they would have only been visable in the finished product.

Thanks MB. Your last two posts here has helped me see things a little clearer.

I guess we are back to square one when two months ago DCP informed us that they (WB, JWP, and DCP) were shopping the pilot to the other networks. Wells' latest comments alluded to that they were going to regroup and consider taking the pilot elswhere. I have to assume that the WB was unsuccessful in shopping it to another network and it is now Wells' turn. I also have to assume that JWP is highly aware that the pilot is running out of time to see the light of day on any network. Hopefully, he has some magic left in his bag.

The more I read about Ancier the more I think less of him as the head of a network. First he blames Hogan for allegedly bad directing, then he blames Wells for not pursuing Dark Shadows after the WB rejected the DS Pilot, now he is trying to deflect blame on how his people handled the Angel cancellation (Levin-I would think). Although I hate to post anything by Kristen of Eonline, these are Ancier's statements. "I wasn't there. I don't know what choices the network really had in terms of new programming."  If what he said is true, he would then like us to believe he also had nothing to do originally with his network rejecting the DS pilot since he "was not there" lol. Still can't figure when this guy is sincere. If he really wanted DS on his schedule as he now claims, he also could have reached out to Wells. I think he was there all the time.
www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/Archive2004/040724.html

Although I hate to post anything by Kristen of Eonline,
...
www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/Archive2004/040724.html

Kristin wrote:

I've officially started the I ♥ Garth Fan Club. Who's with me?

 

I hear you, jimbo.