elizabeth in 1968

[michael c]

during the 1968 episodes it seems as if the writers sort of lost interest in liz.she's not given a very good story.she falls under cassandra's spell and thinks of nothing but death.then she gets packed off to wyndcliff and disappears from the story for weeks at a time.she could have duked it out with cassandra way more than she did.why the loss of interest?
did the writers decide that the teen demographic they were going after by this point would be unimpressed by an actress of ms.bennett's "status" and thus relegate her to the back burner?alot of the original characters suffer a loss of screen time during this period but liz seems to be the most affected.why?

[Gothick]

Joan Bennett had a clause in her contract that guaranteed her a 6 week vacation (I think it was 6 weeks) each year that she was on DS.  That is why her characters fall prey to a series of hospitalizations, entombments, and general absences throughout Dark Shadows.

Nevertheless, I think you have a point.  After the Jason storyline in 1967, Liz and Roger both degenerate into caricatures of what they were when the original storyline started up in 1966.  Of the characters JB played subsequently, I thought Naomi and Judith were both strong characters with good stories that gave Joan a chance to show off her chops.  PT Liz started off interestingly but then turned into just the same as Liz in regular time, and the same was pretty much true of both Flora Collins'.

G.

[Sandor]

While Elizabeth's character took a back seat for much of the '68 storyline, I offer Joan Bennett a huge credit she was never given during the series: by her example, encouraging other movie stars of the 40's and 50's to give daytime television a try during that period. This would include:
RUTH WARRICK (Phoebe Tyler on "All My Children" - whose character later married Louis Edmonds' "Langley") from 'Citizen Kane'
HUGH MARLOWE (Jim Matthews on "Another World") from 'All About Eve'
DANA ANDREWS (Tom Boswell on "Bright Promise") from 'Best Years Of Our Lives'
GERALDINE FITZGERALD (Violet Jordan on "The Best Of Everything") from 'Dark Victory'
GALE SONDERGAARD (Amanda Key on "The Best Of Everything") from 'The Letter'
JOAN CRAWFORD (Joan Kane on "The Secret Storm") from 'The Women'
JAN STERLING (Miss Foss on "The Guiding Light") from 'The High & The Mighty'
 

[Devlin66]

orbachs sure supplied her character with some stunning pastel colored outfits during the present day collinwood episodes.  even as one of the oldest members of the cast, she sure looked beautiful in those outfits.

[michael c]

i couldn't agree more devlin...ms. bennett is often equisitely attired(i love the matching bow).but my favorite "liz look" is episode one's formal evening gown and jewels for "at home" entertaining.

[Miss_Winthrop]

i couldn't agree more devlin...ms. bennett is often equisitely attired(i love the matching bow).but my favorite "liz look" is episode one's formal evening gown and jewels for "at home" entertaining.

I couldn't agree with you more.  Wasn't she gorgeous as she stood gazing out the window in the Drawing Room? All dressed up for an evening home alone!

[Misa]

I believe that Joan Bennett was in a play at the time that they did the buried alive storyline. They used this to get her out of the picture while she wasn't available. I wish that they would have given her more to do after she was back. I agree with Gothick, Judith was a great part, and Joan did a wonderful job with her.

Misa