Dark Shadows on DVD

[Philippe Cordier]

I've not paid too much attention in the past to the DVD releases of DS.  Paying for cable in order to get DS the past few years and buying tapes to record the entire series was a significant financial commitment for me, and to then begin buying the DVDs has seemed out of the question.  Now I'm getting worried though, since I've been reading recently that VCRs will be phased out very quickly in the next couple of years once HDTV becomes the standard.  Already it's difficult to even find blank VHS tapes to buy at places like Best Buy and I was told that everyone now has TIVO, which I don't really even know what it is.

Last week I received a catalogue in the mail from MPI and took note of the DVD releases.  A comment and a question come to mind.  I roughly added up what it would cost to purchase all the DVD sets of DS listed in the catalogue, and it came to about $2,000 -- and that's only about midway through the 1897 storyline.  So the entire set would be at least $4,000.  Or substantially more, since:  the DVD collection apparently begins with the Barnabas storyline!  I had thought that they started at the beginning of the series, but those were not listed in the catalogue!

It's disheartening to learn that all the videos I've carefully selected over the years and the things I've taped will do me little good in the near future.

[Luciaphile]

VCRs are still available in stores, very cheaply. What I've thought about doing is buying one or two just in case. I own a significant amount of tapes that I will not or cannot convert to DVDs.

TIVO isn't going to help you with DS because DS isn't airing anywhere.

In the meantime, places like Walgreens still sell blank tapes, often with a coupon for less than a buck apiece. Why not stock up?

As for buying the DVDs--you can purchase them much cheaper than what MPI sells them for either through discount places or off of eBay. I would not buy direct from MPI. Too much money.

[victoriawinters]

TiVo is a great invention.  It's essentially a DVD-RW exclusively for DirectTV.  TiVo memorizes what shows you would like to watch.  Say, for instance, Dark Shadows.  You can select this show and obtain a "Season Pass".  TiVo will record every instance of Dark Shadows on every channel it appears.  It does this by dialing into DirectTV and updating the TV schedule.  Want to record every Joan Bennett movie that comes on?  No problem.  Select this for your "Wiish List".  It will search every instance of her being on somewhere in TV land and record it.  Conflict with another program, it will record up to two programs at the same time.  Think of it as a VCR on speed.

Then, there is HDTV.  Unbelievable and amazing.  It's adding a 3-D like effect.  Want grass?  Watched a football game for a few seconds in HDTV broadcast.  Thought they were going to come out and tackle me.  Yipes!  Won't do much good with DS since it's from the 60s when I still had a black & white.  If you have the funds, it's worth having.   We have no premium channels so the cost is less then $60 a month with the SoapNet add on package.  Basic is less.

In terms of DS, I had originally calculated that the DVDs were cheaper then cable.  The added benefit is that I was never subject to the whim of TV stations and would always be able to see the show commercial free.  Further, it's works out with the current Amazon.com price of $41.99 per set to around a $1.05 per episode.  Multiple this by 1225 episodes and it's around $1,200 to $1,300 for the entire run even with the first nine months of the show.  MPI charges more per set and then slaps on shipping.  Amazon.com does not charge shipping or sales tax.  It pays to shop around for these DVDs.  Even with some of the hacks they have done in terms of the bloopers, the quality of the picture (even for kinescope episodes) and sound far outweighs the quality of the VCR version.  (I really miss some of the bloopers though.  But, it's their only draw back.)

[Miss_Winthrop]

I'm gradually buying the DVD's.  I miss the bloopers too.  The DVD's have some glitches here and there which seem to be the way of MPI.  I have their VHS tapes and occasionally come up with glitches also. I can't help but wonder if DS will eventually come back on a cable channel.  That's a good idea about having a spare VHS around to carry you through if you get ahead of the DVDs.

[Sandor]

Wow - Dark Shadows without the bloopers is like Barnabas wearing dentures as he swoops in for the bite!
Wonder if the powers that be releasing the DVDs will re-consider editing/covering up the bloopers in future releases.... or at least offer a "here was the blooper" in the Bonus section of the discs. Are they doing the latter currently (I'm still in VHS-Land)?

[Brian]

I can only say that the image quality on the DVDs is so far superior to the VHS releases (or what one could tape from SCiFi) that the DVDs are a necessity and not a luxury to any true DS fan.  When you can see the make-up on the actors faces, that's pretty darned good image quality.  I, too, bought a number of MPI VHS tapes, like the last half from tape number 93 to 200.  I'm well past the point on DVD  where VHS 93 began with the show and I don't regret the extra expense.  But--I don't order through MPI--I use Deep Discount DVD, and I am very pleased with the price and service.
Brian

[Miss_Winthrop]

I haven't tried Deep Discount for the DVDs.  I've been going through Amazon.Com because of the free shipping. I would say I'm paying roughly $44 dollars through Amazon.Com.  I'm going to have to check out Deep Discount.  I loved the nighttime soap opera 'Dallas'.  My daughter bought me Season 1 & 2 for my birthday. I can picture my house filled with DVDs for Dark Shadows and Dallas (ran for 13 seasons).

[Philippe Cordier]

Thanks for all the information, everyone.

Luciaphil, that's really thinking about stocking up on not only VHS tapes but on VCRs!


 

[Jackie]

At http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com you'll find the DVD Dark Shadows Collection Sets.

The following sets are available now. DDD sells each set for approximately $43.19 which includes sales tax, shipping and handling:

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007403 [Set 1]  Eps #210-250

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007404 [Set 2]  Eps #251-290

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007405 [Set 3]  Eps #291-330

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007508 [Set 4]  Eps #331-371

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007515 [Set 5]  Eps #372-412

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007521 [Set 6]  Eps #413-452

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007536 [Set 7]  Eps #453-492

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007537 [Set 8]  Eps #493-533

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007542 [Set 9]  Eps #534-573

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007547 [Set 10] Eps #574-613

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007548 [Set 11] Eps #614-655

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007598 [Set 12] Eps #656-695

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007599 [Set 13] Eps #696-735

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007639 [Set 14] Eps #736-775

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007640 [Set 15] Eps #776-816

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007652 [Set 16] Eps #817-857

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MPD007653 [Set 17] [03/29/05 Pre Order]

[Jackie]

Wow - Dark Shadows without the bloopers is like Barnabas wearing dentures as he swoops in for the bite!
Wonder if the powers that be releasing the DVDs will re-consider editing/covering up the bloopers in future releases.... or at least offer a "here was the blooper" in the Bonus section of the discs. Are they doing the latter currently (I'm still in VHS-Land)?

I don't know about anyone else, but I see the bloopers on my DVDs.  Here's one: