Does Barnabas need to be a part of the new take in some way?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Can a new DS not feature Barnabas?

[dom]

I don't think anything is a must but I can't imagine Barnabas not being a central character is some way form or fashion. I'd use the character as a tease to hold the audience hostage until the season finale. And nothing would make me happier than to hear the "bum, Bum, BUM" cliffhanger cue for old time's sake.

[Gothick]

Whether or not he "needs" to be a part of it, I don't think it would fly at all with the network or the backers without Barnabas.

I mean, to 99 percent of the population, DS WAS Barnabas Collins, full stop.

One reason why the show was canceled in the first place is that Frid no longer wanted to play Barnabas--or at least, did not want to play him as a vampire. I think Dan Curtis was ready to move on in any event but Frid's decision must have been a big factor in realize they'd reached the end of the line with it.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though people said the same thing about Kirk and Spock when Star Trek: The Next Generation was being developed. And one does have to wonder how Barnabas could still be around Collinwood 50 years later (well, IF they update a next generation take to 2019) and no one would be more than a little bit suspicious. Though maybe that's how Mark Perry's remark about Julia's line comes in...

As I said in another topic, only time will tell...

[Gerard]

I guess it depends on how much the producers/writers stick with the canon. Angelique had cured Barnabas in 1971 (1841).  Back then, he would've been in his forties.  If his character is still alive, he'd be close to 100. What would there be for him to do, other than living in Shady Pines?

Again, call me a pessimist. 

Gerard

[Gerard]

MB, you're so right about ST:TNG.  It was a new cast, set decades later.  Not that they ignored the original cast.  McCoy, Scotty and Spock appeared in it.  Kirk was in one of the movies.  The question is, can this reboot-or-whatever get any of the the original cast to appear?

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Has Jim Pierson been apprised of this possible new DS show?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

One would certainly presume that Pierson knows. But it is interesting that nothing that has been written so far has mentioned him. Perhaps DC's daughters aren't as enamored of him as their father. Who knows? Another thing that only time will tell...

[KMR]

I cannot imagine Barnabas not being in this in some way. Although how he would figure in the story is a big question. The idea of him hanging around as the same "age" is preposterous, unless everyone around is aware of his nature. I could see him coming back after several decades, claiming to be the son of the "previous" Barnabas, but that might be too hokey. How about if someone runs into him in some other part of the country/world?

[The Doctor and K9]

I guess it depends on how much the producers/writers stick with the canon. Angelique had cured Barnabas in 1971 (1841).  Back then, he would've been in his forties.  If his character is still alive, he'd be close to 100. What would there be for him to do, other than living in Shady Pines?

Again, call me a pessimist.

I have an out, but I doubt they'd ever use it. You could argue that Barnabas was under Angelique's curse and cured in 1840, but when he returns he reverts because Jeb's curse takes over. It would take a great deal of exposition and almost certainly confuse the audience. I can't take credit for this explanation. A friend speculated on this idea.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

You could argue that Barnabas was under Angelique's curse and cured in 1840, but when he returns he reverts because Jeb's curse takes over.

Exactly! We've mention that a few times here on the forum. Plus, in Sam Hall's wrap-up article Barnabas is still a vampire in the present after he returns to the present from 1840/41. And if Hall believed that, chances are more than good that's the way the show would have operated had it continued beyond the 1841PT storyline...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I could see him coming back after several decades, claiming to be the son of the "previous" Barnabas, but that might be too hokey.

I had that same thought after I wrote reply #3 yesterday. Though, of course, something like that would only come into play IF they're going for a "next generation" take, which seems unknown at this point. Anything we speculate at this point is pure speculation because we have so little info to go on. But that should never stop DS fans from speculating. 

[Brandon Collins]

Barnabas definitely has to be a part of the new show, though how big a part is really the question. Is it sufficient to slap a portrait of Frid on the wall of Collinwood and add him to the pantheon of Collins' ancestors?

The BF audio dramas did a decent job of recasting Barnabas by using a body change as a way of explaining it. The show could do something like this, a plot device to explain how he is still around. It might be clever to include a character that is really Barnabas but no one, not even the audience, knows its Barnabas until some plot twist mid-season.

[Patti Feinberg]

He wasn't for about a year on OS.

He of course shall be mentioned; possibly as a distance relative, who, in fact does move to England.

There may be occassional visits, probably during sweeps months.

Patti