In Defense of Roger Davis -

I'm gonna go out on a limb here...I'm really starting to feel sorry for poor old Roger Davis.

I began watching about 3 years ago, and I've thought from the beginning that he was not a good actor - basically a one-trick pony with a pretty lame trick. And that hair-do. I can't stop staring at it. Whenever he's on screen, my eyes want to "figure it out" like it's some sort of optical illusion...

But, MAN! I had no idea the poor sap was the object of so much contempt and ridicule until I began frequenting these boards!

Mere mention of his name elicits choruses of hissing and moans, peals of laughter. I've heard of people getting up and walking out when he takes the stage at festivals, fans making fun of his bride...

...DAMN !

I'm starting to feel quite fortunate that he doesn't have as much of a negative affect on me. With as many episodes as he's in, I don't know if I could stand it.

And, perhaps partly because of the amount of derision he receives, I'm developing a mild fondness for the guy. The sympathetic sort of affection you have for an underdog, you know? And I've always enjoyed b-films and drive-in flicks with acting just as bad, so, I just try to appreciate him with that sort of aesthetic whenever he shows up.

He's not all that bad.




Craig Slocum, on the other hand...

On the TV series, he was never a favorite of mine, but I do think he comes off rather well in HODS -- restrained and effective.  I do recall his saying that his exaggerated physical bits were his way of compensating/covering when he didn't know his lines.  I guess his discomfort didn't work to his advantage, the way Frid's worked to his.

And, I suspect that pitching time shares at the Fests hasn't exactly endeared him to anyone...

Mere mention of his name elicits choruses of hissing and moans, peals of laughter. I've heard of people getting up and walking out when he takes the stage at festivals, fans making fun of his bride...

...DAMN !

I can't say that I've ever witnessed or even read where anyone made fun of his former wife (the one you referenced in your earlier thread), but you might come away with a deeper understanding of why many DS fans feel the way they do about him if you try searching through some of the older posts. I think you might find a few quite illuminating...

Mere mention of his name elicits choruses of hissing and moans, peals of laughter. I've heard of people getting up and walking out when he takes the stage at festivals, fans making fun of his bride...

...DAMN !

I can't say that I've ever witnessed or even read where anyone made fun of his former wife (the one you referenced in your earlier thread)

Read that thread again, I think you'll see what I mean -

you might come away with a deeper understanding of why many DS fans feel the way they do about him if you try searching through some of the older posts. I think you might find a few quite illuminating...

I'd really rather not. There's alot of jerk-offs out there walking around, and it's more than possible that Roger Davis is one of them, but I'd rather not know. When I'm watching a scene with Jeff Clark, I don't want my mind cluttered with thoughts of why  Roger Davis is a moron.

By the same token , I love Sean Penn's acting but I wish he would keep his politics to himself. It makes it that much more difficult for me to believe him as Spicoli when I'm watching Fast Times, you know?

I just made reservations for the '06 Fest, I hope Davis isn't there making an ass of himself...

I always felt Roger Davis had a distinctive voice - and apparently voice-over work kept him employed beyond his DS years (time share hawking aside - chuckle). I'm also partial to the beautiful-yet-unpretentious Jaclyn Smith, who was once married to Roger, so if she saw something in the guy (enough to say "I do"), he had more than meets the eye.
And ultimately, his role as Dirk Wilkins in the 1897 storyline gave him some meat to chew, considering his Jeff Clark, Peter Bradford, and Ned Stuart characters were innocuous and bland at best.
I met Roger at one of the west coast DS conventions (where I also had the pleasure of meeting our beloved Midnite), and knowing he was friends with Don Briscoe, I cornered him for a scoop. Don was still alive at the time, and Roger Davis had spoken to Don recently. Davis regarded me not as a crazed Briscoe groupie, but as someone who was genuinely interested in the whereabouts and welfare of his friend (Roger and Don had met in college), and his rapport was friendly and earnest. For that, he has my respect.
In a book I read, Lara Parker remarked how Alexandra Moltke hated doing scenes with Roger (Davis, not Collins), but given she was so sedate, and he played everything so frantic, the chemistry was off - still, they were constantly paired up. His best scenes seemed to be with Frid, Lara Parker, and Grayson Hall - their theatrical intensities kept him grounded and his hair in place.  

I was pissed off at Roger Davis (when I didn't know a thing about the guy or his reputation) when I saw him making in fun of Jonathan Frid regarding the usual "forgetting" line business on a DS reunion tape. I thought he sounded like a real jerk and wanted to scream that it was because of Mr. Forgettful that Roger Davis had the job in the first place. My understanding is that DS, before Frid, was about to be cancelled.  That being said I've always enjoyed him as Peter Bradford (his best DS role I think) where he was somewhat gentle, sensitive and soft-spoken. As Peter Bradford he had a refreshingly wide-eyed western quality about him and radiated integrity. But, he started to pick up bad habits as Jeff Clark and I was pretty indifferent to him after that. Didn't like him as the 1897 artist either. Judging from his earlier DS work he had acting potential but his personality got in the way.

I wonder how long RD would have stayed on DS if someone else was the executive producer.

.....hissing, moans and peals of laughter......

I have never liked his acting in DS and then as stefan has said, when he started in on Mr. Frid, well 'them are fightin' words'.  

Mr. Frid had made it possible for you, Mr. (and I use this lightly) Davis to have a job.  I think you should thank 'Mr. Forgettful'.

stefan was right.....you sounded like a real jerk, and that's also putting it lightly

Mere mention of his name elicits choruses of hissing and moans, peals of laughter. I've heard of people getting up and walking out when he takes the stage at festivals, fans making fun of his bride...

That would be me!  I started walking out on him after he harassed Johnny Karlen onstage in '94.  Johnny turned his back on him on and Dennis Patrick told him to "go back to your tee-shirts!"     When he tried to upstage Louie Edmonds in '97, and subsequently made Nancy Barrett a WRECK back-stage before her first Fest appearance ever, we were back-stage w/her working security and she was pacing like a caged animal and cursing the man, is when I wrote him off altogether.

He's not all that bad.  Craig Slocum, on the other hand...

LOL, yes, Slocum was pretty bad. 

I just made reservations for the '06 Fest, I hope Davis isn't there making an ass of himself...

He won't be, he swore he'd never come to another Fest.  His loss is our gain, LOL! 


Edited by moderators

I'm also partial to the beautiful-yet-unpretentious Jaclyn Smith, who was once married to Roger, so if she saw something in the guy (enough to say "I do"), he had more than meets the eye.

Funny someone should bring Jaclyn Smith's opinion of him up because, back in the Charlie's Angels days, one of her stipulations was that her marriage to RD not be brought up during interviews (ironically, some interviews brought up the very stipulation against the subject they were supposed to avoid  ). But on the very rare occassions when she did address the subject, it was usually to say that she considered that period of her life to have been a nightmare that she was very glad to have woken up from. Some later articles on Smith go so far as to say that she doesn't even count her union with RD as one of her marriages. So, take from all that what you will...

My understanding is that DS, before Frid, was about to be cancelled.

Though many articles certainly give that impression (along with many other erroneous impressions  ), it may not be entirely true. The truth was that ABC gave DS an alotted amount of time (I believe it was 26 weeks) to improve its ratings or be canceled. However, the ratings began to climb slowly once the supernatural stuff really began to be incorporated into the show - they climbed even higher during the Laura storyline - and, of course, they climbed still further once Barnabas was introduced. We'll probably never know if ABC would have considered the pre-Barnabas rise strong enough for the show to have avoided cancellation because the alotted time for improvement ran into Barnabas' introduction, but there had been definite improvement before him. It's also interesting to note that the increased viewership of early-Barnabas over the non-supernatural DS was only a million viewers (10 million vs. 9 million) and was still far short of what viewership would be even a year later (16 million)...

I'm really not a big Roger Davis fan.  I've never liked Peter Bradford (whiny and cloying), Jeff Clark (whiny and directionless), or Charles Delaware Tate (whiny, directionless, and part of the wretched Amanda Harris crap) very much, but (and I'll be scorned and denounced for saying this) I DO like Ned Stuart.  Davis' corrosive personality went well with the obnoxious and irritating Stuart, and he really gave Chris, Barnabas, and Julia a turn when he constantly hounded them for information...and that one scene with Julia, Sabrina, and Ned was priceless, IMO:  "I'll give you the bill" indeed!  It's too bad Davis didn't continue on with Ned after the return to 1969/1970, but at least his absence spared poor Lisa Richards more maulings.

Smoochies to Sandor 

It's a shame RD never realized during his years on DS that shouting is not effective acting.

A friendly reminder-- The Forum guidelines are very specific about gossip (see #7).  If someone representing DS has a casual and private discussion with DS fans that's totally removed from any public event, the personal info shared with the fans would qualify as gossip and shouldn't be repeated here without permission.  To use a DS Fest as an example, what is shared in the autograph line, in the dealer's room, on stage, in an interview for publication, while publicly entertaining a group of fans-- those are fine; but conversations held in private, at or outside of the Fest, should afford the DS personnel a degree of privacy when it comes to their personal info.

Please, just use your judgment, and if you're unsure, it can't hurt to ask for permission to repeat it on the internet.  Otherwise, it may be subject to removal.  Thanks!

when i first got into the show about four years ago i too was somewhat shocked at the level of hostility directed at roger davis...until i got to his storyline.

funny.peter bradford didn't bother me at all.but as soon as he came back as jeff clark he drove me insane!
perhaps it's not entirely mr.davis' fault.the character was supposed to be confused and frustrated because he didn't know who he was.but the way it played he always seemed angry.he then carried that trait from role to role and that's why i always see him as jeff clark no matter what character he's playing.

the fact that he was paired upon arrival with alexandra didn't do him any favors either.their acting styles were too different.her placidness contrasted to his beligerence was jarring.

another reason he might be so reviled is that there is a widely held belief in fandom that alexandra disliked working with him intensely and that he might have been a contributing factor in her decision to leave the show.
whether or not that's true only the key participants really know but grudges run deep with d.s. because the fans are so loyal to the characters they loved.