SciFi, Passions and the new Doctor Who

[jeffreywj777]

I just saw that SciFi will be showing Passions starting next week at the 9:00 am time slot. I have seen the show referenced several times here on this board and just wanted to know what everybody thinks of it. I'll probably watch it for the first week at least just ot satisfy my curiosity.

Also for any Doctor Who fans, SciFi will start airing the new BBC version of Doctor Who starting on March 17th at 9:00 pm. I believe there are thirteen episodes in this first season set. SciFi might redeem themselves yet.

[Willie]

I watched Passions for two or three months when it first came out.  I found it breathtakingly boring.  After I lost interest in it, I would still watch one epsiode a week and not only did I not miss anything, I still found the pace of the storytelling to be extremely dull.  I think more happens in one episode of As The World Turns than in two weeks worth of episodes of Passions.  I've cought a few episodes recently and it looks to still be exactly the same.  I mean, two people can be standing in a room talking to each other for five straight epsiodes.  And the conversation is about absolutely nothing. 

Considering the advertisements they're showing on Sci-Fi make it look like some sort of supernatural thriller, there are going to be a whole lot of extremely disappointed people when they start watching it.

[Patti Feinberg]

I've seen a couple of minutes of Passions. Actually, because of MB's recent post on CE/A about a DS reference on Passions, just yesterday (Friday), I was actually alternating between OLTL and Passions. I agree somewhat dull; there did not seem to be alot of individuality. Perhaps that just takes time, but I believe Passions has been on for what, at least 5 years?

Passions on SciFi....INSTEAD OF DARK SHADOWS!!! Horror....Yet Another Reason NOT to Watch SciFi....a gypsy curse upon them!!!

Patti

[Ian]

Well, I will say that people who want something supernatural will eventually be disappointed. Even though Tabitha (the witch) is still on, the degree of the supernatural in it has really decreased over the years.

[David]

I am a regular Passions viewer. I admit it's a very slow paced show, but the early episodes are worthy of Sci Fi.

From it's debut on July 5, 1999 until August 2002, 75% of the show's stories dealt with the supernatural. It was all done darkly comic, toungue in cheek, like a cross between Dark Shadows & Bewitched. There were many bizarre homages to Hitchcock's Psycho & The Birds, Titanic, Cleopatra,  Wizard of Oz, plus stories about witches, demons, zombies,  and voyages to Hell itself. It was grand, and ended when actor Josh Ryan Evans (Timmy the Living Doll) died of heart disease. A big part of Passions died with him.

Though Tabitha the witch (Juliet Mills) is still on, only 25% of the show currently deals with spook stuff. The current episodes are unworthy of Sci Fi, but these early episodes, when the show truly rocked--will fit right in!

I suggest we support the Passions reruns, as that may be a way to get DS back on Sci-Fi.

David

[Gothick]

What I remember about Passions is Tabitha throwing her demonic ventriloquist-dummy child into the washer as punishment and an iris-insert of Juliet Mills telling the audience with a big wink not to try this at home.

I may be hallucinating again, but I seem to recall hearing that the boy who played Tommy died a couple of years ago.

It seems odd that Passions has lasted so long, but then one contemplates just how long Friends lasted.  From what I can determine, that show was about a lot of vapid people yapping about absolutely nothing.

G. the cranky Yankee

[Midnite]

I may be hallucinating again, but I seem to recall hearing that the boy who played Tommy died a couple of years ago.

... actor Josh Ryan Evans (Timmy the Living Doll) died of heart disease. A big part of Passions died with him.

[Gothick]

Golly, that's sad.  Thanks for letting me know.  I apologize if my flippant comments upset any of his fans.

G.

[victoriawinters]

It's worth tuning in just for Timmy.  He was a scene stealer.  David is correct, the show was not the same after him.

[David]

I started watching Passions about one year into the first run.
After Josh/Timmy died, I regretted not tuning in from day one.
These Sci-Fi reruns feel like a gift.
I'll be taping and keeping all the Tabitha/Timmy stuff.

I've now seen the first two eps.
A lot of it is set-up and character introduction.
But Tabitha has already appeared, as has an angel--an actual angel.
There are already many, many hints of supernatural horrors to come.

Come on folks, B & W DS eps are slow paced, but we love those eps anyway for the stories/characters.
For it's first 3 years, Passions was a bona-fide horror soap, with a little Bewitched thrown in.

Give it a chance!
And show Sci-Fi that we're still here so we can get DS back!!!

David

[Ian]

Also, just a note. Rarely on Passions (at least in the first three or so years), when supernatural stuff is happening, they play the DS theme.

Although I think they kind of stopped with it shortly after Timmy died.

[David]

The DS theme & other DS music were heard a lot during the first "Norma" story (picture Psycho's Norman Bates as an axe weilding lesbian, and you get Passions' Norma!!)

And, in later episodes, it was established~~twice~~that Tabitha once dated Barnabas Collins!!

David

[Barnabas'sBride]

I watched a very little bit of Passions (the beginning) way back when, and I didn't get into it the way I did DS. It came off too silly for me, and when it wasn't coming off silly, it was just too soap and I'm just not a fan of ordinary soaps. I never liked any of the characters either. I haven't watched it since.

[MagnusTrask]

I like 2 or 3 of the new 27th season of Dr Who.   Anything written by Russel T Davies is about worthless to me.

[michael c]

this is sort of off-topic but because they are "cult" shows with a fantasy angle d.s. is often lumped in with shows like 'doctor who' and 'star trek'.

both of these shows have been remade.especially 'star trek' which spawned several t.v. spin-offs and helped create a "world of star trek".

now this is just me but i'm glad that d.s. exists as a perfect time-capsule.i'm glad it was never spun-off into a "world" of cheaply produced,syndicated fantasy shows that clutter up the saturday afternoon t.v. schedule.
i think that would have been a shame.

i would welcome a new version of d.s.(in the form of a t.v. show or movie)but it would have to be really well produced and well done(i'm still waiting for that tim burton vision).to do anything less would cheapen the original i think.