DS Revival Series -- Sigh

[ShadowsAtlanta]

I never quite figured out where this Daphne fit into the family.  Was she supposed to be David's sister?

Her name was conceived to be Daphne Stoddard, Liz' niece. That would have also made her Carolyn's cousin, but with no blood relation to David. However, when the prop department made her gravemarker, they mistakenly made it out as "Daphne Collins," and for whatever reason they decided to just leave it that way rather than make another. So, Daphne became a Collins of unknown relationship. 

Ahhhhh, okay.  Thanks for the info -- now I don't feel quite so dense.    

[IluvBarnabas]

The revival was okay, it did have that gothic feeling to it, but I feel it really can't compare favorably to the original series.

First of all the actors: Ben Cross was okay as Barnabas, but definitely not in the same league as Jonathan Frid, who made Barnabas such a complex and fascinating character.

I didn't particularly like Barbara Steele's Julia Hoffman, too cold and very selfish....I didn't like that she was gonna betray Barnabas and turn him back into a vampire just because he preferred Victoria to her. Can't really blame Barnabas for wanting to get even with Julia after that.

I actually liked Joanna Going as Victoria/Josette....she brought both characters to life in her own way...I would compare her performances to those roles very favorably to Alexandra Moltke and Kathryn Leigh Scott's.

Definitely didn't like Jim Fyfe's Willie Loomis....he made him into a total moron....in the original series Willie may not have been the smartest guy around but he was a heck of lot more complex that. John Karlen made Willie Loomis a 3-dimentional character, whereas Jim's Willie was strictly one-note.

Juliana McCarthy was okay as Mrs. Johnson/Abigail Collins, but I definitely prefer Clarice Blackburn in both roles.
While I may not have liked Abigail (regardless of who played her) Clarice was simply brilliant. Her Abigail was such
a self-rightous old biddy but she really did believe in her religion. The newer Abigail I did not get that impression..
she just wanted to have things her own way and have anyone and everyone agree with her.

Roy Thinnes was fine as Roger (though Louis Edmonds will always be tops) but he sucked as Trask. He did not
make me hate him as much as Jerry Lacy made me hate his Reverend Trask. Thinnes' Trask came off as too
over-the-top and came off more hysterical rather than evil.

Jean Simmons, other than Joanna Going, is the one performer I feel was an equal to her predecessor. Jean brought the same elegance and strength that Joan brought to the role....it would have been interesting to see
how Jean would have done in regards to the Elizabeth/Jason storyline.

But you know the original was a daytime show, the revival a nighttime show....the revival only had 12 episodes...we never did really get to know most of the characters a whole lot.....maybe if it had been renewed
it would have been different. But the stories and execution all felt rushed....

Just my two cents.

[retzev]

Wow - we're in perfect agreement 

Well, almost, anyway. I liked Steele's interpretation of Hoffman. Otherwise, spot-on.

[Barnabas'sBride]

I liked Barbara Steele, too. She was colder and more subtle, but I thought she worked. She wasn't trying to channel Grayson Hall. She brought her own performance to the table, and it worked, IMHO.

I thought Joanna Going was perfect. It's a shame I wasn't able to take to Ben Cross, because I like the way the romance between Barnabas and Victoria was written in the revival.

[BuzzH]

I liked Barbara Steele, too.

I liked her as Natalie, but not her Julia.  So far I haven't seen anyone who can portray Julia as good as The Divine One.    The chick on the WB pilot, forget about it!  

[Widows Wail]

And from what I heard back in the day, Adrian Paul was slated to play Quentin.

Adrian Paul could play a lamp post and I'd watch. I vaguely remember AP gave interview in which he stated he would have played Quentin had the series not been axed. As a fan from his Highlander days there is no doubt in my mind he would have pulled off Quentin well.

[Joeytrom]

The series seemed to me to be more of a remake of HoDS, even an expanded version of it, rather than of the original show.  It lacked the subtlety of '66-'71 and got right into the "meat" of a vampire on the loose, just like the movie, with cops running around with crosses and wooden stakes and a shocked community having no choice but to accept the fact that there really are such things.  Now, that works in a two-hour movie, but not on a TV series designed to carry on for several seasons.  On the original, it worked because no one, save very few, ever thought that a creature like that was on the prowl, only that it was some psychotic serial killer.  On the remake, how would they handle it?  It's not like everyone would forget that some living-dead monster was terrorizing their town and now all is hunkey-dory.

But I did appreciate the attempt, and for all its warts, I missed it when it left the air after only one season.

[spoiler]Thats one of the problems with the revival series,  Daphne was made into a vampire and staked by the sheriff and police with the full knowledge of her family and the town.  They also were aware there was another vampire around who made her that way.  Yet they did forget this fact and everything was hunkey-dory-- they even had a gala costume party not too soon after this![/spoiler]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

[spoiler]Thats one of the problems with the revival series,  Daphne was made into a vampire and staked by the sheriff and police with the full knowledge of her family and the town.  They also were aware there was another vampire around who made her that way.  Yet they did forget this fact and everything was hunkey-dory-- they even had a gala costume party not too soon after this![/spoiler]

Actually, the show made it clear that months (I believe at least three) had passed between the time [spoiler]Daphne was destroyed and any idea of the costume party came up.[/spoiler] People believed the vampire was somehow gone.

[Widows Wail]

Apparently I missed the post about the actors/actresses. Everyone was ok except Lysette. She acted floozy when doing the spells. I didn't care for it. There wasn't one drop of evil acting coming from her like Lara performed. Lara knew how to be a witch. Lysette didn't and I couldn't picture that show continuing with her as Angelique. I don't think she was the right actress for the part.

Let's face it, sometimes no one but the original will do........and there is only one Lara Parker.

And there is only one Grayson Hall.

Barbara Steel too many times seemed like she was talking a page from the acting days of the old silent films with all the eye rolling and all the emotions she tries to register on her face every 5 seconds. The scenes I hate the most is where [spoiler]Barnabas is turning into the ancient vampire and Willie is bring Dr Hoffman to the House House in the rain. BSteele does everything but stand on her head to keep her face in the camera.....[/spoiler]

All in all I liked the revival series and wish  they had been about to keep it on for at least a few seasons. JMHO

[Zahir]

I'll click on my soapbox icon for this.  

The revival had its good points and bad.  I was impressed with the new Willie and his relationship with Mrs. Johnson.  Joanna Going is an extremely talented actress who, IMO, has not had anywhere near the career she deserves.  Ben Cross had some nice moments, but frankly he played a vampire as little more than a collection of snarls.  Lysette Anthony is a good actress, but Angelique was a more interesting character when she had some grey to her, rather than unrelentingly evil worthy of Basic Instinct (but with magic).

I had two real problems with the show.  First, it was in essence nothing more than a remake of the original stories but in a rushed sort of way.  As a result, it felt rather like a stitched-together collection of highlights from the series and the first movie.  Methinks this was also something wrong with the first new TREK series, which so often seemed like a retread of something from the 1960s rather than a modern show aired as the same time as BABYLON 5 or after milestones like BLAKE'S SEVEN.  For example, in 1969 we might believe a vampire would kill someone and just leave their corpse lying around somewhere.  But isn't that in fact rather stupid?  Almost as stupid (and this one really bugged me) as leaving the door to the room where you keep your coffin UNLOCKED DURING THE DAYTIME?? ?? ?? ?

My other problem was some of the changes which I disliked.  Does that seem a contradiction?  Well, simply, I didn't want change for the sake of change.  I wanted good changes.  Having Victoria and Josette reincarnations of each other did not work, IMO.  One of the wonderful initial conflicts within Barnabas was always his longing for the past versus living in the present.  This was so wonderfully made clear by how he tried to turn a girl into someone she isn't (Maggie), as opposed to his attraction to a real woman right there, in the present (Victoria).  The whole reincarnation thing didn't seem to mean anything at all.

[Midnite]

Zahir, welcome!
 

[Uncle Roger]

The NBC series had its moments. The superior production values and location shooting actually worked against it, as it failed to capture what Jonathan Frid called the "dark Brigadoon".

Jim Fyfe and Lysette Anthony did as best as they could. He is hampered by a character that would be a good friend of Lenny and Squiggy. She is hampered by that Pepe Le Pew accent. Jean Simmons gives the show a touch of class but she really doesn't have much to do.

Joanna Going, Veronica Lauren, Julianna McCarthy and Michael T. Weiss do some very good work, in some cases surpassing the original cast. Barbara Steele is quite good as well. Michael Cavanaugh's Maine accent is pretty good but, unfortunately, out of place.

Loved the idea of Maggie as a combination of Stokes and pansy Faye. A Maggie/Laura showdown would have been great. Roy Thinnes was okay as Roger but those Trask eyebrows were amazing. Ben Cross seemed miscast to me. Maybe Timothy Dalton?

I got quick a kick out of Barbara Blackburn. She brought a touch of humor to the show. Her portrayal of Millicent as a spoiled bitch, along the lines of Cybill Shepard, was one of the highlights for me.