I was thinking about the current relay of episodes earlier today and wondering:  "Hmmm.... episode 7 ... wonder whether Vicki's taken her coat off yet?"

I was amused just now to look through the Robservations slide show and see a scene with her and Burke where, sure enough, she's wearing the coat.  (Although I do think she had it off at some point in episode 6.)

Wonder whether anybody's ordered a "container of coffee" yet?

G.

I don't mind your comments, borgosi.  I myself have reservations about the project, but have been surprised at how many elements that actually tickle me (in a GOOD way) have come to light about it.  It is a 2011 Tim Burton/Johnny Depp feature film with more money undoubtedly set to be spent on it than was ever budgeted in all five years of the original series--and then some.  So, we know going in that it is going to be a very different animal from the Sixties series we all adore.  I personally think including Alice Cooper is kind of a stylish way of commenting upon the media image of the series back in the day--which had a weird disconnect, if you think about it, from how the shows actually played.  The media image in the Sixties was all about fangs, trippy Gothique scenes, groovy ghoulies, monster rallies.  The actual shows were much more about the chemistry of the actors together and the scripts that were sometimes incredible literate and layered, especially when compared with other 1960s daytime dramas.  So, Alice Cooper in the Blue Whale with scenesters rolling joints kind of comments on that element of the DS success story.  Do you know what I mean?

I'm actually rather fond of Dracula A.D. '72.  A funny fact about that movie is that the rock band in one of the early party sequences was actually a US midwestern born-again Christian rock band that someone at Hammer found--I guess they were touring in the UK.  There is a whole big article on them, and other aspects of the movie, in an issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors from a few years ago--check out the Little Shoppe website for info.

G.

Hi Dark Lady,  I think MB meant that Seaview itself has 65 rooms.  I have been there several times... there are a lot of rooms!

G.

Jean is fabulous in Life at the Top, which is also a treat for Avengers fans as it offers a juicy role for Honor Blackman.  Margaret Johnston, who we adore in Night of the Eagle aka Burn Witch Burn, is also on board.

And a very young Jean projects aching, anxious vulnerability in So long at the Fair.  Cathleen Nesbitt, rustling down the hallways endlessly in black bombazine with sinister flair, is something of a cross between Minerva Trask and housekeeper Hoffman on DS.  Excellent fare.  It was directed by Terence Fisher who went on to do a number of classic films at Hammer studios in the 1960s.

G.

Those shots on Chloe's site are really fantastic.  I have spotted even more architectural details from Seaview incorporated into this design.  Phenomenal!

Thanks, MB!

G.

The announcer mentioned that the original recording of the DS theme was accomplished on "a Yamaha keyboard with a string attached" because they couldn't find a theremin player in NYC.  Fascinating!  I had never heard that.

Is "House of Despair" a title given to one of the DS cues, Midnite?  I really need to pick up that big box set...

xo G.

I just love Maggie's line to Vicki about that lovely hair of yours turning "one glorious shade of grey" after her stay at the Great House.

What a wonderful start to the series!  And if asked why we're still watching forty-five years later, we can all quote the Mistress of Collinwood:  "Because I *choose* to do so!"

cheers, G.

Happy 45, DS.  Here's looking at you, kid.

*raising glass*

Gothique