These are all good questions, and I have no answers.

I have seen references in the PomPress books about the opening narration from the post Summer '67 period that it would be taken on by "anyone available, so long as they weren't in that first scene," but of course since Alex was doing ALL of them during the first year or so, they must have been able to allow for pre-recording in at least some cases (e. g., she was onscreen bound, gagged, and at the mercy of mad Matthew Morgan while her voice was reciting the latest sheaf of purple prose overhead). 

Since Alex was paid for doing those voiceovers even if she wasn't in the action of the episode, they may have expected her to come over specially each afternoon to do them.  Or she may have been able to do several at one go and then have them get added along with the music cues on Sybil's giant vinyl records during taping.

As for the billing, I don't think that was maintained consistently for the entire five years.  I've certain seen episodes where Grayson's name came first even if Joan was absent and there were other male actors on scene.

The whole thing about the contracts, or lack thereof, is a fascinating subject that I've heard various rumors about over the years.  Quite a few of the players on the show worked without a contract.

G.

Wow.  I'd love to hear anything you can report about what Dorothy MacGowan says.  If there is a q & a and you feel moved to do so, I would love to have you ask MacGowan what her memories were of working with Grayson.

Just so you know, Grayson is in the very beginning of the movie, and then there's about 45 minutes until her next scene.  A lot of the movie is a rambling pop-culture kind of filmic collage, sort of like the Beatles "Hard Day's Night" or "Darling" with Julie Christie or other films of the mid Sixties that had a certain Beat/Pop edge to them.

G.

What excitement!  Incidentally, I *loved* the Liz/Roger snapshot featured above--and it's delightful to see it again in this thread!  Superb choice, MB!

G.

Forgive the intrusion of the non-Depp content here, but reading this thread, I'm reminded of a fan questionnaire submitted to Grayson in which she was asked:  "What did you think the first time you saw yourself on screen?"  Her response was:  "I threw up!"

It was something she had in common with her friend Elizabeth Taylor, who notoriously threw up in her London hotel room after attending the Cleopatra premiere in '63.

G.

Agree with Midnite--the covers are simply fantastic.  Way to go!  That picture of Barnabas with his collar turned up hiding part of his face has always been a favorite of mine.  The makeup they used for that shoot was so weird.  I'm guessing they brought in someone from outside for that shoot because the look given Barn is so extraordinarily different from how Vinnie Loscalzo conceived the character.

Since Angelique is on the cover of the Vampire Curse one, I would presume that scenes from 1795 are included.  Angelique had better appear at least in a few scenes of the disc, otherwise they are luring consumers on with false advertising!

G.

Welcome back, my dear!  That movie sounds really fabulous.  I had read about it in Christopher Lee's autobiography and have seen references to it here and there.  Agree that Eric Portman is fab.

cheers, G.

Fans,

this two minute clip of a Richard Harris interview from the early 1970s, in which he discusses Marlon Brando's inability to remember lines and a couple of the techniques Brando devised for coping with that, reminded me of how some of the actors had to rely on the TelePrompTer rather heavily in order to get through the typical episode of DS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUMMPP--Zfc

I've read from other fans' reminiscences in earlier posts on this board that not only did the production unit have the TelePrompTer going; they also for at least some episodes had the lines written on big boards like the kind Richard Harris describes Brando using.

Mention of the TelePrompTer reminds me I've been meaning to do a post on the fascinating "Lara Parker Rehearsal Tape" segment on the final DS DVD set.  It gives an insight not only into use of the TelePrompTer for coordinating the Parallel Time segments in 1970, but also illustrates fascinatingly just how broad a Southern accent Lara still had in her regular speaking voice, at least when she was on the show.  I'm not a personal friend of hers, so for all I know, the "deep-fried" down-home accent comes back when she's with friends and family.  It's very cute.

G.

Hey Gerard,

I love the idea of the bathrooms at Collinwood (just because we never saw them doesn't mean that they weren't there--and you know that Liz had a TV in her bedroom, always just out of sight--she would retire to her room "to rest" at a certain hour of the afternoon and watch "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light" while enjoying a few treats from a box of chocolates)--being equipped with plumbing for the bathtubs through which sea water ran, like the bathrooms at the Astor place, "The Breakers," in Newport.

G.