I finally watched the entire third arc all the way through last year, in the Spring. I enjoyed it, but some of the Harding Lemay scripts were so awful. One of the worst was maybe 2 or 3 weeks before the end. Cosette Lee obviously needed to take some time off, so Lemay wrote this scene where Raxl became invisible. It was never explained or accounted for and after that episode, she simply did not show up until somebody (I think Jacques, possessing Jean Paul) "summoned" her to return. When she reappeared everything that had happened to her during the preceding one to two months had been wiped out and she was back to being utterly EEE-vil.

It made no sense at all, but Cosette played it all with ferociously committed elan. I think I only like the series so much because I enjoyed Colin Fox and Cosette in their roles, hugely. I don't think most people care for any of it very much. I noticed when Danny Horn did a week about SP, he despised Raxl and Cosette's performance. I figured he would not get very far with it given that he did not care for her work on the show.

G.

Mark Perry (if I've got the name right--I am not familiar with his work, because as we all know, I live in a cave) has the good taste to quote Grayson Hall. He gets a Steve merit badge for that.

Let's be real--whether the series appeals to old guard fans or not is a fairly minor point in the greater scheme of things. I don't know what the target demographic of commercial TV is now, but I'd guess the most important market share now is around 15 to 35 year olds. If a significant share of that group doesn't tune in, the show is unlikely to last long. It's the CW again and I for one will be surprised if it airs at all, but who knows.

If DS takes off the way recent cult shows such as American Horror Show and Sabrina have done, then it could go gangbusters. One way those shows succeeded was by doing shorter seasons of only 10 or so episodes at a time, and I'd think the same will be true of the new DS if it is ordered to series. Just seems to be how the decision-making players run the game now.

G.

Thanks, Uncle Roger and Doctor and K9. The entire series used to be on Youtube but the final 13 weeks (episodes 136-195) are missing now, or were the last time I checked.

I love the characters of Vangie and Erica in the first 13 week storyline. In the second storyline, I think Irene and Laslo who are the main villains are a hoot. When they bring Tudi Wiggins back in an "is she or isn't she Erica?" storyline, it really is rather reminiscent of Angelique on DS.  The best scripts in the series show up in that second arc and were the work of one Cornelius Crane (which may have been a pseudonym--nobody knows) and Ron Sproat, who wrote the only really good scripts in the third arc. After a few weeks past episode 136, Harding Lemay (who went on to great fame in one of the prominent mainstream US network soaps) took over writing ALL the scripts--so it ended as it began, with one person writing all of it. And the plotting and writing really went downhill, though there were some good moments because of the actors. Cosette Lee, who played Raxl, really knew how to shred scenery in fine style. I adore her.

Best, Gothick

Wonderful! That photo from the Barrie play What Every Woman Knows is new to me. Great to see.

G.

This is a video of part of the 1980s production of Lillian Hellman's playThe Little Foxes starring Elizabeth Taylor (in a truly ghastly faux Southern accent). It was obviously shot by somebody with a camcorder in the audience. Humbert Allen Astredo appears, somewhere around the five minute mark I think. I haven't had the chance to do more than have a glance at it--he is debonair and flawless, as always.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_yi-Ga6Iy4&

G.

Another play in the same series... the bizarre story DARK OF THE MOON in which Tryon plays a lustful "Witch-boy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2bGUZoWRz4

G.

My friend posted a photo of himself holding a CD of the Barnabas Collins recording. I do not know if he got hold of a pre-release, or if the discs are coming out in advance of the online drop. I don't really have the interest to try and find out.

As I have commented frequently, the cover photos were the best part of those "books" for me. It was nice to see in my friend's photo that the disc art featured what seemed to be a decent color scan of the 1968 book cover.

G.