Hi Philippe,

The first box in the Collector's series (i. e. the very first episodes aired in June-August 1966) is also on sale for $24.99, I believe.  I finally ordered the set and it arrived on Saturday.  I had a lovely hour test-driving the discs; love the new menu and Alexandra's interview footage (which is new to me, but I think had been previously released, perhaps on the videotapes?).

A funny thing to me is that the music they use for the menu is music I always associated with Angelique.  One of the cues is one I always think of as "Angelique's spellcasting music" and another one (the one that pops up when you click on the episode guide menu) I call "Angelique's evil delight!"

To me, this music tells the viewer:  "we know that THESE discs are all about the beginning of Victoria's journey ... but keep watching ... there's a WITCH in her future!"

We Ancient Blood fans do have our ways...

G.

Hey Taeylor, of course I don't mind at all.  You write brilliant, witty, amusing posts, and I'm proud to have you for my "Cousin" in the Shadows!

Just to set the record ... straight (?!?!?!?!?!) (and Dear God, please do not let that string of punctuation turn into one of those sickening smilies), I was told by a veteran DS fan of the Ancient Blood (as am I)--for the new folks who may be reading, this means a fan who was around in the 1960s for the original broadcast of the series--that he had heard from a friend that Don Briscoe had done a shoot for Colt Magazine, a publication popular amongst a certain select circle back in the day.  Given the nature of that remarkable magazine, we may presume that Don appeared in the best apparel nature could have provided for him--i.e., his birthday suit.  Unfortunately, 1960s issues of that magazine are rare as the proverbial hen's teeth, although there are archival collections--one at Cornell that I know of--where we may finally be able to track down more information regarding this rumor.

So, it wasn't really Gothick just erm, um, *fantasizing* *wink* about such images--although I have to admit that since hearing the tale, I HAVE amused myself mightily by imagining with all the vivid powers at my command just how special those photographs could be!

cheers!  G.

What a fab little article.  I like it that our gang is lumped together with Miss Kenneth Anger.  Collinwood Babylon, anybody?  (It would make a great fanfic!)

MB, your new avatar is SERIOUSLY scaring me.

G.

Wow, Doctor and K-9, these REALLY bring back the memories!  When these strips were coming out, I was BEREFT due to the loss of my all-time favorite show.  The Sunday comics really helped console me.  They were much better than the Gold Key Comics.  I gave my copy of the book that collected all the strips to a friend who is a gifted young artist and a lifelong fan of DS.

My local paper stopped carrying the strip when a story was beginning that I think involved people from the Caribbean--sort of Strange Paradise meets DS!

cheers!  Steve

As I think MB commented in an earlier post, the pacing of the story in the early episodes of this show mirrors the pacing in some other DC ventures, notably hoDS and the Jack Palance Dracula movie.  Not just the pacing, but in some cases whole stretches of dialogue and shot set-ups were copied near-verbatim from those earlier works.

I think by 1990-91, the vampire genre had reached a point where the old structure that was exploited so brilliantly in earlier shows--of having suspense building around a series of mysterious attacks and an undiagnosed "illness" suffered by a heroine--ultimately traced back to the chapters of Dracula about Lucy's "illness"--was perceived as no longer really working.  Besides hoDS, in 1970 the feature film Count Yorga, Vampire quickly established that vampires were on the loose, and the "theme" of the movie was not so much one of suspense as horror created by a sequence of luridly constructed vampire set-pieces.  This re-tooling of the genre had been pioneered by Hammer studios in their early films (Horror of) Dracula, Brides of Dracula, and Kiss of the Vampire. 

Between the early 1970s and 1990, you had the explosion of the Anne Rice phenomenon, as well, which radically changed the face of the gothic vampire genre.  So, bear that in mind when evaluating these shows.

From what little I have read about the behind the scenes stuff at NBC,  when it came to the horror quotient in the story, the studio suits wanted more, faster, harder.  Dan Curtis never needed much encouragement to up the ante in the "blood, carnage and fangs" department.  (Or, as Grayson once said lovingly, "Dan has a real genius for SPOOK.")

I look forward to the critique of the next episode--if memory serves (my single viewing of it was on VHS ca. 1997), they REALLY let the blood spatter in that one.

G.

MB, your comments about Joe Haskell's lack of "involuntary" movement while sleeping gave me quite a giggle.  Thanks for the fun--it 's been a rather draggy weekend otherwise.

Am I imagining it or is there a scene coming up where we get to see Michael T. Weiss naked from behind?  Ah, a charming county Derry Air *wink*

G.

Sounds wonderful, Gerard.  I wonder whether the Queen Vicki will make a stop in Crete. I long to visit the Minoan ruins there.

If you stop in Samos, don't forget to sample the delicious local white wine (if you drink, that is!) and visit the ruins of the Temple of Hera, once one of the most beautiful in all Greece.

cheers!  Steve