Wonderful to see these again. I have to explain to people now that I'm a semi-amnesiac. There's actually no "semi" about this one--I had no memory of it at all!

G.

Of interest to some of you. The article mentions Dana Gould, who Wikipedia tells me is a comedian. I'm not sure why this conversation has the epochal import Wallace describes in his blurb; I leave that to you, gentle reader, to discern.

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2019/06/dark-shadows-fall-on-fangoria-in-july.html

As the article states, the editor of Fangoria will be discussing the John August screenplay next month on the new Collinsport Historical Society podcast. For those curious about the original script, it should be an interesting discussion.

G.

Nancy Barrett, Thayer David, and Grayson Hall probably played the largest number of different characters over time. Nancy played Carolyn, Millicent, Charity, Charity-possessed-by-Pansy aka Pansity, PT Carolyn, half-mad old Carolyn, Laetitia, Melanie, and Amanda--a total of 9 characters.

But Thayer actually surpassed that record: he portrayed Matthew Morgan, Ben, Eliot, Sandor, Count Petofi, Petofi with Quentin's spirit trapped in his body, evil PT Tim Stokes (in some ways the most impressive performance of all--it was a master class in acting virtuosity), old Eliot, old Ben Stokes, Mordecai Grimes, and PT Ben Stokes. I make that a staggering total of 11 different characters/characterizations.

No wonder Frid felt frustrated that all he ever got to do was play Barnabas until nearly the end of the series.

G

I watched the first ten minutes or so and it reminded me so much of plays we did when I was in high school.

It was not really my cup of tea, but it's nice that the fan who wrote and performed in it has made it available for people to enjoy.

MB, you'll be interested to know that the author/star got into the 1960s series as a result of watching the Burton/Depp film at a friend's house. The movie made her curious about the original show and she immediately became addicted. The play she wrote was the eventual result.

G.

I'm glad Barnabas is on the cover, but in some ways it's even nicer to see Cesar Romero's classic incarnation of the Joker from BATMAN get such prominent display.

Cesar is how I always think of the Joker, but usually on websites these days his portrayal, if mentioned as all, is simply treated as ... a joke.

G.

MB, that Highcliffe Manor video clip was put together by my buddy Curt, who also maintains a blog for Strange Paradise. If you look through his Youtube channel, Maljardin, he's done a number of fascinating videos over the years, often compiling ephemera for various series. I think he did one for Green Hornet a month or two ago.

G.

I recently listened again to one of Jonathan's 1983 Manhattan Shadows appearances where he reminisced, none too fondly, about how the first year on DS was "absolute hell" for him because of all the lines.

I think it was finally revealed after his death that he lived with a learning disability.

G.

The pilot is accessible on archive dot org, but I don't know if google shows that as an early search result.

Strange indeed that fabulous Jessica Chastain would be identified as "Dark Shadows actress" given how many high-profile projects she's done since then. I thought she was utterly mind-blowing in CRIMSON PEAK.

G.