Golly.  They really screened a Davis real estate video?  Whew.

We can get real estate commercials from Roger Davis, but no Grayson Hall Playtex commercial?  That's just wrong.

*insert Gothick frownie-face*

G.

Can someone refresh my memory and tell me who Ice-T is again?

I *think* he's a rap artist who dabbled in acting along the way.

I have a morbid curiosity to see that Sciography segment.  I remember thinking when they were sending out press releases asking for fans to be interviewed and they were looking for a fan who slept in a coffin and thought they were Barnabas or Angelique, "HELL will feeze over before *I* ever go before a camera for that bunch!"

cheers, G.

So, tonight is the new episode of Moonlight?  I might try to check it out.

Best wishes,

G.

Happy Birthday!

cheers!  Gothick

Good luck and best wishes.

G.

Fans,

Yesterday, I revisited the DVD Talk review of DS The Beginning collection III to help out a friend who's hoping to rent some Laura Collins episodes soon on his new Netflix account.  (From what I can determine, the third set ends before the introduction of Laura Collins in December of '66.)  Despite the hyperbolic language, I enjoyed the writer's description of our own beloved Big Lou, Louis Edmonds, and Mitchell Ryan in these classic shows.  A couple of corrections:  Louis WASN'T closeted (read the excellent biography of him, Big Lou, by the late, much lamented Craig Hamrick, to get more details about how blisteringly honest Mr. Edmonds was about his sexuality and every other aspect of his life), and however fey Roger's wardrobe may have occasionally seemed to the eye of a 2008 viewer, he was NEVER in drag.  (I sometimes think that Roger's PT 1970 counterpart occasionally sported invisible drag--but that's another story for another time).

The passage:

[...]episodes 71 to 105 truly belong to two people. The first is Big Lou - Louis Edmonds. A closeted homosexual in the days when being gay meant possible physical harm (not to mention industry blackballing), his Roger Collins is nothing more than a drag version of a spoiled rotten dandy. With a voice so clipped he could cut glass, and a mannerism so foppish he practically channels Oscar Wilde, Edmonds owns this storyline - and with good reason. Roger is the center of all the intrigue. He's the supposedly guilty party Burke is trying to blame. He's the source of young son David's ongoing homicidal streak. He uses Victoria as an alibi and then turns around and threatens her. And he pitches one mean hissy. Indeed, Edmonds makes many of these early installments, saving us from otherwise drab line readings and strained New York stage acting. The other creative catalyst is Mitchell Ryan. As the conniving and scheming Devlin, he does everything except chew the scenery - and that's only because Big Lou leaves very little backdrop behind when he finishes with a performance. Ryan is the manlier yin to Edmonds yang, and together they create an engaging cat and mouse.  (end)

The other thing that I would add is that as far as I'm concerned, all the members of the regular cast did stellar work in this part of the story.  I would particularly mention Joan Bennett who has some of her best scenes, and Alexandra Moltke who gets to play a much more knowing, thoughtful Vicki than we get to see later on.

Have a nice weekend, fans!

cheers, G.

Many happy returns to Humbert Allen Astredo!  One of the true greats.

G.

Mysterioso darling, Grayson Hall (Praise be upon Her Name!) mentioned in a fan interview tape recorded in March 1973 (btw, this is the same item that has circulated for years on the fan bootleg market as an interview taped in '74) that the ratings started to go down during the "Quentin/Petofi mind-switch thing."  I think she actually uses those words to describe it.  I can't recall whether she mentions that they received letters complaining about it or simply that the monthly figures were down during that time--probably both.

All sorts of arguments keep being mentioned about DS and the ratings and I have come to take all talk of such matters with more than just a scattering of salts.  I seem to recall years ago someone trotting out figures that showed that during the early 1967 Laura Collins storyline, the show actually had very respectable viewing figures, which calls into question the notion of the introduction of Barnabas saving a foundering show that had barely registered on anyone's radar theretofore.

Let the Count Petofi lovefest continue!  I just love the episode where Beth blurts out to the evilly gloating Count "you're mad!" and without missing a beat, he ripostes, "Perhaps so, but at the very least I am most far-sighted in my madness!"  Gotta love Petofi.

G.