Several people on the IMDB boards for this series are describing it as an out-and-out remake of Forever Knight.

It's actually on a channel that I receive so I may have a look to see just how awful it proves to be (Blood Ties certainly set an unusually low benchmark for awfulness in vampire series).

G.

I watched those shows on the original b'cast in 1970 and the vampire's identity really came out of left field for me.  I actually remember that scene where the unknown vampire was influencing Julia into a doze and we saw the creature as a shadowy figure and I swear it looked as if "he" was wearing a sombrero and a cape and I remember thinking, "Oh My God, the Cisco Kid has become One of the Living Dead!!!"  (some may not have a clue regarding the humor in this)

1970 was kind of the banner year for Lesbian Vampires, wasn't it?  The Vampire Lovers and Daughters of Darkness (starring out own Johnny Karlen) were both filmed in that year, and soon after followed a bevy of films such as Les Vampyres and Vampyros Lesbos and then the lesbian sequence in Count Yorga Vampire... it was quite a fad for a time.

I really wish they had done at least one scene between Maggie and her Vampire Mistress.  I noticed that when Julia fell victim to the same Vampire in 1840, they were very careful never to show the two together and Julia being dominated, both psychically and perhaps sensually, by another woman.

They could show John Yeagar licking Maggie Collins' necklace but they couldn't show THAT.

G.

John Karlen as Kendrick is *luscious* but just doesn't have all that much to do.  Particularly after a certain plot development.  His scenes with Nancy Barrett are a highlight of the remainder of DS.

I forgot to mention that this period (really the entire final 12 months of the series, but this period in particular) was, for MANY years, a Holy Grail for fans, because up until I think around 1993, this period had never been syndicated out or shown on television in any form and what fans had to go on for it were publicity photos, stills and people's Dark Shadows Journals (also, some people had taped each episode at home and then lovingly preserved the tapes--I think those fan cassette tapes were used to replace dialogue that was missing on the master tapes, most notably in the missing episode towards the end of the series).

When fans finally got to see it again (I think on Sci Fi; if memory serves, the Sci Fi airing pre-dated the VHS release of these shows, but I could be wrong about that), it was a huge rush for oldtime fans and probably something the like of which DS fans will never see again.  I think this may be part of why the reaction to how certain developments was handled in 1840 has proven so durably extreme in fandom--that, and the nature of the crowning denouement of 1840, which a lot of fans find simply unacceptable (in various ways, of course).

As for the Summer of 1970, what I don't get is why they set up such a different backstory from events as they actually staged them in 1840.  I can only presume that the writers were working under their own reconnaissance and then at some point DC came in and saw what was planned and yelled, "A shipboard romance on THIS show?  Whaddya think our budget is--the national debt???" Or words to that effect.

cheers, G.

Things I adore about 1840:

The incredible Virginia Vestoff and her scorchingly brilliant work as Samantha

Joan Bennett's *initial* characterization as Flora (who all too quickly turns back into Reigning Dowager of Collinwood--but Joan does get to have some fun first!)

Nancy Barrett's return as another Faye--Leticia (presumably Pansy's Grandmother???)

The *initial* Judah Zachery storyline (I won't mention here where I think it jumps the shark since it involves a *major* spoiler)

There are some other moments that shine involving specific scenes but, again, as this involves major spoliation, I won't bring them up here.

Chris Pennock is really brillaint as Gabriel, too, although I find that a little bit of the character goes a long way.

Hope you enjoy watching the shows!  I gather you've never seen PT 1841, either?

G.

Lydia, you're a genius!

laughing hysterically,

G.

Twenty-five years of smiley faces.

How simply, sickeningly, gut-wrenchingly ... lovely.

G. (can you tell I'm clenching my teeth?)

I love to think of Grayson cooking up a Mexican lunch for Clarice with perhaps Constance Ford (another very distinguished actress in soaps--her role in the late 1950s soapy flick The Summer Place was priceless) as a fellow guest.   I love the scene during Tom Jennings storyline where Julia asks Mrs J to darken the room for her--great stuff!

Of course Jules did describe Mrs J as a "neurotic hysteric" or something equally cutting and unkind when Mrs J was simply reporting what she was seeing during the days of Quentin's haunting at Collinwood...

Clarice brought so very much to her roles on the show, but it's nice to know that afterwards she enjoyed even greater artistic fulfillment in her new career as a writer.  Clarice's performances are one of the *many* reasons why I'm glad I get to see the Shadows shows again as an adult.  I really didn't have a proper appreciation of her as a child.

G.

Oh, I remember this well!  I remember being stunned when I realized that Art Wallace was writing the thing in real time, so that with each episode we more or less got another half hour of Vicki's adventrue-filled first night and day at Collinwood.

This is basically why Alex had to wear that damned coat for what seemed like a week...

G.