What a cool idea--and how delicious to have refined discussions about the shows!  I'm willing to give it a shot.

As for SoapNet, the people I know who are into current television (as I think I have mentioned before, I've officially given up on it, although I just started watching a newish show called Life on Mars that a friend was kind enough to send me on videotape) all have TiVo, one of the forces pushing the VCR into the graveyard of the dinosaurs.  Knowing that they pour hundreds of dollars per month into the tube makes me feel almost virtuous when I occasionally buy a beloved series on DVD.

cheers, G.

Well, Grayson said in the '73 fan interview tape that the script had to be changed on the day of taping because Frid refused to say the final dialogue line about the possibility of Melanie having been attacked by a vampire.  He felt that the line "made fun of Barnabas" if he delivered it.

As I believe Buzz indicated, Mr. Frid did very few of the opening voiceovers, and the ones he did were fairly late in the game--I seem to recall first hearing him do one in a 1970 episode.  Thayer David, on the other hand, had a massive side career in voiceovers.  He discusses this in Ron Barry's interview with him (great tape).  As a viewer at the time, it seemed natural to me that Thayer did the closing voiceover, I think because I primarily identified him with Professor Stokes and I could imagine Stokes summing everything up because that just seemed to be a natural role for him to take.

I guess it would have been nice to have had Alexandra return to do the final voiceover, but it would also have reminded everybody how Vicki's original storyline got pretty abruptly canned once they started up with Barnabas.  It would have been really neat to have had Vicki return in a final 1971 storyline to finally learn the answer to the question of her parentage.  Ah well, we can dream!

G.

Belated birthday wishes, Robin!  I'm so glad you had such a happy time in Vegas.

And let's hear it for Bugsy!  It warms my heart that you believe in your puppy's goodness.

hugs, Steve

Mrs. J is  seen in, I think, one of the early Quentin episodes (from early 1969) scrubbing tiles in front of a hearth in one of the bedrooms.  It was shortly after this that Dr. Julia Hoffman informed another resident of the Great House that Mrs J was "a neurotic hysteric" (I think that was the deathless phrase).

Mrs J also [spoiler]inadvertently caused Eric Lang's death by bursting in on Cassandra who was busy with a voodoo doll and a needle.  Cassandra had left a note for the redoubtable housekeeper asking if she and Roger could have breakfast later than the crack-of-dawn hours set for the rest of the household.  I also remember that Mrs J barked at Cassandra "I only have two arms and two hands!"  I always thought it would be fun if Cassandra smiled beguilingly and murmured, "We could change that, my dear--but not as you might have wished!"[/spoiler]

As we've discussed several times in the past, during the original broadcast I barely noticed Mrs J, but watching the show as an adult, Clarice Blackburn's performance in the role is one of the great delights of the series!

G.

Welcome, Mrs McGuire!  That's fabulous that the local library is collecting Dark Shadows.

Another good site for finding the DVDs cheap is DeepDiscountDVD.  They sometimes run sales where you can purchase a set for around $33 which is pretty amazing.  Thanks to them I've actually been able to buy several sets of the show.

G.

LOVE the photo of "bedhead Barnabas" (oh, I know I'm bad) and in a pink bathrobe--swanky!

Glad to hear the old dear is doing well and keeping the flag flying at 82!!

cheers, Gothick

My roommate still uses the rabbit ears.  I've officially given up on broadcast TV although a friend of mine has been taping the new Dr. Who which I watch (I'm still halfway through Christiopher Eccleston) so I guess I'm cheating.

Thanks, Buzz, for posting this.  I'd figured out that the shift was to Digital, not HD, but in running a Google search I discovered that a lot of the consumers who are aware of the 2009 cutoff date are confused on this point.  Since it's Digital, that means that old shows on video will still be available to broadcasters, so long as they are in digital format--like our DVDs from the Dark Shadows master reels.

G.