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.

Greetings, fans,

I've read that the US government has passed legislation requiring all broadcasts in the US to switch over to "HD" standard by 2009.  Given something Darren wrote a couple of weeks ago about the basic requirement for content broadcast in HD, I'm wondering whether this means that old shows that were done on tape will no longer be able to be transmitted because of the low grade of their video bands.  I can't recall the numbers but I have read that old video is WAY below the acceptable numbers for HD.

If this is true, I am presuming that as of 2009, there will no longer be any prospect of DS broadcasts on ANY channels in the US.  I am quite curious as to what the results of this shift will be.  I always said that if you took television away from the American people, revolution will result.  As of 2009, from what I can understand, non HD sets will no longer be able to receive any signal whatsoever, which will cut out a sizable chunk of the US population that either can't afford to purchase HD equipment or refuses to do so for whatever reason.

cheers, Gothick

I don't think it's been posted here, but Jack Palance's characterization in Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde strongly influenced the whole Cyrus Longworth/John Yeagar scenario on DS in the Parallel Time 1970 storyline.  Of course, Chris Pennock brought very much his own energy to the role, but I seem to recall the Yeagar makeup being a pretty clear variation upon the makeup Palance was given for Mr. Hyde in the 1968 video.

I believe,too, that besides Quentin's theme, one of Pansy Faye's theme songs was first heard in the soundtrack of Jekyll/Hyde.

Jack Palance did a fun film in England in the early 1970s called Craze.  I think it was directed by Herman Cohen and was sort of a remake of Horrors in the Black Museum but with a voodoo twist--and there's a gay subtext, too.  It's very over-the-top and really does not make any sense but it's a lot of fun for a rainy night.  The immortal Diana Dors has a small role in it, too.

G.