Just as a reminder, this show is based upon the life of John Whiteside ("Jack") Parsons, a real person who was a brilliant rocket engineer, a very thoughtful philosopher and metaphysician, and an inspired poet.

This is my favorite of the things he wrote.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060422141405/http://www.babalon.net/jwp/craft.html

I don't know how much on the show can be considered biographically accurate--if any of it. A friend of mine told me that you can sign up for "CBS All Access" (which, despite the name, requires a special subscription if you want to watch their content) for a month and then unsubscribe. Several people she knows have done it to watch specific programs.

G.

Either hilarious or potentially traumatizing... perhaps both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWer4JeA4OQ&t=38s

G.

Fan review. I'm curious about the newsreel footage of Frid's appearance at the White House in 1969 but it isn't even mentioned here.

From a fan on social media:

I've now watched the new MASTER OF DARK SHADOWS documentary and all the Blu-ray bonus features, and I'm kind of.......underwhelmed. I hope you enjoy it, but frankly I was disappointed. I learned absolutely nothing new. The new interviews repeated stuff I heard before and the archival interviews and clips I had already seen. The documentary also uses that fashionable moving background behind a still photo technique over and over again until it becomes annoying and everybody's name appearing in puffs of smoke gets old pretty quickly. I did like seeing Dan's kids. Dan's other work besides DS and Winds of War/War and Remembrance is given little or no attention. Even the disk's bonus features are somewhat disappointing. With the exception of Kathryn's brief visit to the former DS studio and control room, The Web (which I had already seen at a Dark Shadows Festival), and the Frid Dick Cavett Show audio that's been floating around the internet, the other features are essentially trailers and commercials. Here's Lucy, My Favorite Martian, The Mothers in Law, The Doris Day Show, etc. The few new DS-related clips are there to sell Kathryn and David's books and the Big Finish audios. I would rather have seen bonus feature footage of the Fest panels through the years or lengthy new cast interviews. Features about Dan's other work would also have been welcome. Your mileage may vary, but this package leaves me kind of flat.

G.

In a film group I'm on, a member posted a short review of this 1964 TV film which was recently released to home video:

https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the-ghost-of-sierra-de-cobre-special-edition-dvd

It was a pilot for a series featuring Martin Landau as a psychic investigator, not picked up by the network. An expanded version was released as a feature film.

There's an unfortunately jittery blue-tinged version of the original pilot on view here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfwZmLOLeFw&list=WL&index=108&t=4s

I could only watch up to the introduction of Judith Anderson's housekeeper--she really seems very Carlotta-like, down to the weird eyeshadow.

Presumably her over-the-top entrance means she resembles somebody known to the other character and this is spelled out in the remainder of the story.

G.

Here's a nice note about Julie Newmar's performance from a review on the Collinsport Historical Society blog:

But let’s get to the Catwoman-sized elephant in the room. Julie Newmar is absolutely incredible as The Second Dr. Julia Hoffman. Cleverly “regenerated” not unlike Andrew Collins’ (who also impresses in these opening installments) new Barnabas, Newmar folds into the cast beautifully with an honorable, very specific performance. Newmar’s timbre and line delivery is slightly odd and purists might be a bit off-put by a new actor playing Hoffman, but for my money, she’s perfect. There was only one Grayson Hall and there is only one Julie Newmar. But both of them stand well aside each other at the moment. I mean, it would have to take a true disaster for Newmar to ever disappoint me, but I really think you all will love her. I can’t wait to see what else she does with the good doctor.

G.

I personally think of this latest project as going beyond scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of marketing stuff related to the series. I'm surprised that they didn't start with the book BARNABAS COLLINS, given that other marketing strategies always start with the Barnabas character.

It's nice to see that some fans genuinely are excited about these, though.

G.

I really can't imagine... may Jerry and Julia and their family somehow find comfort in this dark time.

G.

Thanks, MB.

It seems as if with the current cult for HD and reconfiguring everything to the 16 x 9, HD standard, compounded with what seems to have been a precipitous loss of basic pre 1990 film culture (although it must also be said that more 20th century film material is now available with a higher standard of quality, overall, than has ever been the case prior to this date), the issues involved in curating and presenting material that would seem as generic as a hit WB TV series from the late 1990s (BtVS) prove to be surprisingly formidable.

Regard the above as somebody who's really out of touch with current media taking notes.

cheers, G.