Luciaphil darling, thanks for another sharply-written overview!  I just love reading what you have to say about these shows.

I really missed Francis Swann after his departure from the series.  That said, I recall finding the scene of Mrs Johnson telling Burke about the revelation of Matthew's guilt in the death of her beloved Bill Malloy strangely lacking in emotional punch.  I'm not sure what expected from Mrs J in this day's show; a vitriolic calling-down of the forces of Biblical Nemesis upon Matthew's head, perhaps; a lament for Bill's feckless faith in those no-good Collinses, perhaps; even, perhaps tears and a sense of regret for the great loneliness she feels all over again with the irrevocable fact of Mr. Malloy's death.  The little scene in Burke's room at the seedy Collinsport Inn is so much less than any of that.  The excellent scene between Mrs J and devious Davey does make up a little for the disappointment I felt here, but only partly so.

I really regret the dumbing-down of Mrs J's character.  As originally written (and I think she was more or less the creation of Francis Swann?)  she was a marvelously realistic summing-up of the kind of nosey biddy who tends to make stirring the shit her personal business in every small town.  I would have loved to have heard the original Mrs J's observations upon the 1967 antics of Barnabas and Julia...

I wonder whether something happened to the original tape of the second show, and what you're seeing is that, in fact, they were all tired and anxious to go home.  I seem to recall one of the books mentioning that at least once, there was a technical problem with a tape and they had to work on Sunday, or something, to make it up.

G.

What I remember about Passions is Tabitha throwing her demonic ventriloquist-dummy child into the washer as punishment and an iris-insert of Juliet Mills telling the audience with a big wink not to try this at home.

I may be hallucinating again, but I seem to recall hearing that the boy who played Tommy died a couple of years ago.

It seems odd that Passions has lasted so long, but then one contemplates just how long Friends lasted.  From what I can determine, that show was about a lot of vapid people yapping about absolutely nothing.

G. the cranky Yankee

Connie, you're a genius!!!

in adoration,

Steve

Hey Penny Dreadful, I honestly don't recall the details, but what I do remember is that a lot of gossip was bandied about (which per Board regulations can't be discussed here, but perhaps someone will fill you in via PM).  I had a bad feeling about that thing from the get-go, and I know some fans who participated in it in good faith--it really left a BAD taste in everybody's mouth.

It all reminds me of this time at one of the old DS convocations when Joan Bennett was still living.  Joan was sitting on stage when KLS was taking a starry-eyed trip down memory lane about what a wonderful place DS to work and what a warm, caring, family feeling there was amongst cast and crew. Apparently, Joan gave one of her famous sharp looks, raised an eyebrow and said "WHAT show did you say you were on again, Dear?"  LOVE to have seen that...

G.

Just to point out....

[spoiler]In Quentin's "original" death, it was Beth who shot him, not Judith.    Beth did know that Q was a werewolf, so for all I know she used silver bullets.  The "flashback" does not reveal how Q "originally" came to be walled up dead in his own room.  Barn has a line where he says something like "we can't answer all the questions now."  I think that goes double for the DS writers and the whole Quentin Collins storyline.  If you factor in temporal paradox, it's all enough to make your head not just scratchy, but do a full on Regan-and-pea-soup spin.[/spoiler]

In my own experience of watching Dark Shadows, I long ago gave up trying to have the story make too much sense.  I find it is more fun if I just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Cheers, Gothick

I have an interview with Violet Welles somewhere or other--I believe it was published in TWODS, but it may have been in "Inside the Old House."  It's true that she was a publicist, and she even worked on one of Grayson's plays (might have been "The Love Nest"?).  She was also a ghost-writer, and would handle some of Gordon Russell's workload when he got too frazzled to deal with it.  I believe he suggested that she talk to Dan Curtis about becoming a staff writer for DS, but I'm not sure when that happened.  Gordon Russell began writing for the show in, I think, the Summer of 1967, so it may be that she already wrote some scripts back then--they would have had his byline, however.  (On the topic of ghost writers, there's a fascinating article about playwright Robert Patrick's work out in LA in this capacity; it's a lucrative line for writers who want the freedom to pursue their own work.)

Welles officially stopped writing for DS in, I think, some point of the Parallel Time 1970 storyline, but she came back to do a lot of the scripts for the Parallel Time 1841 sequence.  Again, I think most, if not all, of these scripts had Gordon Russell's name on them.

G.

I would love to see a panel honoring Grayson Hall at the 40th anniversary Dark Shadows Festival!

I look forward to the author receiving a standing ovation for her hard work and dedication to this project! Let's hear it for RJ!

I agree that a selection of clips would be more appropriate than screening entire episodes.

It goes without saying that if there's anything I can do to assist, I rely upon you to say the word!

Best, Steve