Thanks for posting these.  Golly, I would have loved to have seen Joan in Bell, Book, and Candle.  I wonder whether she played the lead, or one of the supporting roles?  I seem to recall that the character played by Hermione Gingold in the movie does not appear on stage in the play.

In the old days, those touring companies were known as "bus and truck" tours--the actors on the bus, the scenery and such on a truck--and Joan says in her autobiography that the actors themselves used to call them "buck and truss" because of the stiff muscles and sore backs everyone had to deal with in those long hours on the bus!

G.

MB, you are correct about the chronology.  There is a letter from late Summer of '67 to Mrs. Frid where JF mentions DC taking him aside and revealing the plan to go back in time and reveal how Barnabas came to be a vampire.

I'd really like to know when the story conference that produced the full blown outline for 1795 happened, given how a very different chronology and outline of events was discussed in episodes that were taped only a month or LESS before the start of the 1795 story.

I have also never seen any inkling of Robert Gerringer playing Jeremiah in any publication about the history of Dark Shadows.  Jeremiah's putative resemblance to Burke Devlin was mentioned soon after Anthony George took over the role, IIRC.  There were several episodes in which Barnabas made great play of the fact.

G.

Thanks for checking on this, Midnite.  What a nuisance about that website no longer giving scheduling info more than a day in advance!

I occasionally wonder how folks without net access manage ever to know when or what is EVER on the tube these days...

G.

What more fitting an emblem for the Mysterious Benefactor to bear than the True Sovereign of Dark Shadows--the Silver Filigree Fountain Pen.

It is little known that the origin of Barnabas Collins lay in a desperate attempt by TPTB to come up with something as popular as the Silver Filigree Fountain Pen storyline.  But sadly, even with the renown of Barnabas, the show never regained the pop-cultural cachet it held during that fabulous Autumn of 1966.

I heard that Jackie Susann planned a sequel to Valley of the Dolls, Summit of the Silver Pen, but ABC brass got wind of it, played hardball and threatened to sue.

The long-believed-to-be-lost print of the 1967 feature film, Pen of Dark Shadows, MAY have surfaced in the lower depths of Forrest J. Ackerman's 16 mm film collection.  Watch this space for further details.

It IS Friday, isn't it??

G.

I'd love to see a couple of captures of the fabulously talented Virginia Vestoff on that show.  Hope it was a good role for her.

G.

Dear Fans,

A friend of mine informed me last week that selected episodes of the Dick Cavett Show are being given a
release on DVD.  He just bought the first set with the theme "Rock Stars" (or something like that) and described performances by Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin and other luminaries of the time.

I speculated to him whether the Jonathan Frid episode would be included in a future release and he just sent me this note in today's email:

Dick Cavett reads questions from the audience on little note cards.  Someone
asks "When you had Jonathan Frid on your show last week, did he really bite you
and leave teeth marks on your hand?"

I thought this was a hoot!  I remember when JF was on Merv Griffin, some rather dippy-looking dame appeared to be afraid he was going to bite her!  Amusing as it seems now, I'm sure it was very tiresome for JF as a serious actor to have to put up with these antics during "those years of insanity."

I heard a rumor a year or two ago that a similar release of the Mike Douglas Show was being prepared, but heard nothing further regarding this.

Best wishes,

Gothick

There was rain the night Chris Jennings arrived in Collinsport in 1968.  I remember the raindrops on Joe's hospital window, and the fact that Chris was a bit damp when he gave Dr. Hoffman the fright of her life (heh, heh).

Excellent work, as always, my dear.  I don't think I was bothered as much by the irrationality of Vicki's reactions to "the pen" as you were; when people panic, they do stupid things--stupid things that often cause much more serious damage than the initial cause for panic.

G.