I absolutely agree, and it's refreshing to find a thread lauding the very obvious merits of this grossly pilloried and under-estimated period of DS.  For the record, I also think the final month of the 1897 storyline, which has been equally dissed in the official histories of DS published by the Pomegranate Press, was fabulous written and acted--you know it's gotta be good for me to say that, because my beloved Grayson had that month off (filming Adam at Six A.M. with "Mikey" Douglas in Podunk, Kansas).

Even though the second half of Leviathans does not maintain the same degree of intensity, I still think those episodes contain some of the best scenes in the entire series.

Just because the ratings went down during late 1897 and Leviathan doesn't mean that we have to give those shows a low evaluation today, watching the series in a very different way from the original broadcast.  The extraordinary quality of DS is that it does often improve with repeated viewings--the acting and writing was that good.

G.

Barbara Cason, Dennis P's wife, who played the role in the movie, had a version of the Mrs Johnson "hairstyle" (if that's what it should be called) in House of DS (not NoDS), but I don't know whether they drove out the actual wig that Clarice wore in the role... so far as I know, it was her personal property.

In NoDS, confusingly, Clarice Blackburn did appear, but she played Mrs Castle, and there was a wonderful scene with her (unless I'm hallucinating again) in the missing footage Darren showed at the Festival last year.  You'll all be relieved to learn that she did NOT wear the Mrs J wig in that part--it really would not have looked right on a domestic of 1810.

Hey, Miss Winthrop, I'm a huge fan of Strange Paradise!  How far along on the show are you? They've been running it in Canada on the "Drive-in Classics" channel (unfortunately not available in the US), and they're set to start running it again on July 4, I believe.

G.

I always found Laura Collins' lip gloss in 1967 to be particularly EEE-rie... it was so shiny and... pastel!

G.

I wish to announce an important siting of Mrs Johnson's wig, a topic of special significance for the security of our beloved Nation:

Yesterday evening I was watching a 1966 episode of The Addams Family while eating my dinner.  It featured a guest appearance by the magnficent Margaret Hamilton as Morticia's Mom, Granny Frump (that is the character's actual name).  I had not noticed it in previous appearances, but in this show, Granny Frump was wearing Mrs. Johnson's wig!

I quite like to think of Granny posting it to her dear niece, Sarah Johnson, as "something to liven up your social life a bit, dear."  At the end of the episode, Granny appeared with a new hair-do, so she clearly had sent the wig along to greener pastures--what better choice than Collinsport?

Just thought all you fans would want to know.

Best wishes, G.

A couple of weeks ago, I started watching the storyline where [spoiler]Vampire Angelique or "Vampilique" as she might be called is given permission by her Master, the fiendishly debonair Nicholas Blair, to go after Barnabas Collins.  It's been a few years since I visited this particular storyline and it's been interesting watching it again.[/spoiler]

What I did not realize before is how heavily the writers seem to have drawn upon the works of English novelist D H Lawrence in their portrayal of Angelique and Barnabas at this point.  This storyline seems to have taken their love/hate relationship, particularly the view of Angelique as a fiend literally sucking the lifeblood out of Barnabas, to its logical conclusion. 

I'd be interested to hear further discussion of this storyline, particularly from fans of the Ang/Barn relationship.  The dialogue reveals some fairly bitter twists, such as when both characters inform one another of their hatred for the other, or when Ang takes evil pleasure in breaking down Barnabas' sense of self-worth and dignity.  The whole Angelique/Joe denouement is an even more bitter spin along these lines.

Maybe folks who haven't seen these shows can just avoid this thread, so most of the discussion doesn't have to be behind those hard-to-read spoiler curtains?

Nancy:  Grayson, did you bring the lyric sheets with you?
Grayson: Who needs 'em?  Just follow with me:  "LET'S ... DO .. THE TIME WARP TODAY-Y-Y!"

JULIA (voiceover): "It's so screamingly obvious this dump would fall apart without me.  From the free valium I supply this family with to 'Julia, what are we gonna do about those crank calls from Roto-rooter'--forget Liz, I'm the REAL Mistress of Collinwood!"

Wasn't that band Siouxie and the Banshees responsible for making the Goth look visible in the mass media?  I pretty much spent the Eighties living in a cave so this is only a vague impression.

It seems to me that some elements of Goth style came from New Wave--punk wasn't the only influence.

But going back to the Sixties, Morticia Addams may have been the original Goth chick, vintage 1964.

G. who still mourns the early death of Carolyn Jones--another Divine One!