I believe Barbara did production work on one of the DS MPI anniversary tapes as well.  As far as I know, she has been involved in production since at least the early Eighties.

About 8 years or so ago there was a rumor that Barbara, Martine Beswick, and Mary Woronov were going to portray a trio of vampire actresses of a certain age who roamed the corridors of various fan conventions literally feeding off their admirers.  I'm sorry that never seems to have come to anything--I thought the idea sounded really rich!

G.

Nice avatar, Raineypark!

I attended TWO Mabon rituals this past weekend, one of which I priested at. So I'm definitely getting that 'tis the season feeling.

Gothick

Nancy, A friend of mine told me that he saw a claim on the discountdvd.com website that the new MPI DS Reunion (aka DS Memories) DVD has a new narration on it by Jonathan.

Have you heard anything about this?  I just checked the listing on Amazon.com and there was no mention of it.  I did think it was odd that they put Jonathan's face on that tape, given that he did not attend the "reunion" event.

Apparently, the blurb my friend saw stated that a portion of the tape/disc includes surviving cast members talking about their favorite scenes/episodes (which are also included, in snippet form I would gather).

I wonder whether this item will see a VHS format release.

That's exciting about Jonathan performing in Collingwood.  I am going to be in Ontario, but in early October for Columbus Day weekend.

Thanks,

Steve

I'm really grateful to everyone who has posted about the cuts in the episodes on DVD.  If I ever do get the DVD's, I will be sure to hang onto my videos as well, since MPI didn't bother paying someone to "correct" those!!!!!

I shudder to think what further cuts await in future volumes...

Oh, I remember Ashenrider very well!  He was charming and talented.  Another one from  the old days I miss is Marcos.  That guy was a real sweetheart.

G.

Agree that the mention of Gerard's "wife" in that scene was darling Joan making one of her slips.  I'll never forget Nancy Barrett telling me of how Joan would turn to her while they were doing one of their scenes in the drawing room and there would be TERROR in her eyes because she had dried on her lines again...

I'll make a vague stab and say that Gerard was "bad, not evil" (to paraphrase the Shangri-las) before his encounter with a certain bodiless head (!).  There were actually a lot of young men like Gerard Stiles running around the world in the 1830s.  And I suppose that there still are a lot of them today, only instead of elegant bows and fancy suits, they tend to inhabit a world of "gangsta chic."

As for Mrs. Julia Collins in PT, if you watch the story, there is a long-running intimation that Julia is Melanie's real Mother--you have to watch to find out, of course!

Steve

People age at different rates.  I know people around my age (mid 40s) who look and act 20 years older than me, in some cases due to debilitating ailments.  I have a dear friend who is a year younger than me.  She's acted like an old lady since I first knew her back in the late 1980s, and now speaks of herself as a "crone in training."

The real problem is with the info given in 1968 about Ben dying in 1830.  But of course, in 1967 the events with Barnabas and Josette were originally described as happening around 1832. So Dark Shadows has kind of a set pattern of just "correcting" its own history.

With the 1840 storyline, the biggest problem of all is that NONE of the material revealed about the period in the immediately preceding 1970 story turns out to be relevant to what's going on when Julia arrives. Some months down the line, when Stokes shows up, she has to try to explain what's been going on to him.  The results are semi-comical.  I think Grayson and Thayer must have just looked at one another doing the read through and agreed to go for a stiff drink at the Brittany du Soir once they were done with THAT day's taping!

G.

All I'll say in regard to this topic is that at this stage in the game, and for some years at this point, "reality" and "Dark Shadows" do not really exist in the same space-time continuum.  At all.

It's fascinating going back to 1966 and seeing how relentlessly realistic the early scripts by Art Wallace and Francis Swann were.

I was delighted recently when discussing the series with a friend who watched it way back during the original Sixties broadcast.  He told me he wanted to see tapes of the early shows but commented, "after a couple of years, it really got rather ... Rococo."  I hooted with laughter at that turn of phrase. So apt.

G.