Hi Per'ankh, Keeper of the House of Life (cool name),

Althought the current 1968 storyline (now being show on Sci Fi--we call it "1968" because it was set in the present day and first broadcast in that year) is my sentimental favorite, my all round favorite storyline is the Leviathans, which is still many months away.

I think the storyline which follows immediately after the current one is one of the best on DS, and after that comes the legendary 1897 storyline which is many folks' favorite.  

Just to give one fan's opinion--the best is yet to come!

Steve

Hi Patti, I'll do my best to help clear up your confusion, at least where Dark Shadows is concerned.

Nathan Forbes, played by Joel Crothers, was killed off near the end of the 1795 storyline.  He does continue to show up in the occasional flashback or dream sequence.  Joel Crothers left Dark Shadows permanently in January 1969 ... I believe the episodes they are currently screening aired in August (or Sept?) of 1968, so that gives you a ballpark idea of how much longer Crothers will be on the series.

Don Briscoe debuted on Dark Shadows in an episode aired 2 days ago, playing Collinsport Handyman Tom Jennings.  Later, Briscoe appears in his longest running role of Tom's look-alike brother Chris.  Briscoe also plays Tim Shaw in 1897, and Cousin Chris Collins in Parallel Time 1970.

Angelique has risen from the dead as a vampire.  Nicholas thinks he's got her under control .... if he knew her at all as well as he claims to do, he'd know what a foolhardy statement that was!

Hope you get to start enjoying Dark Shadows again soon!

Best wishes,

Steve

There is at least one episode where a scene begins with a tight close up of the scene painted above the face of the grandfather clock.  Then the camera slowly pulls away and you get to study all the details. I think it is from the 1840 storyline (towards the end of the show--late 1970?).  I thought it was really cool when I saw it.

Fascinating that someone has a warehouse containing some of the props used on DS.  I heard some years ago that some of the flats (from the sets) turned up in the theatre program of a school on Long Island.  I wonder about this because another friend noted how panels from the old DS sets showed up on One Life to Live and other ABC soaps.  It makes me wonder whether Sy Tomashoff, or the network itself, held onto the sets after the show ceased production.

Steve

LP's performance in that scene had me screaming EMMY, especially when she was on the sofa doing the heavy breathing with her hand over her fangs!  It's for moments like this that I keep coming back to Dark Shadows.

I'm glad that they brought in James Shannon for this scene.  It would have been ludicrous to have had her "working" on Sheriff P.

Gothick

Well Ringo, I'm Harry Johnson, and you'd better put the silver away pronto.  (don't be skeered, that's just "con" tawk)

Now excuse me, I have to take some flowers to Tom Jennings at the hospital.  Yeah, flowers.  THAT's the ticket.

Gothick

Hi Lindsay,  

I can state as definitively as anything in this insane world of ours can be stated that the scene you described NEVER aired on Dark Shadows.

There was however a scene between Louis Edmonds and Lara Parker that started out somewhat the way you describe this one ...

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In 1840, Edmonds played the aged Daniel Collins. When Angelique arrives, calling herself Valerie Collins, Daniel remembers her as Angelique who was eventually found out to be the witch who caused all the trouble back in 1795.  However, the way the scene is played in 1840, it is Angelique who traps Daniel in the drawing room ...

In general, DS seems to have avoided direct references to religion.  Apart from crosses, and a character occasionally exclaiming some variant of "Dear God!"  The one exception to this rule is with the various incarnations of Trask, and the Trask family in 1897.  The depiction of religious hypocrisy in the Trask family caused some fundamentalist organizations to print pamphlets and leaflets condemning DS as "the Devil's playmate" or something along those lines, which I personally think is a HOOT, but that's another matter.

It was interesting (to continue this discussion just a little further) that when Barnabas and Angelique are fighting Laura Collins in 1897, they both use invocations and holy names from Ancient Egyptian religion, rather as Isis was called upon by the forces of good in the classic 1932 film The Mummy (please don't confuse it with the remake).

Hope you continue to enjoy Dark Shadows.

Gothick

Dom dear,

Thrilled to see you here!  I was just looking at a photo of you earlier this a.m., and commenting upon how fresh and sassy you looked in it!  but don't worry doll, I won't hate you for being beautiful, "lol"!

This board has some really amusing topics, and some great folks, too.  Hope to see you around more.

Hugs, Tuffie