Hey, gang,

Do you think that Sheriff George Patterson and the other members of the Collinsport Police Department ever got tired all of all those seemingly continuous and unending police emergency phone calls from the good folks who lived at Collinwood?

I mean, it seemed as if there was one crisis after another up there on the great house on the hill: [spoiler]Bill Malloy ends up floating on the water beneath the cliffs at Widow's Hill, Matthew Morgan is on the lam somewhere on the Collinwood estate after admitting that he knocked off Mr. Malloy, Vicky disappears while searching for David on the grounds near the Old House, Adam kidnaps (or abducts) Carolyn Stoddard from the drawing room of Collinwood, Donna Friedlander and Bruno Hess each end up being eviscerated in the woods surrounding Collinwood, and David Collins goes missing on the grounds of Collinwood, literally, far too many times to keep track of! [/spoiler]

I wonder if when the phone rang at the Collinsport Police Department, Sheriff Patterson would almost instinctively say to his deputies: "Jesus Christ, guys, I'll bet it's another one of those 'emergency,' 'life-or-death' phone calls from those pain-in-the @ss Collinses!!!"? 

Aside from ALL of the turmoil up at Collinwood, I'll bet that Sheriff Paterson's daily routine in Collinsport was about as "exciting" as Sheriff Andy Taylor's day was in folksy, homey, and unfailingly tranquil Mayberry, North Carolina.   

I'll venture to say that the most "serious" emergency calls Sheriff Patterson would get (aside from the "usual" catastrophes at Collinwood) would be to break up a fight between Buzz Hackett and Joe Haskell at the Blue Whale or to wait in his patrol car, waiting for drivers, to exceed the posted speed limit on Collinsport Bay Drive on Saturday night .  (By the way, I wonder where the Buzz-man actually lived in Collinsport?  Maybe Buzz lived "simply" and "hippie-style" in a root cellar, like the one Adam took Carolyn to at the old, abandoned Taylor's farm?)

In any event, perhaps Sheriff Patterson was merely counting the days until his retirement, so that he could move down to sunny and beautiful Key West, Florida, just like Gregory Hines' and Billy Crystal's Chicago policemen characters planned to do in the film, "Running Scared"? 

Hey gang,

I was watching this excellent film the other day and spotted several Dark Shadows alumni in the flick.  Appearing along with Gene Hackman and the late Melvyn Douglas were Lovelady Powell (Portia Fitzsimmons) as Mr. Hackman's paramour, and Daniel Keyes (The Eagle Hill Cemetery caretaker) as a medical doctor.

Mr. Keyes portrayed a physician, who was assisting Mr. Hackman in finding a suitable nursing home for his elderly, and recently widowed father, Melvyn Douglas.  It was strange seeing Mr. Keyes portraying a character who was so lucid and in command (so unlike the wonderfully spacey Eagle Hill Cemetery caretaker character).

You know, the film's title, "I Never Sang For My Father," could almost also apply to Barnabas' somewhat strained relationship with his own stern and domineering father, Joshua, imo.

Bob

Hey gang,

I remember when I used to be able to watch the same episode of Dark Shadows twice back in 1968.  At the time, my family lived along the ocean on the beautiful New Jersey shore.  As a result, we could pick up Channel 6, the local Philadelphia ABC affiliate, which aired Dark Shadows at 3:30PM every weekday. 

At 4:00 PM, Channel 7, the local New York ABC affiliate aired that very same episode.  Let me tell you, what great joy it was to see Dr. Eric Lang (portrayed by the late, great Addison Powell) interacting with his young lab assistant Jeff Clark (portrayed by the irrepressible Roger Davis) during the Adam and Eve storyline.

Just to watch Dr. Lang, on a twice daily basis, telling Jeff that he was going to give him "a 'treatment' for your problem," was an absolute treat to see!    (And let's not forget Jeff Clark's immortal Dark Shadows moment, when he showed up at Dr. Lang's laboratory, with that all-too-phony arm, packed in a box of ice!)

I wonder if any other Dark Shadows fans across the country had the opportunity to see the same episode of Dark Shadows twice back during those halcyon days?  For example, perhaps Maine fans of the show were able to pick up Dark Shadows on both the Portland and Boston ABC stations during 1968?

Bob

Hey gang,

Kathryn Leigh Scott is scheduled to be a guest on the first half of the Friday, May 4, 2012 edition of Coast-to-Coast Am with host George Noory.

Ms. Scott will, of course, be discussing Dark Shadows, her two new DS books, the upcoming Tim Burton Dark Shadows film, and, certainly, the recent and extremely sad death of the great Jonathan Frid.

Coast-to-CoastAM airs from 1:00 AM until 5:00 AM on the east coast.

You can access the show's web page and station listings at www.coasttocoastam.com.

Bob

Hey gang,

During Dark Shadows' run, I believe that we only got to see one or two television sets in any of the DS characters' homes or apartments; I think that Buffie Harrington had a portable tv in her apartment room, for example.

I would have liked to have seen some of the characters, enjoying some "quality time," watching their favorite shows on the boob tube.  For instance, it would have been fun to have seen Mrs. Stoddard, Carolyn and Vicky, sitting down in the Collinwood study (or perhaps the recreation room/den) and tuning into "Peyton Place" two nights a week on the local Collinsport ABC channel.  Perhaps David enjoyed watching "The Monkees" or "The Invaders" with Amy Jennings?  (Amy probably preferred "That Girl" to "The Invaders," imo.)

Then again, just once on the show, I would have liked to have seen a large tv set, hanging over the bar at The Blue Whale.  Can you imagine Barnabas and Willie (on an extremely rare occasion when Barnabas accompanied Willie out for a night on the town) watching Monday Night Football on ABC?  Oh, to see Willie trying to explain the arcane rules of professional football to Barnabas, a man of the 18th century!  I suspect that Barnabas might have opined about sportscaster Howard Cosell to Willie: "That fellow, Cosell, is just the 'least' bit, aureate in his comments, I must say."

Anyway, here a some shows, I think that DS characters might have enjoyed tuning into:

Adam - The Munsters and Maury

Alexander, the Leviathan child - Dennis-the-Menace

Angelique - Bewitched

Barnabas Collins, and his servant, Willie Loomis - This Old House and The Odd Couple

Nicholas Blair - Tales from the Crypt and Playboy After Dark

Ezra Braithwaite -  The Lawrence Welk Show and Waiting For God

David Collins - The Wonder Years

Olivia Corey (a/k/a Amanda Harris) - How Do I Look?

Laura Collins - Divorce Court and Desperate Housewives

Roger Collins - To the Manor Born and Father Knows Best

Burke Devlin - Bonanza and Executive Suite

Roxanne Drew  - The Vampire Diaries

The Eagle Hill Cemetery Caretaker - Six Feet under and Keeping Up With the Kardashians

Maggie Evans - Alice and Our Miss Brooks

Sam Evans - Sister Wendy's History of Art and Dark Passages

Buzz Hackett - The Mod Squad and Then Came Bronson

Bruno Hess - Have Gun, Will Travel

Dr. Julia Hoffman - The Elevnth Hour and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

Ms. Julia Hoffman -  Downton Abbey

Chris Jennings - Being Human

Tom Jennings - Also, Being Human and Ask This Old House

Harry Johnson - It Takes A Thief

Mrs. Sarah Johnson - Hazel and Upstairs, Downstairs

Dr. Eric Lang - Nip-and-Tuck

Jason McGuire - Ballykissangel and Who Want's To Be A Millionaire?

Sheriff George Patterson - The Andy Griffith Show and Car 54: Where Are You?

Bob Rooney - Cheers and Ryan's Hope

Carolyn Stoddard - The Young and the Restless

Paul Stoddard - Run For Your Life and Make Room For Daddy

Hallie Stokes - Fear Factor

Prof. T. Elliott Stokes - The X-Files and Bachelor Father

Charles Delaware tate - Learn to Paint with Bob Ross and One Foot in the Grave

Phillip and Megan Todd - Antiques Roadshow and American Pickers

Mr. Wells - Fawlty Towers

Vicky Winters - Anne of Green Gables and Super Nanny

Dr. Dave Woodard - Marcus Welby, M.D. and Diagnosis Murder

John Yeager - What Not To Wear

Can you think of any other shows, which the DS characters might have enjoyed watching?

Bob

but you can never leave (or so it seems).

Did you ever get the feeling that the Collinsport Inn was not the most "salubrious" of quaint New England inns to stay at?  It always seemed to me that the various guests at the inn over the show's run, did not have happy visits to Collinsport.

The very first guest we got to see at the Collinsport Inn was Burke Devlin, who seemed to take up permanent residence in the top floor room (or rooms) of the inn right up until the time his plane, tragically, went down in flames, somewhere over the vast Amazon jungle.

The next guest, albeit extremely briefly, was Roger Collins' "better" half, Laura Collins.  (Okay, to be accurate, Laura checked into the inn, but immediately moved out when Mrs. Stoddard agreed to let her stay at Matthew Morgan's old cottage in order to be closer to young David.)   "Sadly," Laura eventually went up in flames in that fishing shack on the Collinwood estate.

Of course, who can forget the beautiful actress Oliva Corey (a/k/a Amanda Harris), who after failing to restore Quentin Collins' ( a/k/a Grant Douglas') 1897 memory of her as Amanda, left the Collinsport Inn for limbo (?) after the mysterious Mr. Best called for her at the inn?   (While Olivia/Amanda ultimately did not make it back from Never/Never Land, thankfully Grant/Quentin did.)

And, Paul Stoddard hardly had a "fun" time, while he was a guest at the Collinsport Inn.  Do you remember all those creepy phone calls he kept receiving in his room, ostensibly from Mr. Strak (even with the receiver off of the hook)?  Mr. Strak must have also snuck into the room and circled that fateful date on the wall calendar in Paul Stoddard's room.

Heck, the Collinsport Inn maid must have been really ticked-off when she found all of those those candles and that arcane pentagram symbol, etched onto the floor of the room, don't you think?  It's just as well that the maid did not run into Mr. Stoddard and that sailor after that stunt!  You knew that it would not turn out well for Mr. Stoddard after he eventually ended up in the basement of the Todds' antique shop, only to be "slimed" by Jeb Hawkes' "higher" form.

And, what of the good people, who worked at the Collinsport Inn?  We all recall that it was while Maggie Evans was working at the inn's coffee shop, that Maggie first made the acquaintance of Mr. Barnabas Collins.  (Things quickly took a turn for the extreme worse after that encounter for Ms. Evans.)

Finally, poor Mr. Wells, the Collinsport Inn desk clerk, who should have listened to Chris Jennings' request that he (Mr. Wells) ignore any strange noises coming out of Chris' room at the inn.  Remember that Chris told Mr. Wells that he sometimes "acted out" his ideas for his book?   (By the way, I wonder where "Chris" disposed of Mr. Wells body after their bloody and tragic encounter in that room?)  

Can you imagine if Burke Devlin had still been a guest at Collinsport Inn when Chris "acted out" some of those ideas in that tiny room of his?  Heck, Burke would have probably stormed down to Chris' room, pounded on the door and shouted, "Hey, buddy, why don't you cut out that 'expletive-deleted' racket, for Christ's sake!?!"  

At least, Susie, the so-called silent waitress at the Collinsport Inn, did not also "share" in Maggie and Mr. Well's bad luck while working at the inn (as far as we know?).  

Somehow, I don't think that either Arthur Frommer or the late, lamented Eugene Fodor would have given a four-star recommendation for the Collinsport Inn as a charming and relaxing destination while vacationing in Collinsport.  Better to try your luck at the local Days Inn, if only to insure your peace of mind and survival.

Hey gang,

I just wanted to bid farewell to New Jersey Network, the Garden State's own public network television station, which is going off the air after nearly forty years of broadcasting.  Sadly, due to budget difficulties, NJN will cease broadcasting after tomorrow night.

Of course, I believe that NJN was one of the first PBS stations in the US to broadcast Dark Shadows, starting way back in 1983.  NJN began its airing of Dark Shadows with the classic episode featuring Mrs. Johnson answering the front door at Collinwood and meeting Barnabas Collins, that very-much unexpected "cousin from England."

NJN continued to air Dark Shadows for the next several years, right up to Parallel Time episode number 1006, in which actor John Harkins (as chemist Horace Gladstone) declared dramatically to actor Christopher Pennock (as Dr. Cyrus Longworth): "Cyrus Longworth is John Yeager, and John Yeager is Cyrus Longworth!"   Regrettably, all of the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania DS fans (including yours truly), who used to tune into NJN every night to catch the latest goings-on with Barnabas, Julia, Willie, etc., had to wait for far too many years to finally see what happened during the remaining 239 episodes of the program over on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Still, it was great to see Dark Shadows aired again in 1983, after not having seen the much-beloved show since its cancellation in April of 1971. 

Au revoir, New Jersey Network.  Thanks for the great memories of Dark Shadows on New Jersey's PBS station.