Leviathan....the beginning of the end?

Hi all! While the Leviathan storyline is not one of my favorites, I do enjoy it. I always love when they go back to the past (my favorite being 1840), but I am glad to be back in the present day. The Leviathan story arc is one where some days I absolutely love the episodes, but other days, I am wanting to just move on with the show.

Now, the storyline that really bothers me is 1970 PT, as well as 1841 PT. I just don't like when all the characters we know suddenly change.

-Lindsey

On a factual note, the term Leviathan is actually from the Bible. Leviathans were ancient sea creatures in the Old Testament.

I've always enjoyed Leviathan as well, something Gothick and I have cackled over together in the past.  Although there is a lot of wigginess (and contradictions as far as plot points established only a few episodes before are concerned), I think it's a lot of fun.  One of the tapes from MPI features about every monster DS ever dreamed up ... the werewolf, a vampire (or two or three), a witch, a ghost, a Leviathan ... etc etc.  I always enjoy the storylines set in the present more than those set in the past (even 1795, which was, as far as I'm concerned, the quintessential DS storyline), and it's fun seeing everyone at Collinwood possessed by some diabolical ancient evil.

Plus Angelique gets to be ultra-cool when she finally returns, all powered up with dark mojo and ready to kick some Leviathan ass.  She has two fantastic confrontations with Nicholas Blair that I always relish.  "At the risk of sounding ... banal ... it's a small world, idn't it?"  Hee hee.

Nicky

I agree that the cancellation of DS was not because the ratings. I cant see why ABC would want DS gone if it was the #3 ABC soap. Why would ABC affiliates drop it? It was still a successful show! 16 million viewers is still a good number considering that it is daytime.

I wonder if there was a "backlash" against the popularity of DS as one of the reasons for affiliates dropping the show.  Back in the mid-70's, I was a "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" fan.  A syndicated soap opera comedy spoof created by Norman Lear, it became a wildly successful national phenomenon.  In many ways, its popularity because of its quirky uniqueness mirrored Dark Shadows.  Eventually, the ratings did slip, but it still remained popular and profitable, yet local networks began to drop it.  I remember when our local channel stopped airing it without any warning (it came on at 10:30 at night).  A representative from the station appeared, saying in a rather stern, harsh and angry voice some very reactionary things about MH2 and that it would no longer be carried.  Just a week before, the network ran commercials promoting the comedy soap, cashing in on the popularity, and then suddenly it became a pariah.  It was just total and swift backlash.  (Remember how quickly disco vanished?  One day, everyone's dancing to the Bee-Gee's, and the next day they're burning their records.)

So quite possibly the affiliate cancellations of Dark Shadows had much to do with popularity backlash.  Human nature is weird that way - one minute it's "cool" to be a part of a phenomenon, and the next it's "cool" to bash it.  Everyone wants to be in the vanguard of what's "hip".

Gerard (Who remembers bubble-umbrellas, one of the most sensible things ever to come onto the market, but which quickly vanished because they were considered a popular "fad", and not something practicle.)

I think what happened is that shows just run out of ideas.
after a while happens to all the popular shows(Law & Order
seems be one that has endured)La Law is one as well as Dallas,
and more. It gets to be how much more can you do to these people?

jennifer
some parts of this storyline i liked and i agree with Lindsey!
i hated !970PT!

Possible spoilers below.

The Leviathans plot had more than its share of creative gaffes, but on the whole, I hold it in higher regard than most. For one thing, we weren't able to get DS where I lived until 1969, and when I was finally able to start watching the show regularly, the Leviathans episodes were just beginning. Having only seen DS sporadically up to that point, with no real sense of its continuity (such as it was), as far as I was concerned, the storyline was business as usual.

Personally I was thrilled to see Barnabas as a bad guy, and to this day, I still prefer to see his wicked side rear its ugly head. When he's just an out and out good guy, he's just this side of impotent, figuratively speaking. He's too powerful a character to be reduced to such infuriating indecisiveness and/or dependence on Julia. His presence as a formidable force seemed to decrease over the run of the show, as more and more we see him wringing his hands and wondering what the hell to do. I'm not saying he should be a total monster, as during his debut; but when he shows cunning, quick-wittedness, and the ability to act--even if it's evil or amoral--he's all that much more "heroic." Or anti-heroic, if one prefers.

There was a distinctly eerie quality about the mystery of the noisy thing in the antique shop. As a kid, the heavy breathing behind the door scared the hell out of me; even now, unknown noises are one of the things that can still give me a case of the creeps. At age ten, I was unaware of the (marginal) connection to Lovecraft, but the Leviathans did manage to touch some of the same nerves that Lovecraft did in later years. The emphasis on a distinctly supernatural threat worked well for me then and still does.

I've got a soft spot for evil zombies, too. So when Jeb summoned up a bunch of dead guys to walk around, that really fired up my youthful sense of dread. Watching it all these years later, it hardly has a similar effect, but I still enjoy seeing what really terrified me in those days. While it may have not come off all that well dramatically, in spirit, it was just the ticket.

I have always enjoyed the return of Paul Stoddard. Dennis Patrick was so damn good, even as a kid I was moved by his relationship with Carolyn and took his death as a real tragedy. Also, Barnabas and Angelique coming together again in the way they did was a stroke of brilliance. There was some honest-to-God DS excellence in this storyline.

Sadly, the Leviathans episodes were also marred by really terrible elements, too numerous to mention. I never thought Jeb Hawkes was much of a character. No self-respecting, murderous, half-human spawn of the Great Old Ones would turn into such a wuss. That's not to denigrate Chris Pennock's acting--he's one of my favorites--but the script they gave him was usually awful. And Sky Rumson... hoo boy. I need a Pepcid.

--Mark

The writers had a golden opportunity for some real soap opera with the return of Paul Stoddard.  If they had allowed for that to be separate from the Leviathan plot, it may have been better off.

They could have built up suspense and made the return of Paul Stoddard a big explosion.  They focus too much on the supernatural and stir away from elements that make a soap opera a soap opera.

Someone mentioned that the word Leviathan is found in the Bible.  I was fascinated recently to catch a clip from a late Sixties documentary on a certain well-known Satanist circle in California (the leader reportedly portrayed the Devil in the film Rosemary's Baby, managing to get an awful lot of fright mileage out of a cheap lizard suit), and was surprised to hear the Evil One addressed in one of the incantations as "Leviathan."  I've often wondered whether one of the writers might have seen this documentary in an East Village art house showing and drawn upon that experience for naming the latest new Ghoul on the series.

One of the few clues that we get as to how the writers viewed the metaphysical existence of the Leviathans is a throw-away line by Angelique that they're "creatures of the Underworld." Sadly, like so much else that appears in this story, the idea is never really developed.

Gothick

I think the beginning of 1897 was the superlative moment in writing and acting on the show.  I loved the Collins sibling rivalry . . ; Laura's wicked presence, Carl's whiney shenanigans, Judith's command and control. .  . they could've kept that up a whole LOT longer instead of vering off into Petofi land. . that was the weak link although I luv Thayer. . .they shoulda kept him as Sandor and had him i dunno became a vampire and betray Magda. .that woulda been fireworks unimaginable. . . . I've only seen a few Leviathan eps courtesy of Gothik . . .so i look forward to seeing more, if my 'connection' for video taping works while i'm stuck in cable-limbo-land, e.g. lower Manhattan.

I'm not a fan of the Leviathan story. Sorry. I'm just not. The arc brings us, among other things, the return of Ms McKechnie (and her character's numerous 8 x 10 framed photographs of herself), the inept Geoffrey Scott, the further misadventures of Chris and Sabrina, a prop from a community theatre version of Little Shop of Horrors,and the cheap, insufferable pig (who I did like later, in subsequent plots).

On the positive end of things, we also get Chris Bernau, Marie Wallace, Camilla Ashland, Elizabeth Eis (mangled accent and all), Julia, and several others . . .

However, I think the show was on a downward swing from the second half of 1897 on.

I'm not saying there aren't some great moments and some really dynamite performances going on. There are.

But the pacing (never the show's strong point) got way out of whack. The writing was all over the place. They made some odd, and not particularly good, choices.

I've never understood this comment about the Leviathan ratings spelling the end of the show.  I mean, we're barely half-way through the run of the series!

I was greatly intrigued with the Leviathan storyline up until the end.  I liked the return of an evil Barnabas (and appreciate Frid's acting transformation here) and though I'm not much of a sci-fi person, I still found the Leviathan idea interesting.  Later on, I felt everything hit rock bottom -- on many levels, including the acting and directing; it seemed like the show completely fell apart.  (Will strive to keep my comments less acerbic this time round, though!)

In reviewing the entire scope of the show, I personally rank the next storyline, 1970 PT, below Leviathan overall, as well as the Adam storyline, and possibly something else I'm forgetting, below Leviathan.  A story I started on Angelique is set during Leviathan, so this storyline, while not one of my favorites by a long shot, still provided the perfect setting and situation for my imagination ...

The show certainly recovered (whether from my perceived low point, or from low ratings ...) ... and among several more storylines to go, we still have the greatest storyline of all to look forward to -- 1840! (A bit of editorializing there, I'll grant.)

 

On the positive end of things, we also get Chris Bernau, Marie Wallace, Camilla Ashland, Elizabeth Eis (mangled accent and all), Julia, and several others . . .

Amen! Chris and Marie were great together. Elizabeth Eis'
Buffy Harrington is one of my favorite minor characters, and I was thrilled to be able to tell Ms. Eis that in person at the 1994 Festival

Personally I was thrilled to see Barnabas as a bad guy, and to this day, I still prefer to see his wicked side rear its ugly head.

Oh yeah! Me too. Compared with the beginning of the series, Frid seems more confident being evil now. I love the things he's doing with his eyes, those weird flashes he does when talking Carolyn out of knocking boots with Chris and watching the Todds disappear up his staircase at the Old House.

As for Julia, yes, it's sad how he's treating her, but hey she knew the job was dangerous when she took it. Besides, I think there's a side of her that sorta likes it.

Boy Kading, who still longs for bubble umbrellas, wax lips and space food sticks

So quite possibly the affiliate cancellations of Dark Shadows had much to do with popularity backlash.  Human nature is weird that way - one minute it's "cool" to be a part of a phenomenon, and the next it's "cool" to bash it.  Everyone wants to be in the vanguard of what's "hip".

This makes excellent sense to me Gerard - in relation to DS and the other topics you mentioned (all of which I am plenty old enough to recall  ). I always thought how awful it must be when perfomers are branded with the title "Teen Idol" early in their career. It must be a really lopsided bittersweet experience. On the one hand big money and popularity really fast. On the other hand, it wouldn't take much research to realize how this would no doubt affect the future of your career.  After the smoke clears, they're left hanging until if/when they can interest someone in their nostalgia potential. 

I suspect that truly talented people will manage to find a way around the "Teen Idol" kiss of death.  If what they REALLY want is to be an actor, and not a "STAR" then all they have to do is be willing to work...whatever and wherever it is.  Indie films, plays, other countries.....just keep plugging away, learning their craft, sharpening their skills.  If they're VERY hard working and just a bit lucky they'll grow into old character actors whose obituaries take pages.

If, on the other hand, it's all about the fame and the money.....well, being an over-exposed young star is one of the worst ways to go about it!

One of the biggest surprises to me was to learn that not all actors dream of fame partly because they see that sometimes the cost of fame is some freedoms that mean much to them professionally and personally.  Many people in the "arts" just want enough recognition either publicly or among peers to get enough to work to live happily on and be happy doing what they love.
IMO, there are more downsides to being famous or a "teen idol" kinda popularity than pluses.

Nancy