parts you can't re-watch?

[arashi]

Since then, however, I only watch selected episodes featuring Prof. Stokes or Nicholas Blair, the only redeeming features in either sequence.

I so agree with you there. I *love* Stokes in this storyline. He just kicks so much ass!

[Gothick]

There are no entire storylines that I refuse to re-watch as a whole.  I seem to watch the series differently from most others because as far as I am concerned, the plots and scripts varied wildly throughout--there are marvelous moments, to my taste, right in the middle of the most ridiculous plot arcs, where somehow everything clicked on a specific day with the writing, the actors and the direction.

Basically any scene with Roger Davis challenges my nerves.  My finger starts to itch towards the fast forward button.  I'm getting the same way with poor well-meaning Hallie Stocks.  A lovely girl and no doubt a very nice person, but her voice makes me heave and her attempts at acting are very alarming.

cheers, Gothick

[Mysterious Benefactor]

as far as I am concerned, the plots and scripts varied wildly throughout--there are marvelous moments, to my taste, right in the middle of the most ridiculous plot arcs, where somehow everything clicked on a specific day with the writing, the actors and the direction.

Exactly. There are marvelous moments in every episode so far as I'm concerned, and I wouldn't sacrifice a one just because some other part(s) of an episode might not be on the same level. Even when a scene features a character/actor who, shall we say, I'm less than thrilled by, quite frequently another character/actor sharing the scene will have a truly unmissable moment - or even the character/actor I'm less thrilled with will do something that makes one wonder why he/she couldn't have been written/performed that way on a more frequent basis.

Basically any scene with Roger Davis challenges my nerves.  My finger starts to itch towards the fast forward button.

Poor RD - if only the directors had reigned him in more often. But then, what am I saying?! More often than not the directors not only wanted over-the-top performances, they expected and insisted upon them. No wonder RD was supposedly DC's favorite.   

[Sunny_Collins]

I like the idea behind the dream curse, but to hear the same lines repeated each time someone begins the dream gets rather tiresome, IMO.

Also, let's not forget Lang's experiment where we have to listen to his recorded message over and over, drives me crazy!

[CyrusL]

Poor RD - if only the directors had reigned him in more often. But then, what am I saying?! More often than not the directors not only wanted over-the-top performances, they expected and insisted upon them. No wonder RD was supposedly DC's favorite.   

This weekend, Diane and I watched one of the first year, early Barnabas tapes and also a tape of early 1840. It really is so true how the way the show was directed changed so much. The early shows by Lela Swift  and John Sedgewick have more subtlety and a different atmosphere, but especially how the performers reflect emotion and work with the camera changed so much. Henry Kaplan reliance on tight close-ups get tiresome. Do we really need to always be seeing the faces sweat and they are so close, each line of mascara and powder puff of pancake is there. Even Lela's shows are often more frenetic. I love how in Chris Pennock's comic books he contrasts them by having Lela   go, "Oh Chris, I love what you have been doing with your character," then  next day, having Henry Kaplan    screaming at him, "I HATE what you are doing today Chris, HATE IT! HATE IT! Give me more! MORE!"  I don't think this is too much of an exaggeration of the later era and what the actors were dealing with.

Michael

[Gothick]

MB, I think an excellent example of what you were talking about with less-than-stellar performers sharing screen space with excellent ones who then make an amazing moment of what seems on the surface to be unpromising dross is the sequence where [spoiler]Jeff Clark goes to Professor Stokes to learn how to regress back through to the Eighteenth century.[/spoiler]

I've been meaning to track that scene down again for years--I've only viewed it a couple of times, but my memory is that Thayer brought real magic to that moment.  His invocation to the powers of the herbs is one of the rare instances where DS came close to an accurate reflection of a serious magickal practice.

G.

[Sunny_Collins]

Of course,any episode with professor Stokes is great!

[retzev]

as far as I am concerned, the plots and scripts varied wildly throughout--there are marvelous moments, to my taste, right in the middle of the most ridiculous plot arcs, where somehow everything clicked on a specific day with the writing, the actors and the direction.

Exactly. There are marvelous moments in every episode so far as I'm concerned, and I wouldn't sacrifice a one just because some other part(s) of an episode might not be on the same level.

Hear, all ye good people, hear what these brilliant and eloquent speakers have to say!

 

[michael c]

i agree that there are scenes and episodes even during the worst plots that i enjoy and would not want to have missed(just having joan bennett walk into a scene usually elevates it's status).

but in general i don't jump around storywise.when i'm "in" a storyline i'm in it.that's my focus.so by not re-watching a particular part of the show i'm thinking more in terms of not investing the time to sit through the weeks/months worth of episodes of that particular plot in it's entirety.

[ClaudeNorth]

Several years have passed since I watched DS with any sort of regularity, but lately I've been getting the itch to start watching again.  What I plan to do is start watching from episode one, when the pre-Barnabas episodes make their DVD debut.  I find that the early Barnabas episodes are even more enjoyable when viewed in their original context.

I can't say that there are any portions of the series that I would never watch again.  I'm not the most discriminating fan; I love it all.  However, I do agree that the show has its slow spots and weak moments.  Given the format (5 days a week, 52 weeks a year), such lapses in quality are inevitable.

My favorite episodes to re-watch?  The sequence beginning with the arrival of Barnabas and ending with the seance.  And, of course, any episode featuring the Divine One!  

[Nancy]

One of the reasons I prefer watching programs on either DVD or via my DVR is so I can fast forward through stuff I think is boring.  The fast forward button is my friend.  It keeps me from being bored while watching a program.  I have not watched DS regularly since the 1980s but have on DVD here and there.  There are parts I would not watch again such as the experiment and some others and even though segments I enjoy, I fast forward through scenes that aren't interesting to me.

Nancy

[LeFanu]

Unfortunately, there are parts of the series that I've never seen (many of the pre-Barnabas episodes and the latter part of 1841PT).  But I have to say, some of the storylines that I found less than compelling the first time around (like Leviathans and the Dream Curse/Adam 1968 story), I really enjoyed on second viewing.

Like several others have mentioned, I think there are moments in every storyline, maybe even in every episode that are worth repeated viewings.  With that being said, I'm not in a rush to see 1795 again soon, but only because I just got done watching that a couple months ago.

[Miss_Winthrop]

I've been on a several months lay off in watching any of the episodes. With fall on the way, I'm looking forward to watching the pre-Barnabas episodes again.  The Laura episodes are extra special when the weather is getting colder.  I just love the whole Frank Garner & Vicki searching for her past while the Phoenix story line is beginning to unfold and Prof Guthrie's arrival. To me, this is pre-Barnabas at its best.  Oh, and not to mention Laura's driving Liz nuts. I don't think I could get tired of this storyline.

I liked the Adam and Eve storyline in the beginning but got really tied of Adam towards the end.  I for one was glad that Adam got sent to the closet never to be seen again!

[michael c]

I've been on a several months lay off in watching any of the episodes. With fall on the way, I'm looking forward to watching the pre-Barnabas episodes again.  The Laura episodes are extra special when the weather is getting colder.  I just love the whole Frank Garner & Vicki searching for her past while the Phoenix story line is beginning to unfold and Prof Guthrie's arrival. To me, this is pre-Barnabas at its best.  Oh, and not to mention Laura's driving Liz nuts. I don't think I could get tired of this storyline.

I liked the Adam and Eve storyline in the beginning but got really tied of Adam towards the end.  I for one was glad that Adam got sent to the closet never to be seen again!

i totally agree about the laura collins story.

i watched it three winters ago and it's totally curl up on the couch under a blanket stuff.i remember it being cold and snowy outside and just being mezmerized by this strange woman and story.

it's the first storyline i intend to re-watch but i need to wait until there's that nip in the air.

[arashi]

The nights are pretty cool here in Maine now (it was 49 at 10:00 the other night and we could see our breath in the air!) I threw on some early Barnabas episodes last night and had a wonderfully spooky evening. While watching later episodes you forget that the supernatural elements to the show were at first all atmosphere and rarely shown. Maybe it's the black-and-white as well, it adds to the effect.