tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76067487712503508562024-03-13T02:40:19.631-04:00The Collinsport Historical SocietyA website dedicated to all things Dark Shadows.Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.comBlogger2523125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-73856630776175880722023-12-24T19:58:00.000-05:002023-12-24T19:58:05.022-05:00A Night Before… you know.<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">'Twas the night before Christmas, when through the Old House, </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">no one living was stirring, not even Willie, that louse; </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">The Secret door by the chimney hung open — who cares?</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 23px;">Not even Buzz Hackett would return to call them all squares;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The mortals slept fitless in their Collinwood beds;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">While dark dreams of chromakey danced in their heads;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It was a melancholy evening. Her absence to blame. Without Angelique’s laughter, the season was tame.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When out by the tower there arose such a din. Had a tipsy Dr. Hoffman finally pulled in?</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Up towards the window I jumped like a cat,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And out through the window I flew as a bat;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The moon glittered like diamonds on the rocks on the shore,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As Widows Hills’s invite I chose to ignore.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When what to my sonar-sharp ears did appear,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But a roaring jalopy with some villains so dear,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Oh Roger from the wheel away he did shirk, for he crashed into Collinwood but couldn’t blame Burke.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">More rapid than zombies, his retinue <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>disembarked,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And he fumed and shouted to recall where they parked:</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">"Now, Adam! Now, Bruno! Now Kitten you Vixen!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I blame our crash on the new speed limit, because I still voted for Nixon!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">To the drawing room bar! Grab a good frosted glass!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Alert Mrs. Johnson, that pain in the ass!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Get Quentin in here, and let him quake in his shoes,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Drinking coffee, I doubt it, because I’ve been marking the booze;”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So up the grand staircase his carousers they flew</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">With a bag full of body parts, and </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And good Eric Lang too—</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And then, from a foley, I heard someone dismount,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It was a roaring magician who said he was a count!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As I glided in loops, and was turning around,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I saw Andreas Petofi with some <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-Daybook-Unbound-ebook/dp/B0BLT72R5N?nodl=1&dplnkId=684464df-20b3-4765-b5cc-3f533e07cc9a">Daybooks Unbound.</a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">He was dressed all in velvet, from his head to his toes,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Nothing off the rack from Brewsters. He had style and it shows;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">A bundle of books he had flung on his back,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And he looked like a swinger from Sinatra‘s Rat Pack.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">His eyes behind glasses—how they glittered and gleamed! And Aristide beside him plotted and schemed!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">His words were excited and jolly and merry, quite the opposite of the drivel from that bore, Wendell Berry!</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">His assistant was hoping for a good puppet show,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But Angelique was absent, and that filled him with woe;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The stump of his wrist ached for her magic touch, without it his digits were hardly worth much.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">But his broad face still grinned</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">At her memory dear, and he approached a house without her with a distinct lack of fear;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">He knew it was Christmas, and would go with no hitch. If there’s a return you can count on, it’s that of a witch. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And I laughed when I saw him, I knew he was right.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Her spirit was out there on this glorious night. </span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">He called not for line, but drew a star in the floor,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And commenced a dark working to bring her to our door.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And laying his hand on the apex he ranted,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And bellowed and raved and magically chanted;</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">He uttered dark incantations first heard cross the pond,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And then laughed when he presented me a most bewitching lost blonde.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">And I heard him exclaim as he left like a streak—</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">“You can’t call it Christmas without the fair Angelique!”</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">— Patrick McCray</span></p>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-10704234697085576032023-10-17T04:11:00.008-04:002023-10-20T13:51:49.891-04:00Lara Parker: In Memoriam<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0AQvangd4tp9x4dumRixSV8c3TzLy7V79KA94V3NkvhNg3Ol5vMgdjfrezgYuX0JyFbRMH215aRQWJJP1RJquRUrYe1pk0GNA3wQVuwdJBO_dyQgAOQNmCqV4vuLCqVJY5MfsMpK8qw4H9BK4PzLSoyVQlFUInZuA3tUoDUpH_aTPk1kKyWnqUOl2dI/s594/IMG_6388.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="594" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0AQvangd4tp9x4dumRixSV8c3TzLy7V79KA94V3NkvhNg3Ol5vMgdjfrezgYuX0JyFbRMH215aRQWJJP1RJquRUrYe1pk0GNA3wQVuwdJBO_dyQgAOQNmCqV4vuLCqVJY5MfsMpK8qw4H9BK4PzLSoyVQlFUInZuA3tUoDUpH_aTPk1kKyWnqUOl2dI/w640-h426/IMG_6388.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><span><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">God, we were lucky.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dan Curtis had the Dream. Art Wallace made it one given form. The cast made it real. Jonathan Frid made it wholly unique. Lara Parker made it true. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Every unbelievable thing, she made true. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Poised? Yes. Precise? Yes. All are traits of the Vassar debutante aristocracy. All of those things. And Savage. Certainly, savagely intelligent. Political fashion had yet to drive a wedge between the beauty pageant and the college boards, and so before the 21st century dictated otherwise, some extraordinary women really did do it all.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Would you want to be the one to tell Lara Parker she couldn’t? Or shouldn’t? Be my guest. Tell me how that works out for you. I’m gonna be in the concrete bunker murmuring something about “I am Shiva, destroyer of worlds.”</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Destroyer of Worlds.” Yes. Lara Parker. Destruction and creation are aftermaths of each other. She destroyed worlds that had it coming. Or was that Angelique? Like Nimoy’s Spock, just don’t even bother to separate actor from role. No, she’s not Angelique. And yet Angelique is nothing without her. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Destroyer of Worlds.” She would’ve found that the most embarrassing praise possible. Humiliating beyond words. I’m sorry. Honestly. Not done with that intent. I’m just trying to tell the truth. The only minutely positive thing to come from her passing is that we can finally and openly complement her to a proper extent, one which my experience tells me she would have found embarrassing. Well, art is embarrassing. Sometimes, our only defense against sorrow is to remind ourselves of joy. Indulgently. And Angelique was all about indulgence.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Let’s unite Lara Parker and Angelique for just a few minutes. Just as an exercise. We all do it, anyway. Now, I’m giving you permission. Because I said so.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Goddess of Destruction.” The good kind. And why not? </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Destroyer of expectations. Of orthodoxy. Of preconceptions. Of assumptions. Of what a witch was supposed to be. Of what love was supposed to be. And what a debutante was supposed to be. What a philosopher was supposed to be. What an author was supposed to be. What a celebrity was supposed to be. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Destroyer of a show with too many humans. It was a show that needed angry gods to give it humanity. And Barnabas is just one side of that equation. When Angelique entered Collinwood back around this time in the fall of ‘95, it had to be obvious that the program that had everything finally had the one final thing.. that no one was aware… that everyone had found to be missing. But never knew it. If you follow me. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To see her in action with those lines in those situations is to see something for the first time. To name drop within the family for a moment, one of Sy Tomashoff’s protégés once told me about Mozart’s most endearing quality; his music always has the freshness of hearing it for the first time, every time. Yes. Like that. But blonde and choking a toy soldier. Adorably! Yes, doing that. Or melting at the sight of Barnabas, the way we all knew he deserved. Someone who loved him as beautifully and inexplicably as he loved Josette. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And in the years after, she destroyed our sad little worlds, bereft of our friends — our real friends, in Collinsport — by bringing them to life again. In a bizarre act of unnatural love for a series that had given her and us so much. Has anyone ever given back that much? When Angelique’s Descent hit the bookstores, didn’t you think you were in the middle of the craziest dream? My God, how lucky. And then to do it three more times? Has anyone, since April of 1971, sacrificed more hours and given us more creativity, authenticity, integrity, and art, genuine, lush, literary art, in the name of Dark Shadows? No. Have you read those books? Of course, the answer is yes. You know what I’m talking about. Those are books with a depth and a freedom that this strange dream should not have yielded. Those books are undeniable truth that there is something of deep worth and resonance within this story. They are written with an eloquence and inspired élan that forever dispel the illusion that Dark Shadows is just some campy, nostalgic fad. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have lamented that Dark Shadows has yet to find its Nicholas Meyer, (although a preemptive box of cigars is on its way to the marvelous Mark B. Perry). But I was wrong. Just as Meyer proved with the Star Trek mythos, Lara Parker did with the mythos of Dark Shadows. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A film recording is just a thin recollection of a moment of flickering, ephemeral art captured at the moment of its birth and vaporization. It’s not the experience of acting. It’s an echo of the experience of acting trapped in two dimensions. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But writing is a physical thing. It lives in a book. In defined symbols. On a shelf. In your hands. Exactly the way it was intended. The words are what the author saw when they appeared from keystrokes and pen strokes. It is the art that is always the same in the decades-later reading as it was when it was created. Lara Parker gave us Dark Shadows as much as anyone, and then she gave it to us again. In a way that will never die. And in that way, she will never die.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s all so unlikely. A guy puts golf on TV, and since golf is played during the day, he winds up running some daytime programming. And one Mrs. O’Leary’s cow later, fate Rube Goldbergs us to this point now. Together. If you’re reading this, I am lucky. Someone else out there gets it. What a strange, microthin streak of fortune brought us together. Lara Parker is gone. I hate those words bitterly. And that is a pain as deep and embarrassing as I ever want to feel. And, I suspect, as you ever want to feel. But think of how lucky we are to have such a reason to feel it. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And that we are together.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PATRICK McCRAY<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvq-8QLoUYCyLEsbrLdbjrPdlyBt1v3L7x9BG83m2f8f0YmiA3A0TpRwkaipG2dtO9zINSepqI1FEAN7ycpOAijp6-Xg7YJwUdlIwIfUYfC9o2tCijdqrkSJz2ymYhFwd27No63Z4gEHT-pjNvKL-gw80cUBZdlqNtK4FFMc1DWQ3NakY5CtP_xx5b6Q8/s5786/lppm.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5786" data-original-width="4630" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvq-8QLoUYCyLEsbrLdbjrPdlyBt1v3L7x9BG83m2f8f0YmiA3A0TpRwkaipG2dtO9zINSepqI1FEAN7ycpOAijp6-Xg7YJwUdlIwIfUYfC9o2tCijdqrkSJz2ymYhFwd27No63Z4gEHT-pjNvKL-gw80cUBZdlqNtK4FFMc1DWQ3NakY5CtP_xx5b6Q8/w160-h200/lppm.png" width="160" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 23px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 26.4px;"><br /></p>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-59673144007068997922023-02-06T09:42:00.001-05:002023-02-06T09:42:13.455-05:00"Unbound" a reminder of the possibilities of "Dark Shadows"<p><a href="https://amzn.to/3jwRUBV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1469" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkkhWlcmKRWMp3RV63AOxPzV70zH_uFTzHozf9hr4tieqZ02Q8VQiHXrCyu3BrB4I84L1kPaRbtrntoVLjF5aqa7rCchfUwEDiJT_ZgQUMXKsLmuz3qpoln0uPeEgyrZltvp58rfgoyTbm1kE4l4VAv77gqgrYN7vMXbJVyazb3r8fY1m2AbFKKzGz=w640-h328" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></p><p>Imagine that you’re a college student in the late 1980s who vaguely recollected reading about a soap opera with a vampire in it. Your local mom-and-pop video store has reissues of that soap opera – on VHS! – Available for rental, $1.99 or 3 for $5. Of *course* you’re going to spend your hard-earned money on renting and watching ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3Yrp0lj" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="864" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisNt9Mgm4ASuVbLkdV1SzhChKK1O1lT6PjgBBzqwm9IsxWc2em4OCyprOWRkcaryDl83at9mBqoCIMfNlFEsCm1-dHI1fDD1Qd5MuHHrhgtZMZWU1sjpccJv8dhOHSnTv1Pk22RQtuNFk0KOv-XD0WiipwqRgdLAGErWUBTAdLf5Au2iOWD7OsAhVM=w250-h400" width="250" /></a></div>Because that college student was me, and that video store was my entry into Collinsport and Barnabas Collins, two DS Celebrations, and the writing of fan fiction. (Which is, thankfully, buried somewhere in the bowels of the internet) Flash forward a few years later, and I meet another second-generation Dark Shadows fan. One who shared my not-quite-that-serious love of the show and who was, remarkably, close to my age. I was the Grayson Hall to his Thayer David...or was I the John Karlen to his David Selby? But several decades later, that friend wrote a collection of essays later published as THE DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK.<p></p><p>Yes, I am talking about Patrick McCray, and he’s released the inevitable sequel, THE DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK UNBOUND. But to call UNBOUND a sequel is misleading because it’s so much more than that.</p><p>Let me use an analogy: the first DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK was a kind of “greatest hits” compilation. Put together some great essays about Dark Shadows highlights, throw in a few assorted “should-have-been-hits,” and you have a decent collection. Well worth your time, and your intellect, but a necessary reminder that Dark Shadows matters.</p><p>However, the new DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK UNBOUND is like one of the multi-disc boxed sets you would get in the 90s. (You even get the equivalent of “liner notes” in the form of an excellent introduction by writer/producer Mark B. Perry, working to reincarnate Dark Shadows for the 21st century). After he kicks off the book, Patrick provides a collection of great essays highlighting some of the more intricate emotional beats of the show…</p><p>But he also takes time to provide context for those cast members who have left: reminisces about Christopher Pennock, Diana Millay, and Geoffrey Scott are sprinkled amongst the discussion of the work of other cast members like Jonathan Frid, John Karlen, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker, David Selby, and Louis Edmonds. It’s a set up for the final set of essays at the end of the book. </p><p>After discussing Episode 1198, DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK UNBOUND starts its endgame with a moving tribute to Ben Cross, followed by several essays about the 1991 revival. (Yes, he works the same magic for the revival). But it’s the one two-three punch that follows which cements the emotional core of the book. A moving tribute to Mitch Ryan leads to a loving discussion of the 2021 DARK SHADOWS CHRISTMAS CAROL…</p><p>And UNBOUND’S endgame is the epilogue to the made-for-television docudrama about Dark Shadows which will never happen. It’s a series of vignettes which focus on the cast, producers, and writers after the show ends, and which solidifies the themes of UNBOUND. </p><p>DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK UNBOUND is a well-needed reminder that Dark Shadows is more than just “that show that everyone ran home to see” or “that show that I learned about via VHS” or “that soap opera with vampires, ghosts and werewolves.” Integrating gothic and horror concepts within the limits of the soap opera genre, DARK SHADOWS became a singular exploration around themes of remorse, redemption, and character growth. In DAYBOOK UNBOUND, Patrick McCray provides a great reminder that the show not only had an impact on viewers, but also the producers, writers, and cast. </p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3jwRUBV">DARK SHADOWS DAYBOOK UNBOUND</a> is a great reminder of why DARK SHADOWS matters. </p><p>It’s available for purchase on Amazon. Buy it and read it and you’ll be motivated to head back to Tubi, Amazon, or your video collection to revisit the show. </p><p>I know I will.</p><p>— Gordon Dymowski </p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-29533926899757597132022-08-16T08:51:00.003-04:002022-08-16T08:57:29.749-04:00 Audi-O-Rama #3: Dark Shadows: The Christmas Presence<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7WCkGBoZPHaWZ1Wb5edjpJqDs8s8RnY5KV2pRj_NKgCgnW6uiHd38ZyCKa4GzG4uKwmgO-dVw2WnYanLXqlEsRTGeQQjDeIg2p6AlNG1SSLjTs_2wq4cvbOnjnUmXEo7lQR_G5d3tG15d2WiQhzbl5JIo-0n15kcnLZGGt6dTcbuEbiq5P7OBRWgT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1280" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7WCkGBoZPHaWZ1Wb5edjpJqDs8s8RnY5KV2pRj_NKgCgnW6uiHd38ZyCKa4GzG4uKwmgO-dVw2WnYanLXqlEsRTGeQQjDeIg2p6AlNG1SSLjTs_2wq4cvbOnjnUmXEo7lQR_G5d3tG15d2WiQhzbl5JIo-0n15kcnLZGGt6dTcbuEbiq5P7OBRWgT=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Justin Partridge</div></div><p><i>Starring: David Selby, John Karlen, Andrew Collins, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and Toby Longworth</i></p><p><i>Written by: Scott Handcock</i></p><p><i>Directed by: Gary Russell</i></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Sloat in This SPOILERS AHEAD World (III)</h3><p>“Surely you have something more…substantial for me to feast upon? It is Chris-TT-Mass, after all.”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/dark-shadows-the-christmas-presence-33" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9ZCiY8uVwxRMv7-1vkefOTyLvwb5EWG0wIhdfN6NtgONduWaOUzXeFlkXUoSYqegSwnsGFkhwFKzI3INDnXsBfHsp2S0ACIEJEMimBw__dbm0KdNvvveAeOxRAlRqke4ZzRCDty1BH1xKkVSAjD3Vj5iPQvDlzAXf__iuv6_wr8Hfjdppe-32fMD9=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div>Our first double dip reveals an unexpected strength and deepened appreciation for <b>Dark Shadows: The Christmas Presence</b>! My third time at-bat overall for <b>Audi-O-Rama</b>; an exploration and analysis of <b>Dark Shadows</b> (and others!) at Big Finish Productions. <p></p><p>In the interest of full disclosure, o readers, despite my excitement in the opening of this column, I was slightly worried about “re-covering” some of these for the CHS. Thoughts like “will people want to hear about them again?” and “Should I just move into the House by the Sea and become a crab-man?” rattled through my head. </p><p>But much of that noise was blasted away once I finally sat down again with <b>The Christmas Presence</b>. As I found it a wholly delightful, well in-character single serial that is only improved with my as-chronological-as-possible listening order. </p><p>Christmas Eve is approaching and Quentin Collins is keeping true to his word to regather his family. He has a canny plan for it too. First, he will send out a sort of “psychic signal” into the world, inviting them back to Collinwood. Once back, he will ply them with a sumptuous Christmas lunch. One he’s invited the whole town to as well, with the help of Willie Loomis and Maggie Evans. And even Anqelique and Barnabas are put to the task, as Quentin recruits our favorite witch and vampire combination to help don Collinwood’s most gay apparel. Hopefully transforming the once imposing and empty mansion into the inviting pillar of the community Quentin wants it to be. </p><p>But someone…or someTHING else has other holiday plans. A ravenous creature that has been stealing children across Collinsport. Seemingly with the face of “whatever they want it to be”. For its latest victim it’s Santa Claus. But for Quentin, it’s the face of a family friend and only “person” to take him up on the invitation. Professor Timothy Eliot Stokes! Played with a hammy, but charming power by Big Finish veteran Toby Longworth. Drawing Collinwood once more into a tried and true supernatural scandal that is draped heavily in small-town tragedy, trauma, and torment.</p><p>What better way to spend a Christmas, right?</p><p>Oh, and also, a Christmas turkey bound for the oven comes to life and tries to kill Maggie. </p><p>Gosh I just think <b>Dark Shadows</b> is really neat.</p><p>My big Marge Simpson energy aside, <b>The Christmas Presenc</b>e really is a tremendous third installment for this fledgling range. One that continues to make good on the intention to “reestablish” <b>Dark Shadows</b> as a whole. </p><p>For one thing, they really start mixing up the character pairings, relying heavily on one of <b>Dark Shadows</b>’ most enduring and powerful elements; its cast. While David Selby’s more reserved and heartfelt take on Quentin Collins is still the de-facto “lead” of the serial, everyone down the line gets substantial time in the spotlight. Better still, they usually are paired off with someone else we love while doing so. Our beloved <b>John Karlen</b> gets some weighty scenes both with<b> Kathryn Leigh Scott</b> and <b>Lara Parker</b>. <b>Andrew Collins</b>’ regenerated Barnabas too is allowed ample room for charged, but largely courtly banter with Scott as well, tempered further with his hissed and powerful asides with Parker. </p><p>This is the first one so far that felt as if everyone had plenty to do and talk about and I appreciate Handcock and company realizing that’s where the real strength of <b>Dark Shadows</b> lies. In its ensemble and character interactions. </p><p>Better still, <b>The Christmas Presence</b> comes to the table with our first bonafide banger of a plot. The idea of Quentin imploring psychically for his family to come to Christmas lunch and then having to deal with how it pisses off the rest of the assembled cast to carry out said lunch could have been enough. But also further the inclusion of the “Nightmare Creature” that’s not only using Stokes’ face, but Stokes HIMSELF as a bridge into the waking world where he can feast on more nightmares. It’s just total candy, and right at home within <b>Dark Shadows</b>’ already established world of conceptual, but grounded monsters</p><p><b>The Christmas Presence</b> ALSO comes with a great deal of expanded scope and attention being paid to its own internal continuity as my beloved Big Finishverse is starting to take shape. Folks wondering about Willie’s vampire bite from <b>The House of Despair</b> will be as disappointed as I was not to see that being followed up on just yet, but thankfully Handcock and Russell provide plenty more in its place. </p><p>Chiefly, more exploration of Quentin’s “Graveyard of Memories” as well as the opening gambits of The Second Barnabas’ own memory gaps from the end of the TV show. Along with his possible “overwriting” of the soul whose body he now inhabits. All being brought to a head as the cast faces off against the Stokes creature, who offers them the chance to make all their “dreams” (read: nightmares) come true.</p><p>It’s a lot of really heady stuff, but I really applaud the creative team’s willingness to go this big and this weird THIS early on in the range. All while achieving the nearly impossible task of keeping everyone sounding and acting in character supported by a meaty premise.</p><p>I was slightly worried about diving back into <b>The Christmas Presence</b>. I know this is one some fans don’t really enjoy and it has a slightly spotty reputation thanks to the “undead, killer Christmas turkey” of it all. </p><p>But truly, I was very impressed with it this second time around. It’s got all the major hallmarks one could want of “proper” <b>Dark Shadows</b> while also attempting to grow the franchise into new, interesting places. Using both known iconography, strong plots (finally) and the wonderfully spirited performances of the character actors we all have come to adore.</p><p>The Dark One bless us! Everyone!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Audi-O-Grams</h3><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2018/12/another-very-special-holiday-review.html" target="_blank"><b>My original review</b></a>! Part of a pair of “Very Special Christmas Episode” reviews I did for our beloved CHS.</li><li>There is also a weird bit of discrepancy as to when this actually was released. The Big Finish website says “September 2006”, but the <b>Dark Shadows Fandom Wiki</b> (a resource I’ve found myself using more and more throughout this column) cites it as “January 2007”. Even in my OWN FIRST REVIEW, I say it’s 2006. One more thing to ask Scott Handcock and Gary Russell should I ever meet them.</li><li>The Second Barnabas has the sword cane too and I’m just as giddy rediscovering that fact as I was first discovering that fact. </li><li>Sheriff Haggerty shoutout! It’s awesome seeing this range already dropping hints and teases for the incoming serialization elements and miniseries. (Haggerty makes a debut proper in Kingdom of the Dead). </li><li>Composer Joseph Fox continues to excel with the new scoring of this era of DS, but the wholesale (largely unchanged) use of “Josette’s Theme” during this serial really nailed me in the ribs. Tremendous stuff all around, score and sound design wise. </li><li>Speaking again of Scott Handcock, I’m mostly finished with Doctor Who: The Mind of Hodiac; the Russell T. Davies “Lost Story” for the Sixth Doctor and Mel that he helped bring to life this past month. Expect a full review eventually over at my other gig <b><a href="https://www.dis-member.com/">Dis/Member</a></b>, but a slight teaser, it’s tremendous (and oh, so, 80s, innit?!)</li></ul><p></p><p>NEXT TIME: <b>The Rage Beneath</b>! Big Finish’s first arc finale! One I’ve never heard before! Be seeing you, house proud town mouses. </p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-58988042871739884522022-07-09T15:51:00.008-04:002022-07-09T20:51:40.987-04:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: July 9<div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj96f2hCvVIbwzhNY34qTW0lbeeI0o3FmLY_s4rf7UvAItUAMJwo2scucrEYtcLrNYm5Fupf9E7ibPJquUJunTXAhr2SedJ4FY_pDg3NNUXMNx3d_kGOw_PgDha7bI667wVCm6XFXbtZMG_zo76eZfm--3AZ2IDvXQNfSelXFlCsK0HGclkSL0XyTAF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1354" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj96f2hCvVIbwzhNY34qTW0lbeeI0o3FmLY_s4rf7UvAItUAMJwo2scucrEYtcLrNYm5Fupf9E7ibPJquUJunTXAhr2SedJ4FY_pDg3NNUXMNx3d_kGOw_PgDha7bI667wVCm6XFXbtZMG_zo76eZfm--3AZ2IDvXQNfSelXFlCsK0HGclkSL0XyTAF=w640-h500" width="640" /></a></div><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Taped on this day in 1969: Episode 798</b></div><div><br /></div><div>By PATRICK McCRAY</div></div><div><br /></div><div><i>In the wake of Szandor’s death, Magda and Barnabas discover that her curse has destroyed Quentin‘s heretofore-undiscovered child. Meanwhile, Quentin is given reason to suspect that Victor is actually the Count.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>It begins as the darkest of dark comedies, and <b>Thayer David</b> looks like he’s broken loose from the set of a mordant <b>Blake Edwards</b> movie. Szandor shows up at the door, eyes bulging and voice as monotonous as <b>Ricky Jay’s</b>. Classic TV hypnosis. Except that Barnabas very quickly realizes that he’s not hypnotized, as does Magda when her long-suffering husband finally falls dead at her feet, knife in the back. And in some ways, it really is a knife in the back from the writers of the show as Szandor and his laborious makeup job are replaced by Count Petofi and HIS laborious makeup job. Either way you slice it, it’s going to be early mornings for Thayer David for the foreseeable future.</div><div><br /></div><div>With Szandor’s death, Petofi has officially arrived. Not a moment too soon. By “officially arrived," I mean that Quentin did what the Collinses do best, besides lying: he snoops in the garden to see the count in an intimate moment with the show’s favorite, insidious imp, Aristide. A connection!</div><div><br /></div><div>And then the episode packs Quentin’s bags for a one-way trip to hell; the audience finds out that a gypsy curse has robbed him of a child he never knew existed. The revelation to Quentin is a cold, quiet study in stillness and being.<b> Jonathan Frid</b>,<b> Grayson Hall</b> and<b> David Selby</b> sit with the dark luxury of simply being as the weight of one hundred episodes carries itself for once. It’s a remarkable slice of authentic theatre in a sea of breathlessly timed craft. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXSMZueZWAND32E1x_ySa5QM0MSlsPyFhyMFKBNfbY-dkigyTJJudmZdou4cTLR3iG2FoLkdf0rmsIBPW-boRJUVKsNmA1DEVehUz2Nk9eX-wb95EvphmJ2wFHt4gYtP3HVr4F3x_b8YS2WM4k6geKAKho19zfjdB8pfwrrykIBhr1AXzW6mbxIFv-" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1366" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXSMZueZWAND32E1x_ySa5QM0MSlsPyFhyMFKBNfbY-dkigyTJJudmZdou4cTLR3iG2FoLkdf0rmsIBPW-boRJUVKsNmA1DEVehUz2Nk9eX-wb95EvphmJ2wFHt4gYtP3HVr4F3x_b8YS2WM4k6geKAKho19zfjdB8pfwrrykIBhr1AXzW6mbxIFv-=w400-h311" width="400" /></a></div>It’s also the most authentically sobering moment on the series. Barnabas wisely corrects a grieving Aunt Magda that their former hostilities are no longer relevant. The program’s sinister antics are all fun and games until someone loses an infant. This suddenly becomes a very real-world horror, haunting every parent and older sibling watching the program. <b>Dark Shadows</b> is becoming very good at playing for keeps, Although it didn’t start out that way. Maggie‘s kidnapping flirts with it. So does the pain of 1795. And from 1995 until the end of the series, the show will excel at handcrafted discomfort. And few moments are as cruel as Barnabas experiences with the death of Angelique. But even that pales in comparison to this. I can aspire to glib detachment as much as I want, but the death of a child is a horror universal to humankind. Including me. </div><div><br /></div><div>Compound that with the knowledge that Quentin is the loneliest character in all of <b>Dark Shadows</b>, and everyone knows it. We can imagine, just from his interaction with Jamison, what a marvelous father he would have made. Move over Shatner; I see your Transformed Man and raise you a Quentin Collins: parent. Not only do Barnabas and Magda discover that this was a possibility all along, but they also see a lengthening shadow that will redefine Quentin, and only for the worse. The question now is, what shape will that take?</div><div><br /></div><div>We are nearly 100 episodes into the 1897 adventure. When we look back on this storyline, I think many of us just remember the color and humor and panache of it all. We forget how it begins to end. The party’s over, but the show refuses to turn on the fluorescents. Quentin emerges as the normative voice of reason as the staid world that was once his cosmic <b>Margaret Dumont</b> becomes an asylum. It is a transformation far more profound than his lycanthropic one. As he is thrust into bereaved sobriety, Quentin will be confronted with reflections again and again to quietly punish him for the sins of who he was. And can become at any point. Want proof?</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, the painting. A living testament to his animalistic urges, it will also record a decay divorced from age. When we see him in the 20th century, Quentin will be one year shy of one hundred. Elderly, but not impossibly so. When he re-discovers the painting, it is not of a 99-year-old man. It is an EC Comics portrayal of the worst of syphilitic dissolution and decay. Yes, Quentin is dolorous and mature by then, but his immortality clearly led to decades of greater risk. Even a reformed sinner can fall off the wagon, and it’s clear that the wagon backed up and ran over him more than once. Even though he is, literally, the picture of handsome, the actual picture depicting the consequences of his actions can never be destroyed. Even more conscience. Yes, Barnabas suffers. But he suffers from comparably cartoonish tragedies. Quentin’s suffering comes from his regret of some very relatable mistakes. It’s a quiet acid that can never completely destroy him. It just burns without release. No one on the show could explore the humanity and range of that journey like David Selby. </div><div><br /></div><div>But Quentin has another reflection to confront: the Count. Both men are mischievous magic users fully content to dissimulate with zest if it gets them what they want. By confronting the Count, and by occasionally inhibiting his body, Quentin will learn the value of choosing a better path. The Count is exactly who Quentin might have become without a tragedy. And any parent will tell you that the prospect of losing a hand merits less than a shrug compared to the thought of losing a child. </div><div><br /></div><div>The 60s, but especially the preceding year of 1968, would force the most carefree of Americans to grow up. <b>Dark Shadows</b> was doing the same.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>This episode hit the airwaves July 16, 1969.</b></div>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-86058910824085779852022-06-27T21:00:00.012-04:002022-07-19T13:05:52.036-04:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: June 27<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzE7Vou-xRlKAe4JnWjSGX4yIP60vM3w5nc1pMs2ixlXReT3bYpkD2Oyl7oIBCYEXJ2ZwSkrAMBAr4FdMFOQvGj0EKRJHzGdjI-ePm9mk0ZQimCUlA6VlMuzxr5IQilANfWReZWgu4lsWHN7qb0iXit_qRZcJNlWvzgb18FxBF2gtIrRkKnGSZMC2/s607/96B7D506-ECC5-4ACA-A0C6-432F7EB9BE5E.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="607" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzE7Vou-xRlKAe4JnWjSGX4yIP60vM3w5nc1pMs2ixlXReT3bYpkD2Oyl7oIBCYEXJ2ZwSkrAMBAr4FdMFOQvGj0EKRJHzGdjI-ePm9mk0ZQimCUlA6VlMuzxr5IQilANfWReZWgu4lsWHN7qb0iXit_qRZcJNlWvzgb18FxBF2gtIrRkKnGSZMC2/w640-h514/96B7D506-ECC5-4ACA-A0C6-432F7EB9BE5E.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></div></div></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>Aired on this day in 1966: Episode 1</b></p><p>By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p>A sophisticated New Yorker gives up big city life for the charm of rural America. Will she find colorful locals and a talking pig… or terror? Mr. Wells: Conrad Bain. (Repeat; 30 min.)</p><p>Victoria Winters ventures from Manhattan to Collinsport to assume the position of governess in a forbidding mansion whose owners are ambiguous about her arrival. Along the way, she meets a brooding business tycoon, quietly obsessed with her future employer’s isolation. A charismatic diner waitress, Maggie Evans, joins in the chorus of those who warn her away from Collinwood. </p><p>Okay, so technically it's the 56th anniversary of the first episode of Dark Shadows.</p><p>Except that it really isn't. It's the 56th anniversary of the first episode of Shadows on the Wall. After all, if Art Wallace had any idea that the show would’ve wound up like it did, there’s no way that this would have been the pilot. That doesn't make the pre-Barnabas episodes inferior, but I do see them as a separate series; I think it's helpful to look through that lens. </p><p>How to introduce Dark Shadows? I mean, really. This sets a certain atmosphere, but I'm not certain it's an atmosphere that works with the ultimate point of the show. And yet it’s still a marvelous piece of television storytelling. </p><p>This is both a small and large episode. It exists at night, with small ghostly characters surrounded by vast swaths of darkness. Yet, it’s an expansive episode, almost an epic by comparison to the rest of the series. It has 11 characters which is over twice the norm of the program. It takes place on trains and at the Blue Whale and at Collinwood and in New York and in the Collinsport Inn lobby and at the attached diner and even on a lonely street corner. It takes two cities to tell this story and uses abundant flashbacks, thus told over multiple days even though it's also just a tiny slice of one endless night. </p><p>As the next episodes go on, they will all be taking place over this “day.” And yet this day begins after dark, and if that's supposed to be in early to mid June, during some of the longest days of the year, how long is that evening? That strange timelessness creates a wonderfully surreal slice of pure atmosphere. And pure atmosphere is what powers the entire story as we learn about Victoria Winters and her quest for home and meaning and identity, so yes, it’s the 56th anniversary of the first episode of Shadows on the Wall. And without that, we would have had no Dark Shadows. Let’s celebrate it as its own animal. And yes, I know it's all one big text and it's one big story. And yes, I am violating my own rules by looking at this as more of a slice of real-world production than the first piece of a 1225 piece puzzle. But what’s analysis without a little internal contradiction, right? </p><p>It's fun to watch how Art Wallace deploys the characters, sets, and information that viewers will need. It gives a clear view of his priorities… and what did or did not hook audiences. </p><p>As the episode begins, Vicki is introduced as someone in search of meaning, Having to find out as much as she possibly can about… everything. That singular need makes her oft-repeated mantra of, “I just don't understand” feel more grating for her to say than for us to hear. Meanwhile, Roger is preoccupied with the danger of bringing a stranger into the house, while Liz seems determined to do so. When we consider that Liz is the one who has been isolating herself for 18 years, this situation becomes intentionally absurd. That is a quieter mystery than Vicki’s quest. It's one to be revealed under the skin of the story, but it's more profound than any of the others. </p><p>Painting Roger as an angry xenophobe may be the only sour note here. After all, the trial and Burke’s imprisonment were over a years ago. Unless Roger is obsessed with Burke's return, he's in a pretty comfortable place. The later Roger — of Dark Shadows — would be thrilled at someone new coming into town. And from a dramatic perspective, having him in a place of smug comfort might have been a good height from which he could fall with Burke's return. But it wouldn't give the character anywhere to go, and it sets up one more mystery — why is Roger such an intense sourpuss? </p><p>As a character, Collinsport is depicted in a suitably dreamlike fashion; the conductor says that there are normally no regular stops there, making the town seem beyond isolated for a place with a major business within. We wonder how it can possibly hope to exist. Not only has Liz isolated herself, and not only is Collinwood a fortress from the outside, but the entire town seems insulated from any kind of external influence. We understand why Burke calls it “the beginning and the end of the world.” In her flashbacks, Vicki keeps hearing the question, “What are you going to do?” And her answer is the answer of the 20th century; to take action is to step into a void of nothingness, hoping for the best. </p><p>Even though the episode is in black and white and it uses it magnificently, its investment in the symbolism of color is no more pointed than when we hear about what Burke and Vicki have physically brought to Collinsport. Burke is saddled with two black bags, literally representing his copious personal baggage and their ominous contents and weight. Vicki has only one piece of luggage: red. Her desirability or her heart or her intensity or sense of life? Or maybe Art Wallace just liked typing the word “red.” But it’s a passionate color, making her a tad less virginally naive when she meets her Collinsport counterpart, Maggie.</p><p>At this point they split up. Vicki stays at the inn… a place of nourishment and comfort, where people know Burke with a fond warmth incongruous with his cold demeanor. And Burke? He goes off to a bar, which says it all. He leaves the girl with the red tote and journeys to the Blue Whale. A color both sad and obscene, attached to the largest animal on the planet. Is he Jonah or Ahab or both? </p><p>They both learn valuable information from possible allies. Or not. Vicky meets Maggie, who so little resembles the later character of Maggie Evans that the part might as well be played by Danny Trejo. Maggie is a wonderful foil for Vicki, worldly and edgy and keeping nothing to herself. They are both seemingly working class and yet nothing alike. </p><p>At the bar, Burke learns that Elizabeth has been isolated for 18 years. That’s big news for the audience, but upon reflection it seems odd that Burke would not know some of this. He hasn’t been away that long. But the mystery of Collinwood pervades. It feels as if Vicki‘s impending danger is printed in bold on every page as the pilot moves her closer and closer to Collinwood. </p><p>Just like Barnabas would, 211 episodes later, give or take, Vicki knocks on the door under the portmanteau to gain entry. It’s a very specific shot repeated for significant characters entering Collinwood… ones who seem to have more of a place there than many of the actual residents. As Liz ushers her in, the episode’s abrupt end brings our attention to what we still long to know.</p><p>As the camera pulls away from the conversation to follow, we feel like voyeurs yanked back into the anonymous night. It's a directorial move telling us that we have only gotten a brief glimpse. It’s a world meant to be guarded and cloaked. If we're lucky, maybe we will be allowed back in just as Vicki was allowed in. Will our stay be as brief?</p><p>It's a terse, suspenseful inauguration. What would that series have been like if it had been a success as envisioned? Within two years, Vicki would be not only lost in place, but in time as well. Her mysteries would mount rather than diminish. Perhaps Maggie never lost her brass as she gained texture and nuance. It takes grit and glamour to win the attention of television’s brainiest, most diabolical beaus. I don’t see Nicholas and Barnabas on the menu at this point, but I’m happy to hang around for them. Shadows are made to reveal surprises. Nothing could have surprised viewers more than what awaited them in the ones cast here. </p><p><b>This episode hit the airwaves June 27, 1966.</b></p>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-382557443098894912022-06-24T10:35:00.003-04:002022-06-24T14:11:03.722-04:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: June 23<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN18kGWmZyTcU15xfLimkrrgPQLLmsmcPfbzxEg31mfKLCCHwAw3nITS6CHnR5U6Vb14M7cE9NUnc_iHP9XNgPgIXtquypj5izubx54GmpdITpvWLCsq9IHqaYAEjxZ2pW3terVFLK_DrdSsxT4r90dqWiz1NQ6acttVvBuBmVEBrDJr6LQYV5J1Nu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="999" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN18kGWmZyTcU15xfLimkrrgPQLLmsmcPfbzxEg31mfKLCCHwAw3nITS6CHnR5U6Vb14M7cE9NUnc_iHP9XNgPgIXtquypj5izubx54GmpdITpvWLCsq9IHqaYAEjxZ2pW3terVFLK_DrdSsxT4r90dqWiz1NQ6acttVvBuBmVEBrDJr6LQYV5J1Nu=w640-h494" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Taped on this day in June 23, 1967: Episode 271</b></p><p>By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p><i>If it’s wedding bells for Liz and Jason, why is she ringing them with a bloody fireplace poker? Paul Stoddard: Dennis Patrick. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p><i>Liz explains why she cannot marry Jason in a flashback depicting her attempted assassination of Paul Stoddard. 18 years prior, after using the fireplace set for a rather extreme couples therapy role-play to respond to his attempts to leave, she seemingly murdered Paul, whose body was ostensibly buried in a trunk in the basement.</i></p><p>At this point, I really don’t know how most people watch <b>Dark Shadows</b>, or if there even is such a thing as “most people.” With DVDs largely dead as a medium and streaming packages insisting on separating the pre-Barnabas episodes has a weird (but potentially telling) afterthought, I really can’t responsibly begin this essay the way I would have a few years ago. Therefore, I shall.</p><p>When most people watch Dark Shadows, they begin with the unleashing of Barnabas, and immediately, it’s clear to anyone that he is not the villain of the series. It may be televisions greatest morality trick. I mean, yes he’s a kidnapper who kills people, but he’s no JR Ewing. He’s doing the former simply because he hast to eat. He’s doing the latter because he thinks, in someway, he can release the true, inner spirit from some sort of weird, working class prison of internally mistaken identity. Well, OK, he also beats the shisha out of Willie Loomis on a regular basis, but everyone has to have a hobby. And considering where he came from, that’s simply how you maintain a home appliance, like knocking a television on the side (back when they had sides) or whacking something with batteries in it to do… Whatever that’s supposed to do. Teach them manners or something. </p><p>Realistically, the villain is obviously Jason Maguire. Jason does what he does not just out of greed, but because he legitimately enjoys torturing Liz. Maybe it’s class envy. Maybe it’s deep seated, Irish Catholic rage aimed at someone who is more than likely an atheist. Or a Protestant. And to Jason, they’re probably the same thing. We don’t know much about the alleged death of Paul Stoddard, but we know that Liz has basically made herself serve 18 years with Matthew Morgan’s cooking with no time off for good digestion. It’s clear that she feels bad and that she has done more than her share of time served. So, we naturally feel sorry for her and that makes him all the more hateful. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNd3kbw9qu3Gx2DJAdq6dTtsLcpsnE0fDSZQFenGeROvgeLEFWYAqhUgrKkd0myDI66mlrzo1gtaR9qWqESuZUQCt0i2IuW2fFKFV11p1j1_Y76ieUl-b2J9BMj_qz38SC-bWkAb_KxBDXORbYMwgaKJigzLWPmsVRcBGqVidEKLpUPUqI8m5hUije" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="999" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNd3kbw9qu3Gx2DJAdq6dTtsLcpsnE0fDSZQFenGeROvgeLEFWYAqhUgrKkd0myDI66mlrzo1gtaR9qWqESuZUQCt0i2IuW2fFKFV11p1j1_Y76ieUl-b2J9BMj_qz38SC-bWkAb_KxBDXORbYMwgaKJigzLWPmsVRcBGqVidEKLpUPUqI8m5hUije=w320-h246" width="320" /></a></div>What’s worse is that <b>Dennis Patrick</b> is quite probably the most charming actor to ever darken the towels of Collinwood, and while it won’t be the first thing out of my mouth if I ever see a cast member again, I suspect most of them would agree with me. So, we wind up with that weird animal of “the villain you love to hate.” <p></p><p>And pardon if I digress from my digression, but doesn’t that phrase seem a little turned around? Shouldn’t you take a certain modicum of satisfaction in having the ethics to, if not love the act of hating a villain, at least have no compunction about hating them? Now that I think about it, the expression that is probably more accurate is, “the villain you hate to love.” Because you know that you should just like him, but he’s such an ingratiating person that, honestly, I often find myself thinking, “well, if I’m going to be married to a hateful parasite, at least he’s fun to be around.“</p><p>Liz has been alone for 18 years. She has more money than she knows what to do with. I’m not saying that she should fall head over heels for every extortionist who helps to bury a murdered spouse, but now that I’m thinking about it, I sort of wonder how bad life with Jason would really be. I mean, I’m sure marriage would be terrible. Especially because all of my married friends warn me that it’s terrible. But… I’ve seen close-ups of Bill Malloy‘s beard. And no, I’m not talking about Mrs. Johnson. I’m just saying that she could do worse. I see people get married for money all the time, and I have to give props to Jason for at least being honest about it. </p><p>And you can’t say that Liz doesn’t mind slumming it when it comes to husbands. I always detected a class difference between Liz and Paul. There are never any references to the mighty Stoddard belt loop empire or whatever people make their fortunes with. (I hear rumors that it has something to do with hard work, but I haven’t the nerve to try it.) And besides, give Jason a mustache and cut off his supply of Grecian formula, and you have yourself one Paul Stoddard with a more winning accent. </p><p>So even with all of that, Jason‘s moments of sadism are striking enough that it overcomes even Dennis Patrick’s effervescence. (Which, ironically, makes him all the more adept as an actor.) </p><p>As a Dark Shadows viewer, this episode, and the ones that immediately follow it, are some of the first most reassuring moments for most viewers that the show will deliver. Because at this point, Barnabas has given up on Maggie, probably because he thinks she’s dead (but not in the right way). So that entire storyline vaguely feels like it went nowhere. But this one had to go somewhere. It’s a bit of terrestrial nastiness that has to end in a wedding. </p><p>The show does such a masterful job at reiterating the source of Liz’s anxiety that, even if we have not followed it from episode one, we still feel a profound satisfaction at seeing the flashback to Paul’s murder. As a kid, I didn’t think they would ever show something like that. And you only got it once, unlike everything else on the show, where the same pivotal moments are often repeated at least five times so that everyone, no matter what day of the week they see it on, gets the thrill. This felt like a genuine reward for paying attention and tuning in every day. It was somehow both the Easter Egg and the entire basket.</p><p>Coming about one year and a week after the show went on the air, it had to be even more luxuriously satisfying for viewers who’d been with it from the start.</p><p>It takes four more episodes for the complete dénouement. It seems like a typically excessive length until you combine it with the typically excessive build up. At which point, the five episode pay off feels almost generous. </p><p>Watching the hand of Barnabas rise up to crush Jason‘s life was a quick and brutally satisfying moment, as well. It’s a gesture that becomes a force of nature. For Willie, it was a moment that created a new life. For Jason, it means some thing else. But it makes the force within Barnabas seem like something out of Greek mythology, a cruel and honest crucible responding to an intruder’s essence. In some ways it almost feels as if that force within Barnabas has a judgmental autonomy completely divorced from the great man. A bit like Count Petofi’s capricious hand would be several years later. Because both times, it’s basically just Barnabas‘s instinctive response to having someone throw open his bedroom door without even knocking.</p><p>And although the coffin was not necessarily rocking, Willie and Jason really should have at least greeted him from his sleep with a newspaper and some toast. </p><p><b>This episode hit the airwaves July 10, 1967.</b></p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-66886813626483764752022-04-13T13:31:00.004-04:002022-04-13T13:31:24.537-04:00 It Was Great When it All Began ...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3KSzeEQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyO6NjU2BGNCDoGpkd7oYsJD_u0NoRUOmITwraNTcEk-Ht0-xt9R3VtHYzAqixM5D8aN8ULxFWIUa3mkn0dPKpxJf-mRa00KHaYzMZe5fammoZidm01GLyh-T2H26CzEf1ZMxyHVQbMYYsoYuJkdJmOz8MCOpO_2hd5Ufrb-mHRmEZ2f-MHV3wEfp/w640-h360/HEADER.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 15.84px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 15.84px;">By PATRICK McCRAY</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3rkFu0w" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlC_PAnNPSTXEltyBvlMx6S3QqHBIKfkOCOB7rIJsKYv9FC1gYtRIsjW_6YePptG-daNcrolAjakV84cueYwlhDBUcHOob2072qfavw9FGG5iDqSzoFBUqO8iO4W9RO1wFMsDviuzJj_MnQB32FCmjMua6vJ-IZITIkjVvmAdHGYUkY640ZyWVNsN/w266-h400/Running%20Home%20to%20Shadows.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><p>2021 was an extraordinary year for <b>Dark Shadows</b>. Yes, it was also a sad year. We lost some marvelous actors, and the losses have cast the future of Dark Shadows festival into doubt with this author… certainly on the scale we saw in 2016. At the same time, there was a wealth of independent Dark Shadows podcasting and authorship. The Rondo nominations are a testament to our passionate industry. Although the rights holders seemingly kept it quiet in 2021, we did not. And that has spilled into 2022. Why the revival? Is it even a revival? Perhaps it’s more of a testament to the momentum that’s been building for a decade. </p><p>2011-2021 is a ten year span of technological innovation that has put extraordinary tools in the hands of workin’ Joes like us to create quality products that rival the professional offerings we wish we’d had. Podcasting and desktop publishing are the two most notable examples. But there’s more than technology afoot. I’m beginning to suspect that mine is not an isolated case. </p><p>What case? In 2011, <b>Dark Shadows</b> fans got the best news possible: a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie that would certainly catapult us from accusations of camp to accolades of genius. Then, 2012 happened to us. April, 2012, to be exact. While the film attracted many brainy and iconoclastic new fans, it charmed few longtime supporters. For all of the angst that caused, I think it was more of a catalyst than curse. I know that I felt like I needed to do something for the franchise to give back a little. At the time, my best idea was a stunt somewhere at the crossroads of <b>Morgan Spurlock</b>, <b>Andy Kaufman</b> and <b>Evel Knievel</b>… I sacrificed 45 days to watch the entire series, 10.5 hours a day, five to six days a week. A decade later, I had one collection of essays out and another on the way. Three fine podcasts serve the internet. And the books just keep coming. </p><p>If 2011-2021 was a decade of an uncomfortable detente between the original fans of the series and the Burtonians, the tenth anniversary of the Burton film (and Mr. Frid’s death) is what may be the final word on the subject from the first generation of fans, <a href="https://amzn.to/3KSzeEQ" target="_blank"><b>Jim Beard</b>’s collection of various memoirs, </a><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3KSzeEQ" target="_blank">Running Home to Shadows</a>.</b> It’s a title that needs little elaboration. Ask almost anyone who was born somewhen at the intersection of Eisenhower and Kennedy and you’ll hear the familiar nostalgia-cry of <i>“I ran home from school every day to watch <b>Dark Shadows</b>….”</i></p><p>This narrative dominated the experience of growing up with <b>Dark Shadows</b>, and it finally has a definitive voice to give it shape in this book. For those of us born after that period, there’s been a subtle caste-system in DS fandom… maybe out of necessity. Our work (at least prior to the Sci Fi Channel and the internet) has not been one of discovery but archaeology. The suspense was non-existent. Correction, the suspense was in whether or not we would actually see the series. Did the final episodes exist? How could we see them? Would MPI really finish? Once DVD and streaming settled that argument, the more honest question became, “Who would actually finish watching it all, now that it’s available?”</p><p>It is to the show’s credit that so many did and still do… despite lacking a unifying ritual. But that ritual -- running home from school to see and share the new episodes -- created a bonding momentum that got us here today. No other program has that cultural legend behind it… or the decades of mainstream horror that have resulted. As such, Beard delivers a vital history and voices that have yet to go silent.</p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-63973244698647515892022-04-13T13:23:00.000-04:002022-04-13T13:23:10.623-04:00Dark Shadows Audi-O-Rama #2: The Book of Temptation<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpsL_EZPdJoZ4SXHUHGXhtLUmEIQlgV7_Jr89SSA9Tob5Z9kaT7YOhWhj_uxeDQ9QgZelIKor4vI34QWgP5r_3NjOH9dWDNk3y0UxGevO8d2CtWulHeYbMQ8ptoyLceI-JdLnmReTT-MPyDqNNseIZl6qbdYnFEbIRknjUsLymh2hxXH8VBBplrXRc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1280" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpsL_EZPdJoZ4SXHUHGXhtLUmEIQlgV7_Jr89SSA9Tob5Z9kaT7YOhWhj_uxeDQ9QgZelIKor4vI34QWgP5r_3NjOH9dWDNk3y0UxGevO8d2CtWulHeYbMQ8ptoyLceI-JdLnmReTT-MPyDqNNseIZl6qbdYnFEbIRknjUsLymh2hxXH8VBBplrXRc=w640-h386" width="640" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Audi-O-Rama #2: The Book of Temptation</span></span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span id="m_4702409616920698060gmail-docs-internal-guid-0047f29a-7fff-a022-99d3-93fbeeee9f6c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Justin Partridge</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEPBqmyEBsuwdyHcwELVBBwg4LQTuNcaMq7BskCuwmWZYgModLPQoMmDawsF4tuRd-PIHJrov0pVRH1WNtCyih7MRSm85NyW_rEm9P2ej7t4BRLQoXUvTe-v-3msmmNuwNUYwml-cFWJsa6pm2lYIvGj2B2g7caP8k-LQDV_5bIXxdsfGTsNdovLfP" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEPBqmyEBsuwdyHcwELVBBwg4LQTuNcaMq7BskCuwmWZYgModLPQoMmDawsF4tuRd-PIHJrov0pVRH1WNtCyih7MRSm85NyW_rEm9P2ej7t4BRLQoXUvTe-v-3msmmNuwNUYwml-cFWJsa6pm2lYIvGj2B2g7caP8k-LQDV_5bIXxdsfGTsNdovLfP" width="240" /></a></div><br />Dark Shadows: The Book of Temptation</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starring: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Selby, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, John Karlen, Daphne Ashbrook, and Andrew Collins</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Written by: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scott Handcock</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Directed by:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Gary Russell</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Work and No SPOILERS AHEAD Make Jack a Dull Boy.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Everybody has nightmares, Maggie. I can’t help you with that. Nobody can…”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now That’s What I Call Dark Shadows! Volume Two!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome back to Audi-O-Rama, dear readers. And you return to find some classic Dark Shadows hijinks and ensemble-based goodness! As we tackle 2006’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book of Temptation</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Big Finish Productions’ strong follow up to their own return to Collinsport. Helmed by long-time Big Finish scribe <b>Scott Handcock</b> (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Torchwood</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The War Master</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time Lord Victorious, and the upcoming The Mind of Hodiac with Rusty T. Davies!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and the legendary in my book, <b>Gary Russell</b>.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reverberations of Quentin Collins’ return to Collinsport are still being felt throughout the town. But nobody is more affected than poor ol’ Willie Loomis. Who wakes to find himself in the care of Maggie Evans at the Collinsport Inn after his…let’s say, draining reintroduction to the “new” Barnabas Collins and the resurrected Angelique last time in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The House of Despair. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naturally, his “sickness” and reignited mania brought on by Barnabas’ bite raises Maggie’s hackles. And she aims to give the Collins family a piece of her mind about it too. But instead of telling off our reunited dark trio, she is drawn into this serial’s ghostly main plot. Centered around a haunted book, brought to life by </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doctor Who’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <b>Daphne Ashbrook</b>, that feasts on the memories and souls of those unfortunate enough to read from its pages. Adding them to a twisted conglomerate of personalities </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as plots go, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book of Temptation’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a trifle basic. The idea of a haunted book has been done a few times before now in <b>Dark Shadows</b> and <b>Scott Handcock</b>’s version here doesn’t really reinvent the wheel. Despite a wonderfully broad and multi-layered performance by Daphne Ashbrook. A performer that stands up well amid the new and returned cast and who also adds a novel ethos to the part of <b>Charlotte Howell</b>. A former member of Collinwood’s staff in the 1920’s who becomes the main pillar personality trapped in the book’s warped collection of souls.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book of Temptation’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> real success is in its uses of the reassembled icons of <b>Dark Shadows</b>. If the previous serial’s goal was about bringing everyone back to the table and reintroducing audiences to Collinsport of the “now”, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book of Temptation’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> aim seems to be building them all back outward again. And it totally nails it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While <b>John Karlen</b>’s Willie doesn’t get much to do this round aside from some quick lampshading in the first and last parts, everyone else gets substantial time in the spotlight. <b>Kathryn Leigh Scott</b> is brought fully back into the ensemble with her return to Collinwood, and both Handcock and Russell work overtime to make sure Quentin, the “regenerated” Barnabas, Maggie, AND Angelique get ample time and opportunity to interact with one another.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And it’s all totally sparkling! Scott’s Maggie is back to playing the voice of reason and compassion throughout the Collins family and Angelique’s pragmatic, slightly ruthless courses of action. One of which includes Quentin straight up imprisoning Maggie in the infamous Collinwood dungeon to keep her “safe” from the book’s influences. I wish I could deal with all my problems by simply throwing them in a dungeon, but I guess that’s just the privilege of the supernatural 1%ers.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Better still, Handcock’s script doesn’t ignore the already established dynamics between Maggie and the rest of the cast. While narratively he has to dance around slightly because of Maggie’s memory-wipe from the final TV episodes, on the whole, Maggie’s reconnection with everyone is dealt with really carefully. And with a deft touch performance wise thanks to Scott and <b>Andrew Collins</b>’ newly formed dynamic. That in itself is heavily informed by the courtly spark of <b>Jonathan Frid</b> and Scott’s famous chemistry.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All around, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book of Temptation</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a rousing success. Both as a sophomore installment of this “new” era of <b>Dark Shadows</b> and as a single serial experience. A lovingly produced slice of pulpy gothic-ness. One both gracefully supported by its TV past and working extra hard to reestablish bonafides for a whole new audience. Exemplifying how and why these characters and their franchise work. Without being overly bogged down in its reverence for the past television-based incarnation. Honestly, kinda the best case scenario for a follow-up episode! I would have loved this in 2006, but I surely love it now and will likely give this to normals looking for a neat entryway into Dark Shadows. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not too shabby for a second round, huh?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Audi-O-Grams</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We get our first “new” appearance of the Collinwood Drawing Room! And it’s still being used for hissed and tense secret asides between characters! Traditions are very important.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also get our first mention of an exorcism in this “new” era. It’s endlessly funny to me that both seances and exorcisms are just standard operating procedures for the Collins family.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not Dark Shadows without a parallel timeline. Yet more stuff in common with Doctor Who besides sharing cast members and creatives.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I continue to love how Big Finish just gets out of the way of Robert Cobert’s music. They provide some wonderful supplemental music and scores of their own later on in the ranges, and even now here, thanks to Joseph Fox’s great additions. But man, Cobert’s stuff is still just unimpeachably great and they know it.</span></li></ul><p></p><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NEXT TIME: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2007’s The Christmas Presence. Our first double-dip! Yuletide vibes! Toby Longworth! Be seeing you, you crazy diamonds.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">_____________________________________________________________________</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><b>Justin Partridge</b> has always loved monsters and he thinks that explains a lot about him. When he isn’t over analyzing comics at Newsarama or ranting about Tom Clancy over at Rogues Portal, he is building Call of Cthulhu games, spreading the good word of Anti-Life, or rewatching Garth Marenghi's Darkplace for the dozenth time. He can be reached at the gasping Lovecraftian void that is Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/j_partridgeiii" style="color: #8b2e2e; text-decoration-line: none;"><b>@j_partridgeIII</b></a> or via e-mail at justin@betweenthepanels.com Odds are he will want to talk about Hellblazer.</i></div>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-38408005188758824212022-03-30T06:00:00.000-04:002022-03-30T10:09:26.778-04:00 Dark Shadows Audi-O-Rama #1: The House of Despair<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgCJgEMYN2mvyXLhr4IoyefdlcgrIB0ULrQJ2ZdbfoeibQQxAMu5OsSJcWGfHOimhtAkqcNRTypUnnLNBHHkwWmhgmU53gUczhBsdkUi2IFCu7-yNGRRsbaWhISocisx-FKpGElHrPTudPTYoR-YhARY-fNj1b52NyZyaCxA9gzIXV0jYhhIXxsoKT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1280" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgCJgEMYN2mvyXLhr4IoyefdlcgrIB0ULrQJ2ZdbfoeibQQxAMu5OsSJcWGfHOimhtAkqcNRTypUnnLNBHHkwWmhgmU53gUczhBsdkUi2IFCu7-yNGRRsbaWhISocisx-FKpGElHrPTudPTYoR-YhARY-fNj1b52NyZyaCxA9gzIXV0jYhhIXxsoKT=w640-h358" width="640" /></a><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Audi-O-Rama #1: The House of Despair</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Justin Partridge </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWK2HYXBvGHTLavTO0sskeeRSC_YEDmp0EpA8lnSgrodejMgnyV_wHKGT70iK-1X_AXUz2OFA0sPtnJEACE9Y6Iz2jtCqn4XsdTA1GK8hnnvFaDovJcXVvRz3G8Sdie-zN8J6bfkysCmicnxIN4QvYV3Lz6MGfGzhFS3MHYoK9S_Eo_KzbVUo06wAd" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWK2HYXBvGHTLavTO0sskeeRSC_YEDmp0EpA8lnSgrodejMgnyV_wHKGT70iK-1X_AXUz2OFA0sPtnJEACE9Y6Iz2jtCqn4XsdTA1GK8hnnvFaDovJcXVvRz3G8Sdie-zN8J6bfkysCmicnxIN4QvYV3Lz6MGfGzhFS3MHYoK9S_Eo_KzbVUo06wAd" width="240" /></a></div>Dark Shadows: The House of Despair <p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starring: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Selby, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, John Karlen, Ursula Burton, and Jamison Selby</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Written by: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stuart Manning</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Directed by: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gary Russell</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baby, Can Ya Dig Your SPOILERS AHEAD?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He’s a Righteous SPOILERS AHEAD.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell Me, Baby, Can Ya Dig Your SPOILERS AHEAD?</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I thought that if I ran fast enough I need never turn back, but now I find myself compelled to return. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as I always knew I would be.” </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s this?! An audio review! From ME?!</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, dear readers. I have returned to the fake cobweb-encrusted shores of Collinsport. Much like Quentin Collins, I did so roam the world before my return to you now. I followed the Devil Hulk through his night-bound exploits in the desert. I followed Ol’ Shellhead, Iron Man, to the farthest reaches of space in pursuit of Korvac. And in between, I visited Gotham City (shockingly great public transit), Krakoa (shockingly great mutant coffee), and even Otherworld (shockingly awful magicks-based law enforcement).</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But all the while, my heart yearned always for my beloved Collinsport. The rolling fog, the constant cosmic dread, it’s wobbly constructed interiors and exteriors. It left a real void in my heart not having all that with me every day. That longing was further stoked by my colleagues here at the CHS sending me regular correspondence and my still-active subscription to The Collinsport Star. But after a horrid layover weekend in accursed Bangor and quite a lot of impassioned persuasion (nee: tearful begging) to Upstairs, I have returned to my old desk here at the CHS! It’s even by one of the windows this time. I am very lucky.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I fully plan on using it! The desk, not the window. It’s all terribly exciting, I’m sure. But I want it to be fun too! I have a lengthy plan on what we will be discussing here at Audi-O-Rama but I am trying to leave myself open to covering other things here too. Things that might slightly deviate from the list I have already, with approval from Upstairs, of course. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As of now the general idea is a “Dark Shadows at Big Finish Retrospective” approach. Meaning I will be tackling every single <b>Dark Shadows</b> release from Big Finish Productions. Alongside some other coverage of things I’ve already started writing on. Such as the <b>Marlyin Ross</b> audiobooks and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tony & Cassandra Mysteries</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some we will be double-covering, like <b>Bloodlust/Bloodline</b> and the <b>1973 </b>Storyline. But I think I definitely have more to say on the ones we’ve discussed before! Armed also with the broader experience tackling these (and more!) from the start. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And speaking of the start, here we are now with a true blue blast from the early Aughts past; 2006’s</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The House of Despair</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Big Finish Productions’ first time at-bat with Dark Shadows. And one that stands up pretty well as a functional and user-friendly reboot of the franchise. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spearheaded by <b>Stuart Manning</b> and <b>Gary Russell</b>, two names that should be very familiar to the Whovians amongst you,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The House of Despair</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a novel, if a bit basic “re-pilot” for this “new” era of <b>Dark Shadows</b>.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We open, as is tradition, on someone on a train. Bound for the town at the edge of the world. But this isn’t just any ol’ someone. It’s Quentin Collins, played once again by the immediately activated and charming <b>David Selby</b>. Forgive me a brief tangent, but I fully knew that a lot of these were going to be heavy on Selby’s Quentin, but I still got a total thrill and instant warmth hearing Selby inhabit the role. Quentin and Selby overall are both very, very important to me as a person and creative, so I think all of these audios will have a slight (and wholly unobjective) edge being so focused on him.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Better still, Selby totally comes back wholly reformed and confident in the part as well! Usually you would expect a bit of “ring rust” when it came to someone coming back to a role for the first time (2006 time, that is) since the 70s. But with Selby’s Quentin, from the first scene on the ever-implacable Collinsport Express on, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he’s</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> absolutely on. Charmingly anchoring the three-part, sixteen chapter serial and bantering beautifully with the rest of the returning cast. As if no time had passed between the final slate and now/2006.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EVEN BETTER, the whole production has allowed his own age to seep into his characterization. Manning and Russell do some dancing this serial around his immortal status in this first tale, as they are also somewhat dancing further around Collinsport’s whole deal in the wake of the final TV episode. Leaving it more nebulous in the now as to try and build it out later. But with that lack of plot, what comes shining through is Selby’s performance in concert with the rest of the returning vets. All of whom return to their roles with the same gusto and activation as Selby.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the great strengths of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The House of Despair</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is how it’s not ignoring the dearth of time between the final TV episode and this “new” episode. Neither is it’s cast. Though everyone is positioned in a narratively sound starting position when we start (Maggie now owns The Inn and works there still while a new family owns the Blue Whale, Anqelique has “died” and haunts the Sea Cave, The Collins family are “missing”,and Barnabas is presumed dead) Russell, Manning, and their cast allow these icons to be </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">actually</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> older. Having changed and settled (for the most part) realistically in the time between those last credits and now.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, while the returning cast members provide </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The House of Despair</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> plenty of charge for the diehard fans while selling the “feel” of <b>Dark Shadows</b> for newbies, it’s plot is a mite thin when compared to the aforementioned charge. I think much of this is coming from the fact that Manning and Russell have so much stuff to set up for the incoming range. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quentin Collins has returned to Collinsport, but the strange happenings that have plagued the town have remained. Manifesting this time around as a gaggle of soulless and memory-less townspeople called “The Lost”, controlled by the creature known as Mr. Strix. Who has taken up residence in the abandoned Collinwood. The perfect place for an interdimentional demon in control of a massive murder of crows filled with the “Lost’s” human souls. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In order to banish Strix from his ancestral home, Quentin enlists the help of Willie Loomis and a resurrected Angelique. The former being the only real connection left to the ancient house and the town that bears its name. Loomis being left in the wake of the Collins’ family exodus. John Karlen…he was just the best, y’all.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naturally, this leads to a sonically pleasing showdown with the demon and our now assembled “new” cast. For physical and metaphysical ownership of the ancient mansion. Which is then bolstered further in favor of our anti-heroes by the debut of the “regenerated” Barnabas Collins. Played assuredly by the darkly charming Andrew Collins, one of my absolute favorite performers in all of Big Finish Productions. Alongside <b>Ursla Burton </b>and <b>Jamison Selby</b>’s Susan and Ed Griffin, new owners of The Blue Whale. Who we know grow to full on co-stars of the range later down the line. Burton, especially, transitioning from behind the mic to behind the scenes!</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If this sounds like a lot of moving parts, it totally is. But worse still, it doesn’t really seem like the properly big ideas that the range became known for. Strix, his soul-birds, and The Lost are all neat ideas and could maybe serve as a serviceable “monster of the week” in another serial separately. But trying to jam them together on top of how much work is being put into resetting the core cast and Collinsport, post TV hiatus. It just seems like too-little butter scraped over too much bread. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Especially when the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">REAL GOOD</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> bread and butter is all the setting up of our legacy characters! Using such powerfully weird iconography such as Barnabas’ ring, Quentin’s “Graveyard of Memories” liminal space, and even the very real estate of Collinsport and Collinwood, Manning and Russell really bait the hook nicely for their resurrected take on <b>Dark Shadows</b>. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where they choose to pick up with our main cast members too shows a sort of canny and basic malleability. No one, save Barnabas really, is in a wholly unexpected place. Angelique still haunts the town. Maggie has transitioned from one pillar of the community (Collinwood) to another (Collinsport Inn). And now Quentin has returned, robbed of his memories largely and eager to build a new life as the primary Collins of the old great house. It’s a neat starting position to go from.</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which Manning and Russell waste little time upending slightly! Thanks to a timely bite from the brand new Barnabas to the injured neck of Willie! Being just a highly soused human facing a literal demon, Willie is waylaid in the battle of Collinwood. Forcing Barnabas, spurred on by the gloating Angelique, to spread his vampire curse to Willie. Now WHERE have we seen THIS before? This is <b>Dark Shadows</b> 1301. Facing us normal ham-and-eggers against actual monsters and various cosmic horrors interspersed with some choice high drama. This is basic stuff, people!</span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, not basic. That’s not the right word. It’s </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">comfortable</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Both in terms of production and execution. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The House of Despair</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> eases us back into the dreary, but weirdly engaging world of Dark Shadows. Shepherded by voices, creatives, and characters we’ve known for years who seemingly haven’t lost a single step. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It made me so, so happy to be back. And so, so excited to hear where we get to next. </span></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Audi-O-Grams:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is going to be something I try here, akin to the old AV Club “Stray Observations” sections. Basically just a spot for all the random junk I think of that I can’t fit into the review proper and/or direct appeals to y’all, our dear readers.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gary Russell as a writer is someone I have a real personal connection to. It was nice seeing that he’s involved so heavily in this first stretch of audios. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wrote my first proper introduction to the Fifth Doctor. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Divided Loyalties</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from the BBC Books Past Doctor Adventures novels. Which I read and reread like a thousand times before I ever saw frame one of a Peter Davison serial. I freaking loved that book and I am STILL trying to find a copy to rebuy that won’t cost me one of my kidneys. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also very happy to hear Robert Cobert’s original music pieces all over this opening serial. It’s baked into my whole idea of Dark Shadows at the DNA level, so I’m always happy to hear it. Doubly so to hear it used so well. </span></li></ul><p></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next Time: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Book of Temptation! A Maggie Evans story! Quentin/Angelique team ups! Dr. Grace Holloway from Doctor Who! Be seeing you, Spiders From Mars</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">______________________________________________________________________________________</p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 400; white-space: normal;"><b>Justin Partridge</b> has always loved monsters and he thinks that explains a lot about him. When he isn’t over analyzing comics at Newsarama or ranting about Tom Clancy over at Rogues Portal, he is building Call of Cthulhu games, spreading the good word of Anti-Life, or rewatching Garth Marenghi's Darkplace for the dozenth time. He can be reached at the gasping Lovecraftian void that is Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/j_partridgeIII" style="color: #8b2e2e; text-decoration-line: none;">@j_partridgeIII</a> or via e-mail at justin@betweenthepanels.com Odds are he will want to talk about Hellblazer.</i></span></p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-80294461902166082712022-03-29T01:28:00.004-04:002022-06-30T20:58:59.561-04:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: March 25<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHc_cuDzM67n68SRjObeeN1PKjVr7MIuLAPkpiVtIu8sh4SQDzjaBe5BP8UHzh44OX6wVkGP2M5JD0nIs7rVFMWdmXc-SiTt_2kASW7HkzNPk-y0N2NP4FiaOHLyQK-Uo-quWtNOu3NigCSTq3hxjFVvCcVyNs4J2qdVnjTrQrJqnI-MtbjB_NXFbo/s640/1117406F-8272-468D-914B-3FCDC87A2B24.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHc_cuDzM67n68SRjObeeN1PKjVr7MIuLAPkpiVtIu8sh4SQDzjaBe5BP8UHzh44OX6wVkGP2M5JD0nIs7rVFMWdmXc-SiTt_2kASW7HkzNPk-y0N2NP4FiaOHLyQK-Uo-quWtNOu3NigCSTq3hxjFVvCcVyNs4J2qdVnjTrQrJqnI-MtbjB_NXFbo/w652-h489/1117406F-8272-468D-914B-3FCDC87A2B24.webp" width="652" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Taped on this day in 1968: Episode 460</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By PATRICK McCRAY</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"><i>As Barnabas and Victoria face certain doom, will Joshua, Ben, and destiny unite to propel them into the future? Barnabas Collins: Jonathan Frid. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">After the brisk execution of Nathan Forbes, Barnabas instructs Joshua to ensure that this is his son’s last night as a vampire. Joshua vows to do so, but with a curious uncertainty. When it comes time, he cannot pull the trigger, and instead has Ben Stokes chain him in suspended animation. Joshua later honors Barnabas’s request and grants Ben his long overdue freedom. Later, before Victoria is taken to the gallows, Peter Bradford vows that he will find her in time. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">We begin with the death of Nathan Forbes. Now, on the other end of one apocalypse, Barnabas is free to unleash the full extent of his wrath. He is no doubt saturated with self-recrimination; he did not allow the dead part of his heart to triumph over the living part, to a literally eternal regret. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Perhaps by unleashing his inner evil, he could’ve done more good in the world. It’s a lesson he will carry with him, whether he remembers its impetus or not. Barnabas has only one foe left to destroy: Himself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He asks Joshua to do the honors, but Joshua tellingly procrastinates the attempt until the next day. His father says, enigmatically, that he doesn’t know what lies beyond the grave. He may be speaking existentially. Or he may be forming a plan to send Barnabas to another time. Perhaps to be free of the troubled son. Perhaps with the hope that Barnabas will find an enlightened future. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">In this moment, Joshua fixates on rewriting the present. You could argue that it’s for the posterity of the Collins family. And that may very well be somewhat true. But I think there is a more profound truth here. I think Joshua is developing the plan for Barnabas — to be discovered in a future where the burgeoning fidelity to science can conquer the curse of Angélique. Perhaps it’s foolishness. Perhaps it’s vainglorious. These are the sorts of decisions made in the world devoid of women and their anchoring influence. Yes, men are rash. Yes, they are cowardly. Yes they are drunk on a strange, fatalistic optimism. But these are risks that men, left to their own devices, are famous for. It is the blindness of “who dares wins,“ and in times of total desperation, daring is the only choice some have. By reshaping what will become history, Joshua is preparing a safe perch on which his son can land. Now, business concerns are secondary for the patriarch. His wife is gone. His brother is gone. His daughter is gone. All he has is his son. And all he can guarantee is passage to a tomorrow beyond the reach of the shattered present. Although he will later go through the pantomime of attempting to shoot Barnabas in his coffin, I wonder if he had any intention of ever really doing so.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">Before they part, Barnabas has just two requests: free Ben Stokes and attempt to liberate Victoria Winters. Joshua responds that he will do both. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">Dark Shadows reveals its deepest value, commitment, when the characters can knowingly face death rather than have it sprung upon them. Their’s is world with little control. These are the few moments where control is possible. The characters savor them with gravitas and clarity. It is the same kind of commitment that Barnabas will show Quentin nearly 200 years in the future (and only 45 years in the future) as he assures the execution-bound scientist that he will fulfill all of his final requests. That’s not just Barnabas speaking. That’s Joshua speaking. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">Jonathan Frid and Louis Edmonds tackle their final scene with heartbreaking finesse. Crying is not the most powerful thing an actor can do on stage. Rather, it is the attempt </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 19.73px; font-style: italic;">not </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">to cry that seizes audiences. In these moments, Frid and Edmonds seize. In a medium of love scenes, there is none more poignant.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">The scene will repeat itself later in the episode as Victoria and Peter say farewell. When Peter vows to find her in time’s wilderness, it’s as if he has been subconsciously inspired by Joshua. Just as Barnabas will find some kind of peace in the future unknown, Peter will find Victoria. These are not just wishes or speculations. These are not predictions. These things happen with the tortured confidence of men who seem to have been to the eras they foresee and are reporting back. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">Joshua, yes, has a surface level of uncertainty. But he shows commitment nevertheless. And if the viewer should have any doubt that this optimism has feet of clay, Peter’s commitment promises the viewers that Dark Shadows is one universe in which they can have confidence. Yes, Joshua is indulging in history‘s greatest lie. But sometimes it takes a lie to preserve everything that would be lost on the altar of truth. In such cases, life is too precious to squander on the vanities of honor and honesty. They are luxuries reserved for the untested and the fortunate. Joshua is neither.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">It’s an episode of haunted goodbyes, but like Ben Stokes contemplating the future, while it is the end of one world, it is the beginning of another. We know, at last, who Barnabas truly is. We know why. We know some of the threats he will face. And we know the heart with which he will face them.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">Dark Shadows, as we know it, is finally ready to begin.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">It’s the sixth anniversary of the Dark Shadows Daybook. Sharing these moments and insights with you has been the highlight of my life of over a half decade. I want you to know how grateful I am if you are still reading these words and if they have done anything to help deepen your love for this story. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 25.5px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;">I’ll see you all at Collinwood. Someday. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 19.7px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 19.73px;"><b>This episode hit the airwaves March 29, 1968.</b></span></p>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-4329532319225885002022-03-08T02:10:00.000-05:002022-03-08T02:10:12.142-05:00More on Mitchell Ryan<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhId_tRdNP7CJCcLFQCesRXHmrJTRLKovF5Z0lcef7v3oVn1Dw0e2AxgNG0JLA9t_u6jA2yEyuVUgBWuL38AWfi8-rOlvBehbDqRmwFRhF2aibTlRwgsV09UvBcLr0hAatP5uHgz8D5OenNsI3WFAn0abUhgrO5mqZz7w-Rz2zL2KxbcnxE_aXO6TID=s360" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhId_tRdNP7CJCcLFQCesRXHmrJTRLKovF5Z0lcef7v3oVn1Dw0e2AxgNG0JLA9t_u6jA2yEyuVUgBWuL38AWfi8-rOlvBehbDqRmwFRhF2aibTlRwgsV09UvBcLr0hAatP5uHgz8D5OenNsI3WFAn0abUhgrO5mqZz7w-Rz2zL2KxbcnxE_aXO6TID=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />When I wrote the obituary for Mitch Ryan, I also had a show opening that night. It was tough to write for a lot of reasons, but I found myself corresponding tonight about him and the loss, and I think it might be worth sharing.<p></p><p>The piece was a bear because he was a virile guy, and although he slipped into old age with exactly the kind of crusty dignity that you would imagine, it was one of those things where it was not unexpected. Kind of like Jonathan Frid. When someone went too soon, like Chris Pennock, or they roiled away in a miasma of personal conflict, like John Karlen, the words come really easily. Mitch Ryan was different. </p><p>I have a lot of regret about not meeting him him. We got along extremely well when we chatted. Kathryn Leigh Scott was really happy with the interview I did. Every word I wrote about his warmth and enthusiasm was genuine. The fact that we could reminisce about Louisville was a huge bonus. I grew up in the very last years where vast swaths of Louisville institutions somehow had carried on from his childhood. I don’t know exactly where his house was down to the mailbox, but I could take you within a few blocks. And it was pretty much a house like mine. He went to the same high school as my mom, and I had to dance delicately around the fact that it was about a decade after he graduated. (He was eight years older than she was.) </p><p>I mean he was just a sweetheart. I was going to bring a book on his neighborhood (and my neighborhood) to the Dark Shadows convention in 2016. When he couldn’t make it, I vowed that I would send it to him. I never got around to it. I’m sure he forgot about the whole thing seconds after I made the offer, but it’s one of those weird human moments that just kind of hangs on my conscience.</p><p>Now, now that the play is over, I actually have the time to sort of sit back and properly mourn. I honestly think he is what made the show what it was at its very core. I think he provided the essential first mystery and sense of masculine ambiguity that propelled the series. It was the baton that Frid picked up. </p><p>And it’s a marvelously happy life. It’s a life where he took the kind of problem that normally dashes people forever and he simply overcame it. Well, I’m sure there was nothing simple about it. But he overcame it. I regret that he didn’t get the role of Captain Picard. By the time Patrick Stewart took the part, he had already had a wealth of brilliant opportunities to explore acting. And although Ryan did some great stage work, it was maybe not the same as working year in and year out with John Barton at the RSC. That show would have been a jaw dropping vehicle for him to show and discover what he was put on this earth to do. </p><p>But despite that, he was just the very best kind of credit to his profession, to the show, and to what we all can be.</p><p><i>Patrick McCray</i></p>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-39738229390916973252022-03-05T20:04:00.000-05:002022-03-05T20:04:42.030-05:00Mitchell Ryan 1934-2022<p><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7S3QXPm0XmC-TtNl1kkPw0EckL4IPwFbGIC_FAC6Zn1W1SoCH2DtKtJ6JHGNuih0h3PI5fYwSzTLTGUNzUM1si6ZJNThg8bROihM9JyFHRDRKGfT8POnvdayYSPxy-hcsBm6ZDxvUd2Wyyh8CwmezRx_oQadVvCL2aTwfj834aYJRtLYn_6DggHfq=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="640" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7S3QXPm0XmC-TtNl1kkPw0EckL4IPwFbGIC_FAC6Zn1W1SoCH2DtKtJ6JHGNuih0h3PI5fYwSzTLTGUNzUM1si6ZJNThg8bROihM9JyFHRDRKGfT8POnvdayYSPxy-hcsBm6ZDxvUd2Wyyh8CwmezRx_oQadVvCL2aTwfj834aYJRtLYn_6DggHfq=w640-h404" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Mitch Ryan has died. <p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0728b303-7fff-18df-64ca-df9f13f229fd"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Normally we use euphemisms for these sorts of things. “We lost so and so.” Or, “such and such went too soon,” as if there is some more appropriate time. But of all of the Dark Shadows cast members, none projected honest and uncompromising integrity like <b>Mitch Ryan</b>. It feels fundamentally disrespectful to dress it up with something other than a plain and honest fact when referring to his death. The word is as straightforward as the character he played. And as pained.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burke Devlin was the show’s first “troubled hero.” We absolutely wanted to get behind him, but his extremity held us back. And besides, we’re sort of trying to root for the Collins family. But there he is. Episode after episode. He’s there for Vicki. He’s there for David. He’s there for us. He was a menace. He was a friend. And in every phase, he was believable.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can think of few other actors who could project that kind of tortured ambiguity. It was a human mystery, and it compelled Victoria’s imagination as much as any ghost or phantom parent. He welcomed us to Collinsport in every sense, and alongside the writers, Mitch Ryan set the Escherseque moral landscape that defined the series and drove it forward. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mitch Ryan and <b>Jonathan Frid</b> shared the same, most important quality. In their performances, they were able to embody two diametrically opposed states of mind without creating a contradiction. The fascination generated by that strange and unique ability compelled viewers to keep watching, unable to guess where those men might ultimately go.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ryan was no stranger to conflict. His exit from the show was driven by a poignant battle with alcoholism, and the evidence becomes increasingly obvious as his time on the series goes on. The struggle led to a break from acting. For most, that break would be a permanent one. It is to Ryan’s credit that he took the recovery process seriously and rebuilt his career within a few years. Soon, he was co-starring in the Dirty Harry sequel, Magnum Force, almost nabbed the role of Picard, essayed the villain in Lethal Weapon, took a memorable and recurring role on the hit series, Dharma and Greg, and played a pivotal part in the Halloween franchise. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Easing into retirement, Ryan found continued opportunities to explore art in painting and writing, publishing his<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JB4ZN7V/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1"> autobiography</a> quite recently. He revived the Burke Devlin character for Big Finish Audio and framed the recent Dark Shadows rep production of A Christmas Carol with a fine narration of alternating warmth and gravitas.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I interviewed him on Christmas day seven years ago and found him to be exactly as warm and accessible as you would imagine. He was a fellow Louisville native, having grown up just a few blocks from where I grew up, myself. We are a strange and unique breed, in the company of Tod Browning, Muhammad Ali, and Hunter S Thompson. Mitch Ryan was a fine addition to the list. A Korean war veteran, he began his career on the stage at the Barter Theater and remained loyal to live performance, even appearing in A Long Day’s Journey into Night at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1993 with fellow Dark Shadows alum, Alan Feinstein. He was a lifetime member of the Actors Studio, appearing in Wait Until Dark and The Price on Broadway. Smoothly transitioning to film, his judgment and leadership won him the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Few performers have rebuilt their careers with such dignity and range. It would be a cliché to point out that his self-generated revival made him somewhat of a phoenix, but considering that he battled a Phoenix on the program, we’d be remiss not to make a note of it. He built the very definition of a worthy life, and that’s exactly the kind of personal character necessary to give Collinwood its true foundation. He welcomed Vicki and the viewers to the beginning and the end of the world. Thanks to his work, though, that salutation may always be in the wrong order. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Patrick McCray</i></span></p><br /><br /><br /></span>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-48913662552859933902022-02-23T08:40:00.003-05:002022-02-23T10:53:07.556-05:00Dark Shadows gets 7 Rondo nominations!<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhztXHzrpJs7U9vjyokstJsRUNRZr4BIZZFGIn-JgTtl_BWbtw9eVoYnesKmNLbAN8jGbdGeyiUqkpftuUxDw-1SJbIuS_oVhuEPFdT3zNqgZYjE9jn2XNI5inPaldeymX2KqmO-mpR8T0Cg0jUXxr3R4R0XyNG54DGw5xSBgC_CMGrDsf1_VdGIMHa" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1200" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhztXHzrpJs7U9vjyokstJsRUNRZr4BIZZFGIn-JgTtl_BWbtw9eVoYnesKmNLbAN8jGbdGeyiUqkpftuUxDw-1SJbIuS_oVhuEPFdT3zNqgZYjE9jn2XNI5inPaldeymX2KqmO-mpR8T0Cg0jUXxr3R4R0XyNG54DGw5xSBgC_CMGrDsf1_VdGIMHa=w640-h404" width="640" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">By WALLACE McBRIDE</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The original </span><b style="text-align: left;">Dark Shadows</b><span style="text-align: left;"> phenomenon left the airwaves in 1971, the cast taking its final on-screen bow in the 1971 feature film </span><b style="text-align: left;">Night of Dark Shadows</b><span style="text-align: left;">. It's intended successor, a prime-time melodrama on NBC, came and went 30 years ago. Almost a decade has passed since the </span><b style="text-align: left;">Tim Burton</b><span style="text-align: left;"> fiasco. </span><b style="text-align: left;">Lara Parker</b><span style="text-align: left;">'s final </span><b style="text-align: left;">Dark Shadows</b><span style="text-align: left;"> novel, "Heiress of Collinwood," hit the stands back in 2016. And no fewer than two epic audio serials from <b>Big Finish</b> have been on hold courtesy of COVID-19.</span></div><p>A glance at this year's <b>Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards</b> nominees suggests that <b>Dark Shadows</b> won't give up the ghost willingly. The series is represented by a stunning <i>six nominations</i> in a variety of categories in 2021. The Rondos are determined by votes from the public (i.e. YOU!) so head over to the website to find out how you can vote. You can read the full list of nominations online at <a href="https://rondoaward.com/rondoaward.com/blog/">https://rondoaward.com/rondoaward.com/blog/</a>, but here's <b>how Dark Shadows</b> fared:</p><p>(Note: A previous version of this post accidentally omitted the "Best Podcast" nomination. My sincerest apologies for the error.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiN-7-EFo8znkUww6u3RMqPaaqseiCSkYILd2VuzGboMiJAL0LmgjtxxmdFE4vDRnwrNM4L8kMYhUOXN3gAwB8SOLRoS4MZ2Wpi4DvallbEk1NcSW3qLUHS-xvxSurbMJmgYpQ1b8n8aEgZ0RDzvpnNgNKcyHxOiszxNzfcB08yXshfzQb30PBXNhsr" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1080" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiN-7-EFo8znkUww6u3RMqPaaqseiCSkYILd2VuzGboMiJAL0LmgjtxxmdFE4vDRnwrNM4L8kMYhUOXN3gAwB8SOLRoS4MZ2Wpi4DvallbEk1NcSW3qLUHS-xvxSurbMJmgYpQ1b8n8aEgZ0RDzvpnNgNKcyHxOiszxNzfcB08yXshfzQb30PBXNhsr=w640-h446" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>The Dark Shadows Daybook</b> by our own <b>Patrick McCray </b>is nominated for "Book of the Year" in the non-fiction category. The book is a collection of revised essays published here at the Collinsport Historical Society, featuring contributions from <b>Dana Gould</b> (whose <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0332344/" target="_blank">credits could fill a book of their own</a>) and myself. You can get it online pretty much anywhere, but here's an Amazon link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3IfIpy2">https://amzn.to/3IfIpy2</a><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEK0wvvupKYF6M0fUal7IvgSBFQWUGwXXQ4bYSmDjFGts_kBuQHX2m4OgV6HDGunZzYHhuvYg73OvSckHOVphRjppjUoV8oU60HOy5zPzjoxot3uIZAz5FOfpi5m7TphIBX4ucmvd8w4SDluxFe2uPo5r_C6_YH2q0B9MZWOWUJX-osU58G3rZF-NV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="1292" height="580" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEK0wvvupKYF6M0fUal7IvgSBFQWUGwXXQ4bYSmDjFGts_kBuQHX2m4OgV6HDGunZzYHhuvYg73OvSckHOVphRjppjUoV8oU60HOy5zPzjoxot3uIZAz5FOfpi5m7TphIBX4ucmvd8w4SDluxFe2uPo5r_C6_YH2q0B9MZWOWUJX-osU58G3rZF-NV=w640-h580" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>The Collinsport Historical Society</b> is nominated for "Best Website." This is the 10th year we've been nominated in this category, which we actually won back in 2012!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnevmM_NfBax4xPCBVuxYC9uA_fQnnqMGS8DX7QB96QQc-NYkGjX7sJQek96QJR1ukTZHiTMjEZD8aWX0pgB1YAfcafJm2KjJXtfy2-mzdJ_pmwHgfbfp8yydN1Jnf31rrfcQoyQoYukB0HjnDJ5nxchPB8VJxaLCPqIu9IOWeKj9BRghIr7OU95xs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="620" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnevmM_NfBax4xPCBVuxYC9uA_fQnnqMGS8DX7QB96QQc-NYkGjX7sJQek96QJR1ukTZHiTMjEZD8aWX0pgB1YAfcafJm2KjJXtfy2-mzdJ_pmwHgfbfp8yydN1Jnf31rrfcQoyQoYukB0HjnDJ5nxchPB8VJxaLCPqIu9IOWeKj9BRghIr7OU95xs=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Child of Dark Shadows</b> by <b>Dark Shadows</b> alumnus <b>Kathryn Leigh Scott </b>from issue #11 of<b> Fangoria </b>is nominated for "Best Article." If you missed it, "Child of Dark Shadows" is a stunning interview with Kathryn's castmate <b>David Henesy</b>. (Disclosure: I consulted on this story and contributed an illustration.) If you missed it, you can read a supporting piece online at Fangoria here: <a href="https://www.fangoria.com/original/david-henesy-interview/">https://www.fangoria.com/original/david-henesy-interview/</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheHfjvcMhV0IQcy6jbH6N78XEU415Ug-rHgIxIpf_3WulPBqbcnqg5-1cVzXVsn0re8qDDSVKPY-ltxUqgPCiRZoLDxqNbAusdz8qAs9PoWTn1H9tm4kWvV1iAqIPi0ZvqaqMp2UdxdBXEVbwVY6GJFycwQ9mXojNV-NoeC_jxG6oXOTBMl8aY5nqi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheHfjvcMhV0IQcy6jbH6N78XEU415Ug-rHgIxIpf_3WulPBqbcnqg5-1cVzXVsn0re8qDDSVKPY-ltxUqgPCiRZoLDxqNbAusdz8qAs9PoWTn1H9tm4kWvV1iAqIPi0ZvqaqMp2UdxdBXEVbwVY6GJFycwQ9mXojNV-NoeC_jxG6oXOTBMl8aY5nqi=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story</b>, directed by <b>Mary O’Leary</b>, is nominated for "Best Documentary." It's described as "interviews and personal letters trace the story of television’s favorite vampire." Like our book, it's available pretty much everywhere, but you can also find it at Amazon: <a href="https://amzn.to/3saLh9R">https://amzn.to/3saLh9R</a><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhb13B1_uEwxIcJMYK2lu04OlG-DAuQ4pseCHRnEBkONIWlc2V31KQpz1R1ggUX5zr-b7Eyt33hhF9nR0Q3l7pDMoZV9gJZ5YgtGGeduWH1udeoJTuz1nGSy1J_uLxE_9ovWikvMEAz_MHxCCaP-mMt4jQ75kiTlQ8aJOrAt7Lvu9tVYx9MPdHknC-i" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhb13B1_uEwxIcJMYK2lu04OlG-DAuQ4pseCHRnEBkONIWlc2V31KQpz1R1ggUX5zr-b7Eyt33hhF9nR0Q3l7pDMoZV9gJZ5YgtGGeduWH1udeoJTuz1nGSy1J_uLxE_9ovWikvMEAz_MHxCCaP-mMt4jQ75kiTlQ8aJOrAt7Lvu9tVYx9MPdHknC-i=w640-h334" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div><b>Terror at Collinwood</b>, the <b>Dark Shadows </b>podcast hosted by the amazing <b>Penny Dreadful</b>, is nominated for "Best Podcast." You can find Penny and her podcast archive at <a href="https://www.terroratcollinwood.com/episodes">https://www.terroratcollinwood.com/episodes</a>. Check it out!<br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY861a76qQ6qplRyE0lFmMo1DZ1aCijzxtTtAQZi3OglCdq8uFgJYfuXWDPztd9UiBevdv4p5lurJGaVotDyFFrHT2_Z5Azvj2YtlbgF-QCr0Nt4vLOJ99Pg9eBHYa2vUkoGNyq2BOKt3rLTGVRqCb8DLqbiMXNvk6CLGAApYyzHZ9GrIvQ3pFOJeC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="960" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiY861a76qQ6qplRyE0lFmMo1DZ1aCijzxtTtAQZi3OglCdq8uFgJYfuXWDPztd9UiBevdv4p5lurJGaVotDyFFrHT2_Z5Azvj2YtlbgF-QCr0Nt4vLOJ99Pg9eBHYa2vUkoGNyq2BOKt3rLTGVRqCb8DLqbiMXNvk6CLGAApYyzHZ9GrIvQ3pFOJeC=w640-h310" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>Da</b><b>rk Shadows: A Christmas Carol</b> is nominated for "Best Event of 2021." The live webcast reunited ten members of the original cast for a special yuletide event presented by Smartphone Theatre last December. You can watch it online here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyHVM2Wl2no">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyHVM2Wl2no</a><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrv4n3j59NIUupdagobn2aTfrq_u8izLSGoP9vi-p2jaC_ab_DhTmlQrCUCf4Z1zVCA70n8b90L3_0iK9xIPcX_EsLRnmr_T_xAg7N6snKwh9lpOjOJGpcZOpmYQXnjSjm02k27J9ZOzvCPXgfo9krXBDvjvnNxD-N1ilUowMYDbc8yHhKpnx_YvOz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1000" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrv4n3j59NIUupdagobn2aTfrq_u8izLSGoP9vi-p2jaC_ab_DhTmlQrCUCf4Z1zVCA70n8b90L3_0iK9xIPcX_EsLRnmr_T_xAg7N6snKwh9lpOjOJGpcZOpmYQXnjSjm02k27J9ZOzvCPXgfo9krXBDvjvnNxD-N1ilUowMYDbc8yHhKpnx_YvOz=w640-h512" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>"Storm Clouds Over Collinwood,"</b> by <b>Rod Labbe</b>, from issue #219 of <b>The Dark Side</b>. Described as a "fan’s personal encounters with the Dark Shadows phenomenon."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDchO7yH_20JWquN7eH2OsZ1LGepjdqEEz1ucwAgRQ0E3dvaCHwWCluSIX-UPrcQUKT3eSk9GWd3zGWRzzNcs7QGe6MxFTb5-LoaabovtyfeuSwdRjaza1o2zo9AuwjqyjSKE8R5vEF1tLHb7402v2aXbSk0PnClrUBNljxj67z0UhsVgP7BDonWZF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDchO7yH_20JWquN7eH2OsZ1LGepjdqEEz1ucwAgRQ0E3dvaCHwWCluSIX-UPrcQUKT3eSk9GWd3zGWRzzNcs7QGe6MxFTb5-LoaabovtyfeuSwdRjaza1o2zo9AuwjqyjSKE8R5vEF1tLHb7402v2aXbSk0PnClrUBNljxj67z0UhsVgP7BDonWZF=w640-h428" width="640" /></a></div><br />An interview with <b>Lara Parker</b> from issue #17 of <b>Retrofan </b>by <b>Rod Labbe </b>is nominated for "Best Interview."<p></p></div>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-75798716147174125102022-02-21T15:18:00.003-05:002022-02-22T21:05:21.933-05:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: February 17<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6jTAN81z6LLm2uYnEUmIepm-2Eu-QNMzk9P4sTCD-r5ofQ1TX7mRrBWe8_6yZPJUN_Dj7uMerogAPq2IBraT9YQ8h6ZFm_8dU6SAgNt2Fi9kB3WOLnqMJye5nAEoYXmaH7z6Tfwe2ugFtHNotqR5wDfriWr8g8-AbUrMP3SD_Bt2Hn-_NdOZ1-CmM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="1296" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6jTAN81z6LLm2uYnEUmIepm-2Eu-QNMzk9P4sTCD-r5ofQ1TX7mRrBWe8_6yZPJUN_Dj7uMerogAPq2IBraT9YQ8h6ZFm_8dU6SAgNt2Fi9kB3WOLnqMJye5nAEoYXmaH7z6Tfwe2ugFtHNotqR5wDfriWr8g8-AbUrMP3SD_Bt2Hn-_NdOZ1-CmM=w640-h430" width="640" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>Taped on this day in 1970: Episode 965</b></p><p> By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p><i>When zombies seal Quentin in a coffin, Barnabas knows that love must be in the air. It’s a Very Valentine’s Dark Shadows, but will a wedding spoil the fun? With Barnabas and Jeb, this much fun just can’t be legal! Nicholas Blair: Humbert Allen Astredo. (Repeat; 30 minutes.)</i></p><p>Jeb goes from burying Quentin alive to kidnapping Julia. He wants to be human. Although, at the same time, Nicolas Blair prepares a wedding ceremony that will end with Carolyn being turned into a Leviathan. However, the satanic secret agent is double-crossed when Jeb recruits Barnabas to usher Carolyn away from the Leviathan altar as he destroys the Naga box.</p><p>For a lot of us, <b>Dark Shadows</b> is the only soap opera we will ever watch. Given that, I am still amazed at my capacity to see the storytelling as a stunt. Because it’s not storytelling. It’s anti-storytelling. Storytelling is all about getting to a catharsis. You know, these people learn in their lesson, a few of them die, and the rest of us go home to watch Benny Hill. That’s how this is supposed to go. But a soap opera can’t end. It’s like Data playing Strategema. The point isn’t to win. The point is to just keep playing. It’s a narrative shepherd tone, continually descending as it slips in new beginnings destined to also descend. So that’s great. Let’s take a moment to appreciate that before admitting that it can also drive you a little crazy after a while.</p><p>And then there’s an episode like this. Boom. Over. Done. Nothing left but a wedding, the death of Sky Rumson, and that embarrassing shadow curse that we really don’t talk about with strangers. </p><p>You can just feel the massive satisfaction that rolls off of it for everyone involved. Mark your calendar with that red pen that the show only needs about two or three times a year. Something actually happens. Today, wonder team action force goes to work, and they end the Leviathan storyline with a beautifully baffling abruptness that perfectly matches its beginning. It’s like a Battle of the Network Stars where every contestant is Robert Conrad. There’s an honestly giddy disregard for consequences to be appreciated. Both by the characters and by the producers of the show. The heroes recklessly attack an ancient relic that sizzles with powers none of them understand. The only person who has an inkling of what it means is Nicholas Blair, and when they break the box, he runs like hell. The rest of them just shrug and book a wedding. </p><p>The zany ending is a relief for the writers, also. Because they’re just having too much fun. Laura’s death wasn’t this much fun now, was it? See? The very fact that the story can end so extraplusdoublequick, with Jeb doing a 180 without even changing lanes, says it all. Best to just get it over with and pretend it didn’t happen. And they keep the good part. In the divorce with the Leviathans, they make sure they get custody of <b>Christopher Pennock</b>, because none of this is about him. </p><p>When you look at this in the overall life of the show, they are busy elevating Barnabas to the big screen, which is a clear statement of what they know Dark Shadows is — and what ultimately makes it work. Leviathan, schlmiathan, baby, we’re going to Hollywood. So, with that prospect in mind, we get a brief and daffy Viking funeral for everything else. The ball drops as Quentin is buried alive, which starts to happen so frequently that he might as well get his suits made by Liberace at Whispering Glades. (After all, the foot curls when rigmo sets in.) And he’s buried alive by zombies, who are probably glad to have the company. But it’s only two zombies today. He was kidnapped by about four zombies in the prior episode. What happened to the other two zombies? Were they only temps? Was there a budget cut? Did they not test well with other zombies? Were they booked on Password? We will never know.</p><p>Meanwhile, Jeb, who really hasn’t had time to figure out who he is at all, decides he’s going to be a human and kidnaps Julia to do the biomedical honors. I can only imagine this is the most extreme Bris ever conceived. They did not cover this in medical school, but somehow, he wants her to change him completely into another… creature? One that’s not a God. I mean, I’m not even sure Julia is qualified to perform a nose job. This is all very specialized stuff. But, this was in the days of the HMO, and I guess anything was possible. </p><p>Why is he doing it? Why does any villain ever do an about face on <b>Dark Shadows</b>? Because they’re in love of course. That quintessential motif should be obvious to viewers by now, but they make the point again with absolute clarity just to make sure that no one is confused. It’s like a teacher doing a review straight out of the test the day before. We are as grateful now as we were back in Enochian school. </p><p>And it’s a proper Leviathan wedding. You’ve been to a million of them. Traditional, February, outdoor, Maine ceremony. And overseen of course by <b>Humbert Allen Astredo</b> in a tasteful but quietly lively sequined gown. The bride, as is the way, is hypnotized by Humbert with his magical cigarette case. Out of sight of the groom, of course. As the vows are exchanged, the groom grabs the celebrant’s horned devil stick and beats the sacred relic into nonexistence as Barnabas ushers the bride away to help him finish 30 pounds of deviled eggs that the two missing zombies were supposed to make and have plated as the reception began. But they are nowhere to be seen. Which is why you hire licensed caterers for these things and not the first zombies you see hanging around in the parking lot of Home Depot at 6 AM. </p><p>And then, as Humbert flees the exploding altar, the groom clutches his abdomen with the realization that there was no prenup. The episode ends. </p><p>Oh, but before that, those love tattoos show back up from 1795 — one of them, still on Kathryn Leigh Scott and the other one on <b>David Selby</b>. So, they declare love for each other for the sole reason that it’s a very special episode. </p><p>The whole thing is a hoot from start to finish. And I think it was supposed to be. The only thing missing? Collinwood‘s favorite zombie, the reliably and suspiciously plump Chuck Morgan, who appeared yesterday and will appear again to tear apart Collinwood a few months down the road. I suspect his fellow actors on the show signed a petition to get him temporarily banned because they knew he would have emerged as the real star. And to me, he is. </p><p>Chuck makes for a magnificently unlikely zombie. So much that I actually researched him as the episode was going on. I had heard that he was a wrestler, and by God he was, sometimes going by the name of Big Ben Morgan. Texan by birth, Morgan had Show Business in his unitard, also appearing on Broadway in Teahouse of the August Moon. And in this case, I’m not pulling your leg. Look it up. He’s buried with his wife vera in a cemetery in Chattanooga, and I think a road trip is in my future. Care to tagalong? I think there are some good stories to be discovered about this robust wrestler. </p><p>So, all of this and a Texas wrestler, too. Maybe this is the high point of the series. In the words of my Academy professor, the guy who made you think or sink, “the more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.”</p><p>After following up the 1897 Collinsport Exhibition of the Future by making Barnabas a failed villain managing a rather waterlogged Armageddon, everyone deserved a last hurrah like this. Two grim movies, a nihilistic trip to parallel dimensions, a harrowing 1995, the destruction of Collinwood, and a Pyrrhic victory over ultimate evil are all waiting in line. </p><p><b>This episode hit the airwaves on March 6, 1970. </b></p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-24125016618169671622022-01-21T22:43:00.000-05:002022-01-21T22:43:22.456-05:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: January 18<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">By PATRICK McCRAY</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQpiKIma0rXpbhzUPu3MVoP9hHm4mrsUa2kWzXa2GkEddOCKfyspBb7g2exLZdy8Pqy8sA1bya41w8yobwQWIyh2Myqt4l6X8LaCybSrM6n02xe-jSI9QH9Pl5CqHHqLBpHSK0emK1QqzOtoYJ019X37dniINMZm0yngP7WiWlorrkr5_c1DvPa5_t=s5883" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3861" data-original-width="5883" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQpiKIma0rXpbhzUPu3MVoP9hHm4mrsUa2kWzXa2GkEddOCKfyspBb7g2exLZdy8Pqy8sA1bya41w8yobwQWIyh2Myqt4l6X8LaCybSrM6n02xe-jSI9QH9Pl5CqHHqLBpHSK0emK1QqzOtoYJ019X37dniINMZm0yngP7WiWlorrkr5_c1DvPa5_t=w640-h420" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e1344f87-7fff-3127-8c57-13e1541fcfa5"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taped on this day in 1971: Episode 1197</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 11pt;">Guess what happens when the characters do all of the right things and suddenly have the prospect of happiness welcoming them with open arms? Miranda Duval: Lara Parker. (Repeat; Our Entire Lives)</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angelique interrupts the execution of Quentin and Desmond with the severed head of Judah Zachery. When its flesh dissolves with the death of Ivan Miller, even jaywalking tickets are forgiven by the judge. Unable to live with this outbreak of rampant justice and happiness, Lamar Trask shoots Angelique just before she can hear that Barnabas loves her. The End.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Attention must be paid.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So said the Widow Loman at the grave for someone prized only for his insignificance.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have come back to these episodes more times than any other. This year, it feels irresponsible to devote more words to them. And yet, it feels irresponsible not to. A show the size of Dark Shadows is more than a television program; it is a companion. If you spent three hours on a hobby with a friend, twice a month, for six years, you’d develop an understandable bond. That stretch of time is how long it would take you to watch this story. It’s a feast of a tale. Many times, in ways good and bad, it feels endless. The story accrues around the edges, in no more rush than the real lives it punctuates. 1967 is always fresh. 1968 is always a rich and intriguing core sample. 1969 is always better than we deserve. 1970 always pales by comparison, trawling for us to apologize for it. 1971 is always too short… a reminder of what it’s like to still love something when everyone else stops. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remain unshaken in my assertion that Dark Shadows is the most realistic show on TV. It just kind of putters around, threatening to do something significant and then just kind of… usually not. Most of the news is bad. We get used to it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then someone is shot and killed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not being glib when I say that. No, not every tragedy is a sudden and fatal gunshot wound. But I guarantee you that there is someone out there reading this who has lost someone precious, precisely that way. And that’s how this episode ends. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most famous quote about television is that “the medium is the message.“ In other words, the means by which we consume art is as significant a statement as the art being exhibited. Dark Shadows is many things that it had no intention of being. (Newsflash: this goes for all art.) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like all art, however, it is a teacher above all else. Primarily, it teaches us to look at ourselves from a completely different point of view. But if you watch the entire show, the very storytelling, itself, is the most significant message. Maybe more than one.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most immediate one is, in the words of Folcroft Sanitarium director, <b><a href="https://mrsinanju.tripod.com/cast.htm">Dr. Harold W. Smith</a></b>, “Thou shall not get away with it.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The assassination of Angelique is a convenience. The actors want to move to a fresh storyline. The writers are probably hoping that new characters will give them new ideas. And the ritual of storytelling inevitably veers toward drab moralizing. In this modern world dominated by an antediluvian ethos, we certainly hear a lot about forgiveness. And at the same time, we also live in a culture that absolutely revels in just desserts. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We love forgiveness because it makes Oprah happy. It’s what we are supposed to do because somehow it will liberate us. It will certainly liberate the people in our lives who are sick of hearing us complain about something. It’s vaguely godlike, so I guess it’s got that going for it. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But is it just me, or does a lot of the forgiveness we hear about seem to have its fingers crossed behind its back?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? We just can’t stand the idea of someone getting away with </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Any of it. And because we can’t make up our minds which of these things — beatific forgiveness or righteous punishment — we will fetishize more, we look to fiction to give us both at the same time. And who has to pay the tab? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angelique. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, of course Trask has to plug her. The fatheaded, arbitrary rules of the ritual that is fiction decree it to be so. There are plenty of Dark Shadows fans who love to sweep in at this point with a list of all of the horrible things Angelique has done, and I guess this… helps? But I hope you have a list of all of the rotten things Barnabas has done, because he’s just as deserving of the naughty step. And he pays, also. He pays an ongoing price too terrible for the show to make us watch.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And culture smiles on us for having it both ways. We applaud their 11th hour moral reversals safe in the “irony“ that they are being punished anyway.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Extra! Extra! Read all about it. The one thing these characters learn is that the past belongs in the past. All we have is the present. All we have are the decisions we are making right now. I spend 90% of my day apologizing for what I say the other 10%, and when someone is really going to town on me, I gently remind them that it won’t build a time staircase to allow me to make different decisions.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The saddest part about episode 1197 is that the present is the one thing these characters are denied. That’s nothing to feel good about. That’s nothing to applaud. And perhaps, it’s nothing to applaud in our art. Perhaps that’s the message we should actually be taking away.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When significance erupts in the mundanity of our everyday lives, it is shockingly sudden. There’s no taking it back. And then, the show ends. There’s no montage. There’s not even a funeral at which Barnabas can insist that attention must be paid.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;" /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re going to forgive, mean it. Move on. Do it in the name of the future that Angelique and Barnabas never got. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>This episode hit the airwaves on January 26, 1971.</b></span></p></span></div>Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-4664318986514473842022-01-18T19:06:00.003-05:002022-01-18T19:06:27.391-05:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: January 16<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XLOezd-71Scluwk1ZYd5xbkuakPZ_CdDpMqmDuf-7lGYOXZJeYpXVe7dfGpY7KyRLm-6EE4xutYMDQmm_RGheUiHnvvXWvBOZrNwU-bl_A8Y1fwTigkR41Z2lka7apPv1jxsrvd-0vs/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="999" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XLOezd-71Scluwk1ZYd5xbkuakPZ_CdDpMqmDuf-7lGYOXZJeYpXVe7dfGpY7KyRLm-6EE4xutYMDQmm_RGheUiHnvvXWvBOZrNwU-bl_A8Y1fwTigkR41Z2lka7apPv1jxsrvd-0vs/w640-h414/DS1196.png" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></p><p><b>Taped on this date in 1971: Episode 1196</b></p><p>By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p><i>“Head Alert!” Judah Zachery brings Valentine’s Day a month ahead of schedule when he robs Angelique of her powers just moments before Quentin’s planned execution. Angelique: Lara Parker. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p>Angelique’s plan to fight fire with voodoo fails when Judah Zachery removes the powers he gave her, 100 years prior. After persuading Charles Dawson to free her by gently beating him to death with a candlestick, she races to the site where Quentin and Desmond are about to go head-to-head in a laundry basket that will probably never be used as such again. </p><p>Today, I may be on Judah Zachery‘s side. And I didn’t realize that until I sat down to write this. I will have to go back and look at what he did that was so terrible, but the 20th and 21st Centuries have made up their minds on the witchcraft issue. Those who don’t believe in it aren’t exactly going to be holding trials. Those who do believe are more than likely participating in it. </p><p>Structurally, this episode falls in an awkward place. The most exciting part of this sequence of action was yesterday when Barnabas explained to Angelique that she’s just not a member of Club Corporeal, and so they can never really have a substantial love life. As many times as I have watched that moment in 1195 where Barnabas denies her desires because of her occult nature, I have had a hard time understanding it. I have always operated under the assumption that the endowment of her powers has, by its very nature, robbed her of something crucial. I think it’s something that Barnabas senses more than he can fully intellectualize; his objection is not so much about her being “a witch,“ with the moral baggage that comes with it. Instead, it is about the detachment that comes with that much power. </p><p>A relationship is an endeavor primarily driven by emotion. Emotion isn’t always pretty. The more power someone has to act on them, the more damage they can do. Angelique swings back-and-forth between benevolence and rampant awfulosity. The latter nogoodnikism that trails around her in the DS “timeline” is a bloody testament to my point. It’s all good and well to breathe and count to 10, but what does it mean for someone who can reverse time?</p><p>Barnabas reacts from the mindset of an abuse survivor, and as sad as that is, it’s about time he moved proactively on that. Because he does measure his response to her love by her capacity to do damage. And, okay. I fess up. (pause) Yes, it’s very convenient for this universe to then remove her powers shortly after this conversation with Barnabas. But let’s look the army medic in the eye; writing fiction means dusting for the fingerprints of coincidence. Dark Shadows simply doesn’t have the time left to disguise that obvious fact with a finesse we’ve all outgrown. </p><p>Writers of fiction are very quick to have characters reject godhood. A little conveniently so. Frankly, I find the person who rejects power without at least browsing the catalog to be a little suspect. Yes, Uncle Stan told us that, “with great power comes great responsibility,“ and far be it for me to question him. But at the same time, there are a lot of corollaries. </p><p>For one thing, maybe it’s not as much responsibility as it seems. Or maybe the exercise of that responsibility isn’t really that difficult. Ultimately, I think most writers are taking the lazy, easy way out when they have characters make these antitheistic pronouncements. This is pertinent to Angelique because she doesn’t voluntarily give up her powers. Judah Zachery giveth. Judah Zachery taketh away. </p><p>And Angelique is no idiot. She’s going to hold onto these abilities because, as a mortal from the 1690s, she knows exactly how miserable life can be. So, where does that leave Barnabas?</p><p>By curing him of his vampirism, she has made a more profound sacrifice than we might initially think. Okay, Barnabas might believe it’s a stretch for a mortal to love a witch, but it’s an even greater leap to expect any immortal, nearly-omnipotent being to love a creature who is going to age and wither astonishingly quickly, all things considered. Although the vampire’s curse was meant as a punishment, perhaps subconsciously, she also realized that it was the only way they could be together. How else was he supposed to accompany her through time, given that the power to make or break a witch seems to be unique to Magus Zachery? By the 1790s, she has been like this for 100 years. And even in that time, who knows how often she has ping-ponged throughout the centuries? For her to stifle her abilities and risk everything to travel to the American wilderness for this man is perhaps more admirable than anything done by her rival. Josette agrees to an arranged marriage to a guy she loves, picks up a free mansion Maine, and calls it a day. That’s about as brave as picking out a value meal at Subway. </p><p>Judah Zachery is doing her a favor. Think of the size of Angelique‘s sacrifice when she turns Barnabas back into a human. She is condemning him to die the death of an ordinary man, and she is serving herself the punishment of having to watch it, anticipating nothing but a nearly-eternal life without him once he passes away. </p><p>It’s a perspective the changes things just a tad. And before you stop me from crying too athletically into my Gibson, that degree of love could explain the degree of wrath that she’s shown so many times. One hundred years of immortality might be enough to detach anyone from the experience of being human, and perhaps that’s why Barabas rejects her. Judah Zachery is not exactly Santa Claus, but by turning her back into a mortal, he has (even if accidentally) given Angelique the gift of human relatability. The gift of her powers helped her find Barnabas. Rescinding them is the one thing that could help her keep him. </p><p><b>This episode was broadcast Jan. 25, 1971.</b></p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-37445330627500059782022-01-06T08:51:00.005-05:002022-02-14T08:37:10.380-05:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: January 3<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TzdsqDQrVYNs0aP2pvanM4IZyfCfEWw08rEhdWC01GuR4je32JB1-CwUpBdtU-aBLbNtGNofeQ4jk543WMALwPha0_OtbUoFSXMHsDUtf6bxj5GNZRLkSyxNVDtfv5eoUYw19twmDQ4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="900" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TzdsqDQrVYNs0aP2pvanM4IZyfCfEWw08rEhdWC01GuR4je32JB1-CwUpBdtU-aBLbNtGNofeQ4jk543WMALwPha0_OtbUoFSXMHsDUtf6bxj5GNZRLkSyxNVDtfv5eoUYw19twmDQ4/w640-h402/dark+shadows+665.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></p><p><b>Taped on this date in 1969: Episode 665 </b></p><p>By PATRICK McCRAY </p><p><i>Everything’s at stake when Barnabas ends his trip to 1795 by saying goodbye to Vicki… and hello to sending Angelique back to Hell in a fiery flambe of just desserts. Barnabas Collins: Jonathan Frid. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p>Angelique gloats that Vicki will be revived from torpor only to awaken in a coffin, unable to escape. Barnabas, hearing of this, wryly retorts by having a torch-wielding Ben burn her alive. Barnabas then sees Vicki off to her future with Peter Bradford, at peace, happy that she is simply alive. Unable to will himself back to 1968, Barnabas reasons that he must return to the 20th century the way he reached it the first time, in his coffin. As he starts his descent into suspended animation and ensures his coffinback and tray table are in their full, upright position while his carrion luggage is stowed under the sepulcher in front of him, Nathan Forbes seemingly stakes him.</p><p>The challenge with <b>Dark Shadows</b> — on both sides of the screen — was and is monotony. Soap operas fill the most hours possible with the least amount of story that they can. People may only tune in once a week. Certainly, the key demographic, housewives, were taxed with myriad distractions throughout the day. In many ways, it is “anti-storytelling.“ The virtue here is not economy nor even detail, but the believability that comes with intense, regular familiarity. That’s what makes them feel so strangely realistic. But sometimes even soap operas have to abandon that tidal rhythm and begrudgingly let one world end and another world begin. </p><p>Welcome to Terra Nova. <b>Dark Shadows</b> has six milestone moments that define its arc, and this is the third, marking the middle of the series in both its episode run and emotional journey. Of course, they return to 1795 for it. This is, figuratively, where it all began. There is more going on in this 24 minutes of television than in 24 entire episodes of the average show. And that’s because, perhaps, there isn’t. That’s what you get when you finally enjoy the payoff for nearly 450 episodes, giving Barnabas about as much cathartic satisfaction and growth as he’s going to be allowed. </p><p>It’s an invitation to appreciate the five-act structure of the series. If everything before Barnabas is Act One, then this ends Act Two. 665 bookends a story that conceptually begins in 1795 for both Vicky and Barnabas. It ends there, as well. If the two characters are strange mirrors of each other, orphans out of their native eras, the most crucial parts of their lives begin and end in the overlap: 1795. Twice, at least. </p><p>The first act of <b>Dark Shadows</b> introduces Victoria. The second introduces Barnabas and focuses on their interaction, with 1795 as a fulcrum for both of them. For him, the arc actually begins with her first trip to 1795. It also ends in the most appropriate yet unlikely of places: in her second trip to 1795. (During his second journey there, as well.) After Vicky finally departs with Peter Bradford (to no doubt die of dysentery on the western frontier, which was probably New Hampshire), we look at the other unstuck time traveler, Barnabas, perhaps to see what kind of humanizing effect she had on him. He once again has to say goodbye to a woman he ostensibly loves, but this time, it is willingly. That is a Brobdingnagian leap for a man from his era. Few have suffered as much as he has in the pursuit of love, and his newfound sense of easy confidence evidences one of his greatest transformations.</p><p>Although fate again thrusts him to 1795, Barnabas begins the conclusion of Act Three in 1897. It’s as if he keeps returning for a reset, like some sort of perverse variation on Groundhog Day. With differences. In 665, he returns to his point of origin to demonstrate emotional mastery. At the end of 1897, he returns to see that he is the master of nothing. Forces far larger than he make a mockery, and perhaps even a Macarena, of his well-earned autonomy. And why does this happen? Why is it important? Is it to ridicule what he has accomplished? Perhaps. But perhaps some of it alleviates him of responsibility. Yes, absolutely, he is captain of his own ship and master of his own maturity. Yeah, yeah we get it. And that’s just ducky. However, too much reliance on that mentality can lead to total devastation… if forces genuinely beyond your control have conflicting plans. That takes us into Act Four, where Barnabas becomes even more of a storm-tossed ship, first as a Lambchop-tic puppet, composed of a sock seemingly worn by the robust actor <b>William Conrad</b> over a week in August. It concludes in Gerard’s Siege of Collinwood in 1970, demonstrating to Barnabas that while he may have control of himself, he has no control beyond. So, 1840’s Act Five is a chance to reconcile self-control while accepting that it has human limits. What’s left? The necessity of trust. He chooses to trust Angelique as much as he trusts Julia and overcoming his most tragic flaw— a resistance to forgive. Primarily, himself. Of course, forgiveness is easy to muster when you and the other person have hundreds of years to evolve after the inciting incident. His reward? Angelique, shot and killed. And, you know, that’s a thing. I think we can all admit it. And she is shot by a Trask, seeking revenge for the death of a father he didn’t even know. This proves that carrying a grudge, at some point, is more of a hobby than a righteous cause. That’s what it was for Barnabas. It’s certainly what it had become for Angelique, and it’s over the course of the 1840 storyline that we see her realize it, and give it up.</p><p>And that’s the story of <b>Dark Shadows</b>.</p><p>Episode 665 shows Angelique at the opposite end of her own forgiveness spectrum. We can buy a certain amount of infuriated jealousy. But at this point, Josette is dead. So, that’s out-of-the-way. Cross that one off the to-do list. Naomi is dead. Nathan Forbes is finally in a dance belt. You know, everyone is pretty miserable. So, you would think that Angelique’s work is done. But, like Sammy topping music with trick shooting and celebrity impressions at the Coconut Grove, she has to murder Vicki. Twice. Hanging, of course, because, you know, tradition. And then she has to plan on reviving her inside a coffin to die all over again. Why? I guess because Barnabas loves the gal or something. But the fact that Vicki’s running off with Roger Davis should be punishment enough for Barnabas. It’s not like he has a shot. No, here, she is drunk on evil to an extent that would have shamed Herbert Lom in a later Cluseau movie.</p><p>Perhaps Angelique has to be that evil, mechanically, because they want to reverse engineer this whole thing to justify the incredible, Fantasy Island moment when Barnabas opens the door so that Ben Stokes, who’s been waiting with a torch for Christ-knows-how-long, can light her up. It’s a great moment. Despite our love for Angelique, there’s nevertheless something satisfying in it. </p><p>Because we know she’ll be back. She’s just gonna go to Hell for a little while and then show up in 1897… with a considerably improved attitude I might add. They all know this by now. I mean, I’m surprised that Barnabas didn’t pack a lunch for her, like Charley’s wife handing him a sandwich on her endless MTA iniquity. It’s not really an execution. It’s just calling the Uber a little early. </p><p>That moment, and the sentimental moments between Barnabas and Ben later on, are necessary reminders about this hero. We met him as a lone agent out-of-time, defined by the friends who can never truly understand him. As unflagging as Julia and Willie are, they are constant reminders that he is not home. Not really. In 665, we are warmed and saddened to learn why. There is something truly grounding about this stranger, normally stranded in a strange land, in the company of his best friend. Someone that no one in the 20th century, save Vicki, knows. It puts his character into context and it puts his heroism into context and it puts his loneliness into context. </p><p>And maybe that’s ultimately why 1795 is such a nexus. Ben Stokes. As life becomes increasingly monstrous, Ben rises to the challenge with ever-greater humanity. He’s both a servant, like Vicki and an occasionally ruthless man-of-action — with a heart the size of Canada — like Barnabas. </p><p>Maybe 1795 isn’t home. Maybe Collinwood and the Old house are not Home. Maybe Ben Stokes is home.</p><p>Seen like that, I understand why Barnabas feels so alone without him. </p><p><b>This episode was broadcast Jan. 10, 1969.</b></p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-24291769582471527472021-12-25T19:00:00.007-05:002021-12-27T16:14:02.837-05:00Dark Shadows for the Holidays is a Triumph. So there. <p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are times when an idea moves beyond the intention and becomes an unexpected wonder. Dark Shadows fans enjoyed just that in <b>Richard Halpern</b> and <b>Ansel Faraj</b>’s recent <a href="https://youtu.be/AWUmihz0F6M">Zoom production of A Christmas Carol</a>, which ‘aired’ on December 19. Not only did the producers bring us an adaptation of <b>Orson Welles</b>’ radio play, but <b>David Henesy</b> and <b>Alexandra Moltke Isles</b> returned to join the ensemble. You probably know that. You probably also know that their return should have been the story. If it had been limited to that, it would have been a successful moment in history, but a failure as a drama. And there is not one unsuccessful second in this production.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFkHGvpHRq6_RJMcFI3tI6mRhJQ9IqyrWXPylIznL8mlDGBilTQ7N7oy6sPWxViDFgnxjeKh_NAiLexy2iF2d4TqZUY_w8JhqiBmTspLL-1UD1prAVip0TmmAszbphGiwq58ScXDTD3ApqBXiHkHz-kK2TCTEqkHhqhyqmZN9wQpEnGq1AJsqfYSDq=s1012" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1012" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFkHGvpHRq6_RJMcFI3tI6mRhJQ9IqyrWXPylIznL8mlDGBilTQ7N7oy6sPWxViDFgnxjeKh_NAiLexy2iF2d4TqZUY_w8JhqiBmTspLL-1UD1prAVip0TmmAszbphGiwq58ScXDTD3ApqBXiHkHz-kK2TCTEqkHhqhyqmZN9wQpEnGq1AJsqfYSDq=w563-h443" width="563" /></a></div><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At its very marrow, this production of a Christmas Carol is the most artistically successful follow-up to Dark Shadows since the show went off the air. The budget was not vast. But that doesn’t matter. Did it ever? Because fans of the show don’t necessarily want more Dark Shadows from our Dark Shadows. We want more of the ensemble. And we want to see them given the chance to show us and the world why we love them. This was that opportunity. The script is a strong and economical distillation of the story, supporting the actors yet staying out of their way. I can’t necessarily say that for other Dark Shadows productions. And while it’s not a Dark Shadows production, it is, resoundingly.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As wacky and perfunctory as the project could have been, it manages, above all else, to be tasteful in its risks, with everyone participating. It’s improvised and compromised around the edges, and that lets us see what the actors bring to the execution via quirky and personal contributions. From wonky top hats, cozy scarves and appropriately fire engine-red reading glasses to <b>David Selby</b>‘s tieless tuxedo, the visual world of this show intersects immediacy and literacy and, most prized of all, fun.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean, there is an inherent ridiculousness to any production via zoom. It’s hard to bring James Tyrone to life if it looks like Peter Brady is about to appear in the square next-door to announce that his voice has changed. But that kind of visual language is used with discretion and strategy by Ansel Faraj. He trades out widescreen oomph for spectacle that works on a more resonant and emotional level. That becomes clear when <b>Mitch Ryan</b> delivers the touching and spare epilogue. His adoring cast members look on with professional satisfaction and affectionate gratitude for the chance to hear him have the final word. And it’s just as moving for us. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, the impossible luck of seeing this ensemble assembled is going to put any audience of fans in the right mood. Yes. That’s especially true in a year where, I believe, we have lost more cast members than I’m comfortable counting. Everyone is both having fun and bringing their A-Game, with about as much prep time as we are used to seeing them have on the original show.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was not an easy presentation to pull together with little notice. But its success is not a minor miracle. It’s what happens when determined professionals get to do what they do best. The result is a production that, although brief, connects us with the emotional realities of the actual text, serving up sobering truths about aging, regret, and envy with equal measures of believably-earned hope.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, there is esprit de corps and an intense sense of teamwork. But at a certain point, someone has to be Scrooge and stand out even further. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, David Selby.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a performance that defines the most extraordinary horizons of what quarantine theater can be, Selby captures true theatrical size with the cerebral nuances afforded by the intimacy of the webcam. In the midst of nothing but technology, he rescues the humanity that the story deserves. It is an honest performance. I kept waiting for his “bah humbug,“ and other trademark phrases, eager to hear his unique spin on them. Well, there was no spin. Instead, I was seeing Ebenezer Scrooge making a point to other characters rather than a self-conscious actor trying to top earlier Ebenezers. David Selby is a fine writer who represents the author, not himself. I suspect that we are seeing the performance he would want from actors in one of his own productions.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the story unfolds, we see a character desperate to hide the pain he associates with lost loves and friendships. This is ostensibly a play about the unfair privilege of class differences. Here, I sense a parallel story: the unfair privilege of relationship differences. Scrooge, having earned it, wears his alienation with the pride of a man sure of nothing else. Selby’s Scrooge feels wisely reverse-engineered from the middle of the play outward in either direction. The relatable sadness of his miscalculations and deviations from the Fezziwig standard chain him as much as the weights encumbering Jacob Marley. As a character haunted by Marley‘s Christmastime passing long before any literal ghosts appear, Selby takes great care to believably connect with the details of Ebenezer’s past. With nothing but his face and voice, he brings us the depth of Dickens with a rare purity as Scrooge is reintroduced to everything he’s lost.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Scrooge finally exults in, perhaps, the most heartfelt “Merry Christmas“ I may have ever heard, I felt like I was seeing a man finally given permission to forgive himself. Scrooge connects with a world ever ready to offer second chances, and if anything makes this a “Dark Shadows“ production, it’s that. Again and again, that’s the message of the program, and that’s the message that we see here, as well. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Partly because of our connection with the work of these actors over decades, the result is emotionally exhausting, but never overwrought. Honesty may not always be pretty, but if it is explored with range and sympathy, it is inevitably the most satisfying part of a ritual like this. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back to context. Rarely, if ever, does a franchise give its loyal audience a gift of this much heart and finesse. I don’t know if we will see the ensemble assembled like this once more. I think everyone is aware of that danger. Like the story itself, this was an opportunity to express a simple truth — moments to express respect, admiration, and love may never come again. Don’t be stingy with them.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>James Storm</b> is once again the reliable chameleon, embodying principled strength with compassionate eloquence. <b>Jerry Lacy </b>conjures up a Marley with precisely the grim relish to catalyze the journey. <b>David Henesy</b> has lost none of his ability to nail every single line with impudent sincerity. <b>Nancy Barrett </b>completely erases any sadness I might have at her absence from acting by reassuring me that her spark and wit are still screen-ready for the producer smart enough to cast her. And more effervescent than ever, <b>Marie Wallace</b> brings her native warmth and sense of life with every bit of the immediacy we enjoyed in 1968 and 1969. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, the story is a bit of a boy’s club… which is a clear invitation to the dance for such a powerful female ensemble. Nonetheless, <b>Lara Parker</b> elicits the nimble delicacy of the language with naturally cerebral verve. <b>Kathryn Leigh Scott</b> mixes a sense of ethical sincerity with the hint of sardonic mischief that is her laudable trademark. Leave it to accomplished authors to know exactly how to handle poetry of mirth and strength.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the former Miss Winters? <b>Alexandra Moltke Isles</b> could have coasted on her own novelty, but she doesn’t. There is a dark and intense forthrightness to her presence, and I am too busy watching her character to be distracted by the rare and long awaited return of their actor. She wanted to explore more range and darker colors on the tv program. It took 50 years to see why she was right, but the results are well worth it.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, <b>Mitch Ryan</b> inaugurates and resolves the story with an easy, reserved gravitas of reassuring authority. It takes the brightest of actors to observe the action with an improbably passionate neutrality. Mitch Ryan was and is the definition of that bright actor. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the Dark Shadows Universe (a thing extending far beyond the actual production of the show) initially said goodbye to Ryan, Moltke Isles, and Henesy, a critical balance was lost. Thanks to this production, this can now be seen as only momentary. Dark Shadows is about home, often for those without one. Watching this made me feel as if the doors to Collinwood were open again. 2020 and 2021 took more from us than we deserved. This gesture, at this time, is an essential reminder of what we still have. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Too often, the love of a franchise reveals itself in the desperate acquisition of props and autographs and photos and handshakes, all of which are noble, but all of which distract us from the real reasons why we love the people who brought it to life. Richard Halpern and Ansel Faraj take full advantage of this rare opportunity to see them doing what we love most: acting. They have not only given this ensemble yet another vehicle to relish telling a great story together, but they have given us the opportunity and intimacy to see it. </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Patrick McCrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08213634493944723198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-64430216725936001622021-12-01T14:15:00.004-05:002021-12-01T14:15:55.730-05:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: November 30<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKnxQm56glkcVqKhFPSctMdAPLiaeyV9HsuvvSuB9SEpFVFHF75c9F_WP5MmBp7YHuS6t65PnXfobGqhDbdZV9uxpHsB-CT8ippnXZ10mcxgBGv7k5NtZOMLZr9c0ZJwBbC5or5OvDYJo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1296" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKnxQm56glkcVqKhFPSctMdAPLiaeyV9HsuvvSuB9SEpFVFHF75c9F_WP5MmBp7YHuS6t65PnXfobGqhDbdZV9uxpHsB-CT8ippnXZ10mcxgBGv7k5NtZOMLZr9c0ZJwBbC5or5OvDYJo/w640-h494/ds1165.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Taped on this date in 1970: Episode 1165</b></p><p>By PATRICK McCRAY </p><p><i>Tad finds out that justice can be a mother when Samantha performs her wifely duty of trying to get her husband beheaded. Tad: David Henesy. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p>Even though the county prosecutor quits his job over the inanity of Quentin’s trial, the figures of Official Justice insist it go forward anyway. When he’s replaced by someone played by Humbert Allen Astredo, Quentin knows it will not go well. Meanwhile, although Tad begs his mother to testify on Quentin’s behalf, she instead takes the stand against him. Quentin responds by sitting around and pretending not to notice how handsome everyone thinks he is. </p><p>It's <b>David Henesy</b>'s last day on the program. It's a sad graduation. It's a quiet graduation. It's the kind of graduation that means a lot more to the adults than to the people actually going through it. Like all graduations, I guess. It's hard to tell whether or not they intended this to be his last appearance. He was at an awkward age for the program. You couldn't get away with any of the juvenile plots of him doing something out of naïveté. Yes, he could be turned into a delinquent, but that’s a move the show might not be ready for. Even in the world of <b>David Cassidy</b> and <b>Bobby Sherman</b>, he's not quite old enough to be an official teen idol without it feeling just a little bit creepy. All of this... packed into someone of middle teenage vintage who nevertheless has a voice deeper than <b>Brock Peters</b>. </p><p>His farewell to the program consists of one scene, and it shows the influence that Tad should have on his world. With his father accused of witchcraft, Ted expects his mother to testify on her husband's behalf. <b>Virginia Vestoff </b>does a wonderful job trying to bend and weave around Tad's expectation, preparing herself to survive whatever kind of confrontation will follow whatever stunt she pulls on the stand. </p><p>Although no relationship in life improves after the first date, it is the last conversation that permanently frames us with each other. Given that these characters, via specific actors, turn up over and over and over again in era after era, it's pointless (in some regards) to see them as anything other than one figure with many masks. All of the David Hennessy characters might as well be just one David Hennessy character. And if we look at it that way, what do we learn from this? </p><p>Well, for one thing, this character was much better at talking people into things back when he decided the rules were meant to be broken. Like Britannicus in <b>I Claudius</b>, I feel like he's become obsessed with "putting on his manly gown," maybe because he doesn't wanna wind up like Laszlo. Either way, he may be becoming all leading man (at least on the chalkboard in his dressing room), but his decision to play it straight comes at the cost not only of his humorbut his overall cleverness. As is reflective of youth culture at the time, if he were any more painfully earnest, we would only see him crying an Iron Eyes Codependent mono-tear over the river of deceit and betrayal that runs through Collinwood. </p><p>So he's growing up. That's a bookend. He's decided to take life seriously. That's a bookend. And he is desperate to stand up for his father, who is getting railroaded on false charges. It feels like he has earned the right to do this. “He” began as a character all too eager to see his father railroaded over allegations the paternoster projected onto, well, who knows? Maybe his other dad. I think we've all had those thoughts. Whether he's doing it for reasons of malice, reasons of justice, reasons of love, or as a five-dollar menu combo of lovingly malicious justice, the David Henesy character begins and ends as someone trying to align his father's legal standing with reality. And it's refreshingly uncynical that he should go from a boy trying to get a guilty father convicted (or at least in hot water) to a kid trying to get his father out. Of course, the two fathers are vastly different. The primary similarity is that the mothers are either physically or emotionally absent, and neither have his best interest at heart. But he is the only person at Collinwood who has yet to see family as more of a mess than a bastion, and so he sticks by the institution with admirable loyalty. </p><p>And Samantha does get up on the stand. Of course, she does the opposite of what Tad wanted her to do. She’s ready to betray Quentin with zesty abandon. But The Henesy’s not around for that. It's almost as if this last blast of optimism collides head-on with one final betrayal from an untrustworthy mother. And perhaps that's all that the David Henesy figure can take. He disappears after that. The message? Very few parents are what they appear to be. Especially mothers. Eventually, that destroys the child within. </p><p><b>Dark Shadows</b> teaches its lessons in cycles. Moral development in Collinsport is not a straight line. It's a corkscrew, both moving forward while covering the same ground over and over again. The sometimes surrogate mother figures in this character's life have been fire demons, completely absent, suicidal alcoholics, reanimated occultists, and at last, an untrustworthy shrew. As much as the show is meant for women, the female figures that David encounters, no matter the name, have stunningly little to recommend them. Although Victoria is hired to be his companion, she, like all adults, becomes enraptured by events that pre-date David. In that case, for nearly two centuries. Who can compete with that? Carolyn is likewise lost in a hopelessly lost romantic union, which generally makes her lousy conversation. Liz is obsessed with death whenever <b>John Bennett</b> wants a vacation. And Maggie is at Windcliff. So much for female nurture in Collinsport. Fortunately, for someone with a sniveling, cowardly, alcoholic louse of a father (at least for the first year or so), David finds his modeling and nurturing in the men in his life. At various times, Barnabas, Quentin, and Tom Jennings all follow in Burke Devlin's footsteps to provide David with good advice and understanding moral support. At a time when most male relationships on television were based on macho buffoonery, this is revolutionary and refreshing. If you could take anything away from the David Henesy character, it’s that three uncles can make a hell of a mother. </p><div><b>This episode was broadcast Dec. 11, 1970.</b></div>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-66603673533309705862021-11-18T08:30:00.004-05:002021-11-18T08:30:27.674-05:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: November 16, 1967<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZwgQuMI3Mf_pbQh6ilOUyXXJs4IWc9n-tRI-csC2vU6bLDKmdRBKVa6AMkxIOIDQyjavXUHaBzzMFN4kBCUw_vmtjKI1aS6g_JuuDSrxF39WqIjFwoqLbW2lun_sXWYI7ULAyynI94o/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="830" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZwgQuMI3Mf_pbQh6ilOUyXXJs4IWc9n-tRI-csC2vU6bLDKmdRBKVa6AMkxIOIDQyjavXUHaBzzMFN4kBCUw_vmtjKI1aS6g_JuuDSrxF39WqIjFwoqLbW2lun_sXWYI7ULAyynI94o/w640-h356/laraparker.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><b>Taped on this date in 1967: Episode 368/369 </b><p>By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p><i>When Barnabas is reintroduced to Angelique, can he resist her temptation to stray from Josette or will the charming chambermaid distract him with an unforgettably new direction? Angelique: Lara Parker. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p>Barnabas is elated to find that Josette has arrived, however, when the news comes from Angelique, his old flame, he is reminded that his fidelity is precarious. Angelique does what she can to persuade him to stray, and his refusal to do so is a clear invitation to the dance for the sorceress. </p><p>One of my favorite clichés in the Daybook is about “this being the official first episode of the series.“ Another one is, “this is the perfect place to introduce someone to the series.“ Far be it for me to disappoint because this episode does both. </p><p>In the previous few episodes, we are just dealing with temporal jetlag and the thrill and shock of seeing the show take on such the wild ambition of 1795. The installments are certainly necessary for flavor, but when it comes to advancing the plot, this episode is all meat. As always, to find the beginning of a story, study the ending and work backward. In fact, that is the core of <b>David Ball</b>’s <a href="https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/david-ball-on-breaking-down-the-action/" target="_blank">Backwards and Forwards playreading technique</a>. When you read a play backwards, the context of the entire script is brought into crystal clarity. You “begin“ by seeing the final, deciding choice made by the characters… the choice that sums up the entire story. By then, it's the only choice possible. The rest of the plot is about exploring how all other alternatives fell away until you reach the beginning of the play, when everything was and should be possible. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ThfsvcD0iFoB6JTdZ8mHhV-6fHgldU-MW3WVXOBqiFDW8FiSjJ8VJg6pnOzmNLPQtUj0rjyHBlHN5g0BYdSax3ZuIugd0RjY8XjMMcQHUm6fgISU4MQNhKnw_7xpSGvnpnQc1btCzHc/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="790" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ThfsvcD0iFoB6JTdZ8mHhV-6fHgldU-MW3WVXOBqiFDW8FiSjJ8VJg6pnOzmNLPQtUj0rjyHBlHN5g0BYdSax3ZuIugd0RjY8XjMMcQHUm6fgISU4MQNhKnw_7xpSGvnpnQc1btCzHc/w400-h269/ds368.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Just as <b>Dark Shadows</b> has one or more beginnings, it has at least two endings. One at the end of 1840, and one at the end of 1841PT. And both of those endings have a single thing in common: <b>Jonathan Frid </b>and <b>Lara Parker</b> are in each other’s arms. Seen this way, this show is about getting them there.<p></p><p>After seven months of hearing about Angelique, today, she enters. So, no pressure Lara. You only have to live up to a half year of build-up. No portrait. No ghost. No voice at a séance to tease the audience with your laughter. Nothing but Jonathan Frid and language. </p><p>Oh, and she is entering as the first new female character to greet the ensemble in a year or so since <b>Diana Millay</b>. (Yes, I realized that I left out Grayson Hall. Sorry…? I read that as a testament to the strange gender neutrality of the part.) That’s a good point of comparison. Millay entered into a tight ensemble of women, each of whom had a distinct identity and place in the storytelling. And I know, it’s just me, but she never really fit. I mean, she was fine as far flaming fire spirit women go. But Millay kind of feels like an intruder into the pre-established chemistry of the show, and it’s an alienness that benefits the storytelling. </p><p>With that as the only basis of comparison, Lara Parker gets to work. Given the results, I imagine that the last words a stagehand heard from her before she made her first entrance were, “Think that’s a tall order? Hold my daiquiri,” as an invisible timpani began its roll. </p><p>Is she nervous? Is she confident? It doesn’t matter. The moment the camera records her, she transforms the program with a beauty, sense of truth, intelligence, eroticism, and dark integrity that feel absolutely real and wholly unique in television. The casting of Lara Parker was the single most important decision <b>Dan Curtis</b> ever made. Not to slight Jonathan Frid, but his job was made easier than you might think by the costume and the lyrical writing and the props and the old house set and the fact that he is playing a vampire. But who made the badass a badass? This challenge is far more sophisticated. And Lara Parker had no fangs (at this point). Her costume had to represent 18th-century refinement with a dishwater lack of glamour. Did she get an Inverness cape? Did she get a cool ring and a nifty cane? No. She got a handkerchief and Jeffersonian G.I. Joe. All of the power that she mustered had to come from within. And although she manifests no such abilities in this episode, the potential energy is clearly there. I think that’s true for viewers even if they somehow missed the context laid out in conversation over 1967.</p><p>Now we know why Barnabas became what he… will be? And with that, we know that the story can be told. It’s clear why Barnabas fell in love with this woman and her unique mix of capable strength, diplomacy, and emotional honesty. With that established, there is it last a pilot at the stick of this plane. That build-up actually meant something. The program has an actor who can make us believe that we are witnessing history rather than a reenactment. </p><p>The episode works in every regard, showing us a world of hypocrisy destined to fall. This is the “before“ prior to countless little afterimages of disaster and triumph. We see all of the assumptions that will create the controlled demolition of Collinwood before it even enjoys its grand opening raffle. This begins with Joshua‘s dismissal of love as fit only for women, not men. This should, according to him, be a world of sensible, arranged marriages designed only to enhance commerce. Take that conflicted thinking, wrap it in the alluring regality of <b>Kathryn Leigh Scott</b>, and it’s easy to see the rationalizations that led to Barnabas‘s downfall. His continued pursuit of Josette nearly two centuries later isn’t love; it is his desire to earn his father’s approval by projecting a very specific type of masculinity. He just happens to be a great romantic, anyway, so he will do his best to merge his natural inclinations with a strategy to keep Joshua off his back. Thanks to Jonathan Frid‘s natural disinclination toward the erotic, his immediate and conflicted attraction to Angelique reads as far more personal than simpleminded priapism. When Barnabas loves, it’s clear that he’s responding to a woman’s deepest essence. It’s no wonder that Angelique responds as she does. Rejecting her is an act of brave determination, one commensurate with the brave determination shown by her. The pursuit of Barnabas forces her to hide her powers even longer. Not easily done as she risks everything to return home vis a sea voyage in the most inclement weather of the year. What makes it worth it? Angelique could have anyone. But Barnabas is hardly just anyone. And she has the right number. So what you will, Angelique is not a stalker, deluded into thinking that Barnabas is something he is not. Angelique doesn't just get the memo, she binds them for the Library of Congress, forgetting nothing. If Victoria exists to find ever-new things to not understand, Angelique resides at the opposite end of that spectrum.</p><p>Her willingness to fight for that love is made all the more admirable when we contrast her with the shallow and arrogant Countess Natalie, easily pleased with her title and the cruel privileges that it makes possible. When we meet Naomi here, day-drinking to distract herself from Joshua‘s world, we glimpse an even darker surrender. It is a surrender of greatness that makes Angelique‘s determination even more astonishing. </p><p>She understands exactly what she will be fighting for. Eventually, in 1840, she will take a bullet for that belief. And she will finally die. But it will be on her own terms, having proved Barnabas’ love and the worthiness of her own character. It begins now.</p><p><b>This episode was broadcast Nov. 22, 1967.</b></p>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-15390064423525411372021-11-01T08:37:00.004-04:002021-11-01T09:36:41.978-04:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: October 28<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJqwnnUXhPgJ20qmH6RKPpMeHyzgK4r-auwofseStD-a28dVIjPCynOcvVgG0xQQQrNxk62KIz8AhpNabyOoBzAwNOWatH8q2LfyZ7Ycl69cdlSVv7eYH7Qe7pa6aV5P-j7FwKM3_YjE/s1370/DS885.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1370" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJqwnnUXhPgJ20qmH6RKPpMeHyzgK4r-auwofseStD-a28dVIjPCynOcvVgG0xQQQrNxk62KIz8AhpNabyOoBzAwNOWatH8q2LfyZ7Ycl69cdlSVv7eYH7Qe7pa6aV5P-j7FwKM3_YjE/w640-h404/DS885.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>Taped on this date in 1969: Episode 885</b><div><br /></div><div>By PATRICK McCRAY<p></p><p><i>When Barnabas finds himself back in the 1790’s, can he turn his greatest defeat into victory? Barnabas Collins: Jonathan Frid. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p>As Kitty vanishes into a portrait of Josette, Barnabas loses consciousness and awakens in 1795 on the eve of Josette’s suicide. He is determined to change history, confronting Angelique with honesty and a compassionate plea for mercy. She betrays him yet again, and shows Josette a vision of herself as a vampire high atop Widows Hill.</p><p>I used to think that this was all about Judah Zachery. It’s vaguely convenient to imagine him puppetmastering the whole thing to emotionally decimate the Collins family. As Saint Ming would say, he likes to play with things a little before annihilation. The Zachery Codex is awfully elegant, and it makes for some USDA prime smartypantsim. The longer I am with <b>Dark Shadows</b>, the more comfortable I am saying that these grand theories are just those. Maybe they are accurate. Certainly, if it helps you read the show, then subscribe to them by all means. Subscribe to enough of them and then McMahon may show up with a check. Let’s just hope it’s not his bar tab.</p><p>(By the way, I miss entertainment. Is it the 70s again? I’m ready for it to be the 70s again.)</p><p>However, just because a grand theory works for a lot of things, it doesn’t mean that it explains everything. The moral arc taken by Barnabas Collins could be seen as his torture, but it’s a spectacularly risky and unsuccessful one. After all, although it is emotionally ruinous, it leads to his ultimate success as an ethical man. It could be that some other source is influencing the narrative. For a long time, I couldn’t really figure out who it was. Now, I do.</p><p>Sarah.</p><p>Just because she’s a child doesn’t mean that she lacks the ability or gumption to manipulate as many spectral workings as possible. Perhaps this entire story is a contest of wills between the two of them. Because, when properly motivated, there are few things more unstoppable than a determined kid. What would motivate Sarah to take on Judah Zachary? Well, his one-time protégé, Angelique, may have strayed from her master, but he he still trained her. Imagine that you die and suddenly see the full narrative that drove your life and demise? Not only that, but if Sarah thought his student was bad news, the teacher was practically Newsmax. </p><p>But in death, Sarah realizes that she has a living agent, which is more than can be said for most of the regulars on <b>The Love Boat</b>. Her red right hand to punish Judah is her immortal brother. She knows Barnabas’ strengths, and more than that, she knows his failings. She knows that he is a raw element that must be tempered and honed before he can be properly deployed in battle. And, as with anyone who takes on transforming Poppin Fresh from an unbaked doughboy into a rockhard brick of weaponized melba toast, ready to scrape the roof of evil‘s mouth, there will be pain. </p><p>And it could be a combination of the two things. With Judah becoming increasingly aware of this inconvenient Vampire and his tough, grizzled, eight-year-old girl of a ringside <b>Burgess Meredith</b>, he puts more and more obstacles in the path. Looking at episode 855, it might be the result of the manipulation of Sarah. Or it might be the result of the manipulation of Judah Zachary. Or it could be the two of them going at it. Maybe Judah rips Josette into the past, and Sarah sends Barnabas after her. Or perhaps Sara has set the whole thing up to test her brother’s character.</p><p>The episode is a hidden treasure. Soon, the series will turn into a sequence of hidden treasures. Every episode will be a reward for having watched all of the others. But right now, this exists like the Time Trap sequence around the 660s. It’s a seemingly superfluous gift that exists more as an example of the show’s Hellzapoppin exuberance than as a piece of mechanical storytelling necessity. It feels like it’s their way of saying, “and here’s a special something for being a loyal viewer.“ After all, the show doesn’t exactly specialize in two or three episode “very special events.” We’ve been trained to expect this kind of side trip to last for months. In fact, <b>Dark Shadows</b> is the only show I know of where the special sequences contain fewer episodes than the average storyline, rather than more. </p><p>At this point, they don’t even really bother with a time travel mechanism. Basically, don’t stand too close to a portrait of Josette while there’s a fire going in the fireplace. Similarly, don’t look at someone who is standing too close to a portrait of Josette while there’s a fire going in the fireplace. It’s just science. And that’s not what you came here for. But if it is, give me a minute and I’ll put on a lab coat and Dr. Lang’s surgical chaps. </p><p>Still, this is part of the plot of the overall series, and if you want the benefits of any kind of overarching story themes, you have to put on an apron with me, grab a hammer, and bang away at these things in the rationalization forge. The fact that there is no seeming time travel mechanism is the entire point. It’s a wonderful mystery that invests us in interpreting the story. If we realize that part of the Leviathans’ plan is to both put the whammy in Barnabas AND hold, and let me see if I remember this correctly, the ghost of Josette as hostage (as a back up), then perhaps this was orchestrated by them to remind Barnabas of the intensity of his feelings for her. Maybe it was Sarah’s doing, to remind Barnabas of the stakes underlying his ongoing crusades. Or, you know, “Judah Zachary,” because it’s pretty convenient to blame him for everything from the destruction of Collinwood in 1970 to some of those sweaters they made <b>David Henesy</b> wear toward the end of the series. </p><p>It’s an immensely gratifying episode. It’s almost like seeing Barnabas at his high school reunion, vowing to undo everything he did to that bathroom stall in the science building when he was a sophomore. It’s one of the most authentic examples the series gives us of his evolution. Literally, a side-by-side portrait. You know, if one of the sides is hundreds of episodes prior. He is making the decisions we wanted to see him make In the first place. And he’s making the decisions that we suspected he was capable of back then. And now. </p><p>It’s Barnabas at his most tender and heroic. When he tells Angelique that he can only give her his gratitude, he is being honest. By 1840, that would be enough for her. So in a sense, it is as much of a trial for her as it is for him. His mistake is in seeing her as the woman who saved his life in 1897. Yes, people can change. But not yet. This moment of her embittered selfishness doesn’t make us hate her as much as it makes us pity her, and it adds a depth to the ultimate forgiveness that she will show him in their final voyage.</p><p>As he made plans with Kitty in 1897, we have never seen him happier nor more confident nor more fulfilled. This adds a harrowing context to the impersonal turn towards a larger evil that he will take in the next few episodes. </p><p>So, why? Why do they do this to him? If not the characters in the series, then the actual people making it? </p><p>Every time I think I know every kind of crazy there is, I meet an entirely new kind of crazy. And that’s how we learn. For Barnabas, a man with a tenuous relationship with reality at best, every time he thinks that the universe is finally reflecting his opinion of what it should be, it piledrives him into reality. And he must climb the steps of Mount Morality once again. But he is not a video game character, continually leveling up. If the real subtitle of the show is <i>The Continuing Education of Barnabas Collins</i>, his cycle of ethical awareness followed by cynical downfalls gives him greater and more nuanced understandings of humanity with each turn. Because it’s not just his story. It’s our story as we venture out of the idealism of the Enlightenment and into being enlightened. </p><p>The difference finally reveals itself in 1840. Up to the fall we are about to see, his heroism has been driven toward redressing who he was in the past, trying to bring the modern world into alignment with the aspirations of his era of origin. Everything he does is about repairing the past. Because the past is safe. The past is a known quantity. </p><p>What he has yet to attempt is building a bridge to the future unknown. That’s what his final arc, after this and after the Leviathans, will teach him to do. It’s based more on accepting what is rather than what should be, and guiding that with a courage that comes from saying, “I don’t know.“ Because to say that requires Barnabas to let go of his greatest fear: himself. </p><p>And he does. And good for him. And I would like to think, good for Sarah.</p><p><b>This episode was broadcast Nov. 14, 1969.</b></p><div><br /></div></div>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-38411270079549577342021-10-05T14:54:00.001-04:002021-10-05T14:54:30.473-04:00Review: Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Q_sHWSmDp2kYmaFqhw_p2NJ8P_d4MAEFILevhbObqB3T_sjp1RzxFPjfTFHuRQzVxqSi3JGYVJq5InOojaPoKgwemsGVOI3_G7of42zUAhbKderhwXOCxQR2XjlKN3pIlOLx0OwxgQw/s1000/header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Q_sHWSmDp2kYmaFqhw_p2NJ8P_d4MAEFILevhbObqB3T_sjp1RzxFPjfTFHuRQzVxqSi3JGYVJq5InOojaPoKgwemsGVOI3_G7of42zUAhbKderhwXOCxQR2XjlKN3pIlOLx0OwxgQw/w640-h320/header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p>He was a quiet celebrity. After the magnesium flash of <b>Dark Shadows</b>’ explosive popularity waned, his work was idiosyncratic, and his life was free of scandal. Good news for <b>Jonathan Frid</b>, but potentially bad news for audiences. As much as we might feel heartbroken over the bad behavior of a celebrity, it makes for compelling and suspenseful viewing. Frid is one of the most challenging subjects in that regard. I’m not sure he even made a rolling stop at 3 a.m. (In fact, did he drive?) He’s not so much a study in contradictions as much as a study in measured, reasonable judgment. You know, a Canadian.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2YNF3k2" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySsjmhpZoMvnBx_9qD8YbjZBhxdIOjLn-TLHVcCQcXHjFFhiQldqpfBotlC6W1WH2ZN1UfYKFCEIue8mkATjX7OYS84Gc3cioDnmt5k0P1bE7EE_Ukl9FJGuldHmcOhXKCT3Y3UzSI44/w284-h400/a434e385-1976-49b9-a736-4f80b99af9ea.jpg" title="Get it on AMAZON!" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get it on AMAZON!</td></tr></tbody></table>Think of the challenges. He was a horror star who walked away from it until years later when he could produce it on his terms. He was an actor, yes, with far more hours of filmed performance than many Hollywood luminaries. But you had to be a Dark Shadows fan to see it… Or you had to be very lucky to catch him in a live show… if he went through your town… and if you heard about it in time. He was adored by his costars but never became intimate with them. He even quit smoking at a reasonable time. So how do you make a movie of that?<p></p><p>Jonathan Frid’s friend, collaborator, and business partner, <b>Mary O’Leary,</b> has produced a ringing success, neither clinical nor cloying. An authentic affection and sense of human warmth run throughout the entire film, but it never invades. Enlightens, yes. The interview segments are fresh and cheerful, but I never feel something is being withheld or whitewashed. Instead, it’s a chance to see actors share their passion for their community's best and most professional. Which is a relief for everyone. </p><p>Especially notable is the development of the “Clunes community” of collaborators who worked with Frid throughout the 1980s and 90s. Director O’Leary was one of them, as were <b>Will McKinley</b> (who emerges as the movie's emotional heart) and <b>Nancy Kersey</b>. Each came to Frid’s attention in similar ways. Writing to and about him, they emphasized a point he may have been missing; Jonathan Frid had more talent and potential than the world was getting to see. The drive to explore and better himself compelled Frid to work, but on his terms. As a result, there is a hint of a sensible and profoundly Canadian Cyrano that unspools over a feature-length running time that feels over far too soon. </p><p>There are surprises, yes, but those are for Mary O’Leary to deploy. She does so with graciousness and a kinetic eye. The literate and literary gent is very much alive in the film, as is his mordant wit and natural dignity. It’s very much the film that Jonathan Frid deserves.</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="486" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F37j7jV8VXI" title="YouTube video player" width="700"></iframe><div><br /></divCousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-67115374124122211832021-09-25T11:13:00.002-04:002021-09-25T11:13:19.380-04:00The Dark Shadows Daybook: September 24<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOo336BqS957-4__W0jbRlX1_vvf_R6rAfjwcGQktypj4utLlr16NixO6MoGWx9NCbTV1k104qjwFgu8uWBL71FwB7q249fCa5KaVG1V4vuDxtQWZC3RstcJfO22UNmTkMG1AvPjQG66w/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1380" height="495" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOo336BqS957-4__W0jbRlX1_vvf_R6rAfjwcGQktypj4utLlr16NixO6MoGWx9NCbTV1k104qjwFgu8uWBL71FwB7q249fCa5KaVG1V4vuDxtQWZC3RstcJfO22UNmTkMG1AvPjQG66w/w640-h495/noose1.jpg" width="640" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b>Taped on this date in 1970: Episode 1106</b></p><p>By PATRICK McCRAY</p><p><i>Barnabas Collins decides that the only man who can help him avert the apocalypse is the last man he can trust: himself. Barnabas: Jonathan Frid. (Repeat; 30 min.)</i></p><p>Gerard thinks he has Julia by the short hairs when he dangles a newfangled earring in front of her as evidence that she comes from another time. Her explanation is credible enough to send Gerard away, leaving her time to conspire with Ben Stokes about recruiting Barnabas for the campaign. Ben finds Barnabas in the Old House, saying goodbye to Josette’s portrait… and dominance over his future. As he reasons with the Vampire, the present day version of Barnabas consults with Ben’s descendant. Surrounded by an insane Carolyn and a suicidal Quentin, Barnabas is compelled to use the I Ching wands to take the battle to 1840. He immediately encounters the vision of Julia‘s grave. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFjqjLTyj5Nuc6dilbvdKAMYPyVa-62OOgKVQh4QE0p7KMo59HOywKGmmbq94lUPE1eBSJK5k6LXFe2CxOKTluS6meu1TtzHenzACrWbkxntQEcQyD0t9w3pWshvhPq60EyglZgD2JSU/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1224" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFjqjLTyj5Nuc6dilbvdKAMYPyVa-62OOgKVQh4QE0p7KMo59HOywKGmmbq94lUPE1eBSJK5k6LXFe2CxOKTluS6meu1TtzHenzACrWbkxntQEcQyD0t9w3pWshvhPq60EyglZgD2JSU/w400-h304/1113kz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>Dark Shadows</b> is turning to its most forbidden topic: endings. The job of a soap is to perpetuate misery. It resolves one one source only after it slides in another. But this phase of the show is replete with endings, conclusions and assorted apotheoses. We’ve seen Collinwood destroyed, and that’s how the ending begins! How do you top that? That kind of question surges within 1113 with urgent power. It begins with fatalism and then asks, “Is that all you got?” This is the perverse optimism that you find only at funerals. Because when the universe falls apart, the only certainty is change. <p></p><p>With Barnabas, we even see double! The show continues its audacious presentation of parallel storylines — two different centuries with overlapping casts and one character appearing in both. The most unique acting challenge for <b>Jonathan Frid</b> is playing two different versions of Barnabas, both of whom have their counterparts in the relative future. And <b>Dark Shadows</b> is the only show where the future is 130 years in both directions. This storyline has a bad rap for being confusing. I suppose if you struggle to do things like drop pennies and straighten unknotted rope, you’ll find this baffling. But if you can manage those arduous tasks, 1840 is a pleasure.</p><p>Barnabas Collins may be the long suffering and occasionally non-beating heart of <b>Dark Shadows</b>, but Julia Hoffman is its soul. (Drop me a line if you can really explain the difference. But it sounds good.) Following her into 1840, it’s clear how far she has come. She began as a conniving, intellectually ruthless, arrogant invader. If Collinwood tortures its beloved sons and daughters, you can imagine when an outsider puts it in a bad mood. Julia pays her dues. Now, she is on the other end of that process. </p><p>Her scene at the beginning of the episode is a well-earned tribute to smug. She deflects Gerard’s smarmy interrogation with a cool efficiency that borders on decadent relish. Julia knows that she could die at any point. She knows that she is far over her abundantly-coiffed head. Not only is she fearless, but she has learned to take pleasure in hoisting her enemies with extra petard. Supernatural bullies specialize in lording for bidden knowledge over the rest of us. As Julia frustrates their efforts, her sense of “take that“ is not only admirable, it’s infectious. Had Victoria Winters remained on the show, this is the main character we might have gotten. Although I doubt it. Julia‘s age, gumption, and guile are impossible to imagine with anyone else. We are seeing <b>Dan Curtis</b>‘s dream, after all. Just by way of the real world.</p><p>Meanwhile, Barnabas truly turns a corner as he finally takes down the painting of Josette. After all, she let go of him. And she has given him the permission to move on. That’s on her end; this is a matter of his own choice. It involves the sort of courage that people can only show when they too close a tragedy. There is a grace period in the time immediately following a tragedy, before its burdens become a part of us. Oddly, decommissioning Josette is a job that could only be accomplished by the 1840 version of Barnabas… and the 1970 version of Barnabas. Anything in between had had just enough time to become obsessed with his loss, but not enough experience to contemplate life without it.</p><p>Barnabas is speaking for himself and the writers when he boasts, “the word safe has no meaning for me.“ </p><p>It’s an extraordinary point of freedom… everything is possible because nothing is possible. It’s the same kind of desperate bravery shown by the producers as they introduce a backwards echo of Pansy Faye, with the nobler ancestor, Leticia Faye. It’s a character whose existence has no practical sense, but has such a poetic ring of truth that pedantic cavils are undone before they can be spoken. Leticia is there because it’s the most interesting continuing character that <b>Nancy Barrett</b> crafted, and because Nancy Barrett intrinsically belongs at Collinwood as its neurotic and self-punishing ray of light. And who has the time to wallow in trivia when they have a 50 year old soap opera to write about? One of the story’s primary themes is the decay of our aspirations over time. The introduction of Leticia manages to accomplish this… backwards. Somehow, Letitia is an ancestor of Pansy. And somehow, and it may just be the semiotic impact of a more natural hair color, Leticia feels a little more humane and relatable. </p><p>And she’s not the only double in the episode. Leticia is confident in her use of the supernatural. But Nancy Barrett also plays the vaguely psychic Carolyn in 1113. Her encounter with the paranormal has driven her quite mad, pitting the two characters against each other. Similarly, we have a scene in 1840 where Ben Stokes reasons with his former master to show courage and trust. This transitions to a scene over a century later, in the same house, where Elliot Stokes shows a newly dawning sense of hesitation and Barnabas must rally him into action. </p><p>Moments before, the 1970 Barnabas is introduced under a looming portrait of himself from haughtier and happier days. He is attached to his chair, Hamleting himself to the point that a skull may appear in his palm at any moment. </p><p>Barnabas is either on the verge of implosion or explosion. He seethes with Stokes’ report on the funerals for Carrie, Daphne, Elizabeth, and the assassinated future of the Collins family, David. These are unthinkably bold and permanent strokes of storytelling, and they engage Barnabas as they engage us. He has spent his second and third lives doubting his place in the future, and it has suddenly passed him by.</p><p>It is in this moment that Barnabas truly appreciates the ability that makes him unique. He alone can use the curse of immortality to travel within his own lifespan in either direction. For the trip to 1897, this discovery was an accident. Now, it’s invocation is a mandate. </p><p>Barnabas rallies to a rare moment of decisive and ferocious action at the thought. He can only be haunted by the past for so long. Within the space of just a few lines this gentlemen of the past again becomes the last best hope for the future. A year ago, this might have been executed with a sense of insouciant <i>elan </i>worthy of <b>Alexander Dumas</b>. Frid avoids letting any twinkle spark his eye. Too many people have died. Too many regrets filled the ledger. Yes, he is answering the call to adventure, but it is with gravitas and respect. And yet again, the series reinvents itself. </p><p>Too often, he is written off as villain literally defanged after his first few months. I will admit, he spends a frustrating amount of time doubting his next move. But even when Barnabas is at his most mournfully indecisive, he is, to me, the Great Man. It’s in scenes like these, today, that we see why. In fact, those other moments of ethical denial and over-intellectualized paralysis are what make episodes like 1113 such a joy. </p><p>And the universe surrounding him seems to be in agreement. Even Elliot argues with him about the risks of such a journey, Carolyn glides downstairs for a late afternoon cocktail and yet another nervous break down as Quentin tries to hang himself upstairs. As if to prove Barnabas’ point. Once Barnabas tries a tentative trance, the first thing he sees is Julia Hoffman‘s tombstone from 1840. A call to adventure, indeed.</p><p>And you wanted to talk about risk, Professor Stokes? Let’s talk about risk. Risk may be James T. Kirk‘s business. But for Barnabas Collins, it is his very life. </p><p>And I can say the same for Dan Curtis.</p><div><b>This episode was broadcast Sept. 30, 1970.</b></div>Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7606748771250350856.post-35621170398045095622021-09-20T08:09:00.001-04:002021-09-20T11:17:28.170-04:00Press Conference with the Vampire, 1968<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Sometime </i>during the fall of 1968, <b>Jonathan Frid</b> conducted a press conference with dozens college and high school newspaper writers. He did this from the comfort of ABC's headquarters in New York City, with only a handful of young journalists in the room with him. Most of the participants spoke to the actor via telephone, courtesy of ABC affiliate WSIX-TV in Nashville, Tenn.<br />
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I say "sometime" because it's a little unclear on <i>when </i>this event took place. During the late 1960s, the news media wasn't as entertainment-driven as it is today. Even small town newspapers didn't give much coverage to celebrities when they hit town, often burying them in the back pages of the publication .. when they covered them at all. And even today, syndicated stories tend to run whenever the hell features editors decide they'll run, which is almost always as a tool to fill an editorial hole on a page. Good editors don't kill locally generated stories to make room for syndicated material, which makes researching events like this 1968 press conference a little complicated.<br />
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News materials documenting this press conference were published on a scattering of dates during November and December that year, and were edited to exclude direct references to the date of the event (usually a sign that an editor is trying to mask stale content.) A story published in The Tennessean Sun suggests it took place shortly before Halloween, though. <i>"Editors Interview Vampire - From A Safe Distance</i>" was published on Oct. 27. It was the second virtual press conference staged by WSIX-TV, according to the story, but the writer doesn't mention <i>who </i>was involved with the first.<br />
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If you've ever read an interview with Jonathan Frid, you pretty much know how the Q&A session went. He spoke about Shakespeare ("My big ambition after doing my job on 'Dark Shadows' is to do 'Richard III' on television," he told the kids) and his adjustment to television acting (“I never thought I would like television,but now I love it. The only thing I don't like about the series is the pressure. The first six months I was uptight every day.”)<br />
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"It was really neat," said Mindy Sterman, a student at Hillwood High School. "I just never knew anything like this could be done."<br />
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So, yeah ... not a lot of new material here. This is the kind of event that makes for a better podcast than a 10" newspaper summary, but that kind of medium was still decades away. I wonder if any of these kids held on to their recordings of the event?</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Below are photos from the press conference. The first shows Frid at ABC in New York City, the second shows writers at WSIX-TV in Nashville, Tenn.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKPvnBiJMvW3vpfxhHRuexpwWLZAdgPJ2VL3IN3C58pF8RdY9J_GKubUWM8KT_MN33h5WYhetG__X-NHKVkLE-p-nAeuKJjsDE_yr35YTh76f7keBGudRol_VIYZN7ZzNo2JXTn-VbbI/s833/Tennessean_Sun__Oct_27__1968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKPvnBiJMvW3vpfxhHRuexpwWLZAdgPJ2VL3IN3C58pF8RdY9J_GKubUWM8KT_MN33h5WYhetG__X-NHKVkLE-p-nAeuKJjsDE_yr35YTh76f7keBGudRol_VIYZN7ZzNo2JXTn-VbbI/s16000/Tennessean_Sun__Oct_27__1968.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /></b><b>UPDATE</b>: <b>Jim Pierson</b> of <b>Dan Curtis Productions</b> recently unearthed this crisp photo from the press conference in Nashville.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
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Cousin Barnabashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12100748097966533023noreply@blogger.com0