Dark Shadows blog

[j***@gmail.com]

Hi all:

Out of a long-nagging curiosity and a need for something that could be
watched quickly before bed on work days, I decided to start watching
the 1960's "Dark Shadows" series. After some mild debate, I decided
to start from the beginning. After watching Disc One and most of Disc
Two, I'm enjoying it enough that I thought it reasonable to start up a
review blog, to post my thoughts as I go.

Because there are so many episodes, and they don't "stand alone" at
all, I'm reviewing by disc rather than by episode. My first one is up
now, with the second one probably soon to follow.

http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/


Feedback/comments/alternate opinions are welcome, either here or on
the blog. I have not watched the show before, and only know a handful
things that I've read/heard over the years... so when commenting, I'd
appreciate avoiding major spoilers.

[D***@webtv.net]

Hello, and welcome to our friendly little newsgroup! Thanks for sharing
your new blog, I enjoyed reading your thoughts and comments about your
first viewings of the show.

All I'll say is be prepared for some very interesting twists and turns
as the series progresses! :)

Diva

[Wind River]

Hi. Welcome to the newsgroup. :)

Wind River

[Kishin]

Post by j***@gmail.com
Out of a long-nagging curiosity and a need for something that could be
watched quickly before bed on work days, I decided to start watching
the 1960's "Dark Shadows" series. After some mild debate, I decided
to start from the beginning. After watching Disc One and most of Disc
Two, I'm enjoying it enough that I thought it reasonable to start up a
review blog, to post my thoughts as I go.
Because there are so many episodes, and they don't "stand alone" at
all, I'm reviewing by disc rather than by episode. My first one is up
now, with the second one probably soon to follow.
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/
Feedback/comments/alternate opinions are welcome, either here or on
the blog. I have not watched the show before, and only know a handful
things that I've read/heard over the years... so when commenting, I'd
appreciate avoiding major spoilers.

Welcome to "Dark Shadows." I envy your ability to watch it from the
beginning, without knowing a lot about it, and applaud your choice to
start with episode one. I'm sure you know you have a long haul ahead,
but hope you will find it worth the time invested. It's easy for newbies
to find the bad things about the show, but I believe it has a cumulative
effect and a charm to it that overcomes its weaknesses.

--

Kishin

[Heightsman]

Post by j***@gmail.com
Out of a long-nagging curiosity and a need for something that could be
watched quickly before bed on work days, I decided to start watching
the 1960's "Dark Shadows" series.  After some mild debate, I decided
to start from the beginning.  After watching Disc One and most of Disc
Two, I'm enjoying it enough that I thought it reasonable to start up a
review blog, to post my thoughts as I go.
Because there are so many episodes, and they don't "stand alone" at
all, I'm reviewing by disc rather than by episode.  My first one is up
now, with the second one probably soon to follow.
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/
Feedback/comments/alternate opinions are welcome, either here or on
the blog.  I have not watched the show before, and only know a handful
things that I've read/heard over the years... so when commenting, I'd
appreciate avoiding major spoilers.

Welcome! You have the entire series on DVD???? Wow!!!! You'll find
some of the early episodes were on kinescopes and bad quality, but it
improves and the color episodes will start soon. I am looking forward
to reading your blog.

[[e-mail]]

Welcome! You have the entire series on DVD???? Wow!!!!  You'll find
some of the early episodes were on kinescopes and bad quality, but it
improves and the color episodes will start soon. I am looking forward
to reading your blog.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

No, no - I don't HAVE all of the series on disc. I'm using Netflix to
rent them, one disc at a time. And yes, the variable video quality
(particularly when cutting from film to video and back again) is very
noticeable. But it doesn't harm the entertainment value.

Thanks for the comments so far, everyone. I'm almost done with Disc
Two now, so there should be a new entry fairly soon!

[John]

From me to you; the days and nights at Collinwood move very slow, so be
warned that in the daytime drama, time is limitless. It may take a
couple of weeks to get through a few "Collinwood" days. Also, there are
some story lines that may be hard to get through to get to the good
stuff that happens in 1967.

[sctvguy1]

Post by John
From me to you; the days and nights at Collinwood move very slow, so be
warned that in the daytime drama, time is limitless. It may take a
couple of weeks to get through a few "Collinwood" days. Also, there are
some story lines that may be hard to get through to get to the good
stuff that happens in 1967.

Yes, that first series with Joan Collins was DRY! It almost made me stop
watching the show. It moved at a glacial pace and was too "stagey". I
think that the show would have been cancelled if not for the introduction of
Barnabas. (Watcher from high school during the '60's.)

[Wiseguy]

Post by sctvguy1

Post by John
From me to you; the days and nights at Collinwood move very slow, so
be warned that in the daytime drama, time is limitless. It may take a
couple of weeks to get through a few "Collinwood" days. Also, there
are some story lines that may be hard to get through to get to the
good stuff that happens in 1967.

Yes, that first series with Joan Collins was DRY! It almost made me
stop watching the show. It moved at a glacial pace and was too
"stagey". I think that the show would have been cancelled if not for
the introduction of Barnabas. (Watcher from high school during the
'60's.)

Yes, Joan Collins was the head of the Collins dynasty.
Think you mean JOAN Bennett who played Elizabeth COLLINS Stoddard.
It has been well-documented that Dark Shadows would probably have been
cancelled if not for the introduction of Barnabas.
As far as the glacial pace, most soaps were like that at the time.
Believe that Dark Shadows either then or later was the first soap to try
to make a Friday-type cliffhanger every day.

[sctvguy1]

Post by Wiseguy
Yes, Joan Collins was the head of the Collins dynasty.
Think you mean JOAN Bennett who played Elizabeth COLLINS Stoddard.
It has been well-documented that Dark Shadows would probably have been
cancelled if not for the introduction of Barnabas.
As far as the glacial pace, most soaps were like that at the time.
Believe that Dark Shadows either then or later was the first soap to try
to make a Friday-type cliffhanger every day.

Yes, Joan Bennett! It was terrible. If it hadn't been for Alexandra
Moltke, I would have turned it off. I stuck it out though, even though I
did cheat with the Three Stooges every once in a while!
It was like watching a bad local rep company putting on a bad play with
cheap scenery! Pure Gothic didn't go over too well.

[[e-mail]]

My thoughts on the second disc, now posted!

http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginning-collection-one-disc-2.html

[Kishin]

Post by ***@gmail.com
My thoughts on the second disc, now posted!
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginning-collection-one-disc-2.html

If you enjoyed Louis' slip, keep your eyes open for lots more to come!
My favorite (I don't recall which episode) is when he says "incestor"
instead of "ancestor." Heh. I'm looking forward to your future reviews.

--

Kishin

[[e-mail]]

Post by Kishin

Post by ***@gmail.com
My thoughts on the second disc, now posted!
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginning-collection-o...

If you enjoyed Louis' slip, keep your eyes open for lots more to come!
My favorite (I don't recall which episode) is when he says "incestor"
instead of "ancestor." Heh. I'm looking forward to your future reviews.
--
Kishin

Well, the best gaffe on Disc Three is in a scene between Mitchell Ryan
and Michael Currie, complete with control room talkback and actors
visibly struggling to hit their marks... though there are plenty of
"line stammers" to go around!

Disc Three thoughts are posted, btw:

http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginning-collection-one-disc-3.html


Enjoy! :)

[widowswail]

Post by ***@gmail.com
Well, the best gaffe on Disc Three is in a scene between Mitchell Ryan
and Michael Currie, complete with control room talkback and actors
visibly struggling to hit their marks... though there are plenty of
"line stammers" to go around!
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginning-collection-o...
Enjoy! :)

I seriously love that you're doing this! I'm new to the group and came
across your blog last week and absolutely adore it. Reading your
thoughts on the first episodes caused me to pull out set 1 so I could
watch them again. Great job :)

[vince garcia]

Post by widowswail

Post by ***@gmail.com
Well, the best gaffe on Disc Three is in a scene between Mitchell Ryan
and Michael Currie, complete with control room talkback and actors
visibly struggling to hit their marks... though there are plenty of
"line stammers" to go around!
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/beginning-collection-o...
Enjoy! :)

I seriously love that you're doing this! I'm new to the group and came
across your blog last week and absolutely adore it. Reading your
thoughts on the first episodes caused me to pull out set 1 so I could
watch them again. Great job :)

years ago, there was an Asian fellow here who weekly posted a synopsis
of every single episode of the show

[[e-mail]]

Post by widowswail
I seriously love that you're doing this! I'm new to the group and came
across your blog last week and absolutely adore it. Reading your
thoughts on the first episodes caused me to pull out set 1 so I could
watch them again. Great job :)

Thank you for your very kind comments, both here and on the blog. It
helps keep this sort of project "worth doing," to know it's being
appreciated and enjoyed. Thanks :o)

[[e-mail]]

My thoughts on Disc 4 are now up:

http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/beginning-collection-one-disc-4.html

[Kishin]

Post by ***@gmail.com
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/10/beginning-collection-one-disc-4.html

Get used to David Ford. He will be around for a while. I kinda prefer
his Sam Evans, but then that's who I first remember essaying the role.

--

Kishin

[[e-mail]]

Sorry for the long break, but the first part of the next disc carried
on with the tedium of the last part of the previous disc, and... well,
when watching a TV show starts to feel like work, I take longer pauses
between episodes. The good news is, the second half of the disc
really picked up. It took me two weeks to get through the first 3
episodes on this disc, and only one week to get through the last 6.

Anyway, Collection Two, Disc One thoughts now up at:

http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/beginning-collection-two-disc-1.html

[Kishin]

Post by ***@gmail.com
Sorry for the long break, but the first part of the next disc carried
on with the tedium of the last part of the previous disc, and... well,
when watching a TV show starts to feel like work, I take longer pauses
between episodes. The good news is, the second half of the disc
really picked up. It took me two weeks to get through the first 3
episodes on this disc, and only one week to get through the last 6.
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/beginning-collection-two-disc-1.html

The introduction of Thayer David is a wonderful thing. He will be with
the series for a long time, in many great roles.

--

Kishin

[[e-mail]]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The next disc review is (finally) ready. Collection 2, Disc 2 review,
Episodes 45 - 53, can be found at:

http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/beginning-collection-two-disc-2.html

[D***@webtv.net]

Thanks so much for sharing your latest review, it's always an enjoyable
read!

I agree with you about David, he was indeed a little terror, but you
could also see what led him to become that way. David Henessy was quite
convincing, and had the ability to make you loathe him one moment and
want to hug him the next!

Diva

[[e-mail]]

I've been delayed in viewing Collection 2, Disc Three, and am only a
couple episodes in at this point. As a result, the next review won't
be up until sometime in February. In the meantime, I did receive a
"Dark Shadows" audiobook, so I've put up a review of that just to keep
my reviews active. It's on a separate, audio reviews blog, so that
any audios I review won't interfere with the flow of the TV reviews.

I've also done a few tweaks to the overall design, to hopefully make
it all a bit better visually and a bit easier to navigate.


Review of Dark Shadows: Blood Dance (audio):
http://darkshadowsaudios.blogspot.com/2011/01/blood-dance.html

[[e-mail]]

Collection Two, Disc Three is finally completed. Sorry for the delay,
I had some trouble getting a working copy of the disc. I actually
really enjoyed this set of episodes.

Anyway, review of Episodes 54 - 62:
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/beginning-collection-two-disc-3.html

[[e-mail]]

The Beginning, Collection Two - Disc Three, finally reviewed. Sorry
for the delay. I had trouble getting a working copy of the disc. I
actually really enjoyed this set of episodes.

Review for Episodes 54 - 62:
http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/beginning-collection-two-disc-3.html

[Oberon]

The Beginning, Collection Two - Disc Three, finally reviewed.  Sorry
for the delay.  I had trouble getting a working copy of the disc.  I
actually really enjoyed this set of episodes.
Review for Episodes 54 - 62:http://darkshadowsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/beginning-collection-t...

Oberon:

I enjoy your reviews and think you will find, as many here have, that
Nancy Barrett, in whatever role on Dark Shadows, is one of the best of
this show's actors.