Less horror, no Baranabas-still hooked.

[kitekrazy]

I got Beginnings Vol. 1 for Xmas just finished watching it. Wow, I was
surprised it was that good. A lot of mystery. David was a psycho kid.
There are scenes at Collinwood that are no longer in use in the Barnabas
episodes.


Vol 2. will be here Monday.

[Bill]

Post by kitekrazy
I got Beginnings Vol. 1 for Xmas just finished watching it. Wow, I was
surprised it was that good. A lot of mystery. David was a psycho kid.
There are scenes at Collinwood that are no longer in use in the Barnabas
episodes.
Vol 2. will be here Monday.

The earliest months can be a bit slow, especially after the storyline
about David trying to kill his father is abruptly brought to a
conclusion...the weeks that follow dwell, perhaps, a bit too much on the
character of Burke Devlin at times. There are some marvelous moments,
though, and David is a standout...that demon of an offspring makes the
show at times.

A noticeable shift towards the supernatural begins with episodes that
aired in November of 1966, around the same time that Ron Sproat and
Malcolm Marmorstein began sharing the writing chores. Keep collecting
the early volumes...it just gets better and better.

[Joe]

Post by kitekrazy
I got Beginnings Vol. 1 for Xmas just finished watching it. Wow, I was
surprised it was that good. A lot of mystery. David was a psycho kid.
There are scenes at Collinwood that are no longer in use in the Barnabas
episodes.
Vol 2. will be here Monday.

I saw the beginning years ago when it ran on Sci Fi channel.. Boring
is how it could be best described. Very boring. Remember years ago
there was very little interest in the show until Barnabas arrived.
They all my relatives, friends, and school mates were talking about
the show. It was Barnabas mania. Before that people were simply bored
with an uninteresting show.

Sure some in this group liked the early episodes. THat is their right
to like what they want but the masses like the Barnabas and after
shows. Anything before that was simply boring.

[Bill]

Post by Joe
I saw the beginning years ago when it ran on Sci Fi channel.. Boring
is how it could be best described. Very boring. Remember years ago
there was very little interest in the show until Barnabas arrived.
They all my relatives, friends, and school mates were talking about
the show. It was Barnabas mania. Before that people were simply bored
with an uninteresting show.
Sure some in this group liked the early episodes. THat is their right
to like what they want but the masses like the Barnabas and after
shows. Anything before that was simply boring.

I would agree, but only to an extent. The storyline involving Burke
Devlin and his desire to take over the Collins enterprise was, overall,
quite bland and uninteresting (even Dan Curtis admitted that the
storyline was going "nowhere" in an interview that MPI includes on one
of the volumes)...it's easy to see ratings plummeting during that
period. Dan Curtis took note of this by late 1966--he had to, or the
show would have been history before Barnabas ever cracked the lid on his
coffin.

Personally, though, I don't see how anyone who follows the saga of
Matthew Morgan/Vicki or Laura Collins could call either storyline
boring. I'm currently into episodes that originally aired in March of
1967...the one thing that makes me sad while watching these is knowing
how the series would spiral downward from this period of creativity just
three years later.

I'm grateful to MPI for giving me the opportunity to see the first year
of this show finally.

[Artys]

Post by Bill

I saw the beginning years ago when it ran on Sci Fi channel..  Boring
is how it could be best described. Very boring. Remember years ago
there was very little interest in the show until Barnabas arrived.
They all my relatives, friends, and school mates were talking about
the show. It was Barnabas mania.  Before that people were simply bored
with an uninteresting show.
Sure some in this group liked the early episodes. THat is their right
to like what they want but the masses like the Barnabas and after
shows. Anything before that was simply boring.

I would agree, but only to an extent. The storyline involving Burke
Devlin and his desire to take over the Collins enterprise was, overall,
quite bland and uninteresting (even Dan Curtis admitted that the
storyline was going "nowhere" in an interview that MPI includes on one
of the volumes)...it's easy to see ratings plummeting during that
period. Dan Curtis took note of this by late 1966--he had to, or the
show would have been history before Barnabas ever cracked the lid on his
coffin.
Personally, though, I don't see how anyone who follows the saga of
Matthew Morgan/Vicki or Laura Collins could call either storyline
boring. I'm currently into episodes that originally aired in March of
1967...the one thing that makes me sad while watching these is knowing
how the series would spiral downward from this period of creativity just
three years later.
I'm grateful to MPI for giving me the opportunity to see the first year
of this show finally.

I remember seeing this show almost from the beginning. I remember
that I thought it was a goner, because it could have been done much
better. I didn't quit it, though. Then...Barnabas! That was really
a fascinating change for the better.

[D***@webtv.net]

The storyline involving Burke Devlin and
his desire to take over the Collins
enterprise was, overall, quite bland and
uninteresting

That's because Burke himself was bland and uninteresting <g> I always
found him to be an irritating, annoying character that really served no
purpose except for his knowledge of Roger's secret from the past. In
contrast with someone like Jason McGuire, who was just so much fun to
watch during *his* plotting and scheming against the Collins family,
Burke was just a dull and droning puppet in a suit.

That said, I actually liked the rest of the pre-Barnabas stuff. It
certainly had a different feeling and mood, and admittedly nowhere as
good as it became after Barnabas arrived, but it was atmospheric and
kind of intriguing.

Diva
--
DivaMagenta @}{~~>~~~>~~~>~~~~~

"Religion is man's futile attempt to reach out to God, trying to earn
His favor. Christianity is the good news that God has reached out in
love to us through His Son, because He knows that our arms are not long
enough..."
My Homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/sistermagenta

My Dark Shadows Page:
http://community.webtv.net/DivaMagenta/DivasDarkShadowsPage

My Sha Na Na Page:
http://www.geocities.com/sistermagenta/shanana.html

[Bill]

Post by D***@webtv.net
That's because Burke himself was bland and uninteresting <g> I always
found him to be an irritating, annoying character that really served no
purpose except for his knowledge of Roger's secret from the past. In
contrast with someone like Jason McGuire, who was just so much fun to
watch during *his* plotting and scheming against the Collins family,
Burke was just a dull and droning puppet in a suit.
That said, I actually liked the rest of the pre-Barnabas stuff. It
certainly had a different feeling and mood, and admittedly nowhere as
good as it became after Barnabas arrived, but it was atmospheric and
kind of intriguing.
Diva

Burke annoyed me more than anything else...more than once, I wanted
Sheriff Patterson to rap him on the head. : D I'm with you, overall, on
the rest of the first 10 months though. There are moments of brilliance
that I'm so happy to have been given a chance to see (it's a shame that
there was no such thing as a Daytime Emmy then, as David Henesy would
have been deserving of one), 40+ years after they originally
aired....and seeing Matthew sharpen his axe, during a climactic episode
involving Vicki, was as frightening as anything I saw following the
introduction of Barnabas.

The episode that I watched on Friday evening was set, in its entirety,
in a graveyard...again, as eerie and as much fun to watch as anything
that Dark Shadows did following the introduction of Barnabas. Jason and
Willie will soon be introduced...I'll be sorry to bid goodbye to this 10
months of episodes. For the first time, though, I will have seen Dark
Shadows in its entirety.

[kitekrazy]

Post by D***@webtv.net

The storyline involving Burke Devlin and
his desire to take over the Collins
enterprise was, overall, quite bland and
uninteresting

That's because Burke himself was bland and uninteresting <g> I always
found him to be an irritating, annoying character that really served no
purpose except for his knowledge of Roger's secret from the past.<

Well it's new to me, so I like the mystery surrounding that.



In

Post by D***@webtv.net
contrast with someone like Jason McGuire, who was just so much fun to
watch during *his* plotting and scheming against the Collins family,
Burke was just a dull and droning puppet in a suit.

The Jason McGuire character is awesome. Everytime you saw him you wanted
to kill him.

Post by D***@webtv.net
That said, I actually liked the rest of the pre-Barnabas stuff. It
certainly had a different feeling and mood, and admittedly nowhere as
good as it became after Barnabas arrived, but it was atmospheric and
kind of intriguing.
Diva

Its like a soap opera of a dysfunctional wealthy family. Like a pre
Dallas.

[Joe]

Post by Artys

Post by Bill

I saw the beginning years ago when it ran on Sci Fi channel..  Boring
is how it could be best described. Very boring. Remember years ago
there was very little interest in the show until Barnabas arrived.
They all my relatives, friends, and school mates were talking about
the show. It was Barnabas mania.  Before that people were simply bored
with an uninteresting show.
Sure some in this group liked the early episodes. THat is their right
to like what they want but the masses like the Barnabas and after
shows. Anything before that was simply boring.

I would agree, but only to an extent. The storyline involving Burke
Devlin and his desire to take over the Collins enterprise was, overall,
quite bland and uninteresting (even Dan Curtis admitted that the
storyline was going "nowhere" in an interview that MPI includes on one
of the volumes)...it's easy to see ratings plummeting during that
period. Dan Curtis took note of this by late 1966--he had to, or the
show would have been history before Barnabas ever cracked the lid on his
coffin.
Personally, though, I don't see how anyone who follows the saga of
Matthew Morgan/Vicki or Laura Collins could call either storyline
boring. I'm currently into episodes that originally aired in March of
1967...the one thing that makes me sad while watching these is knowing
how the series would spiral downward from this period of creativity just
three years later.
I'm grateful to MPI for giving me the opportunity to see the first year
of this show finally.

I remember seeing this show almost from the beginning. I remember
that I thought it was a goner, because it could have been done much
better. I didn't quit it, though. Then...Barnabas! That was really
a fascinating change for the better.

You are in the majority. Huge majority

[Joe]

Post by Bill

Post by Joe
I saw the beginning years ago when it ran on Sci Fi channel.. Boring
is how it could be best described. Very boring. Remember years ago
there was very little interest in the show until Barnabas arrived.
They all my relatives, friends, and school mates were talking about
the show. It was Barnabas mania. Before that people were simply bored
with an uninteresting show.
Sure some in this group liked the early episodes. THat is their right
to like what they want but the masses like the Barnabas and after
shows. Anything before that was simply boring.

I would agree, but only to an extent. The storyline involving Burke
Devlin and his desire to take over the Collins enterprise was, overall,
quite bland and uninteresting (even Dan Curtis admitted that the
storyline was going "nowhere" in an interview that MPI includes on one
of the volumes)...it's easy to see ratings plummeting during that
period. Dan Curtis took note of this by late 1966--he had to, or the
show would have been history before Barnabas ever cracked the lid on his
coffin.
Personally, though, I don't see how anyone who follows the saga of
Matthew Morgan/Vicki or Laura Collins could call either storyline
boring. I'm currently into episodes that originally aired in March of
1967...the one thing that makes me sad while watching these is knowing
how the series would spiral downward from this period of creativity just
three years later.
I'm grateful to MPI for giving me the opportunity to see the first year
of this show finally.

Pretty easy to call that storyline boring. It was slow moving and
intermixed with other boring stuff going on during the same time.

The Barnabas story while it had a lot of holes had a lot of conflicts
and sub plots that made it very very interesting. Cousin for England
with no British accent? How likely is that? Holes but real fun
storyline.

Hey its all fun. Glad it all happened. I guess one of the problems
is when one looks at the high octane Barnabas and beyond stories the
pre Barn stuff looks pale by comparison.

[Bill]

Post by Joe

Post by kitekrazy
I got Beginnings Vol. 1 for Xmas just finished watching it. Wow, I was
surprised it was that good. A lot of mystery. David was a psycho kid.
There are scenes at Collinwood that are no longer in use in the Barnabas
episodes.
Vol 2. will be here Monday.

I saw the beginning years ago when it ran on Sci Fi channel.. Boring
is how it could be best described. Very boring. Remember years ago
there was very little interest in the show until Barnabas arrived.
They all my relatives, friends, and school mates were talking about
the show. It was Barnabas mania. Before that people were simply bored
with an uninteresting show.
Sure some in this group liked the early episodes. THat is their right
to like what they want but the masses like the Barnabas and after
shows. Anything before that was simply boring.

I would agree, but only to an extent. The storyline involving Burke
Devlin and his desire to take over the Collins enterprise was, overall,
quite bland and uninteresting (even Dan Curtis admitted that the
storyline was going "nowhere" in an interview that MPI includes on one
of the volumes)...it's easy to see ratings plummeting during that
period. Dan Curtis took note of this by late 1966--he had to, or the
show would have been history before Barnabas ever cracked the lid on his
coffin.

Personally, though, I don't see how anyone who follows the saga of
Matthew Morgan/Vicki or Laura Collins could call either storyline
boring. I'm currently into episodes that originally aired in March of
1967...the one thing that makes me sad while watching these is knowing
how the series would spiral downward from this period of creativity just
three years later.

I'm grateful to MPI for giving me the opportunity to see the first year
of this show finally.

[mike ebbert]

glad to hear your enjoying the early dayz of dark shadows the
pre-barnabas story-lines was gr8.