... to the 18th century for the first time.
"It's the system, Lara. People will be different after the Revolution."
It was an agreeable storyline. A nice Barnabas in 18th century clothes and a better hairstyle. His touching devotion to little sister Sarah. Joan Bennett looking smashing in period costumes...
shareThe best was when vampire Barnabas was a villian. They'd have him interested in sweet Vicky, and Maggie.forming the oddest couple(he hoped). He'd get close to getting figured out and busted then would some how wiggle out of the mess. 1795 was similarly good showing his beginnings.
shareI do like the classic Barnabas "the villain" story. It does have an eerieness and is full of suspense. I also like 1970 PT. Hoffman the Maid is an over-the-top riot.
shareBarnabas was a serial killing monster. He treated djh like a p-o-s. I was hoping someone would put a stake in the Mo-f..ers heart...but there wouldn't be a show
shareYes, I do enjoy the 1795 storyline. Vicki's witchcraft trial was great. I couldn't wait to see how everything would unfold for her and what they'd think of to use against her next. Reverend Trask, Abigail, and Angelique were all great villains brilliantly played by their respective performers. I don't usually enjoy love stories, but add witchcraft and vampirism into it and it makes it a lot more interesting.
For me, the first episode right up until the end of 1795 were when the show was the best. It's still very good afterwards but it was at its peak for the first 461 episodes.
Reverend Trask, Abigail and Angelique made you want to throw a TV Brick at the TV screen. Each one was so evil and malicious. I agree with the show peaking in its first 461 episodes. And with the show still being very good afterwards (even though there are certain storylines I'm not too crazy about).
shareI started in the early 200s when Barnabus appears. Are the first 200 worth checking out?
shareMost certainly, vito! They're on YouTube.
shareI enjoyed them more than I thought I would.
The characters are interesting, especially Burke Devlin, and I like how they slowly phased in the supernatural elements with it coming full force when Laura arrives.
I've always enjoyed the early episodes. It was a bummer when they used to show repeats on various TV stations and commenced with the appearance of Barnabas. The early episodes have a film noir/mystery/thriller feel about them. Then, ultimately, things started turning really supernatural.
shareDoctorJuliaHoffman,
The late, great Louis Edmonds had much more to do during those first year episodes of Dark Shadows. It was great fun seeing the "slightly" snobbish Roger Collins insulting Sam Evans, Burke Devlin, Maggie Evans and Joe Haskell. Wasn't it cool when good guy Joe Haskell threatened Roger Collins after Roger had insulted Maggie and Joe at the Blue Whale? Unfortunately, we did not get to see such memorable scenes involving Roger in the later years of Dark Shadows.
Yes, Attillio. Louis Edmonds had a much more pivotal role during the first year. With the appearances of Barnabas, Julia, Quentin, et al his roles became smaller. Although it was great seeing him turned into a cat later in the series.
shareDJH,
I think that when Angelique turned Joshua Collins into a feline, he rather resembled Morris the Cat from those cat food commercials. I wish Angelique had turned some of the other DS characters into cats during the show's run. It would have been great fun seeing Barnabas or Laura Collins as a cat!
"I think that when Angelique turned Joshua Collins into a feline, he rather resembled Morris the Cat from those cat food commercials."
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Too funny, Attillio! I've checked Morris's filmography on IMDb and the only thing IMDb gives him credit for (apart from mentioning those 9-Lives commercials in the Trivia section) is the film "Shamus" (1973). (Wow, lucky Morris! He got to be in a Burt Reynolds movie!) But, Morris also appeared in "The Long Goodbye" the same year. I would have loved to have seen Abigail Collins and Reverend Trask turned into cats. It would have served them right.
a better hairstyle
Frid's hairstyle did look bizarre plastered down. Especially those plastered down pointy bangs. Yuck! He did look gruesome and creepy though. A far cry from the nice combed back hairstyle Bela Lugosi had in "Dracula" in 1931.
Frid did have fluffy, wavy hair in real life. There are photos of him and Louis Edmonds on the beach in their bathing suits. Frid had a very macho build. These photos can be found easily on-line. I think they were taken in Long Island.
As I understand it when hey were planning the Barnabas story line they needed the painting. A staff member posed for it. Everything was painted but the face. TH
he staff member (it might have been Costello) was balding and tried to hide it with a slicked down comb over.
When Frid was hired the face was painted in and Frid was stuck with the hair style.
Yes, dreamcurse, it was Robert Costello who posed for that painting. You know, before the series was cancelled the writers planned to have Barnabas marry Julia and the two were to go to Asia where she'd find a cure for his vampirism.
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