I watched this series on TV and loved it. Much better than the old Dark Shadows (which was totally unfrightening and had
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TheSolarSailor — 13 years ago(May 29, 2012 02:32 AM)
It was promised a second season and Dan even wrote episodes to show the studio, who liked what they read and told him he would get a new season. Then they unceremoniously dumped his show from the schedule without so much as a phone call. This all went down after the series finished airing. It's all in Kathryn Leigh Scott's new book, Return to Collinwood.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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Journeyman1 — 13 years ago(May 29, 2012 09:57 AM)
It was promised a second season and Dan even wrote episodes to show the studio, who liked what they read and told him he would get a new season. Then they unceremoniously dumped his show from the schedule without so much as a phone call. This all went down after the series finished airing. It's all in Kathryn Leigh Scott's new book, Return to Collinwood.
"NBC broadcast the last of 13 scheduled "Dark Shadows" episodes Friday, and the Nielsen ratings appear to have driven a stake in its heart this time, ranking it 64th among 83 shows in its final week."
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-28/local/me-1221_1_dark-shadows
If you see a message from me, read my biography first before making a post. Thanks! -
TheSolarSailor — 13 years ago(May 29, 2012 02:28 PM)
It's all detailed in the book. Don't believe me, then go buy a copy and give it a read. It tells the whole story behind each incarnation of the show and various movies including some things from the new Burton film, as there is a rather large portion devoted to the 1991 series. I am not going to argue the point, as the facts are made available in the book.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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Journeyman1 — 13 years ago(May 30, 2012 04:49 AM)
Whether or not they had the go-ahead for a second season, it was obviously BEFORE the final ratings were in. That's how it works in this business. It's all about ratings. If they don't have the ratings, the show doesn't go on. The same thing happened with
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
. They were supposed to have a fifth season but it got canned because the ratings were awful for the finale. Same thing with
Charmed
. They didn't know until last minute if they would be back for Season 8 because the ratings in 7 were less than great. It's just curious why this gospel that you reference overlooks that fact.
If you see a message from me, read my biography first before making a post. Thanks! -
chanbara — 13 years ago(May 30, 2012 05:55 AM)
This is a tad off-topic, but regarding the DVD does anyone know if the recent April 30, 2012 UK release
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Shadows-Revival-Complete-Series/dp/B007K4 PVFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338379765&sr=8-1
) is truly in the ORIGINAL 4:3 aspect ratio (and not cropped like the 16:9 region 1 DVDs or the even worse doubly-cropped 16:9 -> 4:3 Netflix prints)?
From the total running time listed, I'm guessing it's the original broadcast versions (as opposed to the extended MPI VHS versions), but if (1) they are truly in the original uncropped 4:3 aspect ratio and (2) don't have the nightfor day screw-up that the Region 1 DVDs did, this would be a major improvement -
SoapWatch — 13 years ago(June 04, 2012 06:40 AM)
I can testify to the fact that I lost interest in the series when it became a period piece from about episode 6 onward to the very end of the series.
I kept waiting each week wondering when on earth was Victoria going to return to the present?
I think with all the North and South period pieces being big in mini-series back then, Dan Curtis thought it would add class to Dark Shadows Revival as well.
It seems like he was concentrating too much on ending Season 1 with the cliffhanger of Victoria returning to the present knowing Barnabas's secret that by then people had lost interest in where we had left off in the present day plot months before.
I think Vampire Diaries corrected that since that producer had knew the mistakes Dan Curtis had made. -
BadPuppy82 — 13 years ago(October 23, 2012 11:33 AM)
The time travel story arch was a huge hit back then. Fans loved it. Angelique(who was only meant to be a device to explain how/why Barnabas became a vampire) proved to be a such a fan favorite that Curtis brought her back.
Another poster mentioned a similar cancellation happening to "Charmed". While it's true that the ratings did slip a bit towards the end of the seventh season, the actors and producers agreed that it may have been a good time to end the series. They even had a wrap party for the cast and crew. The actors in particular wanted to move onto other things, and felt that the show had a good run. When they found out that they had been renewed for an eighth season, they came back and did a fantastic job. Their budget was slashed, so they had to write one of the cast regulars out for the final few episodes (Brian Krause), and bring him back for the last episode as a special guest star.
Just wanted to clear that bit up as I am a HUGE fan of "Charmed". I even own The Book of Shadows. It was a replica made by an extremely talented artist friend of mine and looks exactly like the prop on the show. The actors actually saw one of the replicas at ComiCon and they were amazed. They said it looked like it came right off of the set.
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Briabba2 — 12 years ago(November 09, 2013 06:42 AM)
""NBC broadcast the last of 13 scheduled "Dark Shadows" episodes Friday, and the Nielsen ratings appear to have driven a stake in its heart this time, ranking it 64th among 83 shows in its final week."
13? There's a 13th episode? Where is it? The DVD only has 12. Does anyone know what happened in episode 13? -
Darren-24 — 12 years ago(November 12, 2013 05:42 PM)
Hi- that article has a typo. There were only 12 DS 1991 episodes. The two hr pilot and 11 one hr episodes, though on original broadcast, eps 2&3 were combined into a two hr version to create a faux mini-series opening.