And Even Yet Another New Slideshow

[Cousin_Barnabas]

How was Carolyn played in this?  Closer to Nancy Barrett or Barbara Blackburn? 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I would say she was an amalgam of both. And that will become clearer as we see more of this Carolyn's scenes.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As far as today's quote -

Page 11 - Carolyn: 'They probably get better reception. (off Victoria's smile) Truth is, if you're prone to cabin fever, you've come to exactly the wrong place.'

- goes, it was replaced by Carolyn answering Vicki's question about Collinwood's 200 rooms by saying, "First you close about 160 of them, then you do what you can to make the other 40 feel something like a home."

So, this version of the Collins family lives in what would amount to be the entire original series' version of Collinwood. But then this version of Roger is obviously a renowned businessman, what with being on the cover of Forbes Magazine and all, so I suppose they may have a public image to maintain that the other versions of the Collinses we've seen did not. In fact, did we know if the Collinses of the '91 series even had any sort of business? If so, I don't recall it coming up. Liz never spoke of one. She never worked in any capacity with one. And the only thing we learned about Roger was that he painted but gave it up due to whatever had happened to Laura. They were apparently wealthy - but I suppose that wealth came from old money/investment rather than running a business...

And maybe it's just me, but the whole bit about TV reception came off as rather odd. Sure, the point of the original dialogue was to get across the point that Collinsport was isolated. But hello, in 2004 there was very much such a thing as cable TV. In fact, cable TV was first invented for places that were so isolated that they could barely get over the air TV, so Collinsport should have had it - and certainly the Collins family could have afforded it. But the weirdest thing about such dialogue was that, yes, original DS fans who grew up pre-cable TV would have certainly related to it, but the target audience for the WB DS would have had cable TV all their lives - they wouldn't have known anything from poor reception.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Good to know.  I'm definitely getting a lot more Barrett in this dialogue than I did with the '91 Carolyn... and that is a great thing, imo.  Though Blackburn's delivery of what were probably "humdrum" lines made her character a tad more... unique. 

I've got to be honest.  I read the reception thing as cell-phone reception as opposed to TV reception.  I guess it's because no one has spoken about TV reception on TV in years, though it's how I get my channels. 

The only mention of business I recall in the 1991 series was in the pilot or "movie" when Barnabas was asked what sort of business he was in.  The only thing we learned after that was just how "consuming" his business actually was.     (When the 1991 series tried to be funny, without resorting to outright goofiness, it kind of worked, which is more than I can say for Depp Shadows.) 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When the final dropped bit of dialogue comes up with tomorrow's quote, it seems to lean more toward TV reception. But you could be right. Cell phone reception never even occurred to me. Duh! 

But in either case it doesn't really matter because the whole reception discussion, whatever type it may have been, was thankfully dropped. 

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Thank goodness for that!  I'm definitely a fan of a tech-free Collinsport.  That device in Buffy Harrington's room (I believe) is still one of the most scandalous things on the OS.    

[Gothick]

I'm not sure if the quote is still there at the beginning of this thread, but doesn't one of the first moments in the pilot involve Vicki trying and failing to get a signal on her cell phone once she gets off the train?

G.

[Midnite]

Gothick, MB describes the scene in Reply #34 (p. 3).

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'd completely forgotten about the part in the script where Vicki checks her cell phone. The sequence is scripted as:

EXT. COLLINSPORT TRAIN STATION - NIGHT

The passenger train pulls to a stop with a SCREAM of brakes as Victoria steps onto the deserted platform. The train CHUGS as she looks vainly for her ride.

VICTORIA
Hello? Anyone here?

Frustrated, Victoria pulls out her cell-phone. She gets the CHIRP from the power-up, then stops.

VICTORIA (CONT'D) .
No signal.
(wry, eying old station)
No surprise.

Not sure what to do next, Victoria finally pulls her coat tighter and starts across the platform.

And I most probably forgot about it because all that was dropped from the pilot. Well, at least all of Vicki's dialogue was. So, if she does still check her phone (which I don't remember if she does or not), she doesn't comment on it out loud. But given that she does in the script, then, yes, within the dropped dialogue that we're currently dealing with in the slideshow, the signal Carolyn refers to is in all probability a cell phone signal. And that certainly helps the dropped bits to make more sense. Though I still have problems with some of it. And I'll explain why that is and why I jumped to the apparently erroneous conclusion they were talking about TV reception after tomorrow's quote comes up. 

[Gerard]

I can envision an uber-isolated, small place like Collinsport, even in the 21st century, never having TV cable access for those two reasons:  it's too isolated and too small for any cable company to make a decent profit.  There are actually still some places like that scattered across America.  But on the other hand, I have a hard time envisioning denizens of Collinsport, especially the Collinses, not availing themselves of satellite TV.  That's accessible anywhere.  I simply can't accept that the rich family on the hill would make do with either just an antennae or aluminum foil over the rabbit ears to pick up only a couple snowy channels in the hopes of catching The CBS Evening News or Wheel of Fortune when they would have ESPN-14-All-Ping-Pong and BBC-7 with constant marathons of The Vicar of Dibley and Keeping Up Appearances.  How would Sophia bake all those cakes for Roger without having The Food Network?

Gerard

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Gerard, it's very clear to me that Sophia is using an old, locally-published recipe book called Mrs. Johnson's Mayo and other Down East Recipes.

[Gothick]

LOL, Cousin Barnabas!

Can I say again just how much I am LOVING this thread!

Can I also say even though it probably belongs under the "Testing" board that I ADORE the new Original Series montage which features a gorgeous shot of Hoffman sneering royally, front and center, probably uttering a line such as "HE had EVERYTHING" or "There can BE only ONE Mrs. Collins" .... LOVE IT!!!

giddily, G.

[Gerard]

Cousin Barnabas, I have so many problems with your answer.  First of all, what local publishers would exist around Collinsport for Mrs. Johnson's book?  Second of all, she only had recipes regarding mayonnaise.  She never mentioned cakes.  This is DS, Cousin Barnabas.  You need to get real.

Gerard (Who accepts nothing realistic about DS unless it involves a combination of milk chocolate and butter cream.)

[Gothick]

Didn't Roger once mention giving Mrs. J a recipe (or as older family members used to say, a receipt) for Indian pudding?

G.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Obviously, Gerard, the exposé on Collinsport's "STAR" publishing program was to be slowly unveiled over the course of the first six scripts of the '04 series.  Unfortunately, those scripts are under lock and key, much like Mrs. Johnson's secret Mayonnaise Cake recipe (receipt) -- Too bad.  It would have been the perfect complement to the boiled dinner I ate tonight.   

Speaking of additional scripts, were there any other scripts actually written?  I seem to recall reading on Stuart's site that six scripts were ordered.  Did they actually make it to print or were they killed before they even got started? 

As for the Indian Pudding, I do recall something like that, G.