WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now let us all pray that no one at the WB is stupid enough to schedule the new DS in the old Angel time slot

The thing is, though, that slot following Smallville would be the ideal place for DS. Almost any other slot would come with drawbacks that one doesn't have...

[victoriawinters]

OK - first off, vw, I have to say that I am SOOOOOO jealous of you having met Robia LaMorte. I loved Jenny and have yet to get over her death back in Season #2 of Buffy - and that scene when Giles discovered her body. "Passion" ranks as one of my all-time favorite Buffy episodes.

In person, she is just a doll.  So, pretty too!  I hope she'll get that role she was talking about on General Hospital.

As for your talk with Verheiden, very interesting and thanks for informing us. I love your advice that long time fans should keep an open mind (but then, I suspect you might know that I would  ).

Yes, I figured you would.

Per a few other remarks:

• Please no KLS on the show! Well, at least not in the first season (if there is one). The WB DS should create its own identity before any former DS stars might be brought in!

I agree.  It should have it's own look and feel.

• David Fury as a potential writer? I respectfully disagree with that idea. In fact, the mere idea of it practically sends me into cardiac arrest!!

Destiny was one of my favs on Angel this season.  He co-wrote that with Steve DeKnight.   I think the writers are fantastic.  I also did mention Jamison Selby as a potential writer for the team.  It would certainly work for me to see him at events!

• Shame on you for not asking what house would stand in as Collinwood!    (But honestly, I doubt he might have told you because they most probably wouldn't want curious fans showing up.)

In the end, it didn't matter to me.  They could use pretty much anything as far as I'm concerned.  I think the acting, story-writing and dark quality are more important then the house.  Houses can always be made more creepy with special effects, etc.  Also, now I'll get some surprises.[/size][/color][/FONT]

[Cassandra Blair]

OK - first off, vw, I have to say that I am SOOOOOO jealous of you having met Robia LaMorte. I loved Jenny and have yet to get over her death back in Season #2 of Buffy - and that scene when Giles discovered her body. "Passion" ranks as one of my all-time favorite Buffy episodes.

Hopefully, she'll get that part on General Hospital...but how cool would she be as Dr. Julia Hoffman in the new WB Dark Shadows?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

how cool would she be as Dr. Julia Hoffman in the new WB Dark Shadows?

Oh, why did you have to go and put THAT idea in my head? Now almost anyone they actually cast could be disappointing to me. 

[Luciaphile]

I'm still getting caught up with the posts here, but I have to say, I'm getting psyched about this. I'm not familiar with all of the actors being cast, but the ones I do know are pretty solid talentwise.

I like the idea that they're going for with episodes that can be watched separately but with the overall arc.

This could really work.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

it's looking more and more like some of the Angel fans need to seriously limit their caffeine intake because, when it comes to the subject of DS on the WB, they're bouncing off the walls with very little provocation.

I just read that Jeffrey Bell, a writer and executive producer on Angel, will be working on ABC's Alias next season. I wonder how the over-caffeinated crowd in the Angel camp will blame that on DS? 

[Midnite]

Oh, why did you have to go and put THAT idea in my head?

OHMYGOD, I love Cassandra_B's idea too!

[Philippe Cordier]

Frid wasn't offered a role per se; just a cameo appearance as an "ominious" figure who warns Victoria Winters on the train about going to Collinwood.

Omigod, Frid would have been fantastic in a part like that!!

I almost feel more disappointed now, knowing that the producers specifically had Mr. Frid in mind for this cameo.  I don't think this would have been stunt casting; for one thing, this would probably appear in the first few minutes of the show, so older viewers wouldn't be on pins and needles for half the show waiting for him to show up.  It's not a vampire role, and I thought THAT was Mr. Frid's real disinterest in revisiting Dark Shadows.  Finally, he does the menacing thing s-o-o-o well; as a casting choice based on acting alone, I doubt anyone else will do it better than he would have.

I know Mr. Frid has no obligation to satisfy the decades-old, insatiable clamor of fans ... but it's just that he would have added a real element of class ... and ominousness ... to the scene.

In a broader, non-DS context, I feel the world of film and TV really blew it in not offering this very original actor a wide choice of roles.  What I wouldn't give to see more of his talent in film or TV today.  So even the DS cameo would have been a plus.

[Miss_Winthrop]

My two cents as follows:
1) I'm really disappointed that JF won't be making a cameo appearance.  If he did just the one, we'd find a way to demand that he come back and do a 2nd one and so on. He's smart to refuse right away.
2) The article talked about 'the new DS not being your mom's DS'!  OMG...I'm that mom who the new DS is not being produced for.     No one cares about or values my imput.
3) The house they do use is truly only important to the old time fans.  We developed an attachment to it. The youngsters will develop attachments to various aspects of the show on their own. (But it would be unseemly to see palm trees in on the estate  ).
4) The DS board watchers are here looking for clues on what made the original DS tick. What has inspired such long-term fan adulation. I can tell them, you need to produce a show that people will love, care about what happens to the characters and rush home to see or don't make plans on the nights that it's on. Nothing unusual about that. But what is that mysterious something that DS had that today's television just can't match?

[Nancy]

It's not a vampire role, and I thought THAT was Mr. Frid's real disinterest in revisiting Dark Shadows.  Finally, he does the menacing thing s-o-o-o well; as a casting choice based on acting alone, I doubt anyone else will do it better than he would have.

I know Mr. Frid has no obligation to satisfy the decades-old, insatiable clamor of fans ... but it's just that he would have added a real element of class ... and ominousness ... to the scene.

In a broader, non-DS context, I feel the world of film and TV really blew it in not offering this very original actor a wide choice of roles.  What I wouldn't give to see more of his talent in film or TV today.  So even the DS cameo would have been a plus.

The reality is that Frid really had no interest in doing movies or television.  He had not pursued that kind of work prior to Dark Shadows but some did come to him of course back in the days when so much of television was done in NY. My understanding is that while actors certainly wanted the more profitable work available in film and TV, some just didn't go for it.   As Frid has said himself so many times, he is a "dillitente" (I know I spelled that wrong) actor and basically has always wanted to do what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do it.   I know myself that anyone who loves stage work can get really turned off by film and TV work as so much of it is hurry up and wait for your shot.  I can easily believe Frid just had no interest in that kind of professional life.  It's too bad for fans there is not more of him available on film or videotape, I agree. :-

Since the 1980s,  I know Frid was offered good roles in films that turned out to be such hits but he wanted to focus on his one man show.  Theater is what he loves to do.  And now being almost 80 (and since retiring in 1994) he likes tooling around with various hobbies and civic activities, including his website.  The spotlight just doesn't appeal to him at all whether it is DS related or not.  This is a guy for whom the whole celebrity thing got old real fast.  He is an actor who very much appreciates the fans but appreciates his privacy and the quiet of his retirement years even more.


Nancy

[Raineypark]

....... But what is that mysterious something that DS had that today's television just can't match?

It had the only thing that ever matters in a story....characters we cared about in situations that made us worry for them.  If you care about what happens to a character you have to keep coming back to see what happens next.  If you don't care about the character, it doesn't matter how witty, how good looking, how brilliant or how evil the character is.....you won't tune in to see what happens to them.

The real alchemy is how you make an audience care about an entire cast of characters.  The equation's simple.....but exquisitely difficult to pull off.

[Philippe Cordier]

I had a nice discussion with Mark Verheiden, Co-Executive Producer of the new Dark Shadows on Sunday, March 28 at the 12th Annual Creation Sci-Fi Summit.  Notes of our discussion and pictures are (URL).  Note: also contains other materials since it was not an exclusive Dark Shadows convention.

VW, I just took a quick look through your "interview" with the new DS writer, and I have to say this is the most encouraging insider information I've seen yet!  Thank you!!  You did a great "reporting" job!

Mr. Verheiden, and the concept for the new show, sound very promising.

The only tiny thing in the back of my mind is that I hope the new writers will be as literate as they often were on the original series -- especially versed in literature (and not only Gothic literature), as were Art Wallace, Francis Swann, Joe Caldwell, and several others.

The example I always go back to (long-time posters will think me a broken record) -- but it's only one example -- is Louis Edmond's recitation of "Dover Beach" while gazing at Angelique's portrait.  Thematic borrowings from Hawthorne ("House of the Seven Gables") in the early months of the series were a subtle influence on the show's concept.

Just one other element that made the original series unique -- and appealing to a higher common denominator.

[Minja]

I totally agree with MB and Midnite....Robia LaMorte as Julia!  Awesome idea Cassandra_B!

As long as later on, if they go into the past, she's not cast as Crazy Jenny! 

Ok, I'm bad.

Always, Minja

[Mary]

Frid wasn't offered a role per se; just a cameo appearance as an "ominious" figure who warns Victoria Winters on the train about going to Collinwood.

Thank you, Nancy!

[Josette]

Having never heard of Robia LaMorte, I figured I better look her up.  Unfortunately, the imdb didn't have a photo.  Also, between the TV guest appearances and movies, there's nothing listed more recent than 2001.