Been Watching Old Dark Shadows Episodes

You know, my mom used to watch Dark Shadows when I was a kid. I remember watching it, too, even though I was very young. Then, later, when T & I were first married, one of the television stations played the series every morning and I watched a lot of it then. And, of course, I read all the novels and saw the TV movies when they were on.

Still, it's been a while. So, I was delighted to find the series on Xfinity online. And, since I've been sick, I've been watching it.

Now, I've said it before: This was not High Art. But it was still a pretty good gothic story. And I'm sure it must have been very challenging for the writers to write something that potentially had no end, but was still engaging to the audience. They had to deal with a pretty large cast of characters (maybe not so large compared to True Blood, but still pretty large for most normal shows) and keep people interested in those characters. So, good job, writers.

However, I do find some of the dialogue pretty hilarious. Barnabus Collins is such a bad guy in these early episodes, and no one sees it.

Vicky: So you'll be living in the old house?
Barnabus: Yes.... Living...

Elizabeth: I'm sure you have plans.
Barnabus: Yes. I have a great many... plans.

And they even notice it. Several times a character comments that "Barnabus has a really odd way of speaking." or "His choice of words are so strange." And at one point, Victoria Winters even says "It's as if his words have another, secret meaning that only he knows."

But then, they just blow it off. "He's from Europe."

This series is so much fun. I really wish Tim Burton had kept the flavor of the original when he did that train wreck travesty movie last year. That movie was so horrible...

But, if you can see beyond the poor production quality of a live soap opera from the 60s, the original Dark Shadows is worth watching.