THE GOODS: Barnabas Collins

Saturday, October 12, 2013

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 12

(BOOB-TUBE BLOOD-SUCKERS: PART 2)

So where was I? Oh yeah, SALEM'S LOT...

the television adaptation of Stephen King's epic vampire novel.

It was great and for a television show in the late 1970s trying to be scary--it succeeded.

Moving on, or should I say back, one cannot mention vampires or the supernatural without mentioning the Dan Curtis daytime drama, DARK SHADOWS! Now I'm not a huge fan of this series mainly due to the general format of soap operas' extremely decompressed storytelling. The kind of thing that tends to bring some viewers back for the next thrilling episode only to have that episode merely be filler for the Friday cliffhanger, well, you get the picture.

Nevertheless, everyone seemed to like DARK SHADOWS a helluva lot more once the mysterious vampire, Barnabas Collins came to town!

Thus, the cult following began and the show kept taking on stranger and stranger twists and turns. Fans couldn't seem to get enough of the gothic romance mixed with horror--until some storylines that didn't sit right with the viewers and once the movie wasn't successful.

After 5 years and over a thousand episodes, it faded away like a wampir in the daylight.

Only to be resurrected years later

(though for a mere handful of episodes)

In Episode 12 of the first season of BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY, our hero must face off with, perhaps, the strangest of all television vampires--the Vorvon!

That's right, kiddies, A SPACE VAMPIRE!

Unlike your average blood-sucking fiend, this guy is an energy drainer, he sucks the life essence out of his victims.

Poor Buck Rogers can't convince anyone that the guy's real, even as the creature makes it clear that all it wants is our lovely Wilma Deering for breakfast (and, honestly, who didn't?)!

Is it the way he uses his pinky, the link sausage earlobes or the furry monobrow that most terrifies Wilma?

Hmm...

The pubic hair monobrow?

Ah, I see!

Anyway, a strange and twisted episode enjoyed very much by this viewer at the time!

Next up is probably one of the most obvious vampires to make this list, it's your grandpa...

Grandpa Munster, that is!

One part Dracula, one part mad scientist and completely vaudeville, Al Lewis' Grandpa Munster set the table for many of the plots of the series. If he weren't scheming or inventing or just plain trying to get away with something, there would be some fairly boring episodes of THE MUNSTERS.

And the perfect straight man (woman, actually) for his hijinks was his own daughter, who is herself one of the undead:

Yvonne DeCarlo as Lily Munster had to play it straight for both Grandpa and Herman and she did it seamlessly, all the while keeping her home as dusty and dingy as possible!

Finally, the first vampire most kids meet is a friendly guy who happens to love to crunch numbers more than the necks of his victims...

The Count!

And with that, we end Part 2 of our focus on those vampires we invite right into our homes without thinking twice about it, those monsters that come right in through our televisions!

Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow night, same bat time, same bat channel!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

MONSTER-MONTH: COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day 14)

Tonight we get soapy with our Frankenstein feature, we visit that gothic, operatic, melodramatic place called Collinwood and a television show known as…

DARK SHADOWS.

(Click to Frankensize)

I’d never heard of this Adam fellow from all my days listening to fans of the old soap talk about how good it was. Now I’m certain I’d have been a fan of this soap had I been old enough to have seen it. It has all the elements I love combined with the typical elements of a soap opera that could make it an addictive viewing experience for anyone.

Adam is a handsome enough Monster, tall, dark and dense as Karloff’s character in the early days of his return from the graves.

But onto the extensive look at his story arc on the show...

(Click to Frankensize)

Adam was created by Dr. Lang, his body was composed of parts from corpses, assembled by Lang an an unwilling Jeff Clark. After Lang’s death, Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman completed the process and brought Adam to life.

Standing almost seven feet tall, Adam was at first unable to speak and behaved violently because of this inability. He took Carolyn Stoddard hostage and she was able to see the gentle spirit within the monsterous exterior. When confronted by authorities on Widow’s Hill, Adam saved Carolyn before falling.

He was able to survive the fall because of his super-human strength and was then befriended by Sam Evan and then Professor Stokes who taught him to speak, read and write. Carolyn hid Adam in Collinwood’s West Wing after Sam died accidentally at Adam’s hand.

Adam fell hopelessly in love with Carolyn for her goodness and attempted to seduce her. It is not known if this was succesful or not. Although she understood his feelings, Carolyn tried to discourage the relationship. She saw their possibilities for a future as hopeless.

Adam became convinced that his unnatural creation was the cause of Carolyn’s reluctance to be his mate and so he set out to create a mate for himself. When Barnabas refused to help, Adam abducted Victoria Winters to blackmail him into cooperating.

Eventually, Julia and Barnabas agreed to help Adam in his quest for a mate and were assisted by Willie Loomis and Jeff Clark. They created a female body and Carolyn agreed to supply the life-force for her so that they would be compatable. At this point, Barnabas understood her true feelings for Adam. Not long before this experiment, Adam had asked Carolyn to marry him and she nearly accepted. However, she was still partially under the spell of Nicholas Blair and so she wanted to try this experiment instead.

(Click to Frankensize)

Carolyn was unable to give her life-force and died from the procedure, but she was returned to life by Nicholas Blair. Blair then supplied the life-force of Danielle Roget to bring “Eve” to life.

Eve had little interest in Adam and wanted to pursue other things. Adam mourned his lost love for Carolyn as Eve pursued Jeff Clark, who she knew from her earlier life. Eventually Adam strangled Eve after giving up on the possibility of a romance. Later, he tried to bring her back using Maggie Evans’ life-force. The attempt failed and Eve’s body was destroyed.

(Click to Frankensize)

Adam went mad witht he loss of his potential mate and threatened to destroy all who lived in Collinwood. He was attempting to kidnap Victoria Winters when Craolyn discovered him. She tried to reason with him, but he struck her down and took Victoria away to the Old House.

Adam then tried to electrocute Vicky because of a need to make Barnabas feel the kind of pain he was feeling. Barnabas and Julia arrived just in time to shoot Adam and save Vicky. Adam ran from the house and sought aid from Professor Stokes.

(Click to Frankensize)

When last we see Adam, Stokes had arranged an operation to remove the scars from his face so that he could start a new life.

Boy are those soaps complicated!

Sam Hall, in TV Guide, predicted that Adam had become a successful businessman only to return to Collinwood yeaers later to propose to Carolyn. She felt unable to resume the relationship and they parted good friends.