Jan Spears
-
Posts
289 -
Joined
Content Type
Blogs
Gallery
Downloads
Discussion
Posts posted by Jan Spears
-
-
On 3/4/2022 at 5:10 PM, Prairie Rose said:
Nothing against Shelley and Tanya, but Kate really had that unique presence and it wasn't the same without her.
In retrospect, Kate was much harder to replace than Farrah. The character of Sabrina was the tie beam that held the whole thing together. Without her (and her portrayer, Kate Jackson) something went out of the series. I like Shelley Hack's portrayal of Tiffany (when they actually wrote for her) but adding a new Angel didn't solve the problem. Also, once Season 4 got started, the more senior Angels - Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd - were already beginning to check out mentally. The collapse really became apparent in Season 5 and the character of Julie (with her awkward back story) didn't help matters.
-
1
-
-
I read the news about Mitch Ryan on the 'Celebrity Deaths' forum and came over here.
He was perfectly cast as Burke Devlin and the Vicky/Burke relationship was never the same after Ryan's departure from the series. I never warmed to Anthony George as Burke. He had a tendency to bark his lines at Alexandra Moltke.
Ryan appeared in episode 1 of Dark Shadows in June 1966 and Burke was the first person Vicky met in Collinsport. (She met him at night [of course!] on the deserted train station platform.)
So, another original cast member is gone. That leaves Alexandra Moltke, Nancy Barrett, Kathryn Leigh Scott and David Henesy,
-
5
-
-
On 3/1/2022 at 8:25 PM, Prairie Rose said:
Here are the OG Angels posing for People in their 20th anniversary issue, 1994:
Interesting photo selection People made. It might just be the photo angle but Farrah looks like she's pulling away from Kate and Jaclyn.
-
1
-
-
14 hours ago, Maverick said:
All the first 4 Angels had good chemistry with Bosley, but yes Cheryl had the best with him and I'm sure that's why Kris was often paired with Bosley when the undercover work required a couple.
Cheryl has spoken about how welcoming and helpful David was during those early days when it was by no means certain that the public would accept a replacement Angel or that the show would even survive past a second season. I think some of the onscreen chemistry viewers see between Cheryl and David is in part a reflection of what was happening behind the scenes. (Shelley has said much the same thing about David and how welcoming he was when she joined the show.)
-
1
-
-
I rewatched Circus of Terror (from Season 2) this weekend. While this was the 5th episode aired, it was the 1st episode filmed in Season 2. Consequently, Circus of Terror was Cheryl Ladd's debut as Kris Munroe on the series.
I didn't realize until I looked it up that the production was still holding out hope that Farrah Fawcett would return to the series. So, Cheryl was working on the series without knowing if she would actually be joining it permanently or not.
Regardless, she hits the ground running (literally in several instances) in her first episode. Her best chemistry is with David Doyle, and she and Jaclyn Smith work well together. There's not a lot of interaction with Kate Jackson, which would become something of a fixture for the rest of the season given Kate's reputed coolness toward Cheryl. Ironic that Kate gets her own circus tent in this episode, and Jaclyn and Cheryl share a tent.
As for the episode itself, it's still one of my favorites, especially the nighttime scenes at the circus when there's no one around but the circus performers. There's something sinister about nighttime at a circus.
-
1
-
-
On 4/23/2020 at 6:36 PM, KaveDweller said:
Was Dynasty a big money maker? Were actors getting paid what they were worth? I tend to think actors are overpaid, but if a show is making a network millions they should share the wealth.
'Yes' to your first question and, except for John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins, probably 'no' to your second question.
Dynasty finished at #1 in the ratings for the 1984-85 season at a time when the traditional ratings on the Big Three commercial networks were all-important. (Cable television was in its infancy.) Dynasty also had lucrative licensing deals for all kinds of show-related products. It was making a fortune for ABC and Aaron Spelling.
-
On 4/21/2020 at 12:31 AM, Maverick said:
It was the 'Moldavian Massacre' that ended Season 5, and is widely regarded as when the show jumped the shark. The final (infamous) shot was the entire wedding party lying motionless on top of toppled furniture while only the church bells can heard. The cliffhanger was anyone could be dead. As it turned out, only two ancillary characters (one of whom never even made it into the opening credits during his time on the show) died.
Gordon Thomson (the original Adam) has said that the true 'Jump the Shark' moment wasn't the cliffhanger but the Season 6 opener. At the time, it felt like a huge cheat. In retrospect, though, there weren't many candidates for elimination. Blake/Krystle/Alexis were the show. ABC was already prepping The Colbys for fall 1985 and they needed Jeff for that. Diahann Carroll was a hit as Dominique so she wasn't going anywhere. I suppose they could have killed off one of Steven/Adam/Amanda but all three were popular in their ways. So, of the core cast, that really only left Claudia as an expendable character.
On 4/21/2020 at 9:47 AM, DXD526 said:Of course, this meant they were left with a scenario where a bunch of trained mercenaries sprayed a packed room with gunfire and only managed to kill two people. Pretty ridiculous. The massacre scene itself is pretty well done, it was the fact that everyone survived it that was kind of silly. The family should have lost several members and been gutted and devastated, but instead it was just inconvenienced for a couple of episodes, and then basically resumed its normal shenanigans.
The massacre scene was VERY well done. That final shot (hohoho) of all the characters lying motionless while the bells tolled was great television.
If Dynasty had been a different kind of show, they would have done exactly as you've suggested - explore the emotional aftermath for the better part of the season. There was so much story to be had, especially for Amanda ("happiest" day of her life turns into a nightmare) and for Steven (loses his second partner in the span of 4 years). But that was the road not taken. Instead we got the endless Krystle-Rita storyline and the equally endless Alexis-King Galen storyline.
-
On 12/29/2021 at 1:49 AM, WendyCR72 said:
Well, maybe NBC thought the higher production values/budget and younger stars could attract a new generation. And I saw some unsold pilot online made in the 2000s or so on YT some years back for yet another Dark Shadows remake, and (as bad as it looked) also seemed to begin again.
If some never watched the original, the retelling/back stories made sense.
And, as I said, the ratings for the '91 remake were good until the Persian Gulf war kept preempting it...
I've been watching Dark Shadows Collection 24 (the 1840 storyline) and there's an interview with Dan Curtis on one of the discs.
Curtis talks about the 1991 revival series and about how he was the one who wanted to go back to the original plotlines. The reason he gives for this is that he wanted to film Dark Shadows in a more cinematic way than was possible for a daytime series in the 1960s.
The revival series did have a lush look about it but I do think they would have had to have broken free from the original plotlines sooner rather than later. Otherwise, it would have had no independent creative life to it. Like Barnabas himself, it would have been the living dead.
-
While Betty White will be remembered primarily for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, she was also pitch perfect on The Carol Burnett Show playing Eunice's sister Ellen in the "Family" sketches.
-
24
-
-
It's been a tough year for fans of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman, Gavin Macleod and Betty White all died in 2021.
-
1
-
-
16 hours ago, Chyromaniac said:
I haven’t read Dune myself- but a YouTuber I generally like and respect (Matthew Colville) has posted a bunch of videos about it over time. One of his contentions is that at least part of why Leto was a threat to the Emperor, is because his advisors (Gurney, Duncan, and the Mentat) had basically discovered that due to the harsh conditions on Arrakis, the Fremen were actually just about as capable as warriors as the Emperor’s personal army. Therefore, Leto (and his house) had to be eliminated before they could act on that knowledge. Does that track with how people generally understand the book story?
I haven't read the book so I can't speak to that. Based on what is shown in the movie, the Emperor's plan was already well in train before Leto made his overtures to the Fremen. What we're left with is Leto's personal charisma and popularity as the motivating forces behind the Emperor's actions.
I thought I had missed a lot the first time I saw Dune so I went to see it again this weekend. Since I knew where the plot was headed, I could concentrate on the dialogue and situations. I have to say the movie really does explain everything in the course of 2 1/2 hours. Even things like Paul's visions and the motivations of the Bene Gesserit became much clearer on second viewing. I still had some issues with the sound, particularly during the scene when Jessica is reciting her prayers outside the room where Paul and the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam are confronting one another. The sound effects are too loud and Rebecca Ferguson is speaking too softly to understand what she is saying.
On 11/6/2021 at 10:14 PM, Sandman said:I mostly liked the gom jabbar scene. I thought Chalamet rose to that occasion admirably. I found myself wondering if the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam realized that she'd made a lifelong enemy in that moment.
On rewatching the movie, I realized this is one of Timothee Chalamet's best scenes. There's a moment during the test where he raises his head and conveys pure hatred toward the Reverend Mother with nothing more than his eyes. Chalamet is also very good in the scene where Paul and Jessica are shielding themselves from the sand and he begins having visions. When Jessica tries to comfort him, he erupts at her with all his might for her role in what he is metamorphosing into. Chalamet really impresses in that scene.
One thing that continued to puzzle me, though, was the scene between Jessica and Shadout Mapes. What was the point of Shadout Mapes giving Jessica the blade when the blade isn't used (that I can remember) later in the movie? During the climactic knife fight, Paul uses Chani's blade.
One final thought: The movie was even more of a visual marvel on second viewing than it was on the first. I found myself awestruck by some of those frescoes from the Atreides palace on Arrakis -- they were that beautiful.
-
6
-
-
On 11/11/2021 at 2:05 PM, Danny Franks said:
why did the emperor order the Harkonnens to leave Arrakis so he could give it to Atreides, only to secretly back Harkonnen's return and destruction of Atreides? 'Because he was jealous of our power' doesn't make sense when they've just explained that Harkonnen was making billions a year from the Spice. How were Atreides more powerful than them and more of a threat? I don't know.
That still doesn't explain why Atreides, of all the houses, was considered the most dangerous. Especially when they're shown to be as incompetent and unprepared as they were here.
By directing the Atreides to assume control over Arrakis, the Emperor deprived them of "home field" advantage (their native planet) in the event of an attack. Consigned to a harsh, alien (hohoho) environment, the Atreides were on the back foot from moment one and were easily overwhelmed when the combined Harkonnen/Imperium attack came.
The Atreides were dangerous to the Emperor because of the intense loyalty Duke Leto inspired in those around him. The great admiration in which Leto was held made the Atreides powerful far beyond their material and military means. Leto inspired something deeply positive in people and this -- more than anything -- would have threatened the Emperor.
I didn't think of the Atreides as being incompetent and unprepared. They inherited a world that had been sabotaged by the Harkonnen and didn't have enough time (a matter of days) before the Emperor launched an all-out attack. Also, the doctor betrayed them, which allowed the Harkonnen/Imperium forces to penetrate the palace.
-
1
-
2
-
13
-
-
I thought the characters who comprised House Atreides had heart but it was heart bound by a stoic quality. Leto showed his love for Paul during their conversation on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, and for Jessica when he told her he should have married her. Jessica, Duncan and Gurney all show their great love for Paul even if they have to be very hard on him in so doing. Ultimately, though, House Atreides' heart is limited by the adversaries they face on all sides.
17 hours ago, Sandman said:I mostly liked the gom jabbar scene. I thought Chalamet rose to that occasion admirably. I found myself wondering if the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam realized that she'd made a lifelong enemy in that moment. But I agree with @Jan Spears that Rampling commands the screen pretty effortlessly.
This was one of Timothee Chalamet's best scenes. Not only did Paul go toe-to-toe with the Reverend Mother but Timothee went toe to toe with Charlotte Rampling and more than held his own.
I've been thinking a lot about the set design for this movie. I finally realized that the interiors of the various palaces reminded me of the sets from the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton-Rex Harrison Cleopatra: spartan and luxurious at the same time. I think the movie absolutely nailed a vision of the future where advanced technology (i.e. interstellar space travel) coexists comfortably with actual structures that harken back to ancient times.
-
7
-
-
I saw it yesterday in a (non-Imax) theater. I've neither read the source novel nor seen the failed big screen adaptation from 1984. But I did read a summary of the novel before I saw it so I would at least have a passing familiarity with the characters and plot.
That being said, I enjoyed the movie very much. I didn't feel like the movie dragged at all despite being 2 1/2 hours+ in length. I thought the amount of exposition was just right for the 'lay person' who hadn't read the novel. The script did an excellent job of establishing the various houses and explaining (within reason) why they were at daggers drawn (literally) with one another. (The movie could have profited from offering a little more explanation related to the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and its motivations. But then the not knowing exactly what they were doing and why only added to their mystery.)
It is true that there isn't a conventional hero in the movie. But this strikes me as being consistent with Frank Herbert's original novel. The characters in Dune find themselves in a universe where there are no heroic options. Duke Leto probably comes the closest in trying to balance his obligations to the Emperor with his desire to make peace with the Fremen. Ultimately, though, he fails in this impossible endeavor due to all the cross-currents that exist between the various houses.
The cast was superb and there really was no weak link. I thought the actors who comprised the House of Atreides were especially fine. Praise must go also to Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, who gave a master class in how to command the screen during her brief appearances.
I have saved the best for last: the movie is a visual marvel and looks incredible on a big screen. The detail that went into creating the various worlds of the Atreides, Harkonnen and Fremen is outstanding. There are too many brilliant images to mention but I especially liked the contrast between the technology in play and the spartan, minimalist living quarters in which the characters actually live and work. (And a special mention to the scene where the Bene Gesserit disembark from their ship in the middle of a driving rain storm -- absolutely stunning.)
-
9
-
-
On 9/27/2021 at 9:35 AM, peacheslatour said:
Agreed. And the watery reflections from the window of the Blue Whale heightened the effect. I loved those episodes. So gloomy and atmospheric.
Yes! Those little touches in the earlier episodes established a very particular atmosphere. The ocean and the rain and the mist and the fog created a kind of chilling effect for the characters, as if they could never quite get warm.
I watched the first full week (from the same week in 1970) of the 1840 storyline. So many great characters and situations -- and Angelique, Quentin and Daphne haven't even shown up yet. Episode 1113 is a particular standout. The action starts in 1840 but then shifts to 1970, where Barnabas is reeling from the aftermath of the death and destruction at Collinwood and trying to figure out how to get back to 1840. There's a very chilling scene where a crazed Quentin is preparing to hang himself in Josette's room at the Old House. The noose is framed and filmed in such a way that Josette's face in her portrait appears in the noose. Dark Shadows at its creative best!
For all that, though, Dark Shadows may have been too creative for its own good. The breakneck pace of the storylines and the cutting back-and-forth between time periods broke one of the cardinal tenet's of daytime soap operas -- that there be a lot of repetition in case viewers missed a few episodes.
-
3
-
-
A few other thoughts regarding the July-September 1970 episodes:
- There was a real tendency on the part of certain cast members to screech their lines. David Selby did it the worst but John Karlen and Chris Pennock also yelled their way through the script. Even Nancy Barrett did it although, in her case, Carolyn was supposed to be insane (1995) and possessed (1970). So I give her a little more of a pass.
- The show had real consistency problems with lighting. An episode would be beautifully lit with moody, atmospheric lighting (quite literally, dark shadows) but the very next episode would be garishly overlit.
- I've remarked before about how Collinsport itself vanished as a character over time as The Blue Whale, the Collinsport Inn, the Evans cottage and the docks either appeared infrequently or disappeared altogether. This holds true for the summer of 1970 episodes as the cast spends all their time running around Collinwood. I find that I miss those faraway days in the black and white episodes where Vicky, Burke, Maggie, Joe and Sam would congregate at The Blue Whale. It made Collinsport seem like a real place and made the supernatural goings-on more believable.
-
4
-
I spent the summer watching that period in 1970 between the end of the Parallel Time storyline and the start of the 1840 storyline -- roughly two months worth of episodes.
This period on Dark Shadows encompassed two major events -- Barnabas and Julia being hurled from Parallel Time to a ruined Collinwood in 1995 and, upon their return to the Collinwood of 1970, their trying to avert the 1970 catastrophe they learned about in 1995. (For some reason, when the Sci-Fi Channel did its epic runs of the entire series in the 1990s, I don't remember watching these episodes.)
The absolute highlight was seeing Collinwood lying in ruins in 1995. Sy Tomashoff and the rest of the creative staff put on a master class with their deconstruction of the great house. The introduction of a mysterious playroom in the west wing and an equally mysterious stairway through time (which Barnabas and Julia use to travel from 1995 to 1970) only added to the overall sinister atmosphere.
Once back in 1970, Barnabas and Julia try to thwart the ghost of Gerard Stiles (James Storm) from carrying out his plans of revenge. Also on hand is the ghost of Daphne Harridge (Kate Jackson, fresh out of drama school) who is in Gerard's thrall. The best part of all this is the playroom which only David Collins and Hallie Stokes (Kathy Cody, replacing Denise Nickerson as a younger lead) can see and enter. To everyone else at Collinwood it appears as an ordinary linen closet. Beyond that, the story drags fairly quickly. The two children, David and Hallie, are on a lot and, at a certain point, I grew tired of them and was ready for Gerard to wreak havoc. When the Destruction of Collinwood does come, though, it's epic with a mob of zombies piling on Barnabas, and Julia travelling up the stairway through time to 1840.
The other story during the summer of 1970 was the arrival of the main time band's version of Roxanne Drew, who is altogether different from her Parallel Time counterpart. Roxanne is responsible for Maggie Evans being shipped off to Wyndcliffe for her own safety; a plot point necessitated by Kathryn Leigh Scott leaving the show after 4 1/2 years to move to France. (Truly, the loss of Maggie Evans at this point was no great loss as the character had become so blanded out that she was a shell of what she had been back in 1966-67.)
I'm now on to the 1840 storyline which I watched in the 1990s and loved!
-
3
-
-
18 hours ago, Hiyo said:
Geoffrey Scott, aka Mark Jennings on the early seasons of this show, passed away.
I heard the news today. For an actor who only appeared in two seasons, Geoffrey Scott made a lasting impression. Apart from his performance, he had the good fortune to appear on Dynasty when it was really hitting its stride -- Seasons 3 and 4.
-
1
-
-
With the benefit of hindsight (lo these 35 years later), here's my short list of characters who should never have made it out of The Moldavian Massacre (some of my choices weren't at the actual event in 1985):
1) Claudia (Pamela Bellwood): The handwriting was on the wall for the character by the end of Season 5. Killing off Claudia would have created new opportunities for drama as Steven, Krystle, Jeff and Adam all had strong connections to her. Adam, in particular, had a unique relationship with Claudia that was blossoming into something more than friendship. Losing Claudia (arguably his only friend in the Carrington mansion) after losing Kirby the year before could have sent Adam into a season-long tailspin. (Adam already had to suffer from not being the favorite of either one of his parents.) It would have been interesting for Steven to have had to step up and help the brother he didn't much like.
2) King Galen (Joel Fabiani): This would have had the advantage of opening up further storylines for Amanda. She's now stuck in a marriage to a prince who no longer has a kingdom to inherit. Does she stick it out while her husband tries to reclaim a now non-existent throne? Or does she follow her passion for Dex? In other words, it would have forced Amanda into a season-long balancing of duty and desire. The show kind of/sort of kept the Alexis/Dex/Amanda/Michael drama going in Season 6 but this would have really kept it going.
3) Lady Ashley (Ali MacGraw): This one is still a no-brainer 35 years later. The character never clicked to begin with and the show needed to clear the decks for the Fallon-Jeff reunion.
4) Rosalind (Juliet Mills): Amanda thought she was her mother until she discovered otherwise. Rosalind should have been brought in the run-up to the wedding to spar with Alexis about the marriage itself with Rosalind taking the position that Amanda was much too young and immature to become a crown princess of a European kingdom -- which she was! Having Rosalind die in the melee would have only added to Amanda's troubles. By chasing after life with the Carringtons, did she inadvertently contribute to Rosalind's death?
5) Brady (Billy Dee Williams): Brady could have showed up in Europe hoping to reconcile with Dominique and attended the wedding as her guest. His dying would have put Dominique in the same position that Amanda would have been in with Rosalind. Also, Jackie could have been introduced in Season 6 blaming Dominique for involving the only father-figure she had ever known in the Carrington drama; thereby leading to his death.
My scenario would have created a unique dynamic between Adam, Amanda and Dominique. Each were outsiders who looked to the Carrington family for too many answers and each would have found that the Carrington name and family didn't bring them the happiness they sought.
-
22 hours ago, Maverick said:
Season 5 isn't that bad but it's tainted but the infamous Moldavian Massacre that ended the season.
18 hours ago, Hiyo said:Which is too bad, since the lead up to and the massacre itself are quite good. It's the aftermath to the cliff-hanger itself (only 2 recurring characters getting killed off) and the King Galen storyline (which definitely overstayed it's welcome) that were the let down.
I agree with Gordon Thomson's comment that the Moldavian Massacre itself wasn't the issue. The actual "event" was well-staged and executed. The problems came later. All the hype about the contract negotiations between some of the series' stars and the network during the hiatus suggested that there might be a cast "slaughter" come September (which was more far-fetched than the actual Moldavian Massacre.) Then, the first episode of Season 6 aired and. as many have pointed out, only Ali MacGraw and Billy Campbell's characters actually died in the aftermath. That felt like a cheat at the time; made more so by the fact that there were no long term after effects for the Carrington-Colby clan (except possibly for Steven, who had his second male partner die in the space of four years.)
Still, with the passage of time, it's easy to forget that the Season 6 opener was the highest rated episode of the entire series. There was still a mass audience for Dynasty in the fall of 1985. The series could have overcome the "cheat" factor related to the Moldavian Massacre but, unfortunately, the stories presented that fall were some of the series' worst. The Krystle/Rita/Joel Abrigore storyline was stillborn but endless. Moldavia was past its "sell by" date. The introduction of the Colbys had the curious (and negative) effect of leaving the mother show all-too-static while also making it hard to follow. (With so many characters moving back-and-forth between the shows, you really had to watch both to keep track of what was going on.)
I think a better written show would have spent more time dealing with the after shocks related to the Moldavian Massacre. There was a tremendous amount of story potential inherent in that, especially if the show had been a little bolder in terms of sacrificing certain cast members (i.e. Pamela Bellwood, who was probably the most "expendable" at that point.)
-
On 2/6/2021 at 12:12 PM, Hiyo said:
While I did miss Fallon, I still enjoyed season 5 and thought overall it was the last really good season of the show. Though in the long run and with hindsight, I do wonder if the Fallon recast would have turned out better had they cast Emma Samms as Monica Colby instead, while Tracy Scoggins cast had been cast as Fallon 2.0.
I finished watching the first half of Season 5 (episodes 1-12) today, and I will say that, based on this, Season 5 is much better than its reputation.
Contrary to received opinion, Season 5 is well-made melodrama rather than the all-out camp fest it's usually described as. There are any number of good stories -- Alexis' trial and conviction, Dominique's reveal that she's Blake's half-sister, Amanda's arrival and the reveal that she's Blake and Alexis' daughter, the Alexis-Dex-Amanda triangle, Krystle falling down the stairs at the mansion and going into premature labor, the introduction of Billy Campbell as Luke Fuller to add some much-needed life into the Steven-Claudia story, and Rock Hudson showing up in episode 12 to create drama between Blake and Krystle. There are even some quiet character moments as when a drunken Adam confides in Steven (of all people) that Kirby refuses to respond to his attempts to contact her.
Pamela Sue Martin hovers over the first half of the season like an apparition. It's telling that in episode 12 (December 1984), Krystle gives Blake a portrait of Fallon and the likeness is of Martin. So, at that juncture, all concerned were hoping that Martin would return to the series. I agree that Tracy Scoggins might have been a more believable Fallon if for no other reason than she wouldn't have spoken in a mid-Atlantic accent.
John James gets the worst of the first half as he has nothing much to do besides obsessing about Fallon. Clearly, the show was treading water with Jeff until they figured out what to do with Fallon.
One of the fun things about watching these episodes again for the first time in many years is that I recognized actors who had once been leads in the business but were now working as character actors -- Paul Burke, Bradford Dillman, Kevin McCarthy, Juliet Mills, John Saxon.
-
1
-
-
On 1/15/2021 at 9:36 AM, DXD526 said:
In that ridiculous dress! Alexis being walked to a jail cell in that silly dress past all the catcalls from the other prisoners is gold!! One of my all-time favorite scenes!
The brother/sister dynamic between them was so much fun to watch. They were so different, but had such an obvious affection for each other. Theirs was really the show's most solid relationship; all the romantic ones had their ups and downs, with many falling apart along the way, but Fallon and Steven knew they could always count on each other.
"Let me out of here!!!"
I agree about the Fallon-Steven relationship. No matter what, that relationship remained steadfast.
I watched the Season 5 season premiere (original airdate: 09/26/84), which picked up where the Season 4 finale left off. The premiere is a bit of a letdown after the high energy Season 4 finale. There's a lot of exposition and not much action -- Sammy Jo is the biggest mover of story by sparring with Steven and Krystle and playing Adam for a fool. Classic Steven/Sammy Jo dialogue:
Steven: "I'm gonna say this straight Sammy Jo -- I want you out of this house!"
Sammy Jo: "My gay ex-husband saying it straight? It must be kind of hard Steven -- a real chore for you."
Billy Dee Williams joins the cast as Brady Lloyd in the premiere. He and Diahann Carroll have a ball together in their first scene although, when Dominique asks Brady what he'll have to drink, I wish he had said: "Colt 45". (Side note: Dominique's suite at La Mirage is soooooo 80s with all these pastel colors.)
Pamela Sue Martin's absence is already felt in the Season 5 opener. And it's not just that she and the "Fallon spin" are no longer in the opening credits. The character of Fallon gave the show a certain grounding. Without her, the show already feels like it's drifting into the ether. In retrospect, it's obvious that Pamela Sue Martin and the character of Fallon were impossible to replace.
-
1
-
-
Dynasty celebrated its 40th anniversary on January 12th!
I celebrated by watching the Season 4 (1983-84) cliffhanger, which is also Pamela Sue Martin's farewell to the series. She's so good in this episode -- no one did restless like she did.
There are so many good things: Sammy Jo making Steven's life miserable ("I want him [Danny] raised by a real man!"), Kirby pulling a gun on Alexis, Blake losing control of Denver-Carrington, the run-up to the Fallon-Jeff wedding including Krystle slamming a mud pack in Alexis' face at a salon, the wedding itself with the Carrington mansion enveloped in a storm straight out of Dark Shadows, Alexis' arrest for the murder of Mark Jennings, and Fallon, bedeviled by headaches, fleeing into the storm. Oh, and Dominique sings a torch song at La Mirage!
Perhaps the best scene is the quietest one: Steven visits Fallon in her room on the afternoon of the wedding and realizes something is definitely wrong. Contrary to its reputation, Dynasty could still do affecting character scenes when it wanted to. And Martin proves here that she had chemistry with both Stevens.
Best dialogue:
Alexis (to Dominique): "What are you doing - here - in Denver?"
Dominique: "Among other things, obviously making you very uncomfortable!"
-
2
-
-
I spent my Halloween weekend watching the Scream Factory DVD release of Halloween II -- both the theatrical and television cuts.
Halloween II has a bit of a convoluted history in terms of the final cut(s). While John Carpenter and Debra Hill wrote the screenplay and produced the film, Rick Rosenthal directed it. Rosenthal tried to follow the look and style of Carpenter's original so that the two movies could be watched seamlessly. Carpenter, however, thought that this approach with its slow build didn't work post-Friday the 13th, which had set a new standard for gore and pacing in a horror movie. Since he was filming additional footage for a made-for-television cut of Halloween at the time, Carpenter took the opportunity to film additional scenes for Halloween II, most notably the murder of the teenage neighbor to the Elrods at the beginning of the film. (Carpenter also prepared the television cut of Halloween II.)
Watching the theatrical and television cuts of Halloween II is an interesting experience as they diverge quite notably in places. There are the expected cuts in terms of gore and language. What's more interesting are the inserts of various scenes that weren't in Rosenthal's theatrical cut and alternate takes of the scenes that did appear in his cut. The television version has many more scenes of the various hospital staff members interacting, which helps to flesh out the hospital setting and characters a bit more.
The downside of the television cut is that Carpenter rearranged the running order of various scenes. Frequently. this isn't for the better as the pacing becomes choppy and nonsensical. The various cuts and inserts also add to the choppiness. One positive to the television cut is that it contains a scene which explains why the hospital becomes so dark in the latter half of the movie.
Rick Rosenthal's theatrical cut is still the best version of Halloween II. If it still existed, Rosenthal's original cut might make for interesting viewing as it would contain the excised footage that was cut in favor of more gore and reassigned to the television version.
-
1
-
Charlie's Angels - General Discussion
in Charlie's Angels
I don't know how much Jaclyn ever kept in contact with Shelley and Tanya post-show. I suspect those relationships were professional working ones which didn't last much beyond the show. But Jaclyn managed to maintain her post-show friendships with Kate, Farrah and Cheryl even though there were some strong personalities involved (Kate in particular).