Notes for reboot:
DS is due for a reboot, as the original series had some serious flaws, which we overlooked in our enthusiasm - for it was truly different and groundbreaking - but when seen it retrospect, we cannot avoid seeing (check Danny Horn's "Dark Shadows every day" for a pitiless, if funny critique).
The series also feels dated. Even if did not allude to current events, the underlying society expectations of those days are very much part of the fabric, as the writers were not aware of them since it was the reality they lived, and those assumptions now clash with our own sensibilities.
For example, those who were not part of the "normal" world were seen in need of cures to be accepted. Remember how many light skinned black tried to "pass", to deceive others into thinking they were white (there was even an Ellery Queen novel, back in the thirties, I think, where the murderer was just one such "passing" black, protecting his shameful secret). Gays submitted themselves to all kinds of weird therapies that would make Eric Lang sensible by comparison. Franklin Roosevelt deceived everybody as to the extent of his disability, making it seem as if he could somehow walk. Well, now it is the time of "black and proud", the time where a top rated comedy show featuring a gay couple whose life revolves about raising their adopted daughter and dealing with all the others in their families – and where a severely crippled woman does a victory dance on her artificial legs when she gets elected to Congress.
So it would be a worthwhile shift to go from trying to cure Barnabas to have him accept his condition and make the best of it. Of course, for that we need to establish that,unless there is something else going on, the effects of Barnabas' feeding are, at worst, very much like a bad cold. You are weak and need to stay in bed, you moan and groan, and think that you are going to die, and in a few days you are good as new. That changes when he is freaking out, or under strain, or fighting an enemy. He has to occupy the same space as Henry Fitzroy of "Blood Ties" or the vampires of "Kindred: the embraced" where feeding is not seen unless a plot point hangs on it.
As for other issues, the ideal format would be that of a weekly series with complete episodes that span a narrative arc. This keeps the characters from being idiots who spend weeks and weeks not figuring what the audience already knows. They have problems which they solve, and if the main issue takes a while, it is because they find clues slowly ,and some of them are contradictory. (This is the current format for series nowadays, and we see why it is a successful formula).
In this format people have less patience with slow character development. Barnabas has to be sympathetic (though deluded) from the beginning. Forget HODS. It is a great movie, but it ends with everyone dead, Barnabas destroyed, and no chance for an encore. Barnabas might be terrifying when he loses his marbles, but never vile.
Since the format is likely to be a weekly series with overriding arcs, there won't be the luxury of dropping plot threads in the hope that in a few months no one will remember. Proper groundwork and foreshadowing must reach full development , and stories must reach a satisfactory conclusion. Or the hint of another story coming soon.
When a character story is done, the character should not hang around hoping for something to do. They can go out into the wide world, to do something else, or to get away from painful memories, and come back only when they have another story in them. Of course they might come in for short spells to deliver important information, or just ominous warnings. But it is not too hard for another story to be found. For example Liz's story is that she thought she murdered her husband and locked herself in her house, guarding the "corpse". Well, that is over,, what do you do with her? 1) She decides to go on a tour to make up for what she missed and 2) when she comes back, she realizes that both Carolyn and Roger are doing as they please and are not willing to have her dictate how they should live. That sets up a conflict that will be played out for a long while, and which makes her a weak link that enemies seek to exploit.. She may be the one who brings in the Leviathan box and sets the cult in her own living room.
Burke Devlin? His story should end when Roger confesses. What is he going to do with himself now? Well, there are another issues that will come to the fore. Actually (and I thank Pat McCray for the suggestion), he is kind of a James Bond for a supernatural tracking task force. He may come back every now and then, gun in hand, to help out when needed, and to continue his on/off relationship with Vicky. He may come to help defeat the Leviathan, for example. He does have a gun and uses it when needed. At some time, when incapacitated, loans the gun to Barnabas (You know how to use this, right?)
Quentin?... Quentin might come back once in a while to retrieve something, or to end his story with Amanda. Or to confront Beth's ghost or whatever. But once his business is done he disappears again.. Think about it. A man with his tastes and adventurous spirit, would he hang around long in a one horse town like Collinsport? Is he really that fond of Barnabas that he would stay there when there is nothing for him to do? He can show up every now and then to deliver some information, (or retrieve useful information - getting Vicky to do his research..) but then he'd be gone and no one would trace him.
Most important - Angelique: The story of Angelique and Barnabas is too much like the story of Rusalka/Ondine/The little mermaid. A supernatural creature who loves a mortal man and wants to join him, only to have him fall for another, and tragedy ensues. Let's get rid of the "witch" and "devil worshiper" angle and make Angelique a nymph, or fairy creature who falls for Barnabas and wants to be loved by him as a mortal woman. She is one of the fair folk and thus her sense of right and wrong does not conform to human standards (Fairies are not known for compassion nor mercy). Her mistake is that instead of seeking to be loved for herself, she uses a spell on Barnabas, which is not strong enough when he falls in love with Josette
If Angelique is no witch, then Nicholas is no warlock in the sense of devil worshiper. He is a sorcerer, corrupted by his power, who looks on regular humans with contempt. But no Satanism, no summoning the Devil - Talk of the Devil ends up with talks of God, and it is better not to let TV writers venture into doing theology (they do it badly) - So, to create Eve, Nicholas he does not call upon "the most wicked woman in the world" (there are worse pretenders to the title) but provides a body to a will-of-the-wisp, who is mischievous as all fairies, but now with a human body can do a lot more damage.
And now what a reboot done by me would be like...