Okay - I've checked the sci/action and drama forums and didn't see a thread on this guilty pleasure gothic soap opera on Here tv.

I watched part 1 last year and I have to say that the story's quite awful, but I love the pairing of Toby and Kevin. Charlie David is absolutely divine. I'm so glad that part 2 is airing this September.

As a person in the States, could you tell me what channel this show appears on and a bit more about it? I'm looking for more angst-ridden television as I'm just finishing up "The Collector" and 'gothic soap opera' sounds interesting!

I saw the two 90 minute episodes that have already aired - they were available briefly on Here!TV pay-per-view last year. I think they're being released on DVD this month, packaged as "Dante's Cove - Season 1," and season two should begin airing soon. The show itself is pretty cheesy - the writing ranges from anvil-heavy to awful, and most of the actors would be laughed off the stage at a middle school talent competition. It says a lot when the biggest name in the cast is Tracy Scoggins from "The Colbys." But there is a lot of eye candy (mostly male, but a good dose of female as well), and the moody atmosphere brings some of the scenes close to erotic territory. As long as you go into it expecting something along the lines of an R rated "Dark Shadows," and it doesn't bother you to watch male/male, male/female and female/female couplings, you should enjoy it. Here!TV isn't available on all cable systems, though, so your best bet is probably to check out the DVDs, if you can find them.

This is terrible. Like, really, amazingly, cheaply, terrible.

I guess it's kind of pseudo-porn (and hey, who hasn't wanted to see Zac from Dark Angel mostly naked), but really you'd be better of watching some actual porn.

The acting would probably be better.

I suspect the show is what you'd get if Passions and Queer as Folk were smashed together really hard. Having Thea Gill join the cast does nothing to dispel this impression.

OK, it seems like I stand corrected, it sounds like serious cheese.

It's ok, I'm catching Hex and nothing can be as gawdawful as that has been.

Tracy Scoggins....Liz Lochley....ok, I'll look for it. thanks!

Hex is twelve kinds of crap. This is several levels of the rings of hell below that.

And Thea Gill is joining the cast? Is she really that hard up for work?

This is worse than Hex?

OMG, I didn't think that was possible. Aren't the actors pretty? Is there something resembling a plot?

Jemima Rooper is the only thing going for Hex at this point, and I hear she's gone in a few episodes (watching on BBCA)

Yes, there is some serious pretty on display here, plus a good dose of naked skin, which is the saving grace of the show. There's a brief scene near the beginning of the first episode that falls somewhere between a hard-R rating and gay porn, which was obviously inserted (no pun intended) to raise prurient interests. As for a plot, well, there is some semblance of one, although I seriously doubt that's the main reason anyone is watching. I stopped watching Hex after a few episodes, finding the so-called plot boring and aimless - but if there had been more pretty (that guy that just kept standing and staring from afar isn't nearly as pretty as they seem to think he is) or some semblance of nudity, I could have kept it on my "guilty pleasures" viewing list.

I think this show tries to have a plot, but fails miserably.



Jemima Rooper (sadly for her) is around until the very end.

But YOU shouldn't be. RUN!

I thought about checking this out when it originally aired but I didn't feel like paying PPV for something I hadn't even seen a preview. I've got it on the Netflix queue, but it's marked as a very long wait, so I'll get to see it when I get to see it.

Interesting to hear the comparisons to Hex. I liked the first episode, but the show started really spinning its wheels and lost track of the hormonal nature of the premiere... maybe this will work a little better. Even Thelma can't keep me iterested in Hex at this point.

OK, the first episode of Season 2 is out ... lots of changes!

First, the Hotel Dante itself is an entirely different building ... other than the gravestone-like sign, neither it nor any other set bears any resemblance to the sets in Season 1. Bad continuity.

Grace and "Bro" have now switched to 21st century garb. Most of the supporting actors have changed. Kevin, Toby and Van are the same, but the other minor characters are mostly gone. Corey is missing from the opening credits, with Josh Beresford listed as a guest star. Amber was nowhere to be seen. And Van has a different girlfriend.

Adam has been recast, and they went as far as to refilm one of last year's scenes with the new actor (who isn't as cute as the old one), so they could use it in the "previouslies".

All in all it was enjoyable ... and only 53 minutes long, so I hope there are more episodes than just the 2 from last season which were about an hour and a half each.

Technically, the episode has aired already, so I guess I could say more about the plot, but I doubt most people have seen it yet, so I won't do any spoilers.

There are a number of new characters, most of them male and good looking. There is full frontal nudity, but like last year, not any of the main characters.

One thing I did miss is the gothic quality of last year ... its all beach and island and sunshine ... even the Hotel is bright and sunny. Van has a beautiful, sunny, huge room ... very unlike the way it looked last year. And the basement was nowhere to be seen!

I just caught the new episode too, and I don't like the new direction of the show. One of the things I enjoyed most about the first season was the gothic tone, and a large part of that was due to the setting. This new hotel has all of the creepy goth atmosphere of a Club Med resort, and it really detracts from the supernatural goings-on. The acting is just as awful as ever, which is fine, because the pretty is just as pretty, although the frontal male nudity is, shall we say, less impressive than that in the first season. I noted in the credits that this season is filmed in Hawaii, so I guess we're stuck with the dichotomy of Beach Blanket Barnabas - I'll keep watching for the time being, but I wish the producers would realize that without the creepy atmosphere, this is just another show about pretty people with problems.

I think making sure the actors' chests are properly oiled is way more important to the showrunners than the plot. In a nutshell, though, it's about a dominatrix witch who catches her fiance' getting screwed by his well-endowed butler in the mid-1800s. 150 or so years later, his betrayal directly affects the residents of a hotel in Dante's Cove, a Collinsport-esque town.

I immediately got hooked on the series when I saw Tracy Scoggins, who is 53 years old, playing an ingenue in the first episode. It's like she knows that this is a crapfest, and she's having a blast with it and acting without a safety net.

I will miss him only because he was hot. He is the worst actor ever, so this won't be a traumatic recast, like when Emma Sams took over as Fallon on Dynasty. BTW, is the character still "straight"?

It's amazing just how bad this show is, but I cannot wait to see season two.

Its true ... the change of filming venue from Grand Turk in the Caribbean to Hawaii has not been kind to the show. The gothic quality is pretty much gone.

One problem that makes the show "over the top" is Tracy Scoggins. Sure, he looks great for 53, but matching her against William Gregory Lee, who is obviously decades younger than her, is pretty silly.

Too early to tell what Thea Gill will add, she appeared only in one scene so far and had no lines.

The acting is uneven ... Charlie David is great as Toby. The others don't all do as well.

Charlie David and Gregory Michael do make an interesting and attractive couple .... but too many first names!

Could be worse - we could be stuck with Chad Michael Murray and Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

Upon rewatching this episode, it struck me that they aren't even really trying for creepiness any more, or that the story and script are working at cross purposes from the production design. The most glaring example is when Ambrosius (or "Bro," as he has hilariously dubbed himself) is driving down a road in the middle of the day, and the ghosts of the two children appear in front of his convertible. To be effective, scenes with ghosts need to be done at night, with suitable music and unsettling effects. Visually, this scene read as though two normal kids, out for a walk on a summer afternoon, were asking the pretty man in the nice car if he had seen the ice cream truck. I sure hope Thea Gill can add some menacing energy to this season, cause someone needs to, and fast!

I'm sorry to say episode 2 is worse than episode 1.

For some reason, Kevin does not believe in the witchcraft or that anything supernatural is going on. Which is pretty ridiculous, since he was with Charlie and Van last season when she did her first spell in his hospital room.

Of course, the fact that all the creepiness is gone could be helping ... its starting to be more Gilligan's Island than horror stories. Even the old graveyard just looks modern and sunny when they bury Corey.

The producers were obviously more interested in getting this show made than in making it plausible or creating an atmosphere.

I guess they are hoping the gay audience is looking more for sex than story, but there really wasn't much of that either. A romantic scene with Kevin and Charlie that seems like it got clipped and ends abruptly, and a lesbian love scene between Michelle and the bartender (sorry, her name escapes me). And a scene where Kai gets naked and seduces Kevin.

Disappointing.

I think it's funny that all the campy lines are given to the witch and warlock. "It's no wonder she's still a virgin."

So, it looks like the supposedly straight male character, Toby's best friend gets taken by Bro in the next episode. I'm looking forward to it.

After watching the new episode, there's another thing that's bothering me, besides the loss of the creepiness factor - I'm having a really difficult time rooting for any of the characters. Obviously Grace and 'Bro are the bad guys, which is odd enough, since they are portrayed as the leads. Their bitchy banter has some entertainment value, but I really don't want either of them to succeed at what they're doing, therefore I don't really care who wins the battle between them. And Thea Gill's character appears to be the wild card between these two powers, which means she's around to help one evil win over the other. Ugh.

Charlie and Kevin are supposed to be the romantic leads, I suppose, but neither of them has really behaved that way this season. Charlie runs really hot and cold - sometimes he's loving and supportive, but he turns around and tries to screw Kevin when he's not interested, and then tosses him out when he finds him in a compromising position, without waiting for an explanation. Granted, Kevin could have found a better way to deal with the naked handyman than fighting him off with his pubic hair, but when you're staying at a clothing-optional resort, you're bound to run into some unexpected body contact and unwanted passes. As for Kevin, being under a spell only excuses so much when it comes to your interactions with the guy who tried to kill your boyfriend. And you weren't under any spell when that handyman was on his knees in front of you. Grow a pair and stand up for yourself.

That leaves Van. I was actually liking her character until this episode when (A) she hooked up with Grace, and (B) she used Willow's Tabula Rasa spell on Michelle. Oh, and there's that little matter of killing Corey too. So, as much as I like her, Van's decision-making ability is suspect at best, and deadly at worst - making her difficult to root for. The other characters haven't done enough to warrant any viewer loyalty in me yet, and I have a feeling that's not going to improve any time soon. So, unless things turn around, Dante's Cove will be relegated to the "eye candy with good viewer-snark moments" (ala MST3K) category for me, which is sad because the show could be so much more.

OMG, I almost died laughing when I read that. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Completely agree about the "no one to root for". Kevin is gorgeous, but really dumb as a stump and Gregory Michael's acting is uneven. Even last season there were several scenes were he took Kevin from confused and hurting to angry with no provocation.

I'm not sure Ambrosius is supposed to be totally unsympathetic, after all he was a victim himself, having been locked up for 165 years. But he has very few likeable qualities.

Also, I'm wondering what became of the mothers. Ambrosius apparently killed his mother last season for no apparent reason. Not sure what has become of Grace's mother. Did Grace eat her?

After two episodes, I guess I can say for sure that I enjoyed the short first season more. I'll keep watching, but now its more for the skin than for the story.

I'm renting the first season of Dante's Cove. So far from what I've seen, I find it highly amusing and cheesy but the eye candy is AWESOME!

I just have to comment that Tracy Scroggins is looking a little long in the tooth. Her make-up is really awful and she just plain looks scary! Her acting was very, very over the top. Grace and Ambrosius actually is well suited to each other since they are both egomaniacs and crazy as hell.

The story is okay, the acting is mediocre, but like I said before, the eye candy is AWESOME! So I'll keep watching...... :D

Heh well Tracy looks much better on Dante's than she did in the season premiere of Nip/Tuck. Now that was scary.

I find that while the show is really cheesy that I like some of the couples and the friendships. I really like Van and Michelle, I think the two actresses have decent chemistry together.

I just caught the third episode of season 2. The good news is, for those of us who enjoy the eye candy and have given up on any semblance of a cohesive story, it's pretty enjoyable! More pretty people and scenery, more frontal nudity, and more Melrose Place-style bitchy dialogue. The show also appears to be pushing the soft-core line - one of the actors displays what appears to be a semi-hardon when he and his partner are interrupted in the middle of a rather graphic sexual encounter filmed from behind. Size queens will most likely be happier with the views in this episode as well.

The supernatural factor is still MIA, the storyline is still secondary and confused, scenes repeat themselves while adding nothing to the story, and the characters appear to be changing at the whim of the script. In this episode, the new actor playing Toby's old friend has gone from being a straight guy with a possible crush on Toby to a drug abuser falling under Bro's spell. If they were going in that direction, they might as well have just recast this guy as Cory - it would have made far more sense character-wise.

Thea Gill's character still has little to do, but I'm enjoying her interactions with Grace and Bro. They're leading up to some sort of power battle between Grace's forces and Bro's, with Thea's character as a wild card, but that's no longer the draw. Bring on the pretty naked folk!

Well, they are hiring porn stars, now. I believe that was one Brad Benton, star of My Overstuffed Jeans and Dirty Little Sins, playing the drug dealer at the after-hours sex club. He looks like shit with bleached blond hair. Of course, his acting is no worse than Gregory Michael's (who was just plain embarrassing in that scene with Toby on the beach in episode three).

What is the purpose of Marco, the owner of H2Eau? He has been in every episode this season, but he hasn't been given anything to do, other than trying to keep drugs out of his bar and bangin' the slutty handyman. Is he supposed to be the moral centerpiece of Dante's Cove?

Things I actually liked about the current episode (which was basically a disjointed and nonsensical mess): Grace trying to cheer up Van by turning the moon blue; Adam and Bro's hilarious catfight at the bar ("Ow, that fucking hurts!"); and Grace's "free us" spell, which resulted in two butt cherries being popped.

Episode 4 is now airing, and wow... it should be subtitled "Total Sausagefest!" Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen anything outside of real gay porn where you see five non-flaccid dicks in one scene alone. At this rate, by season three we'll be paying $11.95 to watch this under the "Adult Rentals" section.

Story? Yeah, there was a little progress. Apparently Grace did something to Diana's dad when she was little, which is why Diana is helping 'Bro in the battle for Tresum. Kevin accepts a bracelet from 'Bro, which Toby swipes and tosses into the ocean when Van tells him the bracelet has a spell on it. Kevin foreshadows the arrival of a past boyfriend while playing chess with 'Bro. Van's powers grow stronger, and she begins to question her part in the upcoming battle. Toby and Kevin arrange an intervention for NuAdam, which inexplicably includes the guy who got him started on the drugs, then Toby helps him go through a rough night of drug withdrawal. And Marco spends his time rescuing Michelle from drowning in the pool, as well as other pointless activities.

NuAdam has become even more the replacement for Corey - doing the "Reefer Madness" wild-eyed druggie act, getting Michelle hooked, and professing his love for Toby. Then, in a bizarre little encounter, Adam meets a stranger while out walking, complains to him that he has nobody in his life who understands him, starts making out with the guy, then objects when the stranger tries to strip him and bend him over, and gets punched in the stomach before the stranger storms off. It's like a REALLY awful blind date played out in a two minute scene.

If you're in the mood for a (mostly) poorly-acted gay porn soap opera, you can't do any better than this!

Hee. Adam does seem to have this habit of letting guys fill him up, and then, refusing to put out, doesn't he? Granted, I was pleasantly surprised that he was lucid enough to ask about a condom. I just hope now that he has been detoxed that he'll still continue to sashay around Dante's Cove with his jeans unbuttoned and slightly tugged down.

Speaking of Adam, what the fuck is Saint supposed to be? It's dried flowers and leaves (looks like marijuana), and Adam snorted it at the sex club? Come again? Anyhow, all of the people taking it act like they're long-term meth users.

Kevin continues to be too stupid for words. Toby has repeatedly begged him to stay away from Bro, yet Kevin continues to hang with him. And considering that Toby gets his boxer briefs in a wad even when Bro's name is mentioned, it's unbelievable that Kev was shocked and stunned when Toby blew up over that fugly bracelet. I wish someone would just slap him upside the head. Maybe that would clear up the loose bolts that seem to be messing with his perception and thought processes?

I still don't know why Marco and Kai are in the opening credits. They're only given a couple of lines an episode and do nothing to enhance the show.

This show is the gay version of Passions. I love it and I agree about Kevin, but Toby loves his stupid ass.

I thought it was hilarious when they were trying to act like the bracelet was some expensive piece of jewelry when it more resembled something Bro would have made in two minutes during metalshop. Also, I liked how a freak lightning storm happened to hit during the scenes when Bro was listening in via the bracelet-to-chalice transmitter.

I also laughed out loud in the last scene of the final episode, when Toby made absolutely no effort to hold Kevin back. He was doing that "NO!"-reaching-out-in-desperation thing while Kevin was still within arm's length. I mean, Ambrosius was holding Van back with magic, right, but what's Toby's excuse?

Anyway, this show is terribly awesome and awesomely terrible, and I'm definitely looking forward to Season 3. Toby and Kevin are a gorgeous couple, and my favorite part of the show. I hope they scrap the stupid minor storylines, like the sex club owner vs. H2EAU owner, for more Toby + Kevin scenes.

really? I thought he was ... well really bad. But I guess you could say he's the best of the bunch considering the talent of the other actors. I will say that no matter how good an actor is if they're playing opposite someone horrible they're going to look bad regardless so I'm sure that doesn't help.

Enough of that though....

I actually JUST started watching this show, aka caught the first two episodes OnDemand this afternoon. No sign of when they'll put season two back up on the here! menu so I'm afraid I'm only commenting off the two episodes from 2005 but wow what a crapfest. And yet I was tuning in to the whole thing despite myself. Very Very pretty people. And the gothic setting was quite nice. I'm sorry to hear that's mostly gone from Season Two.

I'll probably give Season Two a shot to see what Thea Gill brings but I'm happy it's OnDemand and not on a tv schedule because there is no way I'd forego watching.... well anything else to see this. Wow.... just, wow.

edited because proper grammar is important

I bought the season one DVD because the premise looked interesting (although I'm not usually 'into' slash) Tracy Scoggins is laughable. She's not just chewing the scenery delicately, she's taking large chunks. But, damn, Charlie David sure brings the sexy. *woo hoo* Figures that another guy I find hot turns out to be gay.

I'm glad I found the official website because it fills in some of the blanks regarding Tresum.

For some odd reason video retailers aren't stocking this show - it has to be ordered on-line. I ordered season two from Wal-Mart - they had the best price and low shipping.

I thought that was one of, if not the, hottest hook ups all season. Too bad it was intercut with all that other crap, especially Tracy Scoggins. ITA kittensrescue she is indeed laughable. That monologue of hers was painful. Yipes!

I rented season one solely based on the cover.

Did anyone see the news that Reichen Lehmkuhl is joining the cast for the third season?

From TMZ:

It's funny that the "triple threat" didn't include talent.

Heh, I don't think talent is a requirement for anything on this show.

Trevor... the new Kevin. Isn't that how our poor put upon hero ended up ye ole DC? Well, that and Toby of course.

I think the lack of talent is the threatening bit.

I've seen a couple of indie movies where he had cameos. I hope that's just PR making up backstory and his character's role is actually limited to walking around silently in a towel.

The season 2 DVD arrived today and I managed to watch the first two episodes and part of the third before having to stop and make dinner. I don't like the new actor playing Adam - too many guys look the same now - and his character is totally different from the first season.

Have they ret-conned Grace's family history? Because I don't remember any mention of a sister.

Tracy Scoggins boob job is godawful. However, she did look quite lovely when she was looking out the window at the blue moon.

So far I don't like Kevin this season - Toby deserves better.

Overall, the acting continues to be atrocious - except for Charlie David - but I'm not taking any of it too seriously, which is allowing me to enjoy it.

I'm glad the actors don't look sweaty and greasy like they did last season.

As far as this new season goes they have Reichen and Jenson Atwood from Noah's Arc on the show. Yay, a black guy. They have also cast Jenny " I slept with Angelina and she's probably still in love with me, Brad" Shimizu. They have recast Michelle with a lesbian actress whose name I can't remember at the moment and the Van character won't be back which means I will officially not care about the lesbian portion of the show next year. Too bad.

How is this even possible considering she ended last season as the receiver of Tresum's power? Even Diana was all, "Jump back, scared of her!"

Oh look at me, expecting continuity. Silly silly alexias.

I thought she only got to have her little go back in time, save Michelle door prize, not the actual full avatar power.

But I have to confess I wasn't really paying attention. The actress who played Van was a big yawn for me so when she was on screen I tended to tune out.... or ya know fast forward.

Well, once she got the power Diana looked her up and down and said, "There's a new power in Dante's Cove"...

...so if she were to suddenly not be there that would be somewhat difficult to explain I think.

But really I was just wondering when William Gregory Lee was going to get naked again so you really can't go by me.

We're definitely on the same page on that one.

But now that you mention it I do remember Diana saying that and yes it will be difficult to explain, unless they re-cast Van like they did with Adam.

Worst recast since they changed Mouse on Tales of the City. Original Adam? So much hotter than NewAdam.

Maybe one of Tracey's new boobs can double as Van? They seem to have a mind of their own afterall. Oh and for the record, I LOVE me some Thea Gill and I just love her in this roll. "She is pretty..."...the way she delivered that line had me howling. You can just tell that she knows it's a, well let's be kind..."out there" roll, and she's just having tons of fun with it which is nice to see. But Kevin?? Worst dramatic actor since Andrew Shue. And that's saying something.

But damn if he aint pretty.

Heh. So true. One of the biggest laughs I got from the S2 set was on the commentary track for the first episode, when Charlie David claims that Greg Michael actually has "ideas" on how to play their scenes together.

Oh my, now there's something I thought I'd never hear. I might have to buy the DVD set just for that comment alone.

Have you all seen the preview for season three? Looks to be just as trashy, skanky, poorly acted and campy as ever! Now with Reichen and Jenny "Angelina's Lover 4 EVA" Schmizu!

Can't wait!

I only get Here! on my OnDemand service not as a channel. No preview for me, so I need details. Like the intricate storylines, memorable dialogue, and the...oh hell, who gets nekkid first? ;) I'm guessing Reichen will be getting it on with Charlie's character, now that Kevin in Bro's sex slave.

Gregory Michael has the preview up on his MySpace here. I'm a little worried over the lack of Toby in the preview. It better not be indicative of the season!

There might be more Toby than you think in the preview -- Charlie David shaved! So if you're looking for scruffy bearded Toby (I know I was!), he's not there. The character is still a big part of the show though, from all reports.

Thanks for the link.

S3 promo pictures here. Oh, Charlie David, what have you done with your hair?? I've also seen a promo pic with Toby's arm around Adam. WTF?