Dark Shadows

To its fans, Dark Shadows was and remains the best fantasy television series ever produced for an American network. Its status as the best resulted from the chance interaction of a team of brilliant actors, writers, directors and producers who together made magic every afternoon at 4 pm out of what were often very unpromising materials. As the comment from a new teenaged viewer on this page shows, the show's appeal continues to draw in a new audience 30 years after its original broadcast.

Barnabas Collins, the pivotal character of the "vulnerable vampire," has become a part of postmodern folklore. The influence of Barnabas as a character and a concept has been widely seen, from Anne Rice's vampire novels to such recent cult series as Forever Knight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The central drama of Dark Shadows--a doctor in unrequited love with her vampire patient, whom she was trying to cure--was intriguingly reprised in the Canadian series Forever Knight, with Geraint Wyn-Davies and Catherine Disher taking on the roles originally played by Jonathan Frid and Grayson Hall.

Dark Shadows boasted perhaps the most impressive cast (in terms of sheer ability) ever assembled for an American daytime series. Actress Joan Bennett who played the matriarch provided a link with the world of film noir and Forties Gothic cinema upon which the style and mood of the series so clearly played. Jonathan Frid, Thayer David, the extraordinary Grayson Hall (probably the first instance of an Oscar nominated thesp taking a role in a soap opera), Nancy Barrett, Louis Edmonds, and John Karlen, all of whom had distinguished themselves both on and off Broadway, routinely turned in sterling performances with a minimum of rehearsal time. The show's initial realism gave way after a year or so to the "Dark Shadows school of acting"--a highly theatrical, dramatically stylised manner of putting the mood of a scene across with stunning effect. Among the newcomers who shone most strongly were Lara Parker (who enacted another variant of vindictive unrequited love as the witch Angelique), Alexandra Moltke as perennially clueless governess Victoria Winters, Don Briscoe as doomed werewolf Chris Jennings, and David Selby as roguish cousin Quentin Collins. One striking feature of the production was the use of multiple time periods and, ultimately, parallel time streams which allowed the actors to portray a wide variety of roles (Nancy Barrett and Thayer David each ended up playing some half a dozen sharply differentiated characters).

The New York production setting favored the occasional introduction of such veteran character actors as Anita Bolster, Cavada Humphrey, Abe Vigoda, and others in cameo spots. Young actors just starting out such as Harvey Keitel, David Groh, Kate Jackson, Virginia Vestoff, and Marsha Mason found brief or steady work on the series. Vestoff did a tour de force as the ruthless Samantha Collins at the same time (1970) as she was performing nightly in the hit musical 1776.

Derided by some, misunderstood by many, beloved by its legions of fans, Dark Shadows will never die!

The series has so many memorable plot lines and had a superb cast that did a tremendous job on such a low budget. Re-takes were virtually non-existent so most of the bloopers were broadcast adding to the entertainment value of the series. The interplay between the actors was probably the best that I have ever seen in any television series. This series spawned two theatrical movies, a Broadway play and a revival series in 1991. Additionally, almost 29 years later conventions draw more fans than any other series ever made (except Star Trek) and having seen just about every episode I can understand why.

I didn't even see Dark Shadows on TV until it began running as reruns back in 1976. Even though these episodes were ten years old at the time, I was instantly hooked. I had never seen anything like it - a Gothic soap opera with a vampire as both heartthrob and sympathetic villain. The 1976 reruns did the same thing the initial DVD collection did. It ignored the fact that the first 210 episodes ever existed and started with the appearance of Barnabus Collins in Collinsport, Maine, and the simultaneous disappearance of Willie Loomis, the Collins' handyman. I've never seen the first 210 episodes, but I've read their descriptions. Apparently they revolved around a series of love triangles and mysteries that just weren't that interesting to viewers, and so the storyline was radically changed and TV history was made as a result.

Jonathan Frid was really born to play the part of Barnabus. He is not a good looking guy in the classical sense, but he's got style, dignity, and class and was extremely magnetic in the role. Barnabus is a vampire in the mold of Lugosi's Dracula. However, rather than looking to expand an ever-growing harem as Dracula did, Barnabus is a romantic, intent on reclaiming only one lost love. That is the initial emphasis. Even with the magnetic Barnabus, you'll notice the show moves at a snail's pace compared to later episodes. However, what you are seeing is pretty much the way most soap operas progressed up through the early 1970's. The formula for most soap operas in those days was that there was one dynastic and wealthy family, and lots of middle class families with ordinary problems. Problems generally had to do with affairs of the heart with the occasional crime mystery thrown in, and resolution was very slow. Not until 1975 or so did you see everyone in town being CEO of their own company with fashion models as the cast. So have patience, because the pace is definitely worth the overall storyline and the atmosphere.

This daytime television soaper-shocker serial has evolved into a cult classic since originally airing on ABC from 1966-71, and is certainly a contender for one of the most unusual television series ever made. In addition to its Gothic tales involving the supernatural, what set DARK SHADOWS apart from the other TV soap operas of its day was the remarkable cast, including famous and glamorous Hollywood screen star Joan Bennett as the aristocratic matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Oscar-nominated actress Grayson Hall(THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA) as Dr. Julia Hoffman who tried to develop a cure for vampire Barnabas Collins but wound up falling in love with him instead. And of course, the superb Jonathan Frid as reluctant vampire Barnabas Collins himself. Incidentally, Frid's perpetually tormented character was what brought the show such tremendous success and remains the best remembered aspect of this enduringly popular series. Made on a noticeably low budget, DARK SHADOWS concentrated on plot and character rather than cheap thrills, though there were plenty of eerie, spooky moments and creepy Gothic atmosphere. The primetime revival of the ever-popular series in 1991 featured more elaborate settings and special effects but was less successful and lasted barely two months on the airwaves. Like it or not, DARK SHADOWS completely changed television history and remains one of the most well-remembered TV series of all time. The show's success led to two offshoot feature films starring a number of the series regulars. The first and most successful was HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS in 1970, followed by NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS in 1971.

As a kid, I waited every day for 4pm for DARK SHADOWS to appear on TV. I watched in fascination all the going ons with Barnabas the vampire, time travel (I wanted that staircase that took you to the 19th century!) corpses rising from their graves. When the show came to an end in 1970, it was a sad day.

The show resurfaced in the early 1980's. As an adult, I could see all the flaws, all the signals that told us, this was live television, done on a very low budget. I appreciated Director/Creator Dan Curtis and company going against all odds.

As with all soap operas, the actors in DARK SHADOW had to stretch the material (Remember they had a collective 2 hours plus every week to cover.) Many actors would repeat what the other actor just said (Example BARNABAS: "This room was once filled the scent of lilacs." GIRL (in awe...) "....the scent of lilacs!" Flaws normally covered by alternate takes came up (much of this was live TV) We saw boom mikes, camera catching the edge of set, and the most celebrated goof- a pesty fly that won't leave vampire Barnabas Collins' (Jonathan Frid) nose, while Barnabas delivers a menacing monologue. But, all in all, it was fun. A thrill. It's always great to see this old soap opera once and a while.