Dark Shadows

I had barely seen the original series until this remake or mini-series, however you want to call it, was cancelled. The new series should have been a break-out hit on the Friday night void left behind by "Dallas" if it had not been done in by the Gulf War coverage. That's the only thing that killed the show and kept it from becoming a long-running series.The movie that spawned it was incredible and astounding, everything the original would have been with the budget of a prime-time series. Ben Cross was a younger Barnabus for the Nineties, and Joanna Going was more beautiful than any of the three original Victoria's. I can find nothing wrong with the cast except for the unknown Barbera Blackburn who was called upon to play Carolyn; she just didn't look like she belonged in the cast. Everyone else had fit the bill to a tee ! I'm also sure that if the series had continued, we would have started seeing some of the old DS stars in cameos in new roles.

This series is AMAZING. Ben Cross and Joanna Going are both superb. I remember this on TV when I was 10 years old. I never saw the ending and all these years I never forgot about it and always wanted to see the outcome of the show. Now, 16 years later, remembering how good it was, I found the 3 disc series on my online rental database and watched it all over again. I wish this show would have been bigger and gotten more awards. It certainly deserves it and the story hooks you from the first second to the last episode. My only complaint is the last episode doesn't really leave you with closure but instead leaves questions unanswered and the outcome of the story very vague. But still, it's so worth watching.

As far as one of the actors, after watching her performance, Joanna Going should be a Hollywood Leading Lady on the big screen. She's so beautiful and talented and has an amazing presence on film.

NBC started their track record for horrible mistakes and cancelling great shows against viewer demand with this one. Killed by Gulf War footage, this show filled in the vaccum on Friday with the excellant idea of remaking America's favorite series with the budget and location shootings it deserved. Ben Cross made an excellant, if not, more seductive Barnabus,and Joanna Going made an exquisitely beautiful and virginal ingenue as Victoria Winters. The whole cast was perfect, except for the new Carolyn, and the mysterious mansion that served as Collinwood had the right amount of Gothic atmosphere for the series. Much of the series original concept was altered to more modernize the story and previous storylines were altered for a cleaner and easier to follow flow. If allowed to continue, this show would have been a hit, but NBC realized it far too late.

This didn't have the camp of the original series and it moved faster, stayed more focused on the main story line. This time, Dan Curtis didn't work with a shoestring budget and he was able to put something together that wasn't as rough around the edges as the original series. Of course, that roughness was part of the charm of the original, and I still have a special place in my heart for it. But this is much better done. Granted, most of the women in this series are not as good looking as their 1960s counterparts (especially Carolyn. Nancy Barrett was hot as Carolyn in the 1960s version. And Lysette Anthony didn't have the hypnotic quality that Lara Parker's Angelique had.) I was disappointed in the way this series ended. I was hoping to see how they would handle the Frankenstein monster and werewolf stories, even have a Quentin story (which was part of the werewolf story). But, as sloppily as the original DARK SHADOWS ended, at least it was a conclusive ending. This just left you hanging, waiting for them to get into the other "monster" stories, and then they never came. I for one felt cheated. 6 out of 10 because it ended too soon and they left you hanging.

I will certainly join the critics who complain that there wasn't enough about this show that was original. I will forever wonder why Dan Curtis keeps thinking that telling the same story over again will satisfy the audience that couldn't get enough of the original series; we were hoping for some new stories.

That having been said, the revisions made to the original character relationships were a definite improvement and the program was very well cast. Jonathan Frid is a tough act to follow as Barnabas, but Ben Cross did an excellent job. As for Adrian Paul, the moment I laid eyes on him I knew he was star material. I will admit to having been disappointed that certain female characters, especially Angelique, were inadequately developed.

Another thing about this program that could have been adjusted was allowing the Collins family to have had some earlier generations in the U.S. I suspect that one of the reasons the original series ran out of ideas was the need to keep the time-traveling to discrete generations of the family and, with Barnabas having been born in the second half of the 18th century, they ran out of those rather quickly. This, of course, assumes that he could only go back as far as his original mortal life...

If you enjoyed this show anyway, check out HIGHLANDER [the series, that is]. It gives us Adrian Paul at his best with lots of historical flashbacks.