"Dark Shadows" (1966) TV series 1966-1971

Creator:

Dan Curtis

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

27 June 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

The rich Collins family of Collinsport, Maine is tormented by strange occurrences.

Plot Keywords:

Maine | Gothic | Death | Magic | Cult Favorite

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Jonathan Frid	...	Barnabas Collins / ... (594 episodes, 1967-1971)
Grayson Hall	...	Dr. Julia Hoffman / ... (474 episodes, 1967-1971)
Nancy Barrett	...	Carolyn Stoddard / ... (402 episodes, 1966-1971)
Joan Bennett	...	Elizabeth Collins Stoddard / ... (387 episodes, 1966-1971)
Alexandra Isles	...	Victoria Winters / ... (337 episodes, 1966-1968)
Louis Edmonds	...	Roger Collins / ... (321 episodes, 1966-1971)
Kathryn Leigh Scott	...	Maggie Evans / ... (309 episodes, 1966-1970)
David Selby	...	Quentin Collins / ... (307 episodes, 1968-1971)
David Henesy	...	David Collins / ... (276 episodes, 1966-1970)
Lara Parker	...	Angelique / ... (269 episodes, 1967-1971)

Also Known As:

Shadows on the Wall (USA) (working title)
The House on Storm Cliff (USA) (working title)
Sombras da Noite (Brazil) [pt]
Yön vampyyrit (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

30 min (1225 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (1966-1967) | Color (1967-1971)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Essex, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Dan Curtis Productions

Trivia:

The portrait of Barnabas was usually in the foyer at Collinwood, and the camera would pan mysteriously to it when something ominous was about to happen (accompainied by eerie music)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Jeremiah Collins's headstone is misspelled "Jerimiah Collins."

Quotes:

Dr. Julia Hoffman: I want to protect you Barnabas. I'm not applying for a job as your maid.

Movie Connections:

Featured in ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2003) (TV)

A legend never dies!

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!