Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera, which by ABC aired from 27 June 1966 to 2 April 1971 . The series was created by Dan Curtis and contains a total of 1225 episodes.
What distinguished the series of other soap operas so far was the fact that there are ghosts, vampires and all sorts of other supernatural beings occurred; something that had never been done so far. From 1966 to 1967, the series was shot in black and white, then was switched to color. The series was especially great prominence when the character Barnabas Collins , played by Jonathan Frid , was launched. He was initially a temporary character, but he proved so successful that more and more people started using it. As a main character in the soap opera He is today still the most memorable character in the soap opera. The success of the series led to, among other things, the production of multiple films, a series of strip, books, and magazines.
Content[]
Story [ edit ][]
The series revolves around the Collins family, who lives in a house called Collinwood on top of a hill called Widows' Hill. At the start of the series is Victoria Winters to Collinwood to learn more about her family and ancestry. In the house, she is confronted with the dark past of Collins, and with some of her ancestors as the vampire Barnabas Collins.
In the course of the series is the life of the Collins shown in different time periods, including 1795, 1840, and 1968.
History [ edit ][]
The series was created by Dan Curtis. According to his own words, he got the idea thanks to a dream about a young woman in a train. He gave ABC green light to his idea into a television series, and hired Art Wallace to assist him. Wallace coined the primary storylines and backgrounds for all the characters. The series wore during the production of the work entitled Shadows on the Wall. Lela Swift , John Sedgewick, and Henry Kaplan all voted to direct the series. Robert Cobert recorded the music for his account and Sy Thomas Hoff designed the sets.
Alexandra Moltke , who was then a young actress with little experience, was cast for the role of Victoria Winters. Joan Bennett , an already experienced film actress, was given the role of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard Victoria's employer. The outside shooting of the series took place mainly in Essex , Connecticut . Virtually every scene in the series was shot in a single take, making special effects needed to be. Often realized during the shooting
The series got off to a difficult start. Critics called the series boring and criticized the fact that an unknown actress starring performed. The first episode only served to introduce Victoria and contain none of the supernatural elements that would give her. Notoriety the series later As the series progressed, the trend came to a large number of new, mysterious characters played by unknown actors to introduce. Many of these actors played multiple roles. Because the series fully made use of elements such as ghosts and time travel , characters who were actually already died could still return in a later episode again.
Slowly improved ratings, and along with Let's Make A Deal grew Dark Shadows into one of ABC's most successful soap operas. The series hit particularly true of teenagers. In 1971 the show was abandoned because of cuts that put ABC carried through because of the economic downturn, despite protests from fans.
Dark Shadows is one of the few soap operas from the 60 and 70 who remained. almost completely preserved Only one episode has been lost. Well there are a handful of older episodes available in 16mm kinescopeformat.
Spin-offs [ edit ][]
Remake [ edit ][]
- In 1991 produced MGM Television a remake of the series, also Dark Shadows called. This series ran for only one season of 12 episodes, and was broadcast on NBC.
- A second attempt at making a remake was made in 2004, but beyond a pilot episode did not.
Books [ edit ][]
There are two series of novels based on Dark Shadows .
The first was released when the series itself was still running, and was written by Marilyn Ross (pseudonym of Dan Ross).
The second series consists of three books: Angelique's Descent and The Salem Branch by Lara Parker , and Dreams of the Dark by Elizabeth Massie and Stephen Mark Rainey .
Furthermore, there are some loose books about Dark Shadows , including The Dark Shadows Almanac and The Dark Shadows Companion .
Strips [ Edit ][]
- From March 14 1971 to March 11, 1972 published a newspaper comic strip based on Dark Shadows , signed by Kenneth Bruce Bald . [1]
- Gold Key Comics released in the years after the series was canceled put a series of comic books about Dark Shadows off.
- A new comic series on Dark Shadows will be released in October 2011 by Dynamite Entertainment . [2]
Movies [ Edit ][]
In 1970 and 1971 brought MGM two films that were directly based on the series: House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows . Dan Curtis directed both films.
In 2012 appeared a new film based on the series appear, titled Dark Shadows . This movie is directed by Tim Burton , with Johnny Depp in the role of Barnabas Collins, Helena Bonham Carter as a doctor Julia Hoffman and Michelle Pfeiffer as the matriarch of the Collins family.
Influence [ edit ][]
Dark Shadows was a pioneer in the field of (soap opera) series with supernatural elements in it. This concept was quickly picked up by other networks and producers. Thus followed in October 1969, the Canadian series Strange Paradise . Even series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel have been partly inspired by Dark Shadows