Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a weekday American gothic soap opera that aired on the ABC television network from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. Dan Curtis created the series. The story bible, written by Art Wallace, contains no mention of supernatural elements. When ghosts were introduced about six months after the show began, it was unprecedented in daytime television. When vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into the series, it exploded in popularity. Werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe were also featured in Dark Shadows. A small cast of actors each played multiple roles; in fact, as actors came and went, some characters were played by multiple actors. Aside from Art Wallace, notable writers included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles. Dark Shadows stood out for its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable storylines, numerous dramatic plot twists, unusually adventurous music score, and vast and epic universe of characters and heroic adventures. It is now considered a classic, and it retains a fervent cult following. Although the original series only lasted five years, its scheduling as a daily daytime drama allowed it to accumulate more single episodes than most other science fiction/fantasy genre series produced for English-language television, including Doctor Who and the entire Star Trek television franchise. Only the paranormal soap opera Passions has more episodes, with a total of 2,231 episodes.
Released: 1966-06-27