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''Dark Shadows'' (later referred to as ''Dark Shadows: The Revival'') is an American prime time
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
television series which aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
from January 13 to March 22, 1991. A re-imagining of the 1966–71 ABC daytime
gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...
''
Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinspo ...
'', the revival was developed by Dan Curtis, creator of the original series.


Series story line

The 1991 ''Dark Shadows'' tells a streamlined version of the original storyline – the arrival of governess
Victoria Winters Victoria "Vicki" Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'' and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966 to 1968. After Moltke left to r ...
at Collinwood,
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
Barnabas Collins Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, a featured role in the ABC daytime serial ''Dark Shadows'', which aired from 1966 to 1971. Barnabas is a 175-year-old vampire in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette. The character, origin ...
being released from his coffin, Dr. Hoffman's attempt to cure Barnabas' vampirism medically, and, finally, Victoria's
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
back to 1790 to witness the events in which the still-human Barnabas is transformed into an undead creature.


Development and production

Having declined several previous inquiries about reviving ''Dark Shadows'', Curtis was contacted by NBC's then-head of programming Brandon Tartikoff in the summer of 1987. The reluctant Curtis was eventually persuaded by Tartikoff, who "wouldn't let up". Of the revival Curtis said, "The essential characters and relationships are the same, but the things they do are different. I thought I could rely on those old scripts, but I found that they were full of crazy plots that we couldn't use. So all the incidents are different; we arrive at similar points through a much different route." According to Curtis, he co-wrote and directed the first five episodes himself, "to get it off in the style I wanted." However, Curtis received co-writing credit on only two completed episodes. The revival series was produced by
MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/Bro ...
, whose
parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
had produced the two earlier theatrical films, '' House of Dark Shadows'' and '' Night of Dark Shadows'', (now owned by Warner Bros./
Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
). A majority of the series was filmed at the Greystone Park and Mansion in
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, and some period wardrobe from the 1988 film ''
Dangerous Liaisons ''Dangerous Liaisons'' is a 1988 American period romantic drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his 1985 play '' Les liaisons dangereuses'', itself adapted from the 1782 French novel of the s ...
'' was used.


Cast


Main cast members


Supporting cast members


Episodes


Ratings and cancellation

''Dark Shadows'' premiered as a four-hour miniseries event on January 13 and 14, 1991, and then moved to a regular Friday night schedule. The series debuted to great success, averaging a 22 share for the first three episodes. But due to the onset of the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
which was fully televised at the same time as ''Dark Shadows'' on most stations including NBC, the latter station was frequently forced to interrupt or move broadcasts. For this reason, the show faltered, as ratings declined, and struggled to keep its audience. In addition to the war, some fans blame the declining ratings on the focus of NBC's promotions which relied upon horror and vampire themes rather than the romantic fantasy elements. With the 12th and last episode of the season ranked 64th among 83 shows, ''Dark Shadows'' was cancelled. NBC received over 7,000 letters of protest from disappointed fans, who also picketed network headquarters in both Los Angeles and New York City.


Media releases and rebroadcast

The original VHS release from MPI Home Video features an extended pilot episode and extended final episode, and also presents the original one-hour versions of episodes 2 and 3 (for broadcast, NBC combined them into a movie-length version so they could air that and the pilot as a 2-night mini-series to kick off the series premiere), so the home video presentation of episode 3 restores the "I'm Victoria Winters" opening narration that was left out of the movie-length version (the one-hour versions of these two episodes are also the ones that were shown when the series was repeated on the Sci-Fi Channel). The 2005 DVD release from MGM Home Video, although re-mastered in High Definition, contained alterations to the original image presentation. Firstly, the overall image was cropped from the original full-screen image to a 1.78:1 widescreen ratio. Secondly, after remastering, certain scenes that were shot "
day for night Day for night is a set of cinematic techniques used to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight. It is often employed when it is too difficult or expensive to actually shoot during nighttime. Because both film stocks and digital image se ...
" (shot in daylight, but meant to be altered in post-production to look like night-time) were incorrectly left untreated, presenting the problem of a vampire walking around in broad daylight. Also, this release presented the episodes the way they were shown on NBC, meaning episodes 2 and 3 were the "movie length" version and the unaired footage from the MPI release was not included at all (not within the context of the episode or even as a bonus feature). The deleted film footage from the V.H.S. release can be seen on YouTube. The DVD version has been re-released in 2009 since that time in different packaging. ''Dark Shadows'' has been shown in reruns on the
Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. ...
and
Chiller A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via a vapor-compression, adsorption refrigeration, or absorption refrigeration cycles. This liquid can then be circulated through a heat exchanger to cool equipment, or another p ...
. Since 2009 the series has been available for viewing online on
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...
.


See also

* List of vampire television series


References


External links

* {{Saturn Award for Best Network Television Series Dark Shadows 1990s American drama television series 1990s American horror television series 1990s American supernatural television series 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings American television soap operas American primetime television soap operas English-language television shows NBC original programming Saturn Award-winning television series Television series by MGM Television Television series reboots Vampires in television Television series about vampires