Nobody Bit It Better: A Look Back At Dark Shadows And Barnabas Collins - Herbie J Pilato

Welcome Herbie J Pilato our newest MediaBizBloggerThe news is in Johnny Depp and Tim Burton prepare to partner once more this time for a bigscreen edition of Dark Shadows the classic TV daytime serial originally ran on ABC in the 1960s and which was briefly remade in primetime on NBC in the early 1990s So this is as good a time as any to explore the astounding popularity of the original gothic Shadows story which initially featured the iconic Jonathan Frid as popculture39s first main lovelorntorn vampire Barnabas Collins an immortal character that arrived ages before Robert Pattinson39s Twilight role of Edward Cullen which may or not be a nod to DS Collins name or for that matter David Boreanz39s Angel which first found life on TV39s heralded Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later in a spinoff series of his own And yes of course preDS there was Dracula etc But it was Barnabas and his Shadows gang that was the first to both lovingly horrify and capture our imaginationThat said here now is a consolidated but indepth look back at the onandoffscreen machinations of the original Dark Shadows TV seriesEnjoyDIGGING DARK SHADOWSLive performances Rehashed ideas Retold stories Deadon scripts Turn of the Screw Picture of Dorian Gray Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Dracula Frankenstein The Wolfman Even HP Lovecraftamp8217s The Cthulhu Mythos Actors play a piece from each Working temporarily steadily Stereotyped indefinitely Fallen movie stars resurrected for the small screen TV superstars yet to be born Future TV angels present spectres Death Divorce Lawsuits Murder trials Daytime nighttime drama behind and in front of the camera Shadows of things to come dark but clearly defined TV stars return to the big screen Convolution Suffocation Cancellation Restoration Nostalgic television actors replaced with unfamiliar faces except maybe one Reality mixes with fantasy in the past present future and parallel time immortalThus sums up the experience of Dark Shadows one of TVamp8217s most unique series one which debuts on ABC June 27 1966 and continues to enjoy a kind of cult following once thought solely exclusive to the likes of Star Trek Or should that read quotoccultquot following It ends its original run on April 2 1971 and nearly four decades later thrives on DVD and in the hearts of multigenerational fansDecades before it introduces scary new American sex symbols and canonizes untraditional saints in the church of classic TV Itamp8217s the first alternative daytime serial focusing on the lives of a bizarre troupe instead of relatively regular ones ages before NBC lets loose itamp8217s a supernatural persuasion with the longcancelled Passions in 1999 Its audience is rare among soaps legions of counterculture teens replace their stereos with TVs It becomes the first nonprimetime soap to be syndicated eons before the onset of the allsoap channels It premieres in a time littered with assassinations illicit drug use a sexual revaluation and a misbegotten war lost souls pine to find themselves in another realm an era rife with interest in sorcery and the occult On prime time TV there be witches genies and monster familiesDuring the day when the undead are supposed to be asleep a vampire rises consistently at 330 and later 4 in the afternoon His name is biblical but heamp8217s far from holy at least in the conservative sense The character is immortal but the actor is middleaged He becomes a pop phenomenon that few people admit to watching but one of whom all hold dear as their secret love Then the bat is out on the cad He winds up on the cover of upscale magazines like Time and Newsweek Before the term blockbuster becomes part of the moviegoing vernacular DS spawns a feature film for which hordes line up to see A lessthan spectacular sequel is produced while the TV series moves forward then finally succumbs to a stake in the hardcore of its appeal Still the show does not die An updated primetime addition arises in the early 1990s Lunch boxes books memorabilia and countless followers refuse to gather cobwebs and instead gather for biannual Dark Shadows Festivalsamp8230and not Conventions For indeed there is a clear amount of joy associated with this darklypremised TV classic as its fans reach beyond obligation in their dedication to their favorite show and rest upon it with true perpetual celebrationTHE DAWN OF THE DEADItamp8217s 1966 DS begins as a softfocus Gothic soap with slightly mysterious aura and a few minor ghost tales a vision that haunts producer Dan Curtis in a dream an idea that ABC buys into with eager immediacy But it soon becomes a nightmare for the network No one watches It gets pelted in the ratings Despite the presence of a famed former movie queen in the guise of Joan Bennett and the talented presence of stagetrained actors like Dennis Patrick the Shadows begins to fade to hit a brick wall of sorts before it even has a chance to rest upon one1967 Curtis entertains a second vision He decides to go fullthrottle with the quotspook stuffquot and creates a tortured bloodsucker named Barnabas Collins portrayed with earnest torture by Jonathan Frid Curtis breaks all the soap rules by instructing his writers to inject something scary into every script every day If the vampirething doesnamp8217t work Curtis decides quotamp8230we could always drive a stake into its heartquotBut thereamp8217s no need to take such drastic measures The stakes so to speak are too high The viewers love Barnabas as he falls first for the kindly Collinwood governess Victoria Winters Alexandra Moltke and then Maggie Evans Kathryn Leigh Scott the amiable waitress at the Blue Whale Audiences reach 15 million 90 of which are teens in other words 135000000 Originally intended for a mere 2 or 3 week visit Barnabas instantly becomes a permanent resident of Collinsport or specifically Collinwood the centuriesold mansion with eerie ancestral family ties to the past namely Barnabas himselfThatamp8217s right Heamp8217s lived before in the quotold housequot on the Collinwood grounds The new house holds the descendents of todayamp8217s Collinwood family But Barnabas is the one constant in all time periodsamp8230be it the 18th the 19th or 20th Centuries all of which are visited quotat one time or anotherquot on DS circa 1795 1897 1966 196971quotThrough the yearsquot however the 45yearold Frid waxes apprehensive at portraying the frightful lug the 200yearold creature of the night that seduces America by day with biting commentaryNo wonder the actor is nervous at first about joining the cast He senses something brewing A hint of things to come though he doesnamp8217t know just what He canamp8217t put his finger on it Meanwhile he canamp8217t put his fangs on right Frid is so manic with anxiety during his first quotneckingquot scene he slips his fangs on upside down and chews them to bits Little matter For the viewer itamp8217s love at first bite They adore him and the show taped live every day despite its awkward camera movements offstage wranglings and flies resting upon many an actoramp8217s nose Thatamp8217s part of its campy charmFrid tries to make sense of it all this happy dilemma he finds himself in quotI suppose women see Barnabas as a romantic figurequot he says years later quotBecause I played him as a lonely tormented man rather than a Bela Lugosi villain I bite girls in the neck but only when my uncontrollable need for blood drove me to it And I always felt remorseful later As to his appeal with the younger crowd he says quotYoungstersamp8230are looking for a new morality And he is Barnabas He goes around telling people to be good then suddenly sets out and bites somebodyamp8217s neck He hates what he is and heamp8217s in terrible agonyJust like kids today heamp8217s confused lost and screwed up and searching for something Iamp8217m a lovable and pitiable vampire All the girls want to mother mequotTHE YEAR FROM HELLThe show produces its most controversial storyline It deals with the witch Angelique played with panache by Lara Parker who originally put the curse of the vampire on Barnabas her fellow partner in evil warlock Nicholas Blair Humbert Allen Astredo and the big man downstairs Satan to whom both of them report A cameo by the Devil himself provokes negative mail from viewers Various interest groups and individual viewers are now convinced that DS is dangerous to the minds of children Letterwriting campaigns are initiated complaints from fundamentalist ministers pour in saying the show is quotleading innocent children down the rosy road to Hellquot Even noted psychologist Dr Joyce Brothers states that the series is quotindoctrinating our young people into dissociationquotParents are apprehensive as their kids identify with Barnabas a character who quotbricks peoplequot in between walls Some church groups are especially offended when the person being sealed up is noneotherthan an evil minister the tenacious Reverend Trask Jerry Lacy today married to Julia Duffy of Newhart The DS writers opt to back off labeling Satan Diabolosamp8230not the devilamp8230but merely a devilIn the meantime the cast is dealing with demons of their own Some actors are downright frightened not by the show but rather the fans Strange presents arrive in the mail A giftwrapped box of live ants labeled Appetizer A box of cookies to actress Donna Wandrey Roxanne Drew cutout in the shape of tombstones and painstakingly iced with all the actors namesWhile the debate rages on as to where the real evil abides Dan Curtis begins clandestine negotiations with the suits at MGM The show needs some new blood in this case a new monster one with the hypnotic appeal of Barnabas The werewolf Chris Jennings has become been popular but DS craves someone more charismatic The result is Quentin a ghost played by David SelbyIn the interim a few actors grow impatient with their fading screen time and scant character development Joel Crothers Joe Haskell is so unhappy he exits for another soap Somerset Alexandra Moltke three years into her fiveyear contract of playing a once central character in the form of governess Victoria Winters now complains about her diminishing role in the series quotVictoria is so dumbquot she protests quotAll I do is stand around saying I donamp8217t understand whatamp8217s happening Jonathan as Barnabas has hypnotized me into eloping with him tried to cut off my boyfriendamp8217s head to stick on that goofy monster they made Adam even sent me hundreds of years into the past during a samp233ance And I still havenamp8217t figured out that he may not be quite normalquotNever really satisfied with the limitations of her role Moltke frequently requests to be given another character a villainess or at least someone with a dark side The opportunity never arises So she marries in real life a young lawyer named Philip Isles amp8211 a very Collinslike heir whose late grandfather founded the famous Lehman Brothers Now sheamp8217s expecting A pregnant Victoria Winters doesnamp8217t do Sheamp8217s released from her contract Betsy Durkin plays Vicky for a few weeks Carolyn Groves for a few days But itamp8217s not the same Theyamp8217re never really accepted by the audience The character of Vicky is never seen againBut the audience can see through Selbyamp8217s spectred Quentin The handsome DS addition is a feast for the eyes He first appears as a ghost in presentday 1969 and Quentinamp8217s Theme heard every time he materializes becomes a Top 40 hit The show once again journeys to another period from the past This time 1897 when Quentin is very much alive Heamp8217s the womanizer of this era Collins family and again the viewers eat amp8216em up especially the female watchers The Partridge Family has David Cassidy Dark Shadows has David Selby They both appear sidebyside on Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine Whatamp8217s more Selbyamp8217s Quentin becomes just as popular as Fridamp8217s Barnabas And Jonathan couldnamp8217t be more relievedTHE MAYHEM OF THE MACABRE1969 20000000 viewers are now obsessed with Quentin Barnabas and DS in general The showamp8217s popularity reaches mammoth proportions Followers from every nook and cranny come out of the woodworkeven the woodwork from the White House For on October 31st Halloween 1969 Tricia Nixon gives a Halloween Party for 250 underprivileged children and Jonathan Frid is invitedOther invitations are accepted DS cast members help to raise more than 300000 for Muscular Dystrophy 680000 screaming fans show up at a Founderamp8217s Day paradeGrayson Hall who plays Dr Julia Hoffman and whoamp8217s married to DS writer Sam Hall Frid and a young DS ingamp233nue fear for their lives when rabid vampire fans attack the vehicle in which they are riding This is it Frid has had it He needs a vacation He demands time off The writers complyamp8230to deathly consequencesEdward Collins as performed by the late great Louis Edmunds discovers Barnabasamp8217 secretamp8230that he is indeed a knight of the living dead For the first time in the showamp8217s history an allout vampire hunt is underwayBarnabas is then cornered and staked which causes a riotous upheaval from fansAs appeasement the show introduces a storyline with the powerful Leviathans who rescue Barnabas The timeline shifts once more and Barnabas returns to 1969 the present But heamp8217s cold and unfeeling very unlike the Barnabas viewers first fell in love with Heamp8217s free from vampirism but seemingly more diabolical It doesnamp8217t register with the viewer So heamp8217s cursed again to suck blood so the watchers can once again feel his pain But the show turns too violent and becomes a blood bath Heamp8217s sucking people dry left and right The fans are not happyTheir dissent worsens especially since David Selby has by now left the show when Quentin exits Collinwood to search for a lost love A Rookieactress and future Charlieamp8217s Angel Kate Jackson joins the cast as a ghost hoping to fill the void But not even a laterday Goodbye Girl in the guise of Marsha Mason can capture the magic of Shadows gonebye The situation grows darker when the Parallel Time episode arc begins The show is different The fans accept the timetraveling the actors playing ancestors of the descendents they also portray But the viewers arenamp8217t buying the parallel universe bit in which the actors play doppelgangers of the sametime charactersThe plots become confusing even to the players To top it all off thereamp8217s a movie afootHouse of Dark Shadows the first of two feature films based on the TV series goes into production The cast films the movie and the television show at the same time Everyoneamp8217s exhausted Tempers fly during the scant five weeks all are given to complete the motion picture Actors are shuttled from Manhattan where the series is filmed to Tarrytown New York 25 miles away where the movie is being shot The schedule is hectic and the strain is showing up on both the small and large screens Whatamp8217s more tests audiences object to the hanging scene with little David Collins played by David Hennesy So itamp8217s clipped from the movie But then MGM thinks the film is too long The suits request some editing to size it down to 90 minutes instead of 2hours Dan Curtis protests But he has no choice He succumbs and the movie suffers creatively Yet the fans still lineup to see it by the grovesStill all is not like it used to be certainly not the TV show For the like the new movie it wreaks with violence The charm and innocence at the core of Darkamp8217s original appeal has been lost As Jonathan Frid once put it the film lacked the quotnaivetamp233 of the soap opera Every once in a while the show coalesced into a Brigadoonish neverneverland It wasnamp8217t necessary to bring the rest of the world into Dark Shadows which is what the film didquotStill House of DS saves MGM from bankruptcy and a second movie is ordered This one entitled Night of Dark Shadows is worse Itamp8217s not even scary Again the blame is pinned on editing Apparently the filmamp8217s consistent storyline ends up on the editing room floorBack on the small screen things arenamp8217t much better The Parallel Time story arc is killing the show A timetravel trip to 1995 fails to rev up viewer engines One last dabble into the occult serving as a possible saving grace Once more Dan Curtis borrows from another familiar tale A curse storyline based on the controversial Shirley Jackson story called The Lottery But thereamp8217s no winning numbers Soon the lights are out and the Shadows are no moreThe series ends with winkeyed words to the viewer spoken by Thayer Davidamp8217s marbledmouthed Ben Stokes quotThere was no vampire loose on the great estate For the first time at Collinwood the marks on the neck were indeed those of an animalamp8230and for as long as they lived the dark shadows of Collinwood were but a memory of the distant pastquotAnd despite thousands of fan letters that form a Bring Back Dark Shadows campaign the lights go out and newlymade Shadows fade to blackThat is until some twenty years laterTHE DARK DESCENDENTS1990 Five years before the fantasy 1995 timeline on Dark Shadows is to actually end the original series a new DS shows up in primetime in reality once a week on NBC amp8211 not even its original ABC network The characters are the same but the actors are different As with the two DS feature films and the last season of the first series missing is the campy charm replaced with too serious a take and rendering on the Collins family portrait This new Dark is filmed with a bigbudget and not videotaped on a shoestring The new DS is just plain no fun to watch even with the respected Jean Simmons of classic movielore as well as scifi fandom via the Planet of the ApesNone of it matters The backlash beginsItamp8217s the Old Shadows Fans vs New Shadows Fans Itamp8217s like Original Trek vs Next Generation Fans of the first Dark are aghast with what they see and donamp8217t see in the new Dark Whereamp8217s Jonathan Frid Who the hell is Ben CrossBut then something characteristically eerie transpires The DS fans combine and begin to realize they any Dark is better than no Dark And a subtle cult following soon begins to take form for the new seriesBut itamp8217s too late NBC cancels the series after six episodes and Dan Curtis is left wondering if he should have instead taken this new Shadows into syndicationTHE FESTIVAL OF FRIGHTSCast reprise So many are gone Grayson Hall Thayer David Joel Crothers who succumbs to AIDS Others are knarled in controversy Alexandra Moltke finds herself testifying in court over a scandalous marriage Still others flourish in many an enterprise David Selby finds a comfortable regular role on Falcon Crest John Karlen plays a drunken dad on the Emmywinning Cagney ampamp Lacey Kate Jackson goes on to be one of Charlieamp8217s Angels while we learn her former costar Jaclyn Smith was once married to Shadows cast member Roger Davis Kathryne Leigh Scott Maggie Evans Josette Dupre discovers further fame as a frequent TV guest star on shows like the original Police Squad TV series and Star Trek The Next Generation and becomes the official DS literary chronicler Her former Shadows costar Lara Parker now writes Dark novels for HarperCollins while she also continues to act They all try to make it to as many DS Festivals as they canBut the one fans still most eagerly stand in line to see is none other than Jonathan Frid The man who could not see himself in the mirroramp8230the man who brought unanimous joy to countless DS fans throughout the world throughout the agesThis talented now seventysomething theatricallytrained thespian travels today with his oneman shows titled variently Jonathan Fridamp8217s Shakespearean Odyssey and Jonathan Fridamp8217s Fools ampamp Fiends each hearkening in some subliminal and maybe direct way to the fact that Dark Shadows was indeed a hit show due to thisamp8230one manHerbie J Pilato is a producerscreenwriter and author of a number of media tiein books including quotBewitchedquot Forever and The quotKung Fuquot Book Of Caine He39s worked for AampampE TLC Syfy and Bravo39s hit fivepart TV series quotThe 100 Greatest TV Charactersquot Herbie is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Classic TV Preservation Society a nonprofit organization that helps to close the gap between popular culture and education For more information please see wwwClassicTVPSblogspotcom Herbie can be reached at hjpilatoyahoocom Read all Herbie J39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Herbie J39s Classic TV CornerCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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Nobody Bit It Better: A Look Back At Dark Shadows And Barnabas Collins - Herbie J Pilato

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