By Gary Bennett
Do I have “Dark Shadows” under my eyes?
I heard and threw out that line time and again in the late ‘60s as my childhood friends and I excitedly discussed the latest events at stately old Collinwood mansion in the fictitious fishing village of Collinsport, Maine, home of the daytime soap opera “Dark Shadows.”
Talk about guilty pleasures.
I clearly remember racing home from school, the clock striking four o’clock and that haunting theme music beginning to play. The world outside seemed to stop. You couldn’t pry me away from the TV with a crowbar.
On June 27, the cult-classic ABC daytime soap “Dark Shadows” celebrates its 60th anniversary. Festivities are planned in Los Angeles, including a cast Q&A (yes, some are still alive!), staged performances, a celebrity luncheon and an excursion to Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills.
Why all the hoopla?
Besides being wildly popular in its day, especially among teens, “Dark Shadows” was a groundbreaking television show on several fronts.
It was the first supernatural soap opera. The story lines were teeming with vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and other mystical creatures. They were not cartoonish. They had flaws and worries and seemed all too real.
It was the first “period” soap opera. It was predominantly set in modern times, but characters frequently time-traveled back to the Victorian era of 1795 to 1897 to provide background information and clues as to what was about to happen.
And it was the first soap opera aimed at teens and pre-teens. It was no coincidence the show aired at 4 p.m. when kids all over America were arriving home from school. The programming strategy was pure genius.
An interesting dynamic of the show was that moms and dads were barely aware “Dark Shadows” was a “thing.” Housewives were somewhat aware — some were even fans. But dads? They had no clue. When “Dark Shadows” aired every weekday at 4 p.m., most dads were still safely at work.
At its peak in 1968, the show earned an audience of more than 20 million viewers, unheard of for daytime soap operas. With an audience made up mostly of impressionable young people, advertisers loved it. By its last season of 1971, ratings began to tank and the show was canceled.
“Dark Shadows” was conceived in 1965 when veteran television producer Dan Curtis had a dream of a mysterious young woman riding a train to a brooding old mansion. Encouraged by his wife, he pitched this gothic soap opera concept to ABC, bringing in writers to flesh out the story. ABC “bit” and the rest is television history.
The plot centers around an orphaned governess, Victoria Winters, who takes a job at the cursed mansion and falls for Barnabas Collins, an 18th-century heir — and, oh yes, a recently freed vampire — who returns to his estate to protect his dysfunctional descendants.
“Dark Shadows” had an all-star cast for its day. It starred a young heartthrob, David Selby, as sometimes-werewolf Quentin Collins. Selby went on to star in the prime-time soap “Falcon Crest” in the ‘80s.
Movie star Joan Bennett played Elizabeth Stoddard Collins, the mistress of the haunted mansion. She was nominated for a daytime Emmy for her work in “Dark Shadows.”
Kate Jackson, who later famously starred in “Charlie’s Angels,” played the ghost of governess Daphne Harridge Collins. And versatile screen actor Kathryn Leigh Scott played several characters. She went on to become a noted author later in her career.
But the true breakout star was an unlikely, fortysomething Canadian actor named Jonathan Frid as the sympathetic but star-crossed vampire Barnabas Collins. The 175-year-old Barnabas came on the scene in the second season when he was mistakenly liberated from his coffin. From there, the show really took off.
Barnabas was handsome in a deceased, rugged sort of way and sported — if you can believe it — pointy bangs that always curved to the right. He donned an ominous black cape, carried an ornate walking stick and sported an enormous family ring on his right index finger that he wielded to great effect. His fangs made only occasional appearances, but when they did, you knew he was really ticked off. Frid was undoubtedly TV’s first really “bad boy.”
During the six seasons it aired, Frid consistently received 5,000 to 6,000 fan letters a week. Girls in the ‘60s were inviting him to their proms. During frequent promotional tours, Frid was routinely mobbed by fans. It was no wonder. He provided a wonderful performance. His character was charming, captivating, elegant and dangerous, all rolled into one.
The show influenced such notable TV successors as “True Blood” and “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” in the 1990s and 2000s. It was spun off into two feature films including 2012’s version of “Dark Shadows” by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp. Jonathan Frid had a posthumous cameo in the 2012 movie, having died a month before its release at age 87. (Or, did he?)
“Dark Shadows” was unlike any TV show I had ever seen. There was a certain charm to it. The story unfolded at a snail’s pace, which made it so different from anything else on TV. Plot turns often took several episodes to fully unwind, but by then you understood it. The show invited water cooler — or in my case, playground — discussion. There is horrendous overacting, actors fumbled over their lines at times and some actors even played multiple parts. It didn’t matter. It all just added to the hypnotic, gothic vibe.
Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He is married and retired from his career as a nonprofit marketing executive.