'Dark Shadows (also known as "Dark Shadows: The Revival") was a Syndication network drama\horror series developed by Dan Curtis. It is a re-imagining of the 1966-1971 Syndication soap opera of the same name.
The show aired from January 13 to March 22, 1991, lasting for one season & 12 episodes. It was produced by Dan Curtis Productions and MGM Television.
Plot[]
When a modern-day groundskeeper opens up the Collins family crypt during a treasure hunt, Barnabas Collins, the 200-year-old family vampire, emerges to begin feeding on the living again.
Cast[]
- Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins
- Joanna Going as Victoria Winters / Josette Du Pres Collins
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as David Collins / Daniel Collins
- Michael T. Weiss as Joe Haskell / Peter Bradford
- Lysette Anthony as Angelique Bouchard
- Roy Thinnes as Roger Collins / Reverend Trask
- Jean Simmons as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard / Naomi Collins
- Barbara Steele as Dr. Julia Hoffman / Countess Natalie Du Pres
- Barbara Blackburn as Carolyn Stoddard / Millicent Collins
- Jim Fyfe as Willie Loomis / Ben Loomis
- Veronica Lauren as Sarah Collins
- Julianna McCarthy as Mrs. Johnson / Abigail Collins
- Ely Pouget as Maggie Evans
- Eddie Jones as Sam Evans / Bailiff Henry Evans
- Michael Cavanaugh as Sheriff George Patterson / Andres Du Pres
- Stefan Gierasch as Professor Michael Woodard / Joshua Collins
- Adrian Paul as Jeremiah Collins
- Rebecca Staab as Daphne Collins
Production[]
Having declined several previous inquiries about reviving Dark Shadows, Dan 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, he received co-writing credit on only two completed episodes.
Ratings & 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.
Even though the series debuted to great success and watched by nearly 1 in 4 households, the ratings declined as the show struggled to find an audience.
Some fans blame the show's declining ratings on the onset of the Gulf War, and the focus of Syndication's promotions on horror and vampire themes instead of romantic fantasy themes.
With the 12th and last episode of the season ranked 64th among 83 shows, "Dark Shadows" was cancelled. Syndication received over 7,000 letters of protest from disappointed fans, who also picketed network headquarters in both Los Angeles and New York City.