Dark Shadows (later referred to as Dark Shadows: The Revival) is an American prime time gothic soap opera television series that aired on NBC from January 13 to March 22, 1991. A remake of the 1966–71 ABC daytime gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, 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 at the great estate of Collinwood in Collinsport, Maine; vampire Barnabas Collins being released from his coffin; Dr. Hoffman's attempt to cure Barnabas' vampirism medically; and, finally, Victoria's time travel 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, whose parent company had produced the two earlier theatrical films, House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows (now owned by Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment Co.). A majority of the series was filmed at the Greystone Park and Mansion in Beverly Hills, California, and some period wardrobe from the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons was used.

Cast Main cast members Actor Role(s) Time Episodes Total Ben Cross Barnabas Collins 1991 12 1790 Barbara Blackburn Carolyn Stoddard 1991 9 Millicent Collins 1790 Jim Fyfe Willie Loomis 1991 12 Ben Loomis 1790 Joanna Going Victoria Winters 1991 12 1790 Josette Du Prés Joseph Gordon-Levitt David Collins 1991 10 Daniel Collins 1790 Veronica Lauren Sarah Collins 1991 9 1790 Ely Pouget Maggie Evans 1991 8 Barbara Steele Dr. Julia Hoffman 1991 12 Countess Natalie Du Prés 1790 Roy Thinnes Roger Collins 1991 11 Reverend Trask 1790 Michael T. Weiss Joe Haskell 1991 11 Peter Bradford 1790 Jean Simmons Elizabeth Collins Stoddard 1991 11 Naomi Collins 1790 Lysette Anthony Angélique Bouchard 1991 8 1790

Supporting cast members Actor Role(s) Time Episodes Total Michael Cavanaugh Sheriff George Patterson 1991 10 André Du Prés 1790 Stefan Gierasch Professor Michael Woodard 1991 10 Joshua Collins 1790 Eddie Jones Sam Evans 1991 6 Bailiff Henry Evans 1790 Julianna McCarthy Mrs. Johnson 1991 12 Abigail Collins 1790 Rebecca Staab Daphne Collins 1991 3 Steve Fletcher Deputy Jonathan Harker 1991 4 Wayne Tippit Dr. Hyram Fisher 1991 1 Rif Hutton Paramedic 1991 1 Hope North Gloria1991 1 Michael Buice Muscles 1991 1 J. B. & The Niteshift Roadhouse Band 1991 1 Georg Olden Gardener 1991 1 Basil Langton Reverend 1991 1 Bruce Barbour Deputy 1991 1 Eddie Hailey Deputy 1991 1 Charles Lane Antique Dealer 1991 1 Ellen Wheeler Phyllis Wicke 1991 5 1790 Adrian Paul Jeremiah Collins 1790 3 Laurel Wiley Girl 1790 1 Courtenay McWhinney Crone 1790 1 Apollo Dukakis Reverend Amos 1790 2 Shawn Modrell Ruby Tate 1790 1 Richard Burns Customer 1790 1 Robert S. Telford Innkeeper 1790 1 Brendan T. Dillon Judge Isiah Braithwaite 1790 2 Dick Valentine Jury Foreman 1790 1 Joanne Dorian Nurse 1790 1 Ralph Drischell Dr. Roberts 1790 1 Donald Wayne Minister 1790 1

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 two-hour premiere aired on January 13, 1991 and Episodes 2 and 3 were presented as a two-hour block the next evening. The series debuted to great success, averaging a 22 share for the first three episodes. Due to the onset of the Gulf War, fully televised on all broadcast networks, NBC was often forced to preempt Dark Shadows, causing ratings to decline as the show struggled to maintain its audience.

In addition to the war, some blame the decreasing ratings on the network's promotional focus on the horror and vampire themes rather than the romantic fantasy elements. With the season finale 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.

Home 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 Entertainment, 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" (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 VHS 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 and Chiller. Since 2009, the series has been available for viewing online on Hulu. It was removed sometime later.

See also List of vampire television series

References

External links