Carey Mansion, Newport, Rhode Island. Used as the
Collinwood Mansion for Dark Shadows. (Photo by Jim
McCullars)
June 27, 1966: Dark Shadows premieres on ABC. The show was created by Dan Curtis and based on an episode called "The House" written by Art Wallace and aired on Goodyear Playhouse in 1957. The original story "bible" had no supernatural elements. The action took place at the Collinswood Mansion, a 40 room house that was built in 1795 by Joshua Collins where trouble brewed within its walls.
Victoria Winters arrived at Collinswood as governess to David Collins. Vicki, an inquisitive young woman, sought out the strange family history. The set was eventually occupied by vampires, werewolves, ghosts, zombies, monsters, witches, and warlocks. Creatures not only traveled through time to both the past and future, but also to a parallel universe. The whole show was portrayed against the eerie background music provided by Robert Colbert.
The soap opera ran until April 2, 1971. In that time, over 200 cast members appeared in 1,245 30-minute episodes. Due to pre-empted holiday dates, news interruptions, and other vagaries of daytime TV "only" 1,225 shows were aired. One of the reasons for the unparalleled success was an airtime coup. The groundbreaking series ran at 4 PM Eastern / 3 PM Central – a time slot that permitted teenagers just home from school to turn in while adults were busy with household tasks, like making dinner.
The show has gained a cult following and remains in syndication even 30 years after it was cancelled. It was sold on VHS tape and is now available in DVD sets, one of only two soaps to reach this milestone (the other is the Australian Prisoner). There have been unsuccessful attempts to revive the series as well as movies based on Collinswood and its occupants. There is talk of making a new movie and Johnny Depp may get to fulfill a childhood dream and become one of his heroes, Barnabas Collins, the vampire.
" My name is Victoria Winters. My journey is beginning. A journey that I hope will open the doors of life to me and link my past with my future. A journey that will bring me to a strange and dark place, to the edge of the sea high atop Widows' Hill - a house called Collinwood. A world I've never known, with people I've never met. People who tonight are still only shadows in my mind, but who will soon fill the days and nights of my tomorrows." – Dark Shadows opening
"For most men, time moves slowly, oh so slowly, they don't even realize it. But time has revealed itself to me in a very special way. Time is a rushing, howling wind that rages past me, withering me in a single, relentless blast, and then continues on. I've been sitting here passively, submissive to its rage, watching its work. Listen! Time, howling, withering!" – Barnabas Collins
"Of course a woman is going to kill me. I wouldn't have it any other way!" – Quentin Collins
"I wonder why Willie went in the secret room? Maybe there's something in there he doesn't want anyone to see-maybe something... horrible!" - David Collins
More information on Dark Shadows.
Jonathan Frid played Barnabas Collins. (594 episodes)
Grayson Hall played Dr. Julia Hofmann. (474 episodes)
Nancy Barrett played Carolyn Stoddard. (402 episodes)
Joan Bennett played Elizabeth Collins Staddard. (387 episodes)
Comments
The house is Collinwood, not Collinswood.
There were only 1225 episodes, not 1245. On days when an episode didn't air due to a holiday or preemption, the episode number was skipped, so that Fridays always ended in a 0 or 5 episode number. While the final episode number was 1245 according to the production's episode numbering, there were not 20 "lost" or unaired episodes as the article seems to imply.
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I'm just over the moon that finally one of my all time favorite TV Soaps/as a youth the haunting Sci-Fi Horror Classic DARK SHADOWS 1966-1971 is finally coming to the big movie screen either in the yr 2010 or 2011. I hope that the new Dark Shadow's big movie screen Cast will be chosen with "wise" care for the original legendary Iconic DS Cast/Barnabas-Jonathin Frid, Quentin-David Selby, Angelique-Lara Parker, Carolyn-Nancy Barrett, Rev Trask-Lacy etc.,. the list of Icons actors that "breath life" into those characters this masterpiece TV Soap "we DS fans" hold most dear to our Hearts for Collinwood is very much our Mansion home, too. How chilly & scary, that often time that the COLLINWOOD Mansion looks very much like it's breathing! Daring you to enter into it's haunting massive doors...'can't wait! Lookin' forward to seeing Actor Johnny DEPP & Director Tim BURTON bring this much beloved Sci-Fi Horror TV Classic DARK SHADOWS to the big screen! Cheers.
Informative. Frid's romantic Barnabas ruled the night! Only one episode was lost--one from the 1841 PT period, where Catherine Harridge tells Bramwell Collins (Barnabas' son in this time band) that she is going to have their child--but the audio for that episode exists, and the video was recreated with an introduction and followup by Lara Parker, including clips of the actors in character. Yes, the mansion seemed to take on a life of its own. It and the original family home, The Old House--now Barnabas', deeded to him by his mother, Naomi, in 1795 upon his engagement to Angelique--were the focal points of much intrigue. Set designer Sy Tomashoff and his crew, including the set dressers, did a fabulous job of constructing and appointing the lavish interiors. In addition, they created one amazing mausoleum, haunt of Barnabas, gentleman vampire, in times of trouble. Lighting, wardrobe, and makeup--all superb--enabled a cast to-die-for the chance to utilize each most effectively.
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