Since there's news today that Johnny Depp and Tim Burton will make a big-screen version of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, I think it's appropriate that the TV show premiered on this day in 1966. It ran for around 25,000 episodes. It's weird to think about what this show was, a soap opera that happened to include vampires, werewolves, creepy mansions, and thunderstorms. I was mesmerized by this show as a kid. The theme is still haunting, and forget Barnabas Collins.

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There will NEVER be another show quite like DS. I was about five when I watched it, and there are some images and scenes I will never forget.

I watched many of the eps again about six years ago, and I still had a great time. For all those who bemoan the sets, meh. All of that stuff is exterior; what matters is the atmosphere and the quality of the actors and writers, which in large extent, were both excellent on this show!

That song and opening credits are still so creepy!! I haven't seen all that much of the show, but I did enjoy the DVD full of DS bloopers where someone called the Collingswood mansion Hollywood, flies landing on the faces of the actors, papier mache tombstones falling over, etc. :lol: I loved the scenes I saw between Kate Jackson and David Selby - pure electricity. Joan Bennett - a great matriarch, and of course, what else needs to be said about Jonathan Frid, the one and only Barnabas Collins? Until Twilight, he was probably the most loved vampire on screen ever!!

Some of the show's strongest and most memorable scenes do seem to involve Barnabas. I remember one where he is transported to a parallel world and finds his father in that world, and pleads with him to accept him. His father is repulsed by him and totally rejects him, saying that his son is dead and he must be a demon or something. Frid was awesome in that scene, playing Barnabas' agony and longing so well.

Another great one is also in this parallel world where Barnabas encounters Angelique and realizes what she is up to, and he reveals that her powers have no effect upon him, a revelation he obviously enjoys, lol. Very powerful.

This was a good show and I'm glad I have seen it.