Yesterday I purchased and watched Dark Shadows Fan Favorites, a compilation of nine episodes from various plot lines in the series. For the people who cannot afford the massive 131 disc complete series set (I am among them) this is a good compromise. Boiling down 1225 episodes into 9 on a single disc is no easy task, but the end result here is like having a Dark Shadows festival hosted by the still-lovely Kathryn Leigh Scott in your own home. Ms. Scott gives a brief overview of the series and gives us a synopsis of each episode. The episodes themselves are taken from the original tape masters and are, except for the first episode, in color. The plot lines, because of the nature of the small amount of episodes here are hard to follow for the newcomer to the series, but this was, I think, designed for the longtime fan like me, who used to watch the show when I came home from school all those years ago. The famous flubs are, of course, in evidence and I for one wouldn't have it any other way. This show wasn't nicknamed "Mic Shadows" for nothing as the microphone shadow appears in nearly every show. The funniest flub comes when Grayson Hall (Dr. Julia Hoffman) struggles to remember her next line for about six seconds before Jonathan Frid (Barnabas) saves the exchange with an adlib. Acting wise the show holds up, and one of the biggest surprises comes in the episode set in 1995 when Nancy Barrett (Carolyn) chews up the scenery playing an older, mad Carolyn. She is terrific. All in all this is a disc with a lot of appeal for the dedicated Dark Shadows fan. Buy it and have a festival of your own.

I just bought it too and liked it very much. I caught the flub by the young David and wondered why they didn't cut and do it over, it was fun to see.