Sat Jun 27, 7:30 p.m. at UCLA

60th Anniversary Screening: ABC-TV’s Dark Shadows

Created by horror-maestro Dan Curtis (The Night Stalker, Trilogy of Terror), the soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–71) fused gothic supernatural elements and romance into complex storylines, becoming a pop culture phenomenon and running for over 1,200 episodes. Join us for a celebration of Dark Shadows, exactly 60 years to the day of its premiere, including the debut episode and rare archival footage.

In person: Introduction by actor Kathryn Leigh Scott (via video). Q&A with actor David Selby and historian Jim Pierson, editor of Dark Shadows Noir: Classic Black and White Photography From the Dan Curtis Productions Archive. Book signing with Pierson before the screening.

https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/archive-television-treasures-60th-anniversary-screening-abc-tvs-dark-shadows-2026-06-27



 

I read that this will be the final fan event.

Thanks for replying, I was in a bit of a hurry so I just copied an email from UCLA. I signed up for messages from "UCLA Film & Television Archive" mainly because I was interested in their restoration project announcements.

I'm very thankful that this series' episodes have survived, with very few exceptions unless I'm mistaken. Especially considering how much older U.S. daytime programming has been wiped -- usually with all-too-few recovery successes.

Thanks for replying, I was in a bit of a hurry so I just copied an email from UCLA. I signed up for messages from "UCLA Film & Television Archive" mainly because I was interested in their restoration project announcements.

I'm very thankful that this series' episodes have survived, with very few exceptions unless I'm mistaken. Especially considering how much older U.S. daytime programming has been wiped -- usually with all-to-few recovery successes.

About 10-15 episodes survive as black and white kinescopes, one episode is lost, except for some of its audio, but all the other over 1000 videotapes were miraculously saved/kept.

It's really amazing Dark Shadows was kept--with many game shows and soaps, even 1960s Johnny Carson Tonight Shows, the tapes were wiped and reused. Unfortunately, old videotapes are large and take up a lot of space.