Since Dark Shadows first appeared on ABC in 1966, I have been fascinated by the show. I loved all that Gothic soapy stuff -- the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, ghosts and other creatures. When it went off the air, I was so sad. No more Barnabas Collins or Julia Hoffman, no more Elizabeth, Roger or Angelique. After school television wouldn't be the same. Of course, somehow I survived.
Fast forward to about the 90s. I am home sick one day and lying on the couch, flipping through channels. What do I find but Victoria Winters, getting off the train in Collinsport, Maine. I couldn't believe it! There was my favorite soap, on the SciFi channel for an hour Monday-Friday. I was once again hooked.
I did see all the goofs that I didn't remember seeing before -- it was the early days of videotape, I believe and edits were hard to do -- the funny scenes where one of the actors couldn't remember his or her lines, the furtive glances at the teleprompter. But I didn't care; it was Dark Shadows, man! I was so excited.
When the revival series came to television in 1991, I made my poor husband watch it with me. Neither one of us was too impressed and we were surprised that it was soon cancelled. For me, it was the fact, that to me, no one can play Barnabas Collins except Jonathan Frid; and well, maybe Johnny Depp.
Back when I was watching it on SciFi, I decided to do some research on "where are they now?" with the Dark Shadows actors. I discovered a whole world I didn't know existed -- fan fiction sites, actor sites, discussion groups (on Yahoo groups alone, there must be about 25 or more), show sites, you name it, it's out there. There is even a festival, now in its 27th year. I started joining discussion groups and found a few kindred spirits out there who still love the show; despite its age and sometimes questionable storylines -- remember the Leviathans? Barnabas comes back from 1897 (lots of time travel and parallel world stuff on the show. It was great!), he brings back this box with a bunch of snakes on top. Inside the box is the entity soon to be known, as the entity ages, as Joseph the baby, Alexander the six-year-old, Michael the teenager (boy, he had some major hormone issues going on) and then Jeb, the adult. It was the worst storyline and got so confusing at one point that the folks who made the show had practically a half hour show to clarify what the heck was going on.
I have also met, in person, a number of these fans. And by and large, they are all good people, leading ordinary lives, working ordinary jobs, with kids and houses and all that goes with it. But we all share something in common -- our love of Dark Shadows. Not everyone is old like me -- I was 9 when Dark Shadows first hit the airwaves -- some are young people who have discovered the campy fun of the show. I went to a Dark Shadows festival in Anaheim, Calif. in 2002 and met a number of the stars from the show. Most were very gracious with us rabid fans -- I never met more patient people in my life. Those folks like David Selby and Kathryn Leigh Scott, Marie Wallace and others must get very tired of people talking about Dark Shadows -- after all, it went off the air in 1971 -- must you would never know it.
I also met my crush -- Jonathan Frid -- when I attended one of his one-man shows in 2001 in Crawfordsville, Ind. The show was terrific and he was nice to us crazy fans, too. I told him I was from Hermiston, Oregon, where we grow the best watermelons and potatoes in the world -- he didn't seem too impressed. LOL
Enough for tonight.
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