Given that popularity, it created a new problem for the show: How do you keep a character around who spends his evenings murdering people? The answer was to make him more sympathetic. When he attempted to end the affair, Angelique, revealing herself to be a witch, cursed him with vampirism, setting him down his long, lonely path.
The audience felt pity for him, and many of the women wanted to mother him. In some ways, he was looked upon as a darker version of Santa Claus: friendly enough that you were intrigued by him, yet mysterious enough that he frightened you. The role of Barnabas Collins went to Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, though Sproat recalled that another close contender was actor and game show host Bert Convy. He was moving across the country to California and planned to take a position as a professor of drama.
However, the phone began ringing as soon as he entered his apartment. It was his agent on the other end, telling him about Dark Shadows. Frid was reluctant to audition at first, but was told it would be a short gig and extra cash that would help get him to California. Against his better judgment, he tried out for the role.
By soap opera standards, Dark Shadows had an extremely short life, running from June 27, to April 2, , producing 1, episodes over the course of those years. It also spawned wide-ranging merchandise, from board games to trading cards, posters, models, comic books, novels, and Halloween costumes.
There were even a variety of big and small screen spin-offs. So if it was that popular, why did the show only last five years? You needed subtitles to get it.
Dark Shadows was never known for being subtle, after all. As Dark Shadows was very popular with young people, this misapprehension caused by the film may have contributed to the significant drop in ratings that occurred around this time. Series creator Dan Curtis is often cited as being the major driving force upon the direction the various storylines would take. Without Dan Curtis at the helm the show ended up somewhat directionless and this may have been a strong contributing factor towards its cancellation.
The Dark Shadows Wiki Explore. Original Series. Revival Series. Characters Episodes Comics Actors. Recent blog posts Forum. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Edit source History Talk 0. This page looks at some of the reasons that may have led to its cancellation: Contents. Categories Uncategorized pages Add category. Cancel Save. Universal Conquest Wiki. Trailer Dark Shadows. Photos Top cast Edit. Grayson Hall Dr. Julia Hoffman as Dr.
Julia Hoffman …. Lara Parker Angelique as Angelique …. Dan Curtis. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit.
The story of Dark Shadows begins with newly hired governess Victoria Winters arriving at Collinwood, the Collins' estate in Collinsport, Maine in search of her mysterious origins. She soon is caught up in the strange events and mysteries that seem to surround the Collins family. Eventually, the Collins' "cousin from England", Barnabas Collins, arrives and takes the show in a new direction; his vampire curse introduces a new history of the Collins family.
Part of this revised history is the popular character of the witch Angelique whose jealously led to the tragic death of Barnabas' great love Josette and who placed the curse upon Barnabas. Did you know Edit. Trivia In an interview with writer Ron Sproat, he and fellow writer Gordon Russell had just met with the show's creator, Dan Curtis, where they were given the news that a vampire would be added to the show.
After the meeting, the two writers were on an elevator and it was at that moment that they decided that Barnabas would be "a reluctant vampire" with a conscience. It was the right decision, as Barnabas saved the show from the axe.
They kept him on as the lead when he was only supposed to be around for a few episodes. This incidentally made Barnabas Collins the first example of a sympathetic vampire seen on-screen. Goofs Jeremiah Collins's headstone is misspelled "Jerimiah Collins.
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