On June 27, 1966, a serial drama on ABC started running that would remain as a force in pop culture for many years. That show, “Dark Shadows” created by my late friend Dan Curtis has either remained on TV or has been available on video since its inception. To this day, there are still “Dark Shadows” conventions held in various parts of the country almost each and every year. The surviving cast members attend these conventions and do whatever they can to keep the show alive.
When I was growing up on Long Island in the late 1960’s, this was the show that everyone ran home from school to watch because it was on at 4:00 pm in the afternoon. It almost became a cult to those of us that lived during those historic times of Martin Luther King, Woodstock, the Space Program, and the 1969 Mets. There were “Dark Shadows” toy figures, games and Barnabas Collins Vampire Teeth. It was an industry more so than any other soap opera in TV history. In fact, to some extent it probably helped to create merchandising as a concept in the entertainment industry. I confess that Davy Crocket Coonskin Hats were first, but nothing reached this level up to that point.
The memories of those times are now being relived by the HBO drama “True Blood.” In my opinion, “True Blood” is an updated version of “Dark Shadows” and appears to be getting more and more supernatural with each passing week, which is exactly what happened with “Dark Shadows.”
When “Dark Shadows” began in 1966, it was your standard run of the mill network soap opera. However, it had Gothic themes and dealt with secrets within the Collins Family. Early on, story lines were developed that dealt with ghosts, and an eternally living “phoenix.” Then, on November 17, 1967, the Vampire with a heart, Barnabas Collins was introduced.
Barnabas as portrayed by Jonathon Frid became as popular as Adam West and Burt Ward were for portraying Batman and Robin. Barnabas was a phenomenon. Everyone wanted to be Barnabas on Halloween. The character was simply genius. Prior to that point, Vampires were evil. Barnabas had pathos about him similar to Charlie Chaplin’s famous Tramp. Everyone could relate to him. Jonathon Frid elevated this soap character to pop superstar. In fact, a movie is currently being developed based upon the series to be directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas. Depp has been quoted as saying that he was obsessed with Barnabas in his youth.
After the success of Barnabas Collins, the show went all out with the supernatural. Eventually, it added witches (Angelique), warlocks and werewolves (Quentin Collins portrayed by the famous character actor David Selby).
As the show progressed until its demise in 1971 because of falling ratings, it became more a show of the era in addition to its increasing reliance upon the supernatural. The story lines involved time travel and parallel universes. At one point, the plot lines became very confusing. This turned out to be the beginning of the end. However, up until the end, it was a show that paralleled the times and the cultural revolution that was the late 1960’s. Psychedelica from that era was also addressed in some of the special effects.
“True Blood” now in its third season on HBO, started out similarly. It has been Gothic from the beginning and has always dealt with timely issues. In fact, it is quite clear that the Vampires in “True Blood” are an allegory for the GLBT movement which is at the forefront of social political issues right now.
At the beginning of the series, we are introduced to Sookie Stackhouse who is outstandingly portrayed by Anna Paquin. She is a telepath who can hear the thoughts of everyone except vampires. Vampires are accepted into mainstream culture because of synthetic blood that can sustain them. Thus, there is no need to suck the blood of mortals to survive. (Although, this happens quite often in the series, but always with a sexual tone.)
However, since the beginning of Season Two, the series has now started to copy “Dark Shadows,” by adding different supernatural beings almost every week. First there was the eternal maenad Maryann. Then, we were introduced to shape shifters, werewolves and, in just the last two episodes, were-panthers and faeries.
Also, similarly to “Dark Shadows,” “True Blood” has explored time shifting by showing flashbacks to Civil War, WWII and Ancient Nordics. I am wondering whether it will eventually have its characters time traveling as happened many times in “Dark Shadows.” Remember, first there were the flashbacks and then the “Dark Shadows” characters just started appearing in different time periods.
Is this the beginning of the end of “True Blood” as the plot lines are beginning to get more complicated as happened with “Dark Shadows?” Or, will Alan Ball be able to keep the story going and the ratings high? In any event, watching “True Blood” brings me back to my youth and the glory of the late 1960, early 1970’s. Maybe someone can do a series about the space program from those days and maybe get people interested in that again? Oh, I’m sorry Tom Hanks did and it did not work!
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