Is Dark Shadows Dying? Can it Be Saved?

[David]

There have been bumps in the DS road before, but it's never been like this!
I wonder if the failure of the WB pilot was the final blow?

DS in syndication never enjoyed the sucess it enjoyed on ABC. All through the 70s & 80s, station after station cancelled the show 6 months or one year into the episodes, even after more episodes became available.
That's the sad truth of things.
A handful of PBS stations did OK with the show, but, for the most part, the show had lost most of it's audience in reruns.
(compare DS reruns to I Love Lucy, Twilight Zone, etc)

For whatever reasons, the '91 series failed.
Fox rejected a pilot script in 2002 & the WB
pilot was rejected amid a flurry of press.
Sci-Fi has no interest in showing DS again.
Other networks, including Soapnet, have said nay to DS reruns.

DS has never been deader then it now is.
So, what's the deal?
Is this it?
Is DS over?
Can it be revived in some form, or are MPI DVDs and fan/actor produced stuff
the end of the line?

David

[DStoDA]

I was reading a while back on the SOAPnet website an article about the shows they wanted to acquire for the channel. This was when DS was still on Scifi and they were saying how they really wanted to have DS on SOAPnet but they couldnt because Scifi had it. I think that when Dan Curtis had talks with Soapnet, they might have not been able to come up with an agreement. But I do know that Soapnet was really interested in DS so maybe in the future, they might still be interested.

[michael c]

this is a question that i've pondered as well.without the series being aired anywhere at present it's not attracting the attention of potential new fans.i wasn't even born when d.s. aired originally.it was catching the occasional episode on sci-fi that got me interested and i decided to start from the begining and watch it on video.
mpi can only market the same videos and dvds to the same group of fans for so long before everyone has everything and stops buying.without a steady stream of new customers the company could find itself in trouble.

the failure of the recent version isn't as problematic as the lack of exposure of the original series.no one saw it and the general public wasn't really paying attention to it's development(like we were)so they probably don't have an opinion of it one way or the other.but the original series needs to find an outlet to continue it's fanbase.
that said,i don't think the show is really "dying".sci-fi stopped running it relatively recently so maybe it needs time to "cool off" before another channel recognizes it's potential and brings it back.

[PennyDreadful]

 I don't think Dark Shadows is in any danger of dying, but it could use an outlet for re-runs in order to perpetuate more interest down the line.   

A handful of PBS stations did OK with the show, but, for the most part, the show had lost most of it's audience in reruns.

 Depends on the place.  Channel 58 out in Cape Cod showed everything from Barnabas' Intro up until half way through 1970 Parallel Time. 

Other networks, including Soapnet, have said nay to DS reruns.

  I believe the Horror Channel had major interest in showing DS if they ever get the netowk launched.

DS has never been deader then it now is.

 Nah.  DS is not dead.  It's UNdead.     I don't think interest in DS will ever die out, but I do think it has a niche audience. It a was huge hit in the 60s, but unfortunately I don't think there's enough interest (from the general public) in these days of boring reality TV and dumbed down television for a classy, well-written, gothic fantasy show like DS.  This is sad, but I think it's true.  I think the best way to make DS appeal to a large portion of the general public again would be through a motion picture made by a competent director who is into the subject matter, understands the show, and is preferably at least somewhat a fan of the show.  Maybe Tim Burton, who has a fondess for the gothic genre. 
     Until then, the fans and actors are keeping it alive and will continue to do so.  DS continues to attract people through the DVDs and the occasional merchandise (like the upcoming action figures).  Fans of this type of stuff (horror, fantasy, etc) often seek DS out when they find out about it.  Some of them become fans of the show.  It's a niche thing.  That's why it's a cult show.  Heck, it was listed in TV Guide's top cult shows of all time.   
      DS isn't going anywhere, but it might be awhile (if ever) until it appeals to a large portion of the general public again. 

~Penny Dreadful~

[Gothick]

Isn't the Gilmore Boarding House show a big hit?  It seems to me that the recent references to DS on that series mentioned here a few weeks back point to DS' firm position in the ranks of hip, cult, vintage pop culture.  Somewhere in between Twilight Zone and Boris Karloff's Thriller, perhaps.

I'd say that the fact that the series has been in print continuously on home entertainment VHS since the early 90s, plus the fact that the DVD sets appear to be sellling very briskly, shows that the show is far from in danger of disappearing.  In fact, since the start of the 1990s, DS has been more widely visible than at any time since the late Sixties--at least, to my eye (I was living abroad throughout much of the 1980s).

G.

[michael c]

one reason why the show might be having a hard time finding a new outlet is the massive volume of episodes plus its serial formula.where as a show like the "twilight zone" can be viewed on an individual basis and in random order d.s. needs to be followed regularly and viewed sequentially for it to make sense.that takes a lot of commitment on the part of the viewer and the channel airing it.

[Elmont]

 I don't believe that Dark Shadows will ever die. In the past some of the time slots that were given to the show were in the middle of the night or at a time when most of us couldn't watch. Dark Shadows may die from time to time but it always comes back from the grave. In my opinion this show will be around for generations to come. Just be patient and another station will pick up the show eventually, they always do.   Elmont...

[Raineypark]

Keep in mind that the 40th anniversary is coming up in 2006.

There is no way that THAT milestone will pass without notice.  It will be mentioned in various media forms and original fans who might not have kept up after all these years will be prompted to have another look.

For all we know there is already some outlet interested in the show....but is waiting for the anniversary to create buzz before launching another attempt at either a new series, a motion picture, or another run of the original.

Let's not bury DS prematurely.....we all know how badly THAT sort of thing turns out....  

[jennifer]

how long has it been off now? scifi had it off for a while before funny i
never watch scifi anymore i switched to direct tv and don't even know
what channel it is! are you listening scifi!

jennifer

[jimbo]

Keep in mind that the 40th anniversary is coming up in 2006. 

There is no way that THAT milestone will pass without notice.  It will be mentioned in various media forms and original fans who might not have kept up after all these years will be prompted to have another look.

For all we know there is already some outlet interested in the show....but is waiting for the anniversary to create buzz before launching another attempt at either a new series, a motion picture, or another run of the original.

Let's not bury DS prematurely.....we all know how badly THAT sort of thing turns out....   

I totally agree. If there is going to be a 2006 40th Anniversary new DS production, I would assume we will hear about it sometime this year as things are normally in pre-production a year prior to its actual filming. Let's hope. My best guess is that a new DS production will be a theatrical version. I think DC is going to be far more hesistant to have another person/network control a new DS version.(I can't say I am sorry to hear that the WB who last season picked up two dramas over DS {The Mountain and Jack and Bobby} and both dramas have been or will be cancelled).

Dark Shadows always seems to be in the media these days as recent posts have shown and sometimes in unusual ways like this one:
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050306/1044726.asp

There is plenty of "life" still left in the franchise and let us hope that DCP takes full advantage of the 40th DS Anniversary.

[Amy Jennings Fan]

how long has it been off now? scifi had it off for a while before funny i
never watch scifi anymore i switched to direct tv and don't even know
what channel it is! are you listening scifi!

I quit watchiing Scifi when they took it off too. Dark Shadows was the reason I watched Scifi. Now that they took it off I don't watch it anymore.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Dark Shadows always seems to be in the media these days as recent posts have shown and sometimes in unusual ways like this one

Boy, you just never know where DS is going to show up next. 

how long has it been off now? scifi had it off for a while before

A little over 14 months. It was off of Sci-Fi for a little over 15 months before it returned.

[stefan]

but the original series needs to find an outlet to continue it's fanbase.

Yes, but my question is what kind of fanbase are we talking here? I never watched the original series and became involved after catching a few SciFi episodes and started to buy MPI videos because I hated the constant commercial interruptions. Being an art school graduate and artist myself I tend to see creative things in terms of "works of art". I really see the original "Dark Shadows" as a highly creative (well, most of it) piece of American gothic fiction which happens to be a television series created in the 60's. After coasting through a series of Internet websites devoted to DS I became very dissapointed in finding most (actually all that I could see) fanbases focusing primarily on Dark Shadows bloopers, Jonathan Frid forgetting his lines, Dark Shadows festivals and meeting KLS "in person"...festivals where the old DS actors engage in humorous antidotes regarding Dark Shadows bloopers and blunders, Jonathan Frid forgetting his lines, and stage presentation such as singing and dancing. People seem to love it and that's great for them but for the rest of us....well, I find much of this reduces Dark Shadows, especially folks who did NOT grow up with the series, to kitsch, 60's garish, foolish monsters and goblins without cool special effects or legitimate thrills. i.e it's hard not to laugh at the obvious crinkling rug as a dead hand reaches through a grave. And, yes - Jonathan Frid DOES forgot his lines as 30% of the series will attest to. Unfortuately (and I know this from talking to my friends and my boyfriend, who is a part-time film critic) THIS kind of fanbase gives Dark Shadows a tacky and laugheable reputation to a new generation used to special affects and high production values.
So, what CAN Dark Shadows offer to those who do not have nostaligic memories? I believe it warrants analysis and debate. Much of what I have watched (early Barnabas and 1795) is genuinely fascinating. 70% of the time Joanthan Frid is memorizing and has such charisma in the role its hard to take eyes off him. The other acting is sometimes superb and the writing witty, subtle and often poetic. It offers a dark gothic atmosphere that will probably never be authentically reproduced or copied. Like many beautiful pieces of "Art" it is an original and stands alone (for better for worse). I just don't see another series, as well intentioned as it can be, will be able to touch what Dark Shadows was. I really believe if the original series is marketed with an eye towards its artistic atributes (not just as a horror vampire show) it will gain a legitimate and appreciative fanbase with newer audiences.

[Raineypark]

So, the problem for DS is that the tacky and laughable original fan base is getting in the way of the show's ability to attract new artistic fans?

Gee.....after almost 40 years of keeping this little gem alive, you'd think we deserved a bit more respect than that.

[Luciaphile]

THIS kind of fanbase gives Dark Shadows a tacky and laugheable reputation to a new generation used to special affects and high production values.

It shouldn't and doesn't matter why people follow something. DS has always had a somewhat nebulous position with the rest of the world. Even to the contemporary audiences who watched it. The contemporary articles always saw DS as a curiosity, even when it was hauling in viewers in record numbers. So what? Why does that matter?

I didn't start watching DS until the late 80s. I wasn't even a gleam in my mother's eye when the show first aired. But I've heard just as many interesting and articulate comments and arguments from the people who used to run home from school to catch DS as I have from the newer viewers like myself.