On Being on Dark Shadows From The Very Beginning ToThe Very End

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Hey, gang,

During the course of Dark Shadows'" run from the summer of 1966 to the early spring of 1971, I believe  that there were only three cast members, who were there for the entire run: Joan Bennett, Louis Edmonds and Nancy Barrett.  These three wonderful actors were there from the initial introduction of the contemporary Collinses to the rather disappointing and, quite frankly, sleep-inducing Collinses of 1840 PT.

Of course, there was one other original  DS actor, who almost made it to the end of the series in April of 1971, that being young David Hennesy, best known for his portrayal of the precocious and generally hell-raising David Collins.  I have wondered why David was not there for the conclusion of the series?  Did he just want to get off of the show?  (I believe  that David gave up acting not long after DS ended.)

Perhaps Dan Curtis and the Dark Shadows writers just could not come up with a character for David to play in the moribund and, thankfully, short-lived 1840 PT story line?

Do you have any ideas on David's apparently sudden and unexplained departure from DS?

Bob

[michael c]

by the start of the 1840 storyline it was clear David's time on the series was winding down...

despite "Tad" and "Carrie" launching the storyline and putatively being at it's center no sooner did it start then they were relegated to the background (with Hennesey in particular disappearing for weeks at a time) and never came close to the importance the setup implied. and I don't even recall how "Tad" was eventually written out of the period but it was an afterthought at most. Carrie hung around the periphery but not much came of that character either if I'm remembering correctly. a relatively useless "parallel time" version of the character was shoehorned into 1841PT but I got the impression they were just finishing out Kathy Cody's contract.

isn't the story that David wanted to move to California with his father or something to that effect? to attend a regular high school maybe? or maybe he was just done with the whole thing.

[Joeytrom]

Tad was written out of 1840 by having Quentin send him to Boston (which went against the implication he was killed by Gerard along with Carrie & Daphne at a later point in the story).  He appeared only in 5 episodes of 1840.

Had the show returned and stayed in the present, they would have had to recast.

[Uncle Roger]

Michael, the story that you cited is what Henesy's mother said during a Q&A at the 2002 Anaheim Festival. The kid simply wanted to live with his dad for a while. The few appearances that he actually makes in 1840 were supposed to keep the character afloat in case David decided to come back.

[Gerard]

I was one of those here who watched the original series from beginning to end and was the same age as Henesy.  Because of that, I often identified with him.  Interestingly, when he vanished from the series, back then, I took no notice.  I figured his character of David would reappear when the story returned to 1971.  Of course, it didn't (both his character and the series).

Now, decades later, I see the inconsistency of the 1840/41 storyline as Joeytrom pointed out.  He, along with Carrie, were suppose to be killed by Gerard.  None of that happened, or even came close to it.  That's why the whole 1840/41 plot-line is one of my least favorites (with some exceptions of certain scenes).  It made no sense, extending from the hauntings/doings of '95/'70/1840-41.  It was a horrible mess.  I much prefer PT41.  But that's another hash.

Gerard

[michael c]

it was certainly one of the show's odder pieces of plotting (and gaps in continuity) to set up an entire storyline and time period around a character (Tad) that ended up having virtually nothing to do with it.

by the summer of 1970 the show's producers must have had the general idea that Hennesey would soon be departing (his contract had likely expired) so unless they could have gotten him committed to an extended run on the show it's strange they wrote an entire storyline around him.

[michael c]

although not quite as dramatic it could be comparable to the setup for 1897 and then having Quentin disappear after just five episodes.

Tad was supposed to be a major player.

[Uncle Roger]

Points well taken, Michael. And, on a more traditional show, that's probably how things would have played out. Not quite so on under the not quite so benevolent dictatorship of DC. This is, after all, the person who told KLS that she was insane to leave the show, even though she was no longer under contract and was going to live in Paris with her fiancée.

But, at this point, the DS shark had not merely jumped. It was shot out of a cannon.

[michael c]

I agree.

by the 1840 episodes (if not before) the series was plagued by an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. I found them almost impossible to get through.

I thought the 1970 "parallel time" storyline was the last time the show felt at all fresh or energized.

[Uncle Roger]

I thoroughly enjoyed the parallel time story as well. I also quite liked the 1995 flash forward. It had some genuinely creepy moments.  But the show was sadly on a downward spiral, recycling too many elements at once. KLS, Henesy and other key players are gone. Louis Edmonds & Joan Bennett are largely sidelined. The show seemed to be operating on the idea that all that was needed was Collinwood, Barnabas, Julia and some variation on Quentin.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Points well taken, Michael. And, on a more traditional show, that's probably how things would have played out. Not quite so on under the not quite so benevolent dictatorship of DC. This is, after all, the person who told KLS that she was insane to leave the show, even though she was no longer under contract and was going to live in Paris with her fiancée.

But, at this point, the DS shark had not merely jumped. It was shot out of a cannon.

Uncle Roger,

A guy told me that he spoke with Lara Parker at a book signing event in Los Angeles a couple of years ago, and Ms. Parker told him that she thought the reason why DS was cancelled in the early spring of 1971 was because the show had become too boring, perhaps even better than Ambien or Lunestra in inducing a deep sleep.

Bob 

PS If DS had not only jumped-the-shark and been shot out of a cannon, then maybe the "slightly" florid Morgan Collins was blasted off in a Titan rocket!  

[michael c]

I thoroughly enjoyed the parallel time story as well. I also quite liked the 1995 flash forward. It had some genuinely creepy moments.  But the show was sadly on a downward spiral, recycling too many elements at once. KLS, Henesy and other key players are gone. Louis Edmonds & Joan Bennett are largely sidelined. The show seemed to be operating on the idea that all that was needed was Collinwood, Barnabas, Julia and some variation on Quentin.

there were a few high points (notably Virgina Vestoff's viperous Samantha)...

but otherwise it felt like the dog's dinner. another generic Quentin. another generic Trask. another generic Roxanne. a Pansey Faye knockoff thrown in for good measure (and no reason). and another generic Barnabas and Julia attempt to "save" so-and-so from such-and-such.

and then it all fizzled out without having anything to do with it's original premise. it was a mess.

[Vickis Ghost]

I agree with anyone, but I also think that all the time traveling got kind of boring.   

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I agree with anyone, but I also think that all the time traveling got kind of boring.

Vickis Ghost,

Yes, the time travel schtick did get a bit boring.  (I believe that one DS fan even wrote a serial about the Collins family during 1870 in Dale Clark's excellent DS magazine, "Inside the Old House," a number of years ago.)

However, when the then Sci-Fi Channel was airing DS back in the days before the world literally changed on 9/11/01, we all had a lot of fun with Barnabas and Dr. Hoffman's brief sojourn into the future, to the year 1995.

Gerard, one of our most senior and most insightful posters/cousins here, posted a thread in which he suggested that there might have been certain future "disasters," which Barnabas and Julia might have prevented while they were in 1995, such as HMOs, Roger Clinton and several more.

I also suggested that Mr. B. and Dr. H. might also have prevented the onset of disco music in the 1970s.  For example, I posited that if DS had remained on the air until the mid 1970s, then some truly "timeless" group, like say, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, would have recorded a song, entitled, "Disco Dark Shadows."    (Maybe the great Sir Monte Rock might have even played "Disco Dark Shadows" during a scene in that Brooklyn disco, where we got to see the eternally youthful John Travolta do his best Denny Terrio impression in that cinematic classic, "Saturday Night Fever"?)

The ultimate disco insult, however, would have been having to see Barnabas, entering Collinwood, and attired in a leisure suit. Ugh!!!

So, many of us still have a warm spot in our hearts for Barnabas and Julia's visit to 1995, albeit a very brief  visit.

Bob

[michael c]

I agree with anyone, but I also think that all the time traveling got kind of boring.

me too...

with the "failure" of the leviathan storyline and cast members leaving left and right I think the writers got "bored" or even "afraid" of "the present". they probably thought they had written themselves into a corner without a lot of "new" places to go with it. hence the 'summer of 1970' was essentially a retread of the Quentin storyline.

so they probably thought yet another sojourn into 'the past" would provide fresh storyline possibilities or at the very least "atmosphere" in terms of new sets and period costuming.

but the concept was largely played out. the final year covered seven trips back, forth and sideways "in time". 1970-1970PT-1995-1970-1840-1971-1841PT. and that's fresh after a nearly year long storyline set in 1897. that's a lot of time travel for one show. it became trite and clichéd.