1969 Moon Walk vs. Dark Shadows - Historical Significance

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I always thought DC owned the master tapes too and also remember reading that he owned the show and was the 1 to keep it preserved. i think i read it in famous monsters magazine.

I've no doubt that you've read it. I've read it many times myself. But sadly there's a great deal of misinformation circulated about DS.  Even sadder, look how much misinformation is in the PomPress books - one would expect them to be far more accurate than they are...

anyway if abc owned it why didnt the episodes say at the end of each episode, "AN ABC TV PRODUCTION"? the episodes always said "A DAN CURTIS PRODUCTION"

Probably because DCP produced it.  

[Midnite]

I have scholarly proof: in his new book on DC, Jeff Thompson clearly states it was Curtis' idea, owing to Curtis' career background in syndication sales before he became a producer.  He foresaw the viability of DS in possible future syndication- a market he knew all about.

Well, there's no citation for that one sentence about saving the episodes, and the author states in the book's preface that some of his information came from his fellow DS fans.

He also claims, in the intro, that ShadowGram scooped Variety with news of the Depp/DS project by a day (p. 10), and yes, ShadowGram's email update arrived in fans' mailboxes hours before they could get their hands on a print edition, but comparing electronic info to news in print is like apples and oranges, and the fact is that Variety had the information on the wires and the announcement was already appearing on the internet on the evening before ShadowGram sent it out.

[Nancy]

the fact is that Variety had the information on the wires and the announcement was already appearing on the internet on the evening before ShadowGram sent it out.

Variety is online and updated constantly.  I saw the announcement on Variety Digital but not until a day or two after the announcement was made but it was before the ShadowGram announcement was sent out.  Depp and company are going to release their news to the trade papers first, not a fan newsletter.   ShadowGram gets its information from the trades (considered official news) and from DCP.

nancy

[The Doctor and K9]

I don't think that all hope is lost that the missing moon footage might be found.  Broadcast history is full of cases in which missing items have turned up, even after extensive searches.  The first Trek pilot was once thought to have been destroyed by NBC.  It turned up, misfiled.  Many of the Doctor Who eps were found, after extensive searches were abandoned, in various nooks and crannies at the BBC.  Some day, someone might open an archive and find the tape mis-filed.  It's a long shot, but I think it's stil possible.

[joe integlia]

its hard to believe that if abc owned the tapes that no mention of abc is ever listed on the credits. primetime shows from the same time period like THE INVADERS would say "in association with the abc television network" on the credits. a sharp contrast from today when even if a show is produced by abc and shown on another network, like ghost whisperer, the abc logo appears at the end of each show.