For a vintage television series roughly two years away from its fiftieth anniversary, I would say DS carries quite a bit of cachet, or "cred" or whatever you want to call it. When you think about the other series that were big at the time, such as PEYTON PLACE and THE BIG VALLEY, and especially when you compare it with any other daytime TV artifact from 1967-71, DS occupies a unique position in what we'll call current cultural discourse.
Fact: DS was, and to my knowledge remains, the ONLY soap opera ever to be issued IN ITS ENTIRETY to home video format.
Fact: Not only did that happen in a period running from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, DS became the only daytime series ever to be rerun IN ITS ENTIRETY on a popular network--not just once, but TWICE... on the Sci Fi network.
Fact: Not only has DS never, ever gone out of print on home video (and that's a truly incredible fact if you follow the vagaries of cult film releasing on various formats), it was even re-released on DVD in order to keep up with the times. I had presumed that only a small group of really dedicated fans would buy it, again, on DVD, but in FACT, it became even more popular in that format, and subsequently, via streaming where this has been enabled.
Even more amazing fact: thanks to the posts by Midnite and MB on this board, we're aware of just how often DS is referenced in the mass media. REALLY often for a series that might be perceived by some as the misfit kids' answer to STAR TREK. Most of the references are along the lines of this: "in a scenario reminiscent of classic vampire soap opera and its brooding hero Barnabas Collins..."
Further fact: whatever one may think of Depp Shadows, it was made, distributed internationally, had a huge profile and made money for the studio... perhaps not enough to be declared a hit by the suits, but certainly a more-than-just-respectable performance.
With all those facts impressively lined up--and I could quote more, but why bother--if some brainless media twit who can't remember anything that happened more than two weeks ago passes a disparaging comment about this revolutionary series and cultural phenomenon, one that has stood the test of time and become acknowledged as a justly-acclaimed media classic... well, frankly Miss Scarlett, do I care?
G.
