35 years ago today- the final episode aired on ABC!

[Charles_Ellis]

It still amazes me how cavalier ABC was in cancelling the show in such a willy-nilly fashion.  How could the show go from being the darling of ABC Daytime to cancellation in two years?  In retrospect, the show could've been saved with some new writers to relieve the overworked Hall and Russell.  Also, Curtis was planning to bring Diana Millay back and had even asked Roger Davis about returning.  On the other hand, it looks like Curtis was eager to move on to Hollywood to begin the next phase of his career.  Today, in observing this bitter anniversary, it is made more bitter with the recent loss of the big boss himself.  Come share your memories about those final days in '71 and give opinions about the cancellation......

[michael c]

if i had been a fan at the time i'm sure i would have been devastated by the show's cancellation.

but perhaps there is another way to look at it.perhaps five years was the perfect amount of time for the show to tell it's story.it created a perfect time-capsule.

there is nothing more depressing than a show that overstays it's welcome and continues as cast members and the audience drifts away.maybe the show said what it had to.from what i've always heard several of the key cast members were ready to move on.jonathan frid himself has said in interviews that they just sort of "ran out of gas".the show in the "present time" was sort of spent.they could have continued with the time travel stuff but it was starting to get further and further away from it's origins.between 1968 and 1970 they crammed so much in that by 1971 there wasn't much else they could do and keep it fresh.

as much as i like diana millay i doubt she could have saved the show had people like frid and grayson wanted to leave(and certainly not roger davis).what i find more disturbing than the cancellation of the show itself was that they chose to go out in a parallel time period without any reference to the characters first introduced.

as a contemporary viewer i've found the five year cycle to be quite satisfying.

[arashi]

I wasn't even a twinkle in my mother's eye yet in '71 but I have to agree with you in that fresh blood (so to speak) in the writing department could have prolonged the show a bit more.

I think it is the really great shows that end before they should that everyone (who watched it) remembers.

*coughbrimstonecough* Damn you FOX!

[petofi]

If it had survived long-term, DS would have typically changed with each cycle of new actors (a new generation, if you will), much like like every other soap opera.  We certainly wouldn't remember it in the "time capsule" way that is being discussed here.  I think that DS would be characterized more like many other soaps, had it survived for many more years.  There would have probably had to have been a softening and slowing of the show from its hard-core gothic/supernatural base.  You would have probably seen a return to the "Jane Eyre" type atmosphere, with more emphasis on typical soap themes: romance, conflict, marriages, etc.  These themes typically are higher percentage in terms of long-term success in daytime.  However, every so often, the show could have erupted back into the supernatural essence that made it a hit originally.  You would see scenarios like "the return of Barnabas," much as GH recently saw the return of Scorpio.  An interesting "what if" to think about, for sure.

Petofi

[Joeytrom]

 If DS was on for like 15 years or more or even to the present, it most likely would not resemble anything at all like it was originally.

Can you imagine that there would be recasts of beloved characters over the years as other soaps have gone through? (4 Roger's, 3  Liz's, 6  Carolyn's, 11 David's, 9 Amy's, etc)  How many more illegitimate  brothers or sisters would Roger or Liz aquire?  Or sons and daughters, ex-lovers, unknown ex-wives, etc for other characters.  They would have two or more new families in town with no supernatural connections.  The supernatural theme would have faded over time and the show becomes more generic soap opera like.  It most likely would never have been syndicated at all as it was still on the air and the early shows would have been largely forgotten and never seen perhaps till the internet came around and then the first five years as a whole would probably never be broadcast or for sale.  The two movies would still be around though of course.  Not likely a 1991 or 2004 remake.

[Gothick]

Glorioski, was it really 35 years ago?  Damn, I'm OLD!

As I've shared many times before, I'd read the show was going off the air.  That didn't make the indignity of the final episode any easier to bear.  I so desperately wanted one final glimpse of Barnabas, Julia and "today's" Collinwood before they rang down the curtain.   Sadly, it was not to be.

It was really bizarre when I tuned in at 4 p.m. the following Monday and in place of my beloved series was PASSWORD. Ugh!

Typing this now, I'm realizing just how much I've changed even though my love for the series has remained a constant.  I've lost all interest in current television.  I missed the final season of a show I had been following, Queer as folk, and I'm wondering whether I'll even bother watching the season when it is released on DVD eventually.  I heard the last season of that show really stank.

Although the final year of Dark Shadows had its dodgy moments, there were also some wonderful things.  I particularly loved the storyline involving John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, and Grayson Hall in the PT 1841 story.

G.

[ClaudeNorth]

I've always felt that the final present day episode would have been a perfect final episode for the series.  There was a definite sense of everything being resolved and the tone of those last scenes had a lovely peacefulness about them.

My only regret is that they didn't find a way to bring back Alexandra Moltke at the end, if only for one episode, as a nod to those viewers who remembered that it all started with Vicki.

[Raineypark]

I've always felt that the final present day episode would have been a perfect final episode for the series.  There was a definite sense of everything being resolved and the tone of those last scenes had a lovely peacefulness about them.

My sentiments exactly.  That last scene of walking out the door on the way to the Historical Society event was just so perfectly normal and appropriate for the founding family of the town.

[Sandor]

Could you imagine the final show being similar to that infamous "Dallas" cliffhanger when Victoria Principal (Pam) walked into the bathroom and found Patrick Duffy (Bobby), whose character had died the previous season, taking a shower... so the entire previous season had been chalked up to a dream??!
Picture Alexandra Moltke on the last episode of DS in '71, being awakened from her slumber and realizing she's still on the train from the foundling home to Collinsport in 1966! The last 5 years have been a dream, and she has yet to actually meet the Collins family! 

[Raineypark]

Sheesh!...for a dream THAT long, she'd have to have been travelling on the Trans-Siberian Rail Road!

[Ian]

Could you imagine the final show being similar to that infamous "Dallas" cliffhanger when Victoria Principal (Pam) walked into the bathroom and found Patrick Duffy (Bobby), whose character had died the previous season, taking a shower... so the entire previous season had been chalked up to a dream??!
Picture Alexandra Moltke on the last episode of DS in '71, being awakened from her slumber and realizing she's still on the train from the foundling home to Collinsport in 1966! The last 5 years have been a dream, and she has yet to actually meet the Collins family! 

I can remember back when Days of our Lives had the "Salem Stalker" storyline. They had killed off nine contract players, and a lot of people were saying that one character (Marlena) was going to wake up, and it would all be a dream. That was a good storyline though. I always thought serial killers brought up ratings. XD

[BuzzH]

I have to agree that it ended at the right time.  If for no other reason, it probably would NOT have been syndicated so much nor realeased on VHS/DVD.  Frid was actually, if I'm not mistaken, playing those last few months w/out a contract (I think his expired near the end of 1840) and he only agreed to stay w/the show if they gave him a different character, hence the arrival of Bramwell.  I know had I been watching as religiously back in the day as most everyone here, I wouldn't have been able to take re-casts.  It was hard enough w/the few they did (although I must say, the new Sam, Burke, Willie) were welcome replacements.

Although I have no real problem w/it ending in PT, the reason being this ending gave birth to all the wonderful fan fiction out there, I can see where Gothik's coming from, it was frustrating to not be able to "say goodbye" to the RT denizens.

Claude made an excellant point that the last ep w/Barn & Julia walking through the drawing room doors and out of CW would have been an excellant way to wrap everything up.  And Sandor's idea of the whole thing being a dream is a good one too.