Dark Shadows

No, I’m not talking about the recent Tim Burton movie, I’m talking about the original TV show.

It premiered in 1966 as a Gothic soap opera about a governess coming to a mysterious house in Maine. It veered into the supernatural with a ghost story, and became the hottest show on TV with the arrival of a vampire named Barnabas Collins.

Die-hard fans of the show still meet occasionally to celebrate its legacy.  

I am not a “die-hard fan”, but Drew is.  I’ve gone to Dark Shadows events, though, and I always enjoy myself.  

There was a convention in Tarrytown, NY a couple of years ago, featuring panel discussions with some of the cast members, clips from the show, memorabilia auctions, and lots of tables of Dark Shadows merchandise ...

Yesterday we went to the world premiere of a documentary film, Master of Dark Shadows, which celebrates the life of Dan Curtis, who created the original show.  The event was held at the Paley Center for the Media,  a museum devoted to the history of television.  The center is located on West 52nd Street

Curtis got his start in TV by selling a golf show to CBS.  After he created Dark Shadows, he made numerous TV movies like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and theatrical releases such as The Night Stalker.  His masterpieces, however, are the two miniseries based on Herman Wouk’s novels, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.  He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his work.  The new documentary references these miniseries, but focuses on Curtis as creator of the Dark Shadows franchise — the original series, the two theatrical movies based on the series, the 1990’s reboot of the series.

After the movie was shown, there was a panel discussion with some of the surviving members of the cast, most notably Lara Parker and Kathryn Lee Scott.  

Afterwards there was a “dinner reception” with the cast at the Empire Hotel.  The hotel is on West 63rd St., right near Lincoln Center, and our event was in the rooftop lounge.  Lovely venue, but the party was a bit of a disappointment.  It was billed as a dinner reception but was more like a cocktail party.  Fun, but not what we were expecting.

Overall, though, a fun afternoon and evening.