Dark Shadows
TV Show • 1966 • Drama
ReportDark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.
The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; indeed, as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.
Dark Shadows was distinguished by its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable storylines, numerous dramatic plot twists, unusually adventurous music score, and broad and epic cosmos of characters and heroic adventures. Now regarded as something of a classic, it continues to enjoy an intense cult following. Although the original series ran for only five years, its scheduling as a daily daytime drama allowed it to amass more single episodes during its run than most other science-fiction/fantasy genre series produced for English-language television, including Doctor Who and the entire Star Trek television franchise. Only the paranormal soap opera Passions, with a total of 2,231 episodes, has more.
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Someone describes a calf being found dead and drained of its blood
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It’s mentioned how a man snuck into a woman’s bed at night and “tried to bother her”
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Several children are almost killed at different points.
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Are there incestuous relationships?
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Is there domestic violence?
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Does a kid die?
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We first see the character of Sarah, who is around ten years old, as a ghost. Eventually, her death and the circumstances leading up to it are shown onscreen.
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Is there blood/gore?
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There is sometimes blood shown after a vampire character bites someone, and mutilated dead bodies are sometimes seen.
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Are there spiders?
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not real ones, party city type ones
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Is there ableist language or behavior?
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Ned Stuart is quite possibly the worst portrayal of a caretaker of a comatose person that is meant to be sympathetic that I have ever seen
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Are there sudden loud noises?
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Sometimes an actor screaming (Nancy Barett comes to mind as being a particularly loud screamer) or the phone ringing is unexpectedly loud, but overall not too bad.
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Are there bugs?
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sometimes a fly will land on a character's face or hair while they're talking. this was unintentional
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Is there copaganda?
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The Collinsport police never accomplish anything.
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Is there hate speech?
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An ethnic slur is exclusively used to refer to Romani characters. Multiple characters make derogatory remarks about their ethnic group as a whole.
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Does someone say "I'll kill myself"?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
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Does the abused become the abuser?
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Does a parent die?
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Naomi commits suicide, one character's father dies after being attacked, Edith (elderly grandmother of several characters) is shown on her deathbed...
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Does a woman get slapped?
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
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Is there a claustrophobic scene?
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Several characters end up buried alive at various moments.
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Does a plane crash?
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offscreen there is a mentioned plane crash
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Is the fourth wall broken?
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Not on purpose - several bloopers made it to air.
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Are there ghosts?
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Several ghosts appear prominently, as this is a gothic soap opera. Some of them are friendly, but several are antagonistic.
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Does someone die?
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Multiple characters are killed
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Does someone die by suicide?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
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Does someone attempt suicide?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
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Is there blackface?
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There is brownface used for several characters in the 1897 arc - they have mostly white actors play Romani characters (quite stereotypically, too). You can tell it's not exactly done in a way that's meant to be shocking to the viewer on purpose - the fact is that it was the 1960s when this was made, and "tanning" actors using makeup to make them appear more "ethnic" was still seen as acceptable by mainstream entertainment industry/was common practice at the time (see West Side Story earlier in the decade, putting even the already-Puerto-Rican Rita Moreno in makeup to make her "darker"). 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝. Dark Shadows does touch upon racism/prejudice faced by these characters - and the white characters are explicitly meant to be in the wrong for being prejudiced, which is specified later in the arc - but it's still often uncomfortable to watch. TLDR 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
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