| rdfs:comment | - Dark Shadows was a Soap Opera which ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. While the show did have Gothic themes, it was not until six months into the first season when it gained notoriety by introducing overtly supernatural elements. Though many soaps have since flirted with plots involving ghosts and psychic energy, Dark Shadows used almost every classic horror element (vampires, werewolves, zombies, magic users) as well as sci-fi tropes like Time Travel and alternate dimensions. The show's musical score was considered notable, receiving a Grammy nomination and spawning a top 20 Billboard hit.
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| abstract | - Dark Shadows was a Soap Opera which ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. While the show did have Gothic themes, it was not until six months into the first season when it gained notoriety by introducing overtly supernatural elements. Though many soaps have since flirted with plots involving ghosts and psychic energy, Dark Shadows used almost every classic horror element (vampires, werewolves, zombies, magic users) as well as sci-fi tropes like Time Travel and alternate dimensions. The show was also notable for having storylines taking place in different time periods and parallel worlds, allowing the same actors to play identical relatives or lookalikes. Dark Shadows has been an inspiration for numerous other supernatural series, including Kolchak the Night Stalker, Twin Peaks, The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One plotline even involved a vampire who gives an extended interview about the supernatural to a hack writer. The show's musical score was considered notable, receiving a Grammy nomination and spawning a top 20 Billboard hit. Dark Shadows is one of the only soaps of the era to boast a nearly complete archive. All but one episode survives intact, most as the original color videotapes, with a handful as black-and-white kinescopes. (An audio track exists for the "missing" episode, which was mated with publicity stills for later commercial release and syndication.) There was a short-lived television remake in The Nineties, as well as a Big Finish radio series. A Tim Burton movie version came out in 2012, with Johnny Depp portraying Barnabas Collins.
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