Dark Shadows

Yesterday I finished watching the first of four seasons of Dark Shadows which are available for instant play on Netflix. There are 40 episodes per season, so I realize that a lot has been trimmed from the original series, but if any crucial details have been left out, I didn’t notice. Anyone who has ever watched a daytime soap opera in America knows that there’s a lot of repetition and plotlines and characters are introduced, hit dead ends, and then vanish without explanation. I’m guessing that this was the case when Dark Shadows originally aired back in the 60’s. If so, there’s a lot that can be cut without harming the integrity of the story.

I was too young for the series when it originally aired, but it ran in syndication a number of times while I was growing up. I caught stray episodes from time to time, and one summer when I was about ten or eleven, I watched faithfully nearly every day until school started again. But I’ve never had the opportunity to watch the show from start to finish in chronological order. I’ve always been fascinated by Dark Shadows, and I’m pleased to learn that the story itself--not just the setting, atmosphere, characters, and supernatural plot points--is very compelling.