1795: Nathan Forbes

35 years later, and I still can't get enough of Joel Crothers.

1966: Carolyn and Liz

Joel Crothers on the Edge of Night

The Beginning and the End ...

 ... of Angelique.

David Selby Has Sideburns ...

...and he wants to share them with you.  (Yes, you.)

1991: Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins

Do you think, should this pilot actually become a reality, they'll have a Barnabas?  I think they should (and an Angelique, and a Julia, and a Quentin), but it's a possibility that, per Star Trek the Next Generation, the new DS would have all new characters ... which I'm kind of okay with ...

The Possibility of a New Dark Shadows Revival Looms ...

Thanks to my darling friend Fran, I just found out about this astounding possibility ...

‘Dark Shadows’ Gets New Blood With Sequel Series In the Works At the CW From Writer Mark B. Perry

By Mike Fleming Jr

Mike Fleming Jr

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Film

@DeadlineMike

September 9, 2019 2:47pm

ABC

EXCLUSIVE: The CW and Warner Bros Television have made a deal to develop Dark Shadows: Reincarnation, an hourlong gothic horror drama based on the 1966 Dan Curtis-created cult classic TV soap opera. The pilot will be written by Mark B. Perry, whose credits include Revenge, Ghost Whisperer and Brothers & Sisters. He will be exec producer along with Amasia Entertainment’s Michael Helfant, Bradley Gallo and Tracy Mercer, along with Tracy Curtis and Cathy Curtis.

The re-imagined show will be a modern-day continuation of the strange, terrifying, and sexy saga of the Collins family of Collinsport, Maine — a mysterious, influential, publicity-shy group hiding a ghastly secret: For the past 400 years, they’ve lived under a curse that bedevils their blue blood with every imaginable supernatural creature and horror. The intention here is to harken back to the original, which was so popular it actually saw Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid become as popular in the teen magazines as the young heartthrobs of the moment, for his role as the vampire Barnabas Collins.

As a kid, Perry ran home from school to catch the gothic soap — it aired each weekday after school — and for the past two years had been aggressively pursuing the rights.

Said Perry: “As a first-generation fan, it’s been a dream of mine to give Dark Shadows the Star Trek treatment since way back in the ’80s when Next Generation was announced, so I’m beyond thrilled and humbled to be entrusted with this resurrection. And while I could never hope to fill Dan Curtis’ very large shoes, I do aspire to carry them a little farther into the future. I also want to reassure the fans of the original that this version will treat the show’s mythology with the same reverence given to Star Trek, but will also make the show accessible for audiences who aren’t yet familiar with the macabre world of the Collinses. My plan is to take as few liberties as possible with the Dark Shadows canon, while bearing in mind a quote from a 1970s episode delivered by the inimitable Oscar-nominee Grayson Hall as Dr. Julia Hoffman: ‘The Collins family history is not particularly famous for its accuracy.’”

Curtis’ daughters Tracy and Cathy Curtis brought the iconic property to Amasia’s Mercer, with the hope of revitalizing and introducing their father’s legacy to a new generation. The two Tracys met when they worked together on CBS’s hit drama, Madam Secretary, where Mercer was a producer and Curtis was an editor. “I knew Tracy was a die-hard fan of my father’s work and would protect his vision by bringing on someone who understood how special this property is,” Tracy Curtis said. “My expectations were surpassed when she introduced us to Mark and I heard his incredible take. I felt my father was watching from above and smiling down on us. Tracy and I couldn’t be happier to have Mark take viewers back to Collinwood. Mark has opened up our father’s universe with fresh storylines and new characters that will delight original fans even as they thrill younger viewers.”

Mercer added, “Mark’s talent, unique take, and absolute fanboy love for Dark Shadows made him our ideal showrunner.” Helfant, also a first-generation fan, said, “We were thrilled to be in a competitive situation with the pitch for DSR. Gaye Hirsch and her team have a stellar track record with smart genre programming, so The CW makes total sense for this new incarnation of the godfather of horror TV.”

Amasia Entertainment is in pre-production on John Patrick Shanley’s Irish romance feature film, Wild Mountain Thyme, starring Emily Blunt, Jon Hamm, Jamie Dornan and Christopher Walken. Their Sundance thriller, Them That Follow starring Olivia Colman, Walton Goggins, Kaitlyn Dever, Alice Englert and Jim Gaffigan, is currently in theaters. The company is also developing a film from the Emil Ferris graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, and has at CBS Studios an untitled Hartley Voss (Orange is the New Black) created political drama with Ted Humphrey the show runner.

Curtis himself took a couple of cracks at reviving Dark Shadows in a 1995 (sic) series and 2005 telepic (sic), and Tim Burton directed a campy feature on the subject.

***

Here's a link to the article:  https://deadline.com/2019/09/dark-shadows-cw-warner-bros-television-barnabas-collins-mark-b-perry-dan-curtis-1202729676/

Focused Cassandra is Focused

On ... DESTRUCTION!  And bad dreams. 

Dark Shadows Comic Strip Season 6 Episode 10

Dr. Julia Hoffman Is NOT Pleased

1991: Barnabas Collins, with Candy Corn Eyes

1968: Barnabas and Julia

Lara Parker Signing Autographs

And again in that voluminous violet top.

Lyndhurst in the Shadows

Dark Shadows Comic Strip Season 6 Episode 9

1796 Redux (the first time): Angelique Hates Your Girlfriend

House of Dark Shadows: Every Wedding Needs a Witness

....and you will be witness to this one.  Yes, you.

1968: Joe and Maggie, So Much in Love

David Selby

1897: Jamison in the Graveyard

Dark Shadows Comic Strip Season 6 Episode 8

House of Dark Shadows: Deleted Greenhouse Scene

I'll bet KLS looooooooooved this.

The Cane of Barnabas Collins

Lara on Location

Some on location shots from Tarrytown while Lara Parker filmed Night of Dark Shadows.  I used to think this was leopard print without really looking too closely; but as you can see, it's snakeskin!  She wore it later in an episode of Police Woman.

The Woman Behind Michael Stroka's Giant Hair

That would be Edith Tilles.  Go, Edie!

The Compleat Wardrobe of Angelique Collins (et al): In the 2nd Dimension

Concluding our look at the fits and fashions of Angelique (etc.) Collins, our final installment will examine the Angelique of the 2nd dimension, beginning with Joe Certa and the Gold Key world of Dark Shadows, which, occasionally, bears a resemblance to its TV incarnation.

The Angelique of the Gold Key -- one hesitates to call it a "universe", but I suppose we must -- of the Gold Key universe has red hair and is inordinately fond of purple, as we shall see.

 For one issue only she incarnates as Cassandra, and the only thing separating her from Angelique is the length of her neckline.

Side by side, they really are about as different in appearance as Patty and Cathy Lane.

Around the same time as the Gold Key comics were exploring Collinwood of 1968, Frenchy was adding her (her?) illustrations to the teen magazines that help propagate the popularity of the show.  Here is their interpretation of Angelique/Cassandra:

Frenchy hits the mark more than Gold Key does.

Sometimes the lyrics to a song from Hair can conjure her back into existence from, erm, limbo.

While conjuring "night children," demons in infant form, to destroy Barnabas and everyone else at Collinwood, she wears only a simple black cloak.  This version also has winged monkeys.

When Kenneth Bruce Bald began to draw the DS comic strip in 1971, he used photos of Jonathan Frid and Lara Parker, with beautiful results.

Here's the panel in color.

And this gorgeous illustration of Angelique, colorized for last year's release of the newspaper collection in color from Hermes Press.  I'm lucky enough to own one of these, signed by Lara Parker.

Here are three more of the color Sunday strips featuring Angelique; as time passes, she looks less and less like Lara Parker.

Naturally, when Innovation Comics began to continue/expand upon the mythos that was beginning to be created by the 1991 revival series, they included Angelique; at least, the Lysette Anthony version, along with the cleavage that was now part and parcel of the character.

Three more pages from the fourth issue.  Lookey!  It's Angelique's court outfit!  Turns out she did own it before she fell on her own knife!  And ringlets too!

As seems to happen whenever DS returns to a screen, small or otherwise, someone decides it's a good idea to adapt it into a comic.  (I'm not complaining.)  In 2012, thanks to the Tim Burton film, Dynamite Comics published 23 issues of its continuation of the story following the cancellation of the TV series in 1971, plus a 6 issue adaptation of the 1795 storyline.

Some of Aaron Campbell's sketches for Angelique.  I was pretty impressed back then; seven years later, I remain that way.

Here are a few pages from the 3rd issue, when Angelique returns from being a statue (?!?); it's obvious that Campbell used screen captures from the series for inspiration.  I liked his style so much that I was inspired to create my own comic in a similar vein (heh).

Uh.  She can fly now.  So that's a thing.  Being a statue must have increased her powers.  Soon enough she ditches her 18th century duds for a pink mini, just like she rocked in her Mrs. Rumson days.  They're getting that much right, at least.

Fierce.  Pink and fierce.

By issue 4, however, Guiu Vilanova took over, with less successful results.

Here's one of the less frustrating panels.

By the time Vilanova was hired to do Dark Shadows Year One (which, technically, should have taken place during 1966, but we're splitting hairs, I guess), I had grown more accustomed to his style; it also didn't hurt that he was using recognizable photographs for inspiration.

The cover art for the first issue is breathtaking.

Here, Barnabas meets a very Night of Dark Shadows-inspired Angelique.

Here she wears a dress inspired by the 1795 frock that the ghost of Angelique liked to rock when she wasn't swathed in shades of lime green and a black wig.

Placing the curse on Barnabas (in a far more dramatic manner).  

Eventually she meets her end in the same way that she did in the series, but with added tongue and a comic-esque "kracking" sound.

She does appear as a ghost in the 5th issue, completely nude, because, as we've learned, the fan boys just loooooove a naked Angelique.  (However, Year One gives some love to Joel Crothers/Nathan Forbes' backside, so maybe I should keep my big fat mouth shut.)

So:  there you have it.  It's likely I missed something (I did completely ignore Catherine Harridge in 1841 Parallel Time, as you may have noticed, but she isn't really connected to the character of Angelique, who I wanted to focus on; yeah, I fudged a bit with Alexis Stokes, but, as I said at the beginning, my blog, my rules.  Though Catherine Harridge did have some fabulous duds.  Maybe we'll do an epilogue ...)

Angelique Miranda Cassandra Valerie Alexis Angelique Stokes Collins Stokes Collins Blair Collins DuVal Bouchard Collins DuVal DuBois Rumson.  Forever may she reign.