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CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 09/07/07
Storytelling With a
Sometimes-Absent Audience
by jason davis
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Dark Shadows: The Beginning (Volume 1)
Series created by Dan Curtis
Story created and written by Art Wallace
 
 
As production manager Michael Brockman explained in an interview, research from the mid-1960s indicated that most viewers only caught two episodes a week out of a soap opera's five installments, creating an interesting challenge for writers. Art Wallace (Star Trek), who created the affluent Collins Family at the heart of Dark Shadows and filled their old house with skeletons in every closet, therefore had to structure his scripts to advance the plot each day for the faithful viewer while never getting so far ahead that the casual audience catching 20 percent got lost. Though the series would later become a cult phenomenon with the introduction of reluctant vampire Barnabas Collins, the 35 episodes presented here establish an atmospheric world of secrets, intrigues, and angst that sets the stage for the supernatural shenanigans that will follow in future releases. For the nostalgic, episode one is included with the option to view the 1966 commercials intact.
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Dark Shadows: The Beginning (Volume 1)
MPI Home Video
Not Rated; 890 min.
$59.98
Buy it now
Jason Davis has been the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , has been a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.
Dark Shadows: The Beginning (Volume 1) courtesy MPI Home Video
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