So...

So I learned today (and maybe I’m the last person on earth to hear about this) that there was a Dark Shadows revival project going on, and that Johnny Depp is attached to it!

I can’t explain how excited this makes me.

First, let me say, the show was bad. Not necessarily bad acting, directing, or writing (it was a live show, done 5 days a week, so obviously there were going to be some sacrifices made on those ends) but there were flubbed lines, missed cues, poor lighting, visible mikes, lights, and stage hands… So not the pinnacle of art.

However, it was a good show for so many reasons. First of all, it was a horror soap opera. I don’t think anyone had ever done one up until that point. It filled the niche for people who might want to watch stories of a fantastic nature. It certainly had an appeal across many generations. My mom watched it. All my brothers’ friends (high school kids) watched it. And all my friends (grade school) raced home to see what happened next at Collinwood.

Secondly, it was dark. Sure, there were deaths and terminal illnesses in ordinary soaps. But DS had murders. And not just crimes of passion, but complex murder plots and conspiracies. Plus, there was killing out of pure evil by some characters. Killing for revenge. Killing in self-defense. And killing for food . You wouldn’t find that on Days of Our Lives, let me tell you.

Third, you never knew what would happen. Okay, Barnabas is a vampire. Then we have Quentin the werewolf and Adam the “made” man… Witches, warlocks, ghosts… Hey, don’t forget time travel.

Fourth, it had Barnabas Collins. Now there’s a great character. Barnabas, the original vampire with a soul. Barnabas the tortured. Barnabas the just-want-to-be-loved. (Although, seriously, if someone came to your house looking like Jonathan Frid and said he was your “long-lost cousin” I doubt you’d invite him in. Not without your garlic and your crucifix and your wooden stakes, at least.)

That’s probably the biggest disappointment of the DS reboot they did in the 90s. They just didn’t get Barnabas. Too bad, too, because the actor had the look of a 175 year old vampire in his eyes. He just had no place to spend that, you know.

Last (so far), the show has a following, still. On the air in the 60s and still people love it. They would all watch a DS reboot. So would I.

I’m assuming, of course, that Johnny Depp is going to play Barnabas. I like that. He’s cute and funny, yes. But he can be dark, too. Not Sweeney Todd fake-dark, either. Daaaaarrrk. Look at his eyes.

Yeah. It’s there.