After providing its viewers with 54 years of nonstop guilty pleasures, "As the World Turns" ceased production last week. And lo, the world of daytime television tilted forever on its axis.
I don’t watch daytime serials, but my mother did. When the world was crumbling at her feet, she found refuge in a Gothic mansion inhabited by werewolves, ghosts, zombies, witches, warlocks, and man-made monsters.
During the first year it aired, each episode of Dark Shadows began with a short narration by the main character, Victoria Winters. But the words didn’t carry the same significance for me back then. In fact, I used to plug my ears. Scary shows like that gave me the heebie-jeebies! But now…well, watch the first 35 seconds or so of this first episode. I got shivers up my spine, for an entirely different reason.
You don’t have to slip into a parallel universe to discover life’s ironies. And you don’t have to be a writer to appreciate its metaphors. But braiding them into a story that’s at once intimate and transcendent…that’s the challenge I’m working on this week. And you?
Character image via Collinwood.net
I hope you don’t discover any Collinswoods in your family history! You have enough dark shadows without that.
Ha!
No Collinswoods. Not in the literal sense, anyway.
(Have you seen any episodes of Dark Shadows? The original version, not the early 90s revival?)
No, only clips of it. I was in college when the revival first aired, though, and we watched some of that. Don’t recall that we got very engaged though…
I know what you mean. I wasn’t as thrilled with/by it as my mother seemed to be.
I can see why it might appeal to your mother….
Yep.
I recall twice when I was a teen and (very rarely) stayed home from school sick. I had to be REALLY sick to stay home. My mom would assign me to watch As the World Turns and tell her what happened, and she’d go out tootin’.
Well, this happened once in ninth grade or thereabouts, and once two or three years later . . . and as I was watching the second one, I thought, “Nothing has really happened since the last one!”
It wasn’t an after-school broadcast where you lived?
LOL about nothing happening. That’s true of most soap operas, isn’t it? It’s like the storylines exist in their own time-space continuum.
I don’t know–I just know I was assigned to be there at the TV some time mid-morning to take notes, after which I could retire.
That’s a heavy responsibility, in more ways than one. (hugs)
Oh, I didn’t mind. It was just boring!
I don’t watch daytime serials, either, never have — except for Dark Shadows 🙂 It was on after school where I lived. I would run all the way home to be there when it came on. It was and still is a point of pride that I can whistle Quentin’s Theme in its entirety. lol.
LOL that you you can whistle Quentin’s Theme. And spooky!
I admit to succumbing to daytime serial’s addictive qualities. Just for a brief time, in the early 80s. You remember hearing about Luke and Laura on General Hospital, I assume? 😉
Some things just never get old 🙂
The names ring a bell. Didn’t they get married eventually? That’s my sum total 🙂
Soap operas = SO boring, except for Dark Shadows. I loved that show when I was a child. Deliciously scary.
And I can’t WAIT for the new Johnny Depp/Tim Burton version.
Oooh, I’m looking forward to seeing the movie, too!!! I love Johny Depp, and I’m sure Tim Burton will do it justice.
(I wasn’t all that into the show at the time, but I have oodles of memories of my mother watching it!)
I loved that show!
I watched Dark Shadows every day! & swooned whenever Quentin/David Selby was onscreen =)
There was a huge house on a hill near me where I grew up – that we all called Collinswood – it looked just like it!
I already miss As The World Turns – I cried watching each episode last week.
I can see/hear why the beginning of this clip gave you shivers.
Re: I loved that show!
You did??? How cool is that!? Did you have a favorite episode and/or storyline? I don’t remember them so much as the opening sequence (with song) and the spooky, dark nature of the show.
P.S. I’m sorry for viewers who, like you, grew attached to As the World Turns. 🙁
We watched Dark Shadows after school! Two girls who lived down the block weren’t allowed to watch it because their mom said it was evil, so they watched it at my evil house! bwahahahaha
Isn’t that always the way when something is ‘forbid’! ; )
Honestly, I think we only liked it because Mrs. O hated it!
Bwahahahaha is right!
We were only allowed to watch certain types of shows: Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, and Lawrence Welk. So the fact that my mother brooded over this daytime soap, well…! The irony was deep and wide.
I’m afraid that I remember all of the soap operas from back then as my mother, like yours, watched them all. But when Dark Shadows came on I claimed that one as my own.
You are forgeting that Dark Shadows also had time travel and a parallel universe, which was pretty cool for 1961. And the musical score, “Shadows of the Night”(Quentin’s Theme) made the Top Ten and was nominated for a Grammy.
Shadows of the night…
Falling silently
Echo of the past…
Calling you to me
Haunting memory…
Veiled in misty glow
Phantom melody…
Playing soft and low
As a Golden Oldies nut I still remember the lyrics : ) I think the heart throb David Selby(Quentin Collins)had a great deal to do with the songs popularity. I’ll admit he did have sexy looking lips.
My mother only watched Dark Shadows. (This was in the mid-to-later 60s.) As I mentioned to Laura (above), it was more than a tad ironic.
I vaguely remember some plot threads having to do with time travel and a parallel universe. But most of all, I remember watching my mother watching Dark Shadows. That was my main focus, not the TV.
So “As the World Turns” is gone? My grandmother listened to it when it was just a radio soap, and my mom continued the tradition for many years. I remember trying to follow the plots when I was home sick from school. It was a little like trying to follow my aunts’ conversations at family reunions — so many allusions and references and complex silences.
Wishing you luck with your own story this week. xo
There’s a very good essay about the end of ATWT at the link. You might enjoy reading it, given your family’s affinity for the show. 🙂
And don’t you know, I absolutely love this line: “It was a little like trying to follow my aunts’ conversations at family reunions — so many allusions and references and complex silences.” I may have to steal that, you know…I’ve tried (and failed) all day to write the same sentiments. What you’ve said is exactly so.
I used to run home from school so I could watch this show. LOL
LOL!! It’s so fun to see the ways in which our lives intersect and overlap!!! Did you like the main character? Or did you watch primarily because of Quentin Collins? 😉
We never know what or how much we appreciate something until it’s gone.
Speaking of that, I just wanted to let you that I’ll be leaving livejournal in a few days. I have been busy-good (as opposed to busy-bad) lately and I just want to simplify myself down to my blog and Facebook now. My blog is http://theweeklyyogi.wordpress.com and I welcome you to follow my journey, friend.
Farewell,
Vanessa
Oh Venessa, I will truly miss your thoughtful entries and kind-hearted comments on LJ!! I will try to figure out a way to follow your blog over there. Meantime, I hope you know (and feel) that I am sending you all good wishes. And, as always, lots of cyber-hugs!!!