Rant #2,354: Quentin's Theme

That is kind of an odd title for today's Rant.

Probably some of you will know what I am talking about, while others will scratch their heads.

"Quentin's Theme" was the hit recording by the Charles Randolph Green Sounde, which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. It was recorded by several other acts, and to date, it is said to be the biggest single hit ever generated by a soap opera in the United States.

What soap opera am I talking about?

Why, "Dark Shadows," of course.

"Dark Shadows" was a totally different type of soap opera. Running from 1966 to 1971, the show featured vampires--Barnabas Collins was the most famous one, played by Jonathan Frid--werewolves, and other monsters.

Running at 4 p.m. in the afternoon in New York on WABC, and across the country at around the same time, the show generated an enormous following, in particular among teenagers, the first soap opera to have a huge teenage audience.

The "monsters" on the show were painted in a non-monstrous manner, they hated what they were but had no control over their situation. This sympathetic portrait--in particular of vampire Barnabas Collins--was something completely different for the time, and people just loved it, going through their travails with them.

The cast of the show became cultural icons, and the likes of Frid, David Selby--Quentin himself--and others were on the same pages of Tiger Beat magazine as Davy Jones and David Cassidy were.

A huge cult following has continued to live on way after the final show aired, and the show has been adapted into a few films--Johnny Depp/Tim Burton's comedic take on the show was the last one--and it has inspired everything from TV's "True Blood" and "The Walking Dead." and changed the landscape of soap operas forever.

Anyway, where is this leading to?

On Saturday, my family and I attended the latest get together of the "Dark Shadows Nation" at the Paley Center For Media in midtown Manhattan, where the world premiere of a documentary on the show, called "Master of Dark Shadows" was screened for about 300 fans.

The documentary covered pretty much the life story of Dan Curtis, the guy who came up with the idea for the soap opera, and the producer who helmed several other massive TV projects during his career, including "Winds of War."

The gist of the documentary is that he had a tremendous creative vision, would not take "No" for an answer, and was most often correct in his pursuits.

And "Dark Shadows" was the centerpiece of those pursuits, allowing him to do something like "Winds of War," expanding his vision to heights that even he could not have imagined.

The documentary was a quick 90 minutes or so, and included views from many in the cast, some from years ago, as they are no longer with us, including Frid and Curtis himself, both of whom died several years ago.

After the documentary aired, there was a panel discussion between the audience and some of the cast that were there, and later, the entire assemblage went over to Empire Hotel near Central Park--supposedly where many of the readings of the show's scripts were held--and had dinner. The area was so packed with people in its open-air penthouse that all my family wanted to do was get a bite to eat and get out of there, which we did.

It was a disappointing end to the festive day, but I guess you can't have everything.

As I type this Rant out, we are getting absolutely pelted by rain and wind, and I hope the power doesn't go out.

It is a real "Dark Shadows" morning, dark and dreary as can be.

Yes, Barnabas would be the perfect character to meet up with now ... until, of course, he bit your neck because he could not help himself.

Well, let me go, before we do lose power, and let me tell you that I have to take the day off tomorrow to take care of certain matters, so the next time I will be speaking to you will be Wednesday.

In the meantime, don't let the vampires ... err ... bugs bite!