Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that initially ran from June27, 1966 to April4, 1971 on the ABC television network. Dan Curtis developed the program. Art Wallace did not include any supernatural aspects in his tale bible. It was a first for daytime television when ghosts were introduced approximately six months after the show's debut. When vampire Barnabas Collins debuted a year into the show's run, it exploded in popularity. Also featured in Dark Shadows were werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel dimension. As actors came and went, certain roles were portrayed by multiple actors. Art Wallace was joined by notable authors Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles. Dark Shadows was marked by its powerfully melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, unique plots, multiple dramatic plot twists, particularly daring musical composition, and expansive and epic universe of characters and heroic exploits. Now considered a classic, it continues to attract a devoted cult following. Although the original series ran for only five years, its scheduling as a daily daytime drama allowed it to accumulate more individual episodes than most other science-fiction/fantasy genre series produced for English-language television, including Doctor Who and the entire Star Trek television franchise. Only the supernatural soap opera Passions has more episodes, with 2,231 in all.