Remember those cult TV shows from the 1960s that, if you were young then, your parents weren`t crazy about letting you watch? The shows that featured New England vampires and clandestine aliens from space and female secret agents dressed in leather?
Thanks to video, some of the best cult TV from the `60s can be viewed again. Series such as ”The Avengers,” ”Secret Agent,” ”The Prisoner,”
”Dark Shadows,” ”The Invaders” and ”The Outer Limits” have found a second life on tape.
Despite their current appeal, none of the shows drew strong ratings when they originally aired. But their distinctiveness and peculiarity have kept them popular with fans some 25 years later.
Here is a sampling of cult shows available on video:
– ”Dark Shadows”: A potpourri of vampires, ghosts and werewolves.
”Dark Shadows” was a late-afternoon soap opera that caused many students to make a beeline home. The show, which ran from June 1966 to April 1971 on ABC, starred Jonathan Frid (as vampire Barnabas Collins), Kate Jackson and Joan Bennett, and was created by producer Dan Curtis (”Winds of War”). It was set in the small Maine coastal town of Collinsport, seemingly plagued by all manner of monsters.
MPI Home Video has released 50 volumes of ”Dark Shadows” in chronological order. The tapes, each of which offers five half-hour episodes, begin with Barnabas Collins` debut in April 1967. The feature-length ”Night of Dark Shadows” and ”House of Dark Shadows” are also available.
– ”The Prisoner”: One of the most analyzed and mysterious shows from the 1960s. The entire 17-episode run of ”The Prisoner” is on video.
Actor Patrick McGoohan created and produced the series and starred as the title character, known only as No. 6, a secret agent who resigns from his post only to find himself mysteriously detained in a small seaside village.
In addition to the 17 episodes, also available on video is a ”Prisoner Video Companion” and ”The Prisoner: The Lost Episode,” an alternate version of the second episode.
– ”Secret Agent/Danger Man”: Also starring Patrick McGoohan, the two shows chronicle the adventures of suave and sophisticated John Drake, a globe- trotting British agent.
The British-produced shows both aired on CBS, ”Danger Man” in summer 1961 and ”Secret Agent” in the 1965-66 season.
About a dozen ”Secret Agent” and ”Danger Man” episodes are available on video. ”Koroshi: The Secret Agent Movie,” a quickie film made from two episodes is also available on video.
– ”The Avengers”: A cultural icon of the 1960s, this British-produced series drew a cult following for its quirky comic-book style, lively dialogue and great 1960s fashions.
Patrick Macnee played debonair British secret agent Jonathan Steed, complete with bowler hat and boutonniere. Steed was first teamed with female agent Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), and later Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and Tara King (Linda Thorson). The show began airing on ABC in March 1969, starting with the Diana Rigg episodes.
More than 35 of the series` hour-long episodes are available on video, including episodes with Blackman, Rigg and Thorson.
– ”The Outer Limits”: Somewhat akin to ”The Twilight Zone,” this strongly science fiction anthology series ran for two seasons-fall 1963 through spring 1965-on ABC.
It featured guest stars such as Robert Culp, Martin Sheen, David McCallum and Vera Miles, and the writers included Harlan Ellison and Robert Towne.
About 20 of the series` 49 episodes have been released on video.
– ”The Invaders”: Roy Thinnes played David Vincent, an architect who discovers that a secret alien force is living among earthlings, plotting to take over the planet by controlling the government, the media, big business, etc. No one believes Thinnes, who takes it upon himself to expose the aliens. Debuting in January 1967, ”The Invaders” ran for 1 1/2 seasons on ABC. Guest stars included Gene Hackman, Ralph Bellamy and Ed Asner.
About 13 of the show`s 43 episodes are on tape.
