<P> Dark Shadows had a rocky beginning . Critics were quick to deem the series rather boring for its heavy use of unknown actress Moltke and the slow progression of the show's legacy . The earliest episodes consisted of introducing the troubled characters and did not show any of the supernatural elements that later made the show a hit . </P> <P> As production on the series continued, the introduction of many new and mysterious characters and various unknown actors and actresses was prevalent on the set . Most actors also ended up playing multiple characters, and those same characters would often return through flashbacks or the unprecedented use of parallel time lines . </P> <P> Perhaps one of ABC's first truly popular daytime series, along with the game show Let's Make a Deal, Dark Shadows found its demographic niche in teenagers coming home from school in time to watch the show at 4 p.m. Eastern / 3 p.m. Central, where it aired for almost all of its network run, the exception being a 15 - month stretch between April 1967 and July 1968, when it aired a half - hour earlier . Originally, it was aired in black - and - white, but the show went into color starting with the August 11, 1967 installment transmission . It became one of ABC's first daytime shows to actually win its timeslot, leading to the demise of NBC's original Match Game and Art Linkletter's long - running House Party on CBS, both in 1969 . </P> <P> Dark Shadows began with a 4.1 rating in the 1965 - 66 TV season, tying for thirteenth place out of eighteen daytime dramas . The audience figures only improved slightly, to 4.3, in 1966 - 67 . 1966 was a volatile year for soaps, and many ended their runs between the premiere date of Dark Shadows in June and the month of December . By that time, six months had passed, and for Dark Shadows, the news was not good; the soap had failed to gain major traction . In June, it ranked #13 out of 18 soaps, and by December, the lower - rated offerings were gone and the show officially ranked #13 out of 13 soaps . "The show was limping along, really limping", head writer Sam Hall remembered, "and ABC said,' We're canceling it . Unless you pick up in 26 weeks, you're finished .' (Series creator Dan Curtis) had always wanted to do a vampire picture, so he decided to bring a vampire--Barnabas Collins--on the series ." </P>

When did dark shadows start airing in color