The inevitable DARK SHADOWS/DHARMA AND GREG crossover

Mitchell Ryan

Mitchell Ryan and Susan Sullivan are set to appear in separate  DARK SHADOWS audio dramas from Big Finish in 2015, according to Dan Curtis Productions majordomo Jim Pierson. Ryan and Sullivan played Edward and Kitty Montgomery on more than a hundred episodes of DHARMA AND GREG, a series with some pretty direct (and often confusing) connections to DARK SHADOWS.

First up, of course, is the presence of Mitchell Ryan, who played the mysterious Burke Devlin on 107 episodes of DARK SHADOWS. Ryan went on to become one of the busiest character actors in Hollywood, appearing in everything from LETHAL WEAPON to STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION to THE WEST WING over his long career. He maintains a cult status among DARK SHADOWS fans for his portrayal of Burke Devlin, who remains one of the show's most popular characters despite his early exit from the series in 1967.

Sullivan starred opposite DARK SHADOWS' own David Selby in FALCON CREST throughout the 1980s, and appeared with him on stage in 2014 in a production of A DELICATE BALANCE. Legend has it that Sullivan also appeared uncredited as a ghost on episode #156 of DARK SHADOWS in 1967. This is a difficult piece of information to validate, but has been passed around as fact for so long that it might as well be. That's how facts are made!

Selby and Sullivan will be reunited again in next year's (still untitled) audiodrama.

Susan Sullivan? Sure, why not.

Also, DHARMA AND GREG star Jenna Elfman is married to Bodhi Elfman, the nephew of Danny Elfman ... who scored Tim Burton's DARK SHADOWS film. That movie starred Johnny Depp, who appeared in EDWARD SCISSORHANDS with Dianne Wiest, who was in FOOTLOOSE with Kevin Bacon.

I should point out that Big Finish is still in production on DARK SHADOWS: BLOODLUST and has not corroborated the casting or story details for any episodes set for release after that serial.