It happens in almost every episode.

The shadow of a boom mic hovers over someone’s head. It looms against the set in the background. We see the shape of it, the wires, the boom.

And sometimes we see the microphone itself. In one instance when the camera zoomed out when it should have zoomed in, the mic itself was visible, hovering at the top of the frame and tracking in like a UFO — but it wasn’t unidentified at all. Slowly the camera pans away or zooms in to hide it, but not quickly enough.

But these are what make the television series “Dark Shadows,” from the 1960s, what it is, a soap opera that, while it was not broadcast live, had to be filmed as if live, just like early “Doctor Who.” This was dictated by the limitations of videotape editing and the demands of a daily schedule.

We are waiting for someone to call a halt. But they couldn’t. They could “butt” edit, put one scene against another, but editing within a scene was only possible with actually cutting and splicing the tape, which was to be avoided. The “Doctor Who” team said they were only allowed four edits per episode.

In one episode of “Dark Shadows” something on wheels slowly moved into frame from the left. A cart? A trolley? A curious Dalek? It was one of the television cameras, and at some point the black box housing the lens was visible. One could notice which shot this camera was taking when they cut to it. Actress Alexandra Molke even inadvertently stepped toward it and when they cut to a close up of her there it was, just over her shoulder and clear as day, the black box housing. One could believe it was a cabinet except for the fact that it was practically touching her.

You have to pretend that you are watching this on a stage, which practically you are, with all attendant distractions in play. There are even times when you hear someone coughing or talking in the background. Or see the shadow of the stick controlling a rubber bat. Or hear the sound of hammering, perhaps work going on for a nearby set, while Jonathan Frid says his lines slowly, clearly distracted. In one scene taking place in a tomb a stagehand is visible sitting to the side, perhaps smoking a cigarette. Eventually he notices the camera and moves away. High drama with two people arguing in front of a coffin and who’s this guy all of a sudden?!

What would “Dark Shadows” be without the sudden lurking shadows over the actors’ faces or jumping mysteriously into shot unbidden from the side? These merely enhance the show. As you are watching, a shadow appears and you ask, aghast, “What’s that?” Is it some ghost or some other unnamed supernatural force that is about to appear?

It would be impossible to reboot or re-create and certainly to make a movie out of (though they tried). You are watching the transition from stage to television. It is a stage play taped and the actors merely carry on gamely.

We have to be in denial too.

No, no, it’s nothing. It’s just a microphone. It’s just a curious Dalek.

It’s just “Dark Shadows.”

Photos: Wikipedia