OFFICIAL SITE OF AUTHOR MICHAEL RICKARD

Originally published at Canadian Bulldog's World Professional wrestling has had many memorable moments that are firmly entrenched in the fans’ memories; then there are the years that were so good that you can’t believe how many great memories were packed into them. One such year was 1985, a year that saw the first WrestleMania, Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME), the American Wrestling Association’s (AWA) SuperClash, the first Great American Bash, the dominance of the Road Wa

Originally published at Canadian Bulldog's World I’ve been mystified by professional wrestling in Japan from my earliest days watching wrestling. When I watched wrestling in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), wrestlers would talk about working in Japan and the great wrestlers they faced. Wrestling magazines mentioned it as well, talking of high-profile matches between American champions and Japanese challengers. Occasionally, Japanese stars would appear in American wrestling, add

Dark Shadows could be innovative in its use of special effects but on average, its special effects made the 1970’s Doctor Who episodes look like Michael Bay films by comparison. It’s part of the show’s charm that the effects were pretty bad. In the show’s defense, it was a daytime show with a daytime budget and special effects weren’t routinely used on daytime soap operas. What the show lacked in effects, it made up for in sets. The show had an ambitious number of sets. A day

When we last left Dark Shadows, the gothic soap opera was facing an imminent demise. With nothing to lose, Dan Curtis decided to really go different with his show. In 1967, he introduced the character Barnabas Collins, a vampire. Due to network standards and practices, Barnabas’ vampiric nature was danced around. People had their blood mysteriously drained but it would take a year before the word vampire was used to describe Barnabas. Another interesting situation was that Ba

In today’s world of endless streaming services and obscure cable channels catering to every demographic, it may surprise you that people still watch Dark Shadows. ABC’s classic gothic soap opera debuted in 1966 and while it only lasted a handful of seasons, it became a cult hit, inspiring two theatrical releases, a nighttime revival in 1991, a 2005 TV pilot that wasn’t picked up, and a recent theatrical film starring Johnny Depp. It’s hard to believe, but this cult soap inspi