Tales From the Darkside (1983-1988)

[Jason]

Made a trip to the other Wal-Mart in town to see if there were other cool horror titles that the other Wal-Mart didn't have. The other Wal-Mart had the better selection, but it didn't have Tales From the Darkside. I bought it, of course.

When I was a kid, Tales From the Crypt had taken over the throne for the horror anthology TV series and it was all the rage back then. Tales From the Darkside just narrowly missed me as a youngster. I don't remember every seeing it on TV. It seemed to just come and go and people forgot about it when Tales From the Crypt hit the scene. I've known about the opening title intro to Tales From the Darkside for years and that alone made me want to see the show. I didn't realize until just recently that George Romero created the series, which makes me even more excited about the show. What I've gathered from the few comments I've read about the show is that it is probably the cheesiest of the three major horror anthology TV shows. I watched the first episode, and it definitely pulled me in, just as Night Gallery did. For the sake chronology, I'm gonna be watching Night Gallery first, hopefully finish the show before October. After October, I'll aim for Tales From the Darkside, then finish off the long awaited marathon of Tales From the Crypt. I'm excited to compare them all. They are undoubtedly The Big Three as far as horror anthology television is concerned. There is even a Tales From the Darkside movie, which many people say should be the true sequel to Creepshow 1 & 2. Should be a great few months of marathon-ing, including October for the horror movie challenge.

What does everyone else think of this TV show?

[zombie]

never seen this. gonna have to check it out.

[Jason]

Look for it at Wal-Mart and pick up the whole show!

Get Night Gallery, too. :p

[zombie]

if i'm gonna get night gallery, i'd have to get twilight zone first.

[Reign in Blood]

You don't consider Twilight Zone into the mix? Granted obviously not all episodes are horror, but I wouldn't classify some episodes of the Darkside and Night Gallery to be either.

How are you guys horror fans and not seen either of these? You simple jacks probably never seen the Outer Limits either, huh?

[Jason]

Not a big scifi lover.

[Tiggnutz]

Me and JMAC love that shit. The theme song is pure awesomeness too.

[Slaughterhouserock]

You don't consider Twilight Zone into the mix? Granted obviously not all episodes are horror, but I wouldn't classify some episodes of the Darkside and Night Gallery to be either.

How are you guys horror fans and not seen either of these? You simple jacks probably never the Outer Limits either, huh?

My thoughts exactly. Loved all of these shows and the films based off of them.

[zombie]

You don't consider Twilight Zone into the mix? Granted obviously not all episodes are horror, but I wouldn't classify some episodes of the Darkside and Night Gallery to be either.

How are you guys horror fans and not seen either of these? You simple jacks probably never the Outer Limits either, huh?

what is this crap? of course i've seen twilight zone and outer limits. i just missed tales from the darkside. that's all.

[DancesWithWerewolves]

Tales from the Darkside is one that passed me by too. I'm thinking it's due to my stay in Germany when I was little, since that seemed to be the time it was on, and our channels were very limited.

[Reign in Blood]

You don't consider Twilight Zone into the mix? Granted obviously not all episodes are horror, but I wouldn't classify some episodes of the Darkside and Night Gallery to be either.

How are you guys horror fans and not seen either of these? You simple jacks probably never the Outer Limits either, huh?

what is this crap? of course i've seen twilight zone and outer limits. i just missed tales from the darkside. that's all.

And Night Gallery?

[zombie]

You don't consider Twilight Zone into the mix? Granted obviously not all episodes are horror, but I wouldn't classify some episodes of the Darkside and Night Gallery to be either.

How are you guys horror fans and not seen either of these? You simple jacks probably never the Outer Limits either, huh?

what is this crap? of course i've seen twilight zone and outer limits. i just missed tales from the darkside. that's all.

And Night Gallery?

pretty sure i've seen night gallery. but don't remember any episodes.

[Foo]

I used to love staying up late to watch reruns of Tales From the Darkside when I was a kid. Back then, seeing anything with horror elements on TV was really special. I think people really take access to what they like for granted today, because back then my opportunity to see a horror movie was like once per week. If no one took me to a video rental store, that was all I had.

I don't think many of the anthology shows hold up so well today, especially if you watch them in bunches, in part because they recycle the same plots so often.

[zombie]

i think the problem with horror on tv is that it's bad or formulaic usually. it would be special if it was well written, produced, acted. anthology tv doesn't work as well because i think television lends itself to getting to know characters over time. that is a big key point to it. but there are still some that are anthology seasons tv shows, like fargo or ahs.

[Jason]

The first episode of Tales From the Darkside was pretty amazing. I watched the first episodes of both Night Gallery and Tales From the Darkside and they were pretty unique.
That intro will certainly never get old, either. "BUT... there issss... unseen by most... an underworrrlllld... a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit..." DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

[Foo]

i think the problem with horror on tv is that it's bad or formulaic usually. it would be special if it was well written, produced, acted. anthology tv doesn't work as well because i think television lends itself to getting to know characters over time. that is a big key point to it. but there are still some that are anthology seasons tv shows, like fargo or ahs.

Yeah, and it was a product of the era, too. For instance, your weekly episodic shows were all doing the same thing, no real overarching storyline, and recycled plots. Basically every episode of Night Rider, the A-Team, Airwolf, etc. were the same.

Even movies from that era, you would never get away with doing F13 sequels like that today where you rehash the plot, fundamentally change how the killer looks, gaping plot holes, etc.

[zombie]

i think the problem with horror on tv is that it's bad or formulaic usually. it would be special if it was well written, produced, acted. anthology tv doesn't work as well because i think television lends itself to getting to know characters over time. that is a big key point to it. but there are still some that are anthology seasons tv shows, like fargo or ahs.

Yeah, and it was a product of the era, too. For instance, your weekly episodic shows were all doing the same thing, no real overarching storyline, and recycled plots. Basically every episode of Night Rider, the A-Team, Airwolf, etc. were the same.

Even movies from that era, you would never get away with doing F13 sequels like that today where you rehash the plot, fundamentally change how the killer looks, gaping plot holes, etc.

well rehashing still happens with a lot of today's tv shows. but there are more overarching plots too.

but is it a bad thing that rehashing plots is being moved away from, somewhat?

[Jmac Attack]

Me and JMAC love that shit. The theme song is pure awesomeness too.

I love all of the horror anthologies.

[Jason]

They rehash superhero movies like there's no fuckin tomorrow and everyone eats that shit up.

[showa58taro]

They rehash superhero movies like there's no fuckin tomorrow and everyone eats that shit up.

But you don’t tend to want to binge watch them all in one weekend.