REPLIES: 109 comments
Yup, not in my recollection. But anything with Lloyd is aces.
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 05/13/2006 11:15 PM EST
The only recollection I have of AMAZING STORIES involves a dragon eating piano keys (????)
Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 05/13/2006 11:30 PM EST
I loved that show! However, for some reason don't remember any single episode. Except for (I think) one with Mark Hamill in which he somehow obtained some sort of Geni, which of course turned out bad. Is this from the same series?????
Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 05/13/2006 11:33 PM EST
Those clips are incredible. I can't believe I never watched this show. They let blond Jason Bateman just make that horrified face forever...excellent.
Couple of episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark stuck in my psyche for a long time. That awful Fifteen had me freaked out for high school too.
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 05/13/2006 11:35 PM EST
Funny that I was searching the web for info on this show and I stumbled onto your little review. Nice work.
Chestnuts roasted by Percy @ 05/13/2006 11:36 PM EST
I remember that show. I loved that episode, though the WWII one with the bomber that lost it's landing gear was my favorite.
Chestnuts roasted by Grey Weirdo @ 05/13/2006 11:39 PM EST
Yeah, the "Mission" segment with the landing gear was one of my favorites. I also liked "Remote Control Man", where the guy lost himself in TV, and several 1980's icon came through the television as his adopted family.
Chestnuts roasted by Dude McGuy @ 05/13/2006 11:50 PM EST
Wow, talk about the past sneaking up and biting you in the ass. I remember the Amazing Stories well,(I am 28 after all) and the one that is the most prominant in my mind involved Jon Cryer, a chemical accident that could bring pics to life and various messed-up super models. I remember the writing being super weak, and that some episodes were like train wrecks you couldn't turn away from.
Anyway, most excellent article Matt.
Chestnuts roasted by bloodybrilliantme @ 05/13/2006 11:53 PM EST
Wow! I loved Amazing Stories as a kid, but never saw "Go to the Head of the Class". I see I was really missing out.
Is anyone else a big fan of these Twilight Zone? What exactly do they call this genre?
Chestnuts roasted by Xabungle @ 05/13/2006 11:56 PM EST
Wow. I saw "Amazing Stories" and said "huh?" But when I read the episode title and the name "Christopher Lloyd," I immediately knew what was going on. And I hereby deem that "summarily awesome."
I used an inordinate number of quotations up there.
Chestnuts roasted by Rhino @ 05/13/2006 11:58 PM EST
Okay. I messed up my first ever post here. What I intended to ask was...
Anyone else a fan of these types of shows? Similar to the Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, or Night Gallery, perusing the fantastic and weird in one episode. What is this genre (if it is a genre)?
Chestnuts roasted by Xabungle @ 05/14/2006 12:07 AM EST
I'm a pretty big fan of whatever you'd call this type of television show.
Actually, Amazing Stories is probably my least favorite, and by that I only mean that I've seen the least amount of episodes of it compared to the others. Everyone should really check out the reruns on Sci-Fi -- recent finds include an ep where Weird Al plays the most annoying green alien polygamist ever.
Have seen too many Twilight Zone episodes to remember. Favorites include the one with that ballbusting "Caesar" dummy, and the one where the guy gets gambling fever and thinks slot machines are attacking him.
Tales From The Darkside reminds me so much of fucking around on Saturday afternoons. There's one episode from the series I want to review someday, involving a girl who temporarily shacks up with a supposedly nice old couple only to find out that they want to turn her into soup.
And that The Outer Limits episode where Beau Bridges raises an army of extraterrestrial cockroaches rocked.
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 05/14/2006 12:15 AM EST
My personal fav involved a mummy, wasn't a scary one but was hysterical, or at least was for my pre-pubescent mind at the time.
Chestnuts roasted by Bizzar @ 05/14/2006 12:18 AM EST
I guess the "green alien" modifier is how Al beats out Chloe Sevigny 
"Anthology series" appears to be what we're looking for. Wikipedia:
An anthology series is a television series that features different stories, with a different cast of characters in every episode. Typically these have been found in the science fiction and horror genres. Examples include Twilight Zone, Night Gallery,Alfred Hitchcock Presents,The Outer Limits and Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark?.
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 05/14/2006 12:25 AM EST
It's Amaaaaaain' Stories!
Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 05/14/2006 12:56 AM EST
Didnt Amazing Stories have an episode where this guy steals this crystal that heals people and this Native American guy who looks like "Spirit" from GI Joe comes looking for it. Or have I been huffin a little too much glue?
Chestnuts roasted by Spectre1979 @ 05/14/2006 01:04 AM EST
I used to call my little brother Mr. Braaaaaad. I remember watching this as a kid, I thought it was a TV movie or something.
Chestnuts roasted by Erick @ 05/14/2006 01:28 AM EST
I never saw "Amazing Stories," but I do remember encountering a light-speed creepy clip of Christopher Lloyd as the teacher, as part of a montage/commercial of shows my cable provider aired during 1993.
I really love the bizarre occurrence/science fiction story genre, but I feel that few of the shows nowadays have really done it justice. The "New Twilight Zone" of the late 80s is a noteworthy exception, though. The opening sequence was at a level on par with the original, with things such as a rotating doll and a human fetus contained in a sphere of scariness. And "Beyond Belief" satisfactorily entertained me the was-it-real-or-not gimmick, and the optical illusions Frakes smilingly demonstrated in the Ripley's Believe it or Not room. But the new "Outer Limits" and the new, new "Twilight Zone" (with heavy metal opening music--ew!) have disappointed.
Chestnuts roasted by Venison @ 05/14/2006 01:42 AM EST
I forgot a few words in the above post, both grammatically and conversationally. I was reminded of the 60's supernatural melodrama "Dark Shadows"--anyone seen it? I wasn't alive when it first aired (otherwise I'd probably be the same age as most of our parents), but it aired recently for a while on the SciFi channel, and I got caught up in it about two summers ago. It had a real nice spooky atmosphere, with modern-man vampires, centuries-old secrets, and gothic mansion interior sets. I doubt it's available on DVD, but I've fallen into a deep enough like-like relationship with the show that I might try tracking it down.
Chestnuts roasted by Venison @ 05/14/2006 02:01 AM EST
I can't believe Justice League: Unlimited is over, and what a kickass ending. Total nerdgasm, and who's the last hero we see in the series? Batman.
SNL was actually GOOD tonight too! Jason Alexander & Jerry both appear in pre-taped bits during Julia's monologue, and Al Gore himself appears in the opening sketch (which was a presidential address on a Parallel Earth), and a Point-Counterpoint on Weekend Update.
I haven't heard of this show at all bot Chris Lloyd kicks ass in any villain role.
Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 05/14/2006 02:04 AM EST
I feel your pain, Invader Norbert. The Cartoon Network did the Justice League a major injustice (yo ho, pun!
). I haven't even been able to catch many episodes, since the Cartoon Network has been inconsistent in its airings in the past. Oh, well. It has only strengthened my resolve to dole out cash for the DVDs of Batman: The Animated Series.
Chestnuts roasted by Venison @ 05/14/2006 02:30 AM EST
Aww fuck.
It had to be this gay-assed show. Sorry, but I thought that the stories were just plain stupid. However, I will still read this article, and maybe I will like it anyway.
Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 05/14/2006 02:32 AM EST
I loved Amazing Stories, and this episode scared the hell out of me as a kid. The clips brought back memories. =)
Chestnuts roasted by Ariel @ 05/14/2006 02:43 AM EST
The Weird Al episode is entitled Miss Stardust and the dragon eating piano keys is The Grieble. Sci-Fi channel runs marathons every once in a while.
Chestnuts roasted by Bludge @ 05/14/2006 02:45 AM EST
Oh, wow, is it October already? That article got me really pumped for bubblegum shaped like eyeballs and the smell of fake blood. Time for beer and a Halloweentown marathon. Summer rocksss
Chestnuts roasted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 05/14/2006 02:54 AM EST
I never watched "Amazing Stories" the television show but I sure as hell remember the crazy ass movies...remember the one story about the black babysitter who watched the kids who were harassed by demons/monsters?...strange ass shit!!! Anyways, Matt do you remember the "Friday the 13th” series that ran for a brief time in the late 80's...scared the shit out of me! You should do a review of an episode of that ill-fated show.
Chestnuts roasted by Kevin @ 05/14/2006 03:04 AM EST
OK, so I actually do like this show. I'm not sure why I slammed it earlier. I guess I'm just grmpy. Or maybe I got my hopes up too high.
Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 05/14/2006 03:38 AM EST
I too have a memory that has stuck with me since childhood from this show.
I don't know the name of the episode but it went like this.
A Rich Bitch is sent to jail for some reason. She hatches a plan to break out with the help of the caretaker. He needs an operation but can't afford it so the RB offers to pay in exchange for a favor. Whenever the bell rings, a prisoner has died and will be buried in the prison cemetary. RB will hide in the coffin, be buried, and the caretaker will dig her up that night. When the bell does chime, the RB climbs into the coffin but is too squeamish to look at the corpse. Hours later she is buried and bored. She lights a match and looks at the body... its the caretaker. She screams and screams and we cut to a shot of the empty cemetary and a muffled scream. fade to black.
Freaked me out something fierce. I couldn't sleep for days.
Chestnuts roasted by Crazycraig @ 05/14/2006 08:52 AM EST
Heh heh...I like how you explained your word choice with a link to a page explaining the fallacy of the word.
I never saw the show (but I do have several soundtracks). I collect film scores, and Amazing Stories is a treasure trove--most of the time, the famous directors brought along their famous composers, i.e. John Williams did some of the more heavy-handedly Spielbergian episodes, Danny Elfman did the Tim Burton episode and one other, Jerry Goldsmith had his hands all over it. Ahhh, to love a show I've never seen.
Chestnuts roasted by Spoodles @ 05/14/2006 09:24 AM EST
Anyone else remember a simliar low-budget B show called "Dark Room" or "In The Dark Room"? It had several forgettable storied except one...a kid is abused by his dad. Then, one night, the kids toy army men come to life and beat the holy hell out of the dad.
Unfortunately it was probably too obscure a series to ever make it to DVD
Chestnuts roasted by medevac @ 05/14/2006 10:55 AM EST
wow..the wonders of a google search...
http://www.tv.com/darkroom/siege-of-31-august/episode/131426/summary.html
Chestnuts roasted by medevac @ 05/14/2006 10:58 AM EST
Wow, you summed up my memories of, and fascination with, this television episode exactly. I don't know if I've seen is since it first aired in 1986, but I also remembered every last detail about it. The thing that reminds me most about it is one of the Treehouse of Horror segments from The Simpons, where Bart and Lisa, trying to resurrect their cat, accidently raise all the dead in the cemetary. Certain elements of it recall Go to the Head of the Class, and every time I've seen it (many times over the year, unlike Amazing Stories)I have vivid flashbacks to Christopher Llyod's disembodied head screaming at naughty teenagers.
Chestnuts roasted by The Kraken @ 05/14/2006 11:32 AM EST
I don't remember this show either, but I recall the movies. Well, no, ok I remember ONE part of ONE of the movies. Family Dog. I loved that freakin dog, and when he got his own show, I was beyond stoked. Alas, hey cancelled him and the show wasn't even as funny as the short was. 
But, I did find a stuffed animal of him and I still have him, somewhere.
Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 05/14/2006 12:12 PM EST
Holy fuck! I remember this episode! Awesome man! I wasn't alive when it originally ran but sci-fi used to play it.
Chestnuts roasted by Darth Poop @ 05/14/2006 12:40 PM EST
The six Amazing Stories movies was where I first saw this one. I LOVE the opening montage of this show. My favorite episode is pilot episode with the war plane, but they had some other gems too.
I love anthologies in general, but the big problem is that depending on what's going on, some episodes rock while some suck.
My favorite anthologies are Twilight Zone, Friday the 13th, and Tales From the Crypt. But I also remember Darkside, Monsters, Freddy's Nightmares, and Outer Limits.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 05/14/2006 12:43 PM EST
I just watched an episode a few months ago on Sci Fi. Awesome stuff. I remember this one when I was a kid about a ghost train or something like that that ran through someone's house.
Happy Mother's Day Matt, you're the mother of X-E
Chestnuts roasted by Fox @ 05/14/2006 01:06 PM EST
And Family Dog, man I loved that show. It was on for like two weeks, right?
Chestnuts roasted by Fox @ 05/14/2006 01:10 PM EST
Fox - Yeah, I actually wasn't sure it even made it past one episode, but I'm sure they gave it at least a 2nd showing. I hope they did. I was probably so stricken with grief that it got cancelled before they even gave it a good shot and that's why I can't remember. :'(
Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 05/14/2006 01:34 PM EST
I want to see the episode where the whole town has to go into this Radiation type room and the people 1 by 1 are altered. It made an impression on me but I can't remember the jist of the story. I must see it again. I can't wait for the DVD's.
Chestnuts roasted by Bobby Sox @ 05/14/2006 01:50 PM EST
The only Amazing Story episodes I remember are the ones mentioned above; the one with the landing gear drawn in and the one with the various freaky supermodels(thought that was weird science), but if I remember correctly the models resulted being half formed from torn pages or had staples in them(?) and I used to draw as a kid so of course I love the episode with the landing gear, but somehow I ended up only fulfilling half the episode, I didn't end up doing art but joining the Army. How does that happen?
Once again I will probably shun this on DVD as nostalgia has not been kind to me(somehow I thought Sonic the Hedgehog was a much better game and as far as Capcom goes, at least Final Fight retains some of its kick-assedness, I fear playing Strider or Golden Axe again for fear of discovering my childhood was all one long delusion.)
In closing who would've imagined these days Christopher Lloyd would be doing a Pam Anderson sitcom, Mary Stuart Masterson would still be doing movies(though she is easily confused with every other 3 named actress from the 80s) and Brad would disappear...well, maybe we foresaw that last one.
Chestnuts roasted by whitemale_98 @ 05/14/2006 03:37 PM EST
I missed Amazing Stories, which was probably good because I have a vivid imagination and stuff like that would've freaked me the hell out. Even now, although I love the Twilight Zone (original flavor), I have to watch it during the day. Even the goofy episodes with Burgess Meredith (hint- all his episodes were goofy).
The anthology series is such a great idea though- were there any that weren't horror/scifi besides "Love, American Style"?
Chestnuts roasted by Welsh Rabbit @ 05/14/2006 04:00 PM EST
I used to have the Family Dog episode on VHS. It was taped a year before I was born, but it was really weird finding it when I was 10 and having no idea where it was from. I loved it though, and now I know what series it's from. Thanks Matt!
Chestnuts roasted by Gooble @ 05/14/2006 04:25 PM EST
Off the top of my head, Welsh, the only thing I can think of would be something like Papa Beaver's Story Time, if that's not too much of a stretch.
Happy Mother's Day to IHAQ, Mrs. Manimal, Trajeal and any other blogging mommas!
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 05/14/2006 04:33 PM EST
The most famous Amazing Story episode (beside the war plane one) is another high school related one. It's about a jock/bully who somehow becomes magnet when a meteor crashes in his yard. Everything metal sticks to him. In the end, he becomes stuck to the ugly chick with braces who has a crush on him. Funny.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 05/14/2006 05:26 PM EST
It may very well be my favorite role of his, and we're talking about the guy who played Doc, Uncle Fester and Professor Plum.
Clearly you haven't seen his Oscar-worthy performance in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 05/14/2006 06:02 PM EST
The only two I've seen are the muchly aforemention 'The mission' (aka 'the plane one') and 'Ghost Train', which coincidentally happen to be the only two directed by Spielberg.
Chestnuts roasted by Cap'n B @ 05/14/2006 07:37 PM EST
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle!!! I absolutely loved those books. Never did see the movie, though.
As for Amazing Stories, I'm not sure if I caught any of those episodes, but I do remember watching things like the Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone. I'm not sure which show it was on, but I remember an episode in which this old guy dies, but is too stubborn to know it. He begins to decompose, and it grosses out his family. They try to tell him he's dead, but he just won't believe it. At the suggestion of the family doctor, the guy's wife sprinkles pepper in his napkin at breakfast time. The guy sneazes into the napkin, looks at it, and realizes he IS dead and he gets up from the table to lie down in his bed. The last shot is of the napkin which now contains pieces of the guy's rotting face.
Chestnuts roasted by DeeJay @ 05/14/2006 07:48 PM EST
Wow, I haven't though about Amazing Stories in years.
So, remember Monsters? I'm trying to remember a certain episode. There was a woman dating a man, and her son somehow ends up thinking the man is a demon or something, but then it turns out that the woman and the son are really demons. Anyone got a title or anything for that one?
Chestnuts roasted by marioshoku @ 05/14/2006 08:52 PM EST
I only vaguely remember "Amazing Stories." I probably wouldn't have watched it, either. I also have a vivid imagination and get freaked out easily.
Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 05/14/2006 09:16 PM EST
You know that whole episode looked awfully familiar, I think i may have seen part of it late one night (3am ish)
Chestnuts roasted by chris @ 05/14/2006 11:26 PM EST
Marioshoku: I do remember Monsters, just not that particular episode. That show was freaky. The two episodes I remember the best was one where a newlywed couple falls into a web and get eaten by a giant spider at the end. The other one was about furniture (specifically a bed and fridge) that turned into monsters and ate people. FREAKED me out.
As Matt said, Amazing Stories is show probably once a week in marathon-form. It isn't exactly hard to catch.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 05/14/2006 11:29 PM EST
That theme song always gave me the creeps. Still does.
I recently saw the episode with Joey Pants where he and some other guys in this bar they regularly patron buy a life insurance policy on this old drunk, who is obviously near death, and in exchange they buy him as many drinks as he wants. But the guy doesn't die and they start going broke. Something like that.
This article reminded me of Cat's Eye. That creepy movie from the 80's with Drew Barrymore and the mini demon thing trying to steal her breath. I remember I begged my mom to let me stay up to watch that when I was about 4 or so. Finally she relented and let me watch it. I was scared beyond shitless and the mental scar has yet to heal. And it's the only reason I have cats. Well, the majority of the reason. . .
Chestnuts roasted by Rebecca @ 05/15/2006 05:36 AM EST
I found this episode guide for AS:
http://www.innermind.com/myguides/guides/am_story.htm
I want to see this episode:
21. Hell Toupee
A new hairpiece hides a previously peaceful man's baldness,
but uncovers an urge to murder the first lawyer he sees.
Chestnuts roasted by Rebecca @ 05/15/2006 05:39 AM EST
Um you accidentally wrote ABC once and then the rest of the article you wrote NBC
But it was an amusing article though even though i remember the theme song but not the episode. Maybe the next time I notice it on sci-fi
Chestnuts roasted by Goob @ 05/15/2006 06:46 AM EST
dey deejay- that was tales from the darkside. the man's nose comes off in the napkin and he goes back upstairs to finally R.I.P.
Chestnuts roasted by porchlight @ 05/15/2006 08:35 AM EST
I remember the opening part clear as day. Even though I probably haven't seen them since they first aired. But, I am sure I did not see this episode.
Chestnuts roasted by kb @ 05/15/2006 08:45 AM EST
Same as kb, watching that intro sequence gave me wierd deja vu, but i don't remember any episode. i bet i was to young to really get it, but remember that intro for some reason.
Chestnuts roasted by rutir @ 05/15/2006 09:25 AM EST
I have a Family Dog stuffed doll laying around somewhere. I really loved that episode, but no so much the show based on it. My flavorite, however, was the one where the guy drew the cartoon landing gear on the plane. As a lover of cartoons and cartooning, this one always stuck with me. Kind of a, "I'm certain that if I were faced with a near death experience my skills of an artist and getting lost in my own doodles would save me!" outlook on life kept me going. And don't think that as a wee one I didn't try to drown myself in pictures to the point of them coming to life a couple o' times.
Chestnuts roasted by Lucky Redlightbulbs @ 05/15/2006 11:16 AM EST
DeeJay -
Brace yourself: there were many Mrs. Piggle Wiggle movies. Each had two of the stories on it. Amazon shows four of them, there may have been more.
Chestnuts roasted by Mara @ 05/15/2006 12:04 PM EST
I LOVED this episode. 'The Mission' (the airplane one) was aweosme as well. However, I'm always stuck remembering 'Alamo Job', about a kid fighting at the Alamo who ends up in 1980s Texas, unsure how he got there, not sure how to get back to the fight.
Chestnuts roasted by Spaz Monkey @ 05/15/2006 12:13 PM EST
Rebecca: Rent a movie called "Body Bags." It's another anthology. In one of the stories Stacey Keach plays a man who gets a hair transplant but the hair turns out to be alive. It's a silly movie (another story has to do with killer chattering teeth). This also plays on Sci-Fi also once in awhile.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 05/15/2006 12:17 PM EST
Darkroom, with James Coburn as the "Photographer." He would develop pics and give little Night Gallery-esque commentary as he hung the photos up to dry. Aside from the toy soldier story, another one I remember from the show was one where this archeologist deciphered a tablet from an ancient culture that suffered a mysterious cataclysm. In effect, the message had the TRUE MEANING OF LIFE in its simple horrifying glory. And that knowledge drives anyone who hears it mad! A whole town is going insane one person at a time, and one man tries to stop the message from being broadcast over the radio, and fails. At least we know how the ancients lost their civilization.
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash, an antholgy of other peoples' imaginations @ 05/15/2006 12:23 PM EST
I love the horror/scifi/weird-shit genre. I have watched B-horror movies since before I started school, so very little of any of it could actually scare me. But, the intro to "Tales from the Darkside" creeped me out severely, to the point that I had to leave the room or cover my ears and close my eyes until it was over- then, of course I'd run back in so I didn't miss any of the show, I loved the show. Something about having something so normal, some trees, looking so abnormal just climbed into my psyche and made me uncomfortable. I still get creeped out just thinking about the image and the music.
Even though I was really too old for "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" I watched it anyway. It was like the creepy-show version of candy. Sometimes my dad would be in the room when my mom and I were watching it (she's the one I watched all those horror movies with when I was tiny, it's where I get it from) and he'd try to guess the twist. But, there never was a twist. What you see is what you get.
The thing I liked most about the show is that I could imagine having a group of friends that would get together just to tell stories and try to freak each other out. When I was in high school, for a week prior to the event, I composed in my head a nice ghost story centered on an actual phenomenon that ocurred whenever I, at night, drove by an old cemetary down the road from the house where my group of friends were going to have a get-together. The phenomenon, which I always found delightfully creepy (and I drove by it at night at least once a week), was that, as I crested a small hill in the road, my headlights would reflect off a certain large pillar grave-marker (much more ornate than any of the other headstones, which were a couple hundred years old), and the pillar would appear to glow green. Anyway, I composed this whole story about how a girl had died, and her rich family, who lived in my friend's old farmhouse where we were having the get-together, never wanted her to be forgotton, so they commissioned the headstone, and somehow she ends up appearing to someone in this very field out in the country where we were laying in the dark while I told the story. Anyway, I never got more than about two lines of the story out before one of my friends said she was too scared, and I had to stop. We were in highschool for heaven's sake.
Whenever I see that comedian/actor who had a reoccurring role on AYAOTD? in anything else I can only think "It's pronounced Sarr-DAY"
Chestnuts roasted by mags @ 05/15/2006 12:36 PM EST
Hey Mags, I believe "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" was just released on DVD.
Chestnuts roasted by LemurCat @ 05/15/2006 12:48 PM EST
Sadly my only real childhood rememberances of Christopher Lloyds illustrious career is of being in the live action bumper sketches on the Back to The Future animated TV show. Acting as Capt. Lou Albano to animated Marty McFly's Link-esque adventures. I also vaguely remember Bill Nye also being a part of those bumpers.
Chestnuts roasted by Brentantation @ 05/15/2006 01:07 PM EST
One of my favorite sci-fi shows was "Beyond Belief, Fact or Fiction." Hosted by Johnathon Frakes from season 2 on. They would tell these stories with a little twist, and you were supposed to guess whether it was based on something that really happened and or fiction. It was fun.
Not to long ago, Fox had an anthology hosted by Henry Rollins. VH1 had a SUPER-shortlived one hosted by Roger Daltry and all the tales were music-related in some way.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 05/15/2006 01:26 PM EST
Vaguely remembered this show but I sure remembered the "Meet the Misters" punishment. Scared me so bad.
Chestnuts roasted by Katie @ 05/15/2006 01:29 PM EST
I totally remember that episode where the guy kept seeing the demon in mirrors. Then at the end he saw the reflection in someones eyes. It was one of those episodes that gave me nightmares.
Chestnuts roasted by Greg @ 05/15/2006 02:07 PM EST
I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet, but the first season (24 eps) of "Amazing Stories" comes out on DVD July 18th.
Chestnuts roasted by Noah @ 05/15/2006 02:38 PM EST
Jesus, I remember all about this episode. I didn't see it till I was in middle school, prob. three or four years after it originally came out. By the way, the "Meet the Misters" referred to the authors/publishers of the books Brand was forced to hold "Mr. Funk, Mr. Wagnall, Mr. Random, Mr. House...and our good friend Mr. Shakespeare".
Chestnuts roasted by Will @ 05/15/2006 02:50 PM EST
Awesome review, Matt!
Seriously, what is this tv genre called? Seems like too much comedy to take itself seriously as a horror/sci-fi blend. Someone posted the genre question really early and I haven't seen an answer.
Chestnuts roasted by Carri @ 05/15/2006 03:10 PM EST
I was lucky enough to tape this back when it aired (and unlucky enough to tape all the other episodes, too) and after 20 years it still hasn't gotten old. There are only five good episodes of this show if you ask me, but they're SO good the two season DVD sets will be worth having just for them: "You Gotta Believe Me"; "GTtHotC"; "Mirror, Mirror"; "Mummy Daddy"; and that one where the cartoonist draws wheels on the plane that I can never remember the name of.
Chestnuts roasted by Mr. Satanism @ 05/15/2006 03:15 PM EST
Amazing Stories Marathon on Sci-Fi this Wednesday (5/17) 11am-4pm.
http://tinyurl.com/mm3e9
I hope I'm not just posting something that has been stated already. If so, Sorry.
Chestnuts roasted by Az @ 05/15/2006 03:21 PM EST
Posters live, in the digitally-lit world of, what they believe to be, the Internet.
But there is, unseen by most, an underworld.
A place that's just as real, but not as concermed with recent trends.
X-ENTERTAINMENT.
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash listening to Tales Told by Darkseid @ 05/15/2006 03:24 PM EST
Man, I don't remember this show at all, but for some reason the opening scene looks very familar. I really wish I could see that GTTHOTC episode in full.
BTW thanks Squee, I had a great Mothers day, I got to have a break from being a Mom, and gave my Mom the treat of playing Grandma for the day!
Chestnuts roasted by IHAQ @ 05/15/2006 03:44 PM EST
Love this episode. I actually have the extremely expensive VHS of it that you spoke of. I bought it years ago. Now they friggin have it on DVD...
Chestnuts roasted by Jay @ 05/15/2006 04:16 PM EST
Wow! That brought back memories.
Man, if I wanted to get some answers, I should have been someone besides the 77th person to post. Still, here's what I've got:
1) I remember the Episode with the cartoon tires that saved the guy's airplane. It reminded me of that movie, "Always" with John Goodman.
2) I also remember one with this Jamaican babysitter who took care of these two rotten kids, and then she used voo-doo magic to scare the shit out of them to straighten them up.
3) Mirror Mirror scared me too! I thought of that well into my teenage years if I was ever home alone, or babysitting, and I saw a mirror. I could swear there was someone standing right behind me about to kill me. Not everytime, but sometimes!
Questions for All:
Was it this, or a tales from the Crypt that this guy dreamed he was still alive, but everyone thought he was dead, and then they used a bone-saw on his head and started to autopsy him? Then he woke up, suffered a horrible punishment of some kind, and the same thing happened all over again?
Does anyone remember a show where this girl was going to sneak out of prison with this old Janitor inside of a coffin, and they sneaked her out and burried her, and when she woke up in there, she lit a lighter, and it was the old Janitor who had died that she was in the coffin with! That was scary in my memory until I saw KILL BILL: 2. Anyway, does anyone remember where that episode was?
Finally, does anyone remember some episode of... where someone shoots the wall and the wall starts to bleed? I think everything in the house was alive??!! I think Justine Bateman was in it.
Ok. Thanks! I will be looking too, but thanks for your help in remembering those disturbing shows that skewered my psyche into what it is today.
Chestnuts roasted by Dixon Deeper @ 05/15/2006 05:01 PM EST
It might have been Monsters (oboy! Candied Critters!) with the bleeding wall. This dude moved into an apartment house that had some odd rules about what to include into your garbage. He sees some neighbors tossing things like whole cooked turkeys into the "Garbage Chute" and is criticized for not throwing away as much as he should. In the end, it turns out the building is a huge, living (Ren Hoek voice)Organism(/Ren Hoek voice) to which he is fed.
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 05/15/2006 05:31 PM EST
I too am a huge fan of Amazing Stories. I remember watching one one night that left me and my Mom REALLY depressed, about this soldier in WW2 that was ragged on by all the others guys in his company. Just totally trashed on at every turn, but once they finally see combat he basically turns into Captain America and starts single handedly saving the day at every turn, gaining everyone's respect.
But at the end, it's revealed that he'd actually died as soon as they landed. BUM BUM BUM.
Chestnuts roasted by Wukong @ 05/15/2006 05:42 PM EST
(psst King if you click my name you can see a pretty cool pic of Ren I recently posted)
Carri, if you read up you'll see that "anthology series" was the best I could come up with.
JLARC, thanks for the reminder about the Henry Rollins show! Wasn't it a remake of Night Gallery?
For me, Christopher Lloyd will always most closely associated with Judge Doom/Uncle Fester. The Back to the Future thing pretty much skipped past me until later. I managed to block the abominable Stacked from my mind until someone mentioned it.
Fitting Sopranos ep to air on Mother's Day, huh?
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 05/15/2006 06:17 PM EST
Whenever I see that comedian/actor who had a reoccurring role on AYAOTD? in anything else I can only think "It's pronounced Sarr-DAY"
mags, I might be way off from what you're thinking, but a million years ago Denis Leary had a stand-up bit about pronunciation that annoyed him. His example was the elevator music queen Sade. And he'd say:
"My name? Oh I know it's spelled Sade, but it's pronounced Sar-DAY"
"Really? Well my name's Denis but I'm going to pronounce it Teh-FLEH!"
Ehh... the angry delivery is funnier than the line.
Chestnuts roasted by Welsh Rabbit @ 05/15/2006 06:38 PM EST
I'm glad to see someone else got the holy SHIT scared out of them by the Mirror Mirror episode. Man, that show fucked me up.
Chestnuts roasted by El Pollo de Diablo @ 05/15/2006 07:36 PM EST
Yeah, I'm sure that's where the joke originally came from (the singer's name and her pronunciation of it). But, in Are You Afraid of the Dark? there was this reocurring character within the stories the kids told, who ran a magic shop. I think the name on the door was Sardo, but whenever a kid came in and called him Sardo, he'd say "it's pronounced Sarr-DAY!"
He's the one who sold the glasses to the girl that allowed her to see another dimension of people who eventually came to kill her. I can't remember his role in the other episodes.
I don't know if I really like the series enough to buy the DVD. I probably will though.
That Amazing Stories marathon on Wednesday is going to include Hell Toupee, and the Weird Science one with Jon Cryer. I didn't really recognize the others for sure, although one of them is that really crappy "What If?" about a little boy whose parents are the typical self-important upwardly mobile people featured so often in the late 80s, and the house starts taking care of him since his parents don't, and eventually he fades away to where they don't see him, and the kindly crossing guard (who isn't really there) helps him to find a kind pregnant woman at a toy store who actually likes children, and the boy ends up being born to her instead. Yeah, it doesn't make much more sense watching it. I didn't remember it from my childhood, but I sure remember it from the last Amazing Stories marathon. It's trying to be high art and social commentary, I think, but the kid is just annoying.
Chestnuts roasted by mags @ 05/15/2006 07:47 PM EST
Dixon, I believe the show with the autopsy you were talking about was in fact a third season Tales From the Crypt episode titled Abra Cadaver with Beau Bridges.
Chestnuts roasted by Rob @ 05/15/2006 08:10 PM EST
Dan, The epsiode you are talking about is one of my favorites. It wasn't a genie at all. When he was a kid, he was told by this gnome/leprechaun guy to, no matter what, never part with his toys. He keeps them til he's near death with age and poverty and makes a fortune off of them after being a shopping cart bum for years. Great episode.
Chestnuts roasted by TapeWurm @ 05/15/2006 08:28 PM EST
Whoa- Wish I had seen this. I remember only watching "Tales From the Crypt" a few time- with my older cousin, and I felt like a total bad ass for doing so. I remember one episode where a guy (Joe Pesci??) is in love with Siamese twins, and he either cuts them in half, or they cut HIM in half so everyone can share...it screwed me up for awhile. Nightmares and everything!
Was 'Amazing Stories' SCARY, or just campy?
Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 05/15/2006 09:12 PM EST
It's definitely more campy in retrospect, but generally, these shows succeeded more in being scary because they were on a network and couldn't cop-out with cheap "scary" stuff like excess gore or hardcore violence. Creepy goes a longer way.
Amazing Stories wasn't intended to be a "scary series," but as everyone's been saying, eps like Mirror, Mirror really were frightening -- especially if you watched it as a kid, or are able to watch it now with a kid's perspective.
A consistent trait among these kinds of shows is the ending-after-the-ending, meaning that after shit gets wrapped up mostly happily, something happens at the last second that continues the EVIL. They're often left open-ended, and I think this is why they stick with people so well.
Regarding Tales From The Crypt, everyone should rent the really old movie that predates the television series by a mile. The Monkey's Paw "skit" creeped the fuck out of me.
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 05/15/2006 09:32 PM EST
Two of the Amazing Stories episodes that I remember to this day after only having seen them once during their original air dates are the Mirror Mirror episode you mentioned, that still creeps me out to this day. looking in mirrors has never been the same since I saw that episode.
The other episode is one where this mentally challenged kid has the ability to make whatever he wants to happen become reality. He wishes his dead mother were still around, and suddenly there is a corpse in the living room.
Amazing Stories was so good.
There needs to be a dvd set.
The only other episode I remember involves a ghost train.
Chestnuts roasted by Kurt @ 05/15/2006 11:55 PM EST
So, does Goob get a trophy, too? For pointing out the wrong network gaff? That's on par with Raph's voice coming out of Donatello's mouth.
Or did you do that on purpose, Matt? Subtle if you did.
Chestnuts roasted by darth muppet @ 05/16/2006 02:52 AM EST
Thanks Rob and King Klash for helping me find the answers!
Now if I could only look in a mirror again!
Chestnuts roasted by Dixon Deeper @ 05/16/2006 11:18 AM EST
Matt you are the gorram'ed best!!! I've thought about this episode many many times. And you actually DUG UP FOOTAGE TOO!!Only you would write a (ruling) article on an aged show. Man this article brought back some memories. Do you recall the episode, believe it was this show, where a meteor magnetizes a popular teen.. the ending is classic.
Also, (this might be Alfred Hitchcock presents) there was a killer ep. where two couples went on a double date and go into their parked car after the date ends. It's in a parking lot. I wont spoil it, but there is something horrible under the car that has destroyed the engine. They don't get to leave...
Chestnuts roasted by Coltyhuxx @ 05/16/2006 01:13 PM EST
Man, that was a kickas review. I remember this show like it was yesterday. I use to love watching it. I was 9/10 at the time of the 2 seasons. The intro was amzing to me at the time.
I do have a question, and I believe this was part of the Twilight Zone series of the 80's. There was one episode where these guys in blue suits, with no faces setup time. Meaning, if you were to walk out a door that was not made of glass, it was just a white empty place, like a canvas, and these blue guys would actually setup time ahead for you to experience it. The blue time men messed up because they forgot to place this guys watch (the focus character of the story) on his dining room table or something like that and he discovers eventually how time really progresses.
I've met only one other person that recalls this episode so I know I'm not making it up, but I don't know what the name is or what series it's from.
Someone on here HAS to know the answer.
Chestnuts roasted by Darth Galvatron @ 05/16/2006 01:57 PM EST
Darth Galvatron: I believe this is the episode you're speaking of. Coincidentally, I was looking through an episode guide for Twilight Zone to find a certain episode I couldn't remember and remembered reading that one.
Chestnuts roasted by Rebecca @ 05/16/2006 08:43 PM EST
Muppet Baby- This is just a wild guess.. http://www.jabootu.com/hhsd.htm
Chestnuts roasted by no springs @ 05/17/2006 12:41 AM EST
I just purchased the whole Monsters series on DVD from EBAY! It is pretty good quality, AND as a bonus WPGH TV53 pops up every now and then because it was recorded on Pittsburgh TV station, where I am from....thus it's very nostalgic for me. Monsters rules, it's got some real creepy episodes, like Holly's House and one with a statue that I only vaguely recall and haven't gotten to yet.
Chestnuts roasted by Funky Boo Berry the 70's Ghost @ 05/17/2006 10:54 AM EST
Hey all, I just want to let the world know that if anyone is home today, Sci-fi finally decided to put Amazing stories on at a decient hour. No good ones such as this one and the family dog, but still it's good to see a good show on tv for once. It's on until 4 when ripley's believe it or not comes on. Enjoy.
Chestnuts roasted by Jarrett @ 05/17/2006 12:34 PM EST
"I told you so, Bobby Joe! Mummies ain't got no necks!"
Chestnuts roasted by LemonWitch @ 05/18/2006 01:53 AM EST
Dude, that first clip where he has to swallow the old gum... that instantly brought be back 20 years!! I had vaguely recalled the episode at the start of the article... but that clip... wow... that episode scared the SHIT out of me concerning high school and my future academia. I think I shared just about every fear and or anxiety you had Matt growing up. Maybe it's something in the water... or the dump. Wow, spooky.
Chestnuts roasted by Double G @ 05/18/2006 11:36 AM EST
I loved Amazing Stories back in the day, but the promo teasers for the show never mentioned the time or day.
It would say something like "a student get's his just desert- TONIGHT!"
Sure they were interesting previews that left you wondering, but being zoned out in front of the tube and NEVER HEARING THE DAY AND TIME OF THE SCHEDULED SHOW couldn't have helped the series. It seemed like everyone heard of the show, but nobody could remember when the thing was on.
The opening sequence seemed so high tech at the time with all the flying computer generated stuff, I'll have to check out the Season 1 DVD when it comes out.
Chestnuts roasted by Mike D. @ 05/19/2006 05:52 PM EST
i thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy amazing stories. woo
Chestnuts roasted by ceridwens_descent @ 05/19/2006 09:13 PM EST
Shiny review. I had to wait until I had the time to sit down and read it.
Professor Beanes post-beheading would make a most memorable Halloween costume.
Chestnuts roasted by Jessica Marie @ 05/20/2006 10:03 AM EST
Matt, the Donatello, Raphael lipsynch errors bugged the ever-living crap out of me as a kid. I was just watching an episode where the turtles were given a love potion and all fell in love with Irma. Holy crap! There's about three/four instances where the wrong turtles mouths are moving.
Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 05/20/2006 08:05 PM EST
Oh, so many great anthology shows. Another nice one was a much later kids show called Eerie Indiana which was more along the line of X-files but with kids, and predated X-files if memory serves. Saw it was on DVD and I'm oh-so tempted to buy it.
I've been buying the Tales from the Crypt DVD's the day the come out. So damn good they are. All the wonderful stuff I missed out on when I was a kid and couldn't watch horror movies.
And so many Amazing Stories episodes forever locked in my head. The train engine that comes into the house and the passengers are all ghosts. Santa Claws tripping a burglar alarm and getting arrested. The kid who finds out he's an alien and gets depressed because he has to leave his girlfriend back on earth until--miracle of miracles--she's an alien too, also boarding the mother-ship. The very moving one about the Alamo where the kid goes into the future away from the battle into current Texas and sees the outcome of the war so many years later. And of course "The mission," probably my favorite. You just don't forget cartoon landing gear.
Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 05/20/2006 08:31 PM EST
I remember the Mirror Mirror episode. I saw it as a kid and it really freaked me out. i wasn't the type to get really scared when I was little but that one really did me in. x.x
Chestnuts roasted by Adrastia @ 05/21/2006 03:28 AM EST
After reading this article I remember that episode vividly, and yes it scared the holy shit out of me! I always fondly remembered this show but can't really think of any actual episodes other than GTTHOTC and the "Remote Control man" If I recall didn't that episode include Jeff Cohen (Chunk from Goonies) as the hero's punk-ass son, and didn't he try to chop off his dad's hand in the garbage disposal? Maybe I'm merging the vauge mental images in my head.
Chestnuts roasted by Timbo @ 05/22/2006 08:00 PM EST
Nevermind. A quick IMDB search proved me right! Can't wait for the DVDs!
Chestnuts roasted by Timbo @ 05/22/2006 08:03 PM EST
Awsome summery matt!i never missed the show!
i heard christopher lloyds shrill"mrbrrannnnnd" clear as a bell as i read on!
Chestnuts roasted by JAY B @ 05/23/2006 01:07 AM EST
Just wanted to point out that "Family Dog" was a Brad Bird joint, not Burton.
And that image of Lloyd with the stitches on his neck used to freak me the fuck out for months when I was a kid.
Chestnuts roasted by Johny P @ 05/24/2006 12:36 AM EST
By far, the best part of that episode is after the headless Bean tosses the head of Lloyd onto the bed and delivers the line: "I'll see you in detention Mr. Brannnnd" whilst sticking out his tongue during the "n" in Brand, making me think back then that his name was actually Mr. Braaalllnd, or Mr. Bllllaaand.
Chestnuts roasted by M.V. Peebles @ 05/24/2006 10:10 PM EST
Was going to wait till late Sunday to put this up, but it's already done, so yeah. I've had this review sitting on the bench waiting to be written for months, and it was starting to get mad at me. Here's a review of 
