ecl@hocsj.UUCP (10/08/84)
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE is an anthology series produced by George
Romero (of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD fame). It is syndicated to any local
station who wants to fill a half hour here and there. It had a shaky but
interesting pilot about a year ago, with an episode entitled "Trick or
Treat." This time around the series opener is called "I'll Give a Million."
I expected it to leave me yearning for the old TWILIGHT ZONEs I grew up
with. Well, the story might have been better compared to Alfred Hitchcock's
old half-hour show--it's more his style--but I'll give "I'll Give a Million"
is a better story than most of Rod Serling's fare. It concerns two wealthy,
ruthless old codgers--a la TRADING PLACES--who have been pulling shady deals
for a long time. Unexpectedly, one offers the other one million dollars for
his soul. Since neither is particularly religious, it sounds like a good
deal. Or is it?
Well, what can I tell you? I used to call TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
"Tales of the Totally Predictable" but this story did keep me guessing what
was going on. There is something I like a lot about the last five minutes
or so, but to say anything about it would rule out one or more of about five
or six possible courses for the plot. I don't want to do that so somebody
(please!) who has seen it, talk (write) to me about it so I can tell you
what I liked. Nice going, Mr. Romero. Nice touch at the end. It shows you
are more than just a horror story fan.
(Evelyn C. Leeper for)
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!lznv!mrlecl@hocsj.UUCP (11/06/84)
Reference: <207@looking.UUCP> Comments previously posted by Mark R. Leeper: > TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE is an anthology series produced by George Romero (of > NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD fame). It is syndicated to any local station who > wants to fill a half hour here and there. It had a shaky but interesting > pilot about a year ago, with an episode entitled "Trick or Treat." This time > around the series opener is called "I'll Give a Million." I expected it to > leave me yearning for the old TWILIGHT ZONEs I grew up with. Well, the story > might have been better compared to Alfred Hitchcock's old half-hour show--it's > more his style--but I'll give "I'll Give a Million" is a better story than > most of Serling's fare. It concerns two wealthy, ruthless old codgers--a la > TRADING PLACES--who have been pulling shady deals for a long time. > Unexpectedly, one offers the other one million dollars for his soul. Since > neither is particularly religious, it sounds like a good deal. Or is it? > > Well, what can I tell you? I used to call TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED "Tales of > the Totally Predictable" but this story did keep me guessing what was going > on. There is something I like a lot about the last five minutes or so, but > to say anything about it would rule out one or more of about five or six > possible courses for the plot. I don't want to do that so somebody (please!) > who has seen it, talk (write) to me about it so I can tell you what I liked. > Nice going, Mr. Romero. Nice touch at the end. It shows you are more than > just a horror story fan. and (Reference: <195@hocsj.UUCP>): > TV fantasy was good in the golden old days: the days of the first couple of > seasons of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, the first and maybe the second season of STAR > TREK, but even that was pretty spotty. This is another of those golden > years it seems, because TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE so far has had more good > episodes than bad. NIGHTMARES, had it sold, would have had at least three > good episodes. The best shows were very good in the old days, just like the > best of British television is pretty good. But that does not mean that the > average show from Britain of the 1950's was all that good. It may be that > the highs are not as good. The best of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE may not > affect us like the best of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, but then series lasted longer > in those days. >
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (11/21/84)
I ran across one of the DARK SIDE episodes a week or so ago, having stayed up unusually late. I watched it, after seeing the credits, because the writer was Harlan Ellison. Unfortunately, I guess it was late enough that my memory circuits were non-functional; I cannot recall anything other than that fact about the episode. A clue will probably bring it all back. I have the general impression that it was fairly good, though. Will