Currently binge watching Monsters, The Hitchhiker, Tales from the Crypt, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and the 80s Alfred Hitchcock reboot and it has me missing anthology series. Saw a lot in the 80s/90s. Anyone have a favorite?
If I had to pick just one I guess mine would be the original TZ but I have a soft spot for the 80s version. One Step Beyond is an old but good one. Nightmare Cafe was a good but very short lived series.
Outer Limits in the 90's, I love that show.
I enjoy it as well. Although sometimes I have trouble with the super progressive themes.
Yeah, I went through it a couple years ago and it had the usual ham fisted "men bad, white man bad, racism bad, humans bad" stuff that you'd expect from progressives. I'd estimate maybe 10-20% of the episodes ran along those lines.
The rest was fairly entertaining as far as low budget sci fi goes.
Plus it regularly had boobies in them
I saw The Deprogrammers when I was a kid, and I always think of it whenever I think of mainstream "anti-establishment" media figures like Jon Stewart.
I suppose even Brent Spiner himself to an extent, considering how diametrically opposed the cast of TNG now acts toward the supposed "timeless" values they espoused at the time.
A story/premise deserving of a much better budget.
Haven’t watched in a long time. I see it’s free on YouTube so will add to my binge list. I enjoyed it too
It's free for a reason, in that it's nigh unwatchable. 🤣
I quite liked every episode with Nicholas Prentice (played by Alex Diakun and somehow made to look like an uncanny lizard-man), a time traveler who (among other things) showed up at the assassination of Obama, in an episode aired fifteen years before Obama was elected.
The bugs episode was awesome.
It started to all congeal together a few seasons in and I got tired.
Do you mean The Sandkings?
Yes, that's the one. It's been a long time since I've seen anything.
It only came out in the mid 90s, what 30 years ago? Fuck I'm old, I don't think of the 90s as 30 years ago
Yeah, the 000's and 010's were all the same. It was just one giant same thing.
I remember Are you Afraid of the Dark as a kid but the others was probably too young for.
Speaking of childhood, I remember a friend once showing me this show Grizzly takes for Gruesome kids that was a comedy horror anthology series he used to watch, back when British TV was good.
Cool! I’m sure you’ve seen me mention my love for pre diversity obsession British programming. You should check out the anthology series from the 80s. A great time for that sort of programming
I loved Are you Afraid of the Dark as a kid (and pete and pete)
But I'd imagine Are you Afraid of the Dark hasn't aged well and I'm too old and miserable now to enjoy such simple pleasures.
Eh the effects weren't always amazing but on rewatch with my niece I was surprised at how effective it could be with the less-is-more approach. Also it was a Canadian production right before we became a glorified hollywood backlot so they had some pretty elaborate set pieces and locations.
The 4th Doctor.
THE ORIGINAL 4th Doctor.
Baker is my all time favorite doctor but I enjoy all the classic doctors. Even watched up to Capaldi. Tried to give Jodi a chance but that was a mistake
Worst thing about the Capaldi era is that he actually plays a really good Doctor, but it's all wasted with the storyline that focuses on Clara all the time. You end up wading through knee high feces in the hopes you'll get scraps of some good content.
And then Bill arrives to remind you she is a lesbian. Wouldn’t loved to have seen Capaldi with competent writers
I loved Capaldi but kept wanting him to do his Malcolm Tucker - that would have been cool
Agreed - the episode "Heaven Sent", which is just a Capaldi monologue, is phenomenally good. But then the very next episode falls flat as soon as the Wild West standoff is over. For one shining moment we got to see what he was capable of as an actor when there was nobody else getting in the way.
Every season was a brand new style, but the same sardonic doctor.
I'm watching all the episodes again.
All Time is Original TZ - but currently it's Inside No. 9
Inside No 9? What is that about?
It's a British show. It's on Prime, you could buy it or subscribe to the British channel to watch it. The same two actors/creators are in every episode. It is very good. The setting and stories vary wildly but there's always a 9 in the episode and a twist. I would bet, based on what you've said on this site, you'd enjoy it a lot.
Cool! Thanks!
Well each episode is a different story but all are written by Steve Pemberton/ Reece Shearsmith. They have Tonnes of easter eggs and the entire series has a huge payoff in the final episode. 90% of the episodes are great. There's a couple of fillers but for the most part all are enjoyable. No spoilers though due to the final episode pay off
I love reading how they fooled everyone with their live Halloween episode. How pissed everyone was, then the realization dawned on them, and finally everyone was praising being fooled.
The original Tales From The Crypt is still my favorite, it was a perfect blend of horror and comedy.
Masters of Horror was alright, extremely hit or miss compared to TFTC.
I mostly like anthology horror but the original Heavy Metal is a good scifi anthology. The animation still looks great today. It would be perfect for a series but they’d absolutely fuck it up if they made it today.
Whenever I come across them I try to get reprints of Tales from the Cryot, Vault of Horror, and Weird Science. Masters of Horrir was very hit or miss but had some good ones
Came here for this. We'll never see another series like it and horror has become a joke in the past decade.
Did you know that the Crypt Keeper has the eyeballs taken from the original Chucky doll? Kevin Yagher was called to do both projects and when it came time to finish the Crypt Keeper he was stuck for a set of eyeballs. He popped the clear blue eyes out of Chucky and the look worked, so they kept it.
TFTC was also funny occasionally. MOH I don't remember one of them having humor.
The one with the Deer Woman was a little more lighthearted but that’s the only one I remember.
It was John Landis' episode so that might explain if it had humor in it
A good companion for the "Twilight Zone" is "The Night Gallery." Serling was the host of both. He didn't have the same hands on with NG as with TZ. NG was more horror stories than Sci-fi like TZ.
When Sci-Fi channel first debuted (you know, back when they wanted to appeal to Sci-fi nerds) they showed Night Gallery. I have been meaning to binge it. I’ll see if it’s on YouTube. Also love the Simpsons Halloween episode where Bart introduces each story Night Gallery style
Simpsons Halloween has become the best episode in most seasons
Absolutely
I can't believe though that last year they didn't release the episode on Halloween week
What, no love for Métal Hurlant Chronicles? Closest thing we're gonna get to an adaptation of the original Heavy Metal bandes dessinées (other than the movies) now that DC/Marvel have shit the bed.
Had never heard of it. Will have to check it out. I’m so ignorant of French sci-fi but I hear great things.
A lot of what we consider "foundational" elements of modern sci-fi are blatant ripoffs of French and Belgian "reactionary" sci-fi from the 60s and 70s. H. R. Giger and Jean Giraud (Moebius) in particular either created or inspired a lot of work.
I have the Valerian comics but that’s it. Wasn’t 5th Element inspired by French sci-fi? I really need to check that out. Razorfist is a big fan. Also isn’t 5th Element inspired by French Sci-Fi?
The Fifth Element was essentially Giraud taking his and O'Bannon's The Long Tomorrow and using some of the visuals Mézières had done for Valerian novels.
The Long Tomorrow Part I
The Long Tomorrow Part II
Cool!
Love, Death, and Robots is a good one. Also the V/H/S movies and The Dark Tapes.
I saw love death and robots shortly before cancelling Netflix. Shows that Netflix can make good things when they want.
If you like that one, check out Red Iron Road on Amazon
There's also the conquistador episode.
I grew up on Are You Afraid Of The Dark? I realize some of it's not all that great, but it's pure nostalgia for me.
Absolutely. 80s/90s Nickelodeon was awesome. Even into the early 00s I’d watch sometimes. Don’t even want to know what they have become now
X-Files and Stargate SG1.
it mean.. it has a lot of "monster of the week" or filler episodes that pretty much constitutes as anthology. they have nothing to do with the actual main story at all and usually not mentioned in the main story afterwards XD
This is incorrect and a real bugbear of mine because what you're calling erroneous is the original definition of filler for American TV, before anime was ever heard of here. As you point out it it's confusing because the anime term "filler" is entirely different from the other commonly used term, but the non-anime version came first. It just meant an episode that doesn't move the overall main plot forward.
X-Files was good and I’m currently watching SG1
Also, currently watching it. Lots of progressive themes. Malthusian, environmental, and of course, feminist ones revolving around Carter. How many ersatz Carter characters have we seen this far? That rogue NDI one, that brainiac student. In season 5 en 6 we saw more male scientists other than Carter, that I recall.
The male scientists were usually the nerdy male scientist stereotype. And Carter is obviously a babe. But outside that early episode with the Mongols they didn't make a lot of girl boss episodes. And Carter did fail quite a bit and was a bit socially awkward. I'm going a long way to say I don't think she's a Mary Sue, but it flirts a little with the line
My argument is that they frame her as the foremost expert on Stargate technology, while physics is typically dominated by men. Then we see an evil version also occupying a similar role in the NDI team and later we see a young female student in the Airforce academy who may even be more brilliant than Carter.
Only in the later seasons does she have competition from men, but of course, they're all nerds and incompetent fighters and couldn't hope to outclass Carter.
Episode 21, season 6 -- the female doctor at SG-command wants to call in a female neurosurgeon, claiming she's the best there is. For fun I searched for 'the best neurosurgeons' and came up with this list. Not a single female. It's been years since that show, but still.
Things like that. Also, the chief technician on the Prometheus appeared to be female.
I’m only on season 3 so far.
Basically, they've built a female archetype around Carter's character and there is an evil variant and later a brilliant up-and-coming one. Not really spoilers.
Gotcha. Well I’ll probably have forgotten by the time I get to it lol
You jumping into Atlantis immediately after SG1?
I was going to hold off but it may be best to do Atlantis and then SGU
I wouldn't even bother with Battle Gate Voyager, but that's just me. You're a long ways from that decision anyway.
Atlantis is my favourite and definitely should not be skipped. SGU they leaned hard into trying to film it like Battle Star, and bullshit character drama and love triangles, and only one somewhat likeable character. Doesn't help they actually cancelled their top rated show in Atlantis hoping it would force people to watch it.
Atlantis premiered after the end of Season 8, and the two didn't have a direct crossover until after SG1 ended. So the first seasons are fair game before you finish SG1.
Cool! Thanks!
That would be the correct order. How far into SG1 are you
Only about a third into the 3rd season. Currently watching a hunch of shows at the same time.
I'll tell you one I watched as a kid that I wonder if anyone else will admit to it, "The Red Shoes Diaries."
Didn’t see that til I was in the Air Force. When I got to my first base I’m ashamed to admit I asked for cable along with Cinemax for obvious reasons.
Fact or fiction is a fun one
Good memes too
Yes! Loved it. I’m into paranormal stuff so that show really interested me. I wish they would’ve had a book that went more into depth with the true stories
Twilight zone, ray Bradbury theater. Someone said outer limits. Black mirror is the newer one that’s good. The twilight zone movie if you’ve never seen it. Friday the 13th the series was banging back on the day but not sure how it holds up.
I’ve been meaning to binge the Friday the 13th series. Black mirror was good but has some current year nonsense. Like that social credit score episode was very good but all the praise went to the lesbian episode
Def check o unit the Friday the 13th. I remember really enjoying it as a kid but that was a long time ago.
You’re right about black mirror. Each season shoved in more and more of “the message”
Original Alfred Hitchcock 30 minute series is good.
Also check out Tales from the Darkside.
Edit: Oh yeah, and Friday the 13th the series!
I loved Tales from the Darkside. Opening music scared me as a kid. Been looking to binge it but I may have to buy the dvd. Friday the 13th is on YouTube and Alfred Hitchcock is on all over
lol - was just perusing the wikipedia entry on Tales from the Darkside... Guess who was going to do a "reboot" of Tales from the Darkside around 2014? Yup, that's right... Bad Reboot
These guys are RETARDED, ONE TRICK MONKEYS. Ooo, I'd never do a straight anthology series that worked because we need a mystery box!
There was a TV series which had Henry Rollins introducing the stories like the original twilight zone presenter.
Stephen king had some of the short stories turned into TV episodes. This one deals with the spread of some kind of airborne vaccine against violence with unpredictable results.
ND- The End of the Whole Mess https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=NXUsPkJ_2bQ
The Stand? I have a few of King’d anthology books
The Stand is completely different this was from the nightmares and dreamscapes short stories. The other program was called Night Visions.
Oh ok. I think I’ve heard of Night Visions and still need to read Nightmares and Dreamscapes