TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE

Tales from the Darkside is an anthology TV series which was aired from October 1, 1983 to July 1, 1988. Its is similar to the Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits and Tales from the Crypt.

Each episodes was an individual short story that ended with a plot twist. It centered mostly around horror stories.The usual plot formula is comprised of an initial normal, mundane situation that gradually begins to get off-kilter, with suspense building up to the final, chilling, surprise conclusion.

The show usually start with this introduction:

"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But... there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit... a Darkside."

This 30 minute horror/anthology series follows in the vein of the Twilight Zone. Each week presents another story of horror fantasy and science fiction. Like many related shows, this series adapted the work of famous genre authors of the period such as Stephen King, Clive Barker and others. The Pilot episode which was aired just before the Halloween in 1983, was made as a one time shot, and due to the success, a weekly series was produced which aired for fro 4 seasons in first run syndication. Tales from the Darkside was still a very strong and prominent series when it was taken off the air.

Program usually close with this phrase:

"The Darkside is always there waiting for us to enter; waiting to enter us. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight."TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE

NIGHT GALLERY

Night Gallery is another Rod Serling's series. It is his follow up to the “Twilight Zone”.It was aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973. Serling serves as an air-host of this series and as a major contributor of the scripts, although he did not have the same control of content and tone as he did on Twilight Zone.

Similar in format from his first series, Each week we get a new tale represented by a painting in an old museum. Whereas the tales in “Twilight Zone” were more on science fiction, these tales have a darker, more horrific edge. Bolstering Serling's thoughtful original dramas were adaptations of classic genre material--short stories by such luminaries as H. P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, A.E. van Vogt, Algernon Blackwood, Conrad Aiken, Richard Matheson, August Derleth, and Christianna Brand. Variety of material brought with it a variety of tone, from the deadly serious to the tongue-in-cheek, stretching the television anthology concept to its very limits.

Sadly, the show seems to have been cursed: For the third season (1972–73), short-sighted executives at the network cut Gallery's third-season time slot to a half-hour and moved the show to Sunday evenings—despite good ratings and a growing cult following on college campuses. It lasted only 15 episodes before it was canceled. In an ironic twist, Night Gallery won the best ratings of its broadcast run as its final season played out, regularly beating its competition.NIGHT GALLERY

THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERIES

The Hardy Boys Mysteries was a television series aired for three seasons on ABC. It is the story of Frank Hardy and Joe Hardy, brother amateur detectives aspiring to follow the footsteps of their famous father, Fenton Hardy. Frank is the elder of the two and has a black hair.Joe is the younger, has blond hair, and blue eyes. The boys live in the fictional city of Bayport (on Barmet Bay) together with their famous father, mother Laura Hardy and their Aunt Gertrude. This tv series was adapted from the famous adventure novel of “The Hardy Boys”.

In this series, Nancy Drew is part of the adventures.Nancy Drew is “a part time investigator”- daughter of attorney Carson Drew. She lives with her father in the fictional River Heights which, by the nature of the cross-over element of the series, cannot be too distant from the Hardy Boys home.

The stars who portray the famous roles are:Parker Stevenson(Frank Hardy),Shaun Cassidy (Joe Hardy),Pamela Sue Martin but replaced by Janet Julian for the last two episodes (Nancy Drew), Ed Gilbert (Fenton Hardy),Edith Atwater (Aunt Gertrude),William Schallet (Carson Drew) and many more.

This series was produced by Glen A. Larson. The original music was composed by Stu Phillips.The series was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1977, in the category of "Special Classification of Outstanding Individual Achievement", recognizing the work of cinematographer Enzo Martinelli. THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERIES

TALES FROM THE CRYPT

Tales from the Crypt is an American horror anthology TV series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on HBO. It was based on the 1950's EC Comics series of the same name and was produces by the Geffen Film Company in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Each episode began with a title sequence that was a tracking shot scored by a Danny Elfman theme that led from the front door of the Cryptkeeper's home down hallways and stairways to the basement, where the show's host, the Crypt Keeper would pop out from a coffin, cackling wildly. Then the wisecracking, decomposing corpse (voiced by John Kassir), would introduce the episode with intentionally corny puns. Each episode was a single story, and many had notable celebrity guest stars such as Brad Pitt, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen and others. Many famous celebrities,such as Tom Hanks, Michael J. Fox and Arnold Schwarzenegger, also directed some episodes of the series. TALES FROM THE CRYPT

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a Sci-Fi/horror-themed television series. The original series was a joint production between the Canadian companies YTV and Cinar and the American company Nickelodeon. The episode "The Tale of the Phantom Cab" was aired as a pilot on the evening of October 31, 1991.

Both series revolved around a group of adolescents who referred to themselves as the "Midnight Society". One night a week, at a secret location in the woods, one member would tell a scary story to the group. The actual story, rather than the telling, was displayed to the television viewer. The story was shown between the group's arrival at the site and their departure. Each storyteller would begin their story by saying "Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story..." at which point he or she would toss birch bark powder into a campfire to heighten the flames and produce an eerie white smoke. The storyteller would continue by announcing its title (The Tale of...).

The themes of the stories usually revolved around paranormal phenomena, such as ghosts, magic, haunted houses, magical curses, aliens, witches and the like coming into contact with normal teenagers.

Sources of these tales varies, many were adaptations of public domain fairytales and short stories or urban legends. ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?