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