Anthologies on TV

[MontiLee]

it's been a long time since we had a decent anthology on television that was just fun to watch.

When I was wee (or at least wee-er), I remembers shows like Tales From The Darkside, Monsters, and of course repeats of the original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. NBC revamped the Twilight Zone (Lithgow as Shatner - it was meant to be!!!) introduced Amazing Stories.

When cable became the new cool kid in town, HBO brought us Tales from the Crypt and Showtime gave us the Outer Limits in shiny new threads. A neutered version of each was available in syndication as well as Freddy's Nightmares and yet another go aroound with Twilight Zone.

To say the last decade has brought nothing but disappointment (Fear Itself, I'm looking in your direction), is an understatement but the bigger question is why? Is television too whimpy for a good suspense series or are horror fans too jaded for mere network?

What has happened to suspense and terror in the last 20 years that an anthology series can't survive on television, while crap reality series get squeezed out like a run of diarrhea after some bad Mu Shu Pork?

What were/are your favorite anthologies series and give me your favorite episodes? Is there anything new under the darkening skies?

[micah]

Wow, we were having the same discussion at work last week. Here's a question for you: if the attention span of everyone in the US is supposed to be shrinking to the point where it is impossible to hold anyones attention for more than 7 minutes at a time, why does short, non-serial fiction fare so poorly. One would think that this would be an ideal market for anthology programming.

I don't think it's the fault of broadcast television alone. Sure, it can be difficult to get anything scary (or even original) on TV, but the success of those shows that do make it shows that it can be done. You can't blame the wimpy factor, Masters of Horror was on Showtime (the home of Dexter) and it sucked skunk ass.

Perhaps the problem that this type of programming is running into is a cultural desire for the familiar. Perhaps people want to keep tuning in to see the same characters week after week overcoming the same obstacles over and over again. It would explain why half of the movies released each year are based on TV from the 70s and why "reality stars" never go away. They have their first fifteen minutes on one show, then get dropped in the jungle, at fat camp, or on the dance floor the next season.

I blame Hollywood (here it comes). The absolute dearth of originality is, I think, the real reason that these new series fail. When you already know what happens two minutes into the episode, you're not going to watch to the end. FI was a huge disappointment. I am surprised they didn't get sued for copyright infringement. I know that there are no original ideas, but come one. I know I'm not the only person who saw Ginger Snaps 2 (and if you saw the episode I have in mind you know exactly what I mean). The previously mentioned MoH was, if anything, even more of a disappointment. These were big names, established horror masters (hence the name) who (for the most part) turned in the same bland crap we've already seen. Half of it was someone else's movie shortened for to an hour format.

If anthology television is going to succeed, they are going to need to hire a group of writers who is willing to come up with something which has not been seen a billion times already. Talented, creative writers who...

...hmmm....

[MontiLee]

Why - whomever do you mean?

[thekarmasuitzya]

New Twilight Zone (80's), episode was called "Her Pilgrim Soul". Still makes me cry every time I see it...