I finished first season and, although there's some real masterpieces, most of it is just mediocre and there's even some episodes that make 20 minutes seem like eternity. Still, I recommend this show because good ones are worthy of getting through bad ones to see them.6/10

Since this show was made independently instead of under the auspices of a major television network, the producers behind this program had more opportunities to tell an often interesting and usually entertaining array of unusual stories that were more dependent on atmosphere and plenty of clever and quirky writing over big name guest stars and flashy special effects. Moreover, this series gave viewers a rare chance to see such character actors as Vic Tayback, Danny Aiello, Keenan Wynn, Eddie Bracken, and Barnard Hughes really sink their teeth into juicy lead roles. Better still, the most memorable episodes benefited tremendously from the presence of a neat and novel monster: The tiny little creature from "Inside the Closet," the titular lethal spirit in "The Cutty Black Sow," the noise-eating vacuum cleaner-like contraption in "Hush." The frequently use of a single set due to budgetary constraints tended to work in this show's favor, with a strong sense of suffocating claustrophobia providing an extra unsettling edge. Granted, this series did suffer from admittedly threadbare production values and the comic episodes were decidedly hit or miss, but overall it was an extremely enjoyable show that offered proof positive that offbeat stories and inspired idiosyncratic writing can and do count a great deal more than a bunch of fancy-schmancy tricked-up razzle-dazzle slickness.

Does anyone remember how the early "Doctor Who" settings and props were somewhat cheap and phony? Much like "Land of the Lost" (1974); "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" (1973); "H.R. Pufnstuf" (1969-1970); "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" (1976)...but, they were all GREAT shows because they mainly concentrated on their stories! :)It's the same with this series. This is a cheaply-produced show, but, the stories are great! I really like this series and am quite upset that it hasn't been brought back to television as it well deserves to be.I give this series a solid "9" for it's stories! :)

The television horror anthology has a long and noble history. In the Fifties, Rod Serling blazed the trail with THE TWILIGHT ZONE; though the series mostly veered in the direction of what may be called "speculative fantasy", it did produce its share of horrific/macabre episodes. This was to be followed by THRILLER in the early Sixties, a much more overtly Gothic series hosted by Boris Karloff, and one of the first television series to catch flack for experimenting with graphic violence (one episode featured a man staggering down a flight of stairs with an ax buried in his head!). Serling struck again with NIGHT GALLERY in the Seventies, an often genuinely weird and experimental series that, like THRILLER, often drew from the great pulp horror tales of the past for inspiration. And, in the Eighties, came George Romero's TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE.I vividly remember the show as a pre-teen; it would premier late at night, around 11:30 after the news and "normal" programming concluded. As that bleary witching hour approached, when the wholesome prime-time like of FAMILY TIES and THE FACTS OF LIFE seemed miles gone by, disorientation and apprehension would set in - the atmosphere was right for a kid to be scared! And nothing was scarier than DARKSIDE's opening sequence. What looked like pastoral postcard scenes of rural Vermont would give way to the ominous intonations of Paul Sparer, backed up by a prickly synthesizer score. The title card would then appear in dripping letters of crimson. It was, in a word, unforgettable.For budgetary reasons, the episodes were shot on video; on the one hand, this gave them an air of cheapness, but on the other lent them a kind of creepy immediacy. The frequent appearance of veteran stars meanwhile, some of who hadn't then worked in years, provided some old-fashioned cachet. Eddie Bracken starred in one I'll never forget - A Case of the Stubborns, based on a story by Robert Bloch. Bracken plays a cranky old grandfather who refuses to accept the fact that he has died, much to the distress of his family. As the days pass, Bracken begins to decompose, to the point of literally sneezing his nose off. Another one that stuck with me was called Inside the Closet, which starred Fritz Weaver as a doctor with a horrible Tom Savini-designed secret locked in his doll closet. One of the (deservedly) best-loved episodes was a Christmas-themed affair called Seasons of Belief. This one had E. G. Marshall sadistically terrorizing his children with stories of The Grither, a sort of demonic Santa being whose name must never be spoken. Building to a truly spectacular conclusion, Seasons of Belief stands out as an endearingly bilious Yuletide classic. In addition to the old-timers, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE boasted some up-and-coming talent as well - the aforementioned A Case of the Stubborns also starred Christian Slater. Another one I remember, called Monsters in My Room, had little Seth Green as a boy who faces the titular trouble. To further sweeten the package, horror masters like Romero, Savini, and Bloch frequently contributed behind the camera.TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE looms large in the pantheon of Eighties horror (when the genre wasn't afraid to be bold and nasty), as well as in the hearts of those of us who remember it. As it's been off the air for some time, a DVD release may well be in order, so that a whole new generation might behold what gave many Children of the Eighties a pleasant little chill back in the day. As the show's closer immortally put it: "The Darkside is always there, waiting for us to enter, waiting to enter us. Until next time - try to enjoy the daylight."