Barrybgb

This is an appreciation thread for one of the best, and one of the most overlooked and underappreciated shows of the 1980's....AMAZING STORIES.



Amazing Stories was the brainchild of creator/producer/writer Steven Spielberg. It was an anthology series that ran from 1985 to 1987 and had a total of only 45 episodes.The majority of the eps were 30 minutes, but there were a few that were an hour. It wasn't really a hit, but Spielberg was promised at least 2 seasons. It was a show that it deeply beloved by it's fans who felt that it never got the attention it so deserved in it's original run. It's hard to figure out why it didn't. It had Spielberg's fingerprints all over it(almost every episode was based on a story idea from Spielberg himself, and he directed at least one episode). It was a magical and enchanting show(just like vintage 80's Spielberg).



Those who appeared in episodes included Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Patrick Swayze, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Weird Al Yankovic, Harvey Keitel, Jon Cryer, Kiefer Sutherland, Gregory Hines, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, John Lithgow, Sam Waterston, Andrew McCarthy, Rhea Perlman, Christina Applegate, Hayley Mills, Kyra Sedgwick, and others.



Also impressive are some who directed episodes including : Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, and others.





Intro:


Break down of the show and my all time favorite episode :
X-Entertainment: Amazing Stories: Go To The Head Of The Class!

A nice website:
Amazing Stories Online

Vintage NBC promo from 1985 :

AutumnColorsღ

I watched the one with Seth Green in it

Barrybgb

I believe that one was called "The Sitter".

I have a number of favorites. So many good ones. "The Mission" with Kevin Costner and directed by Spielberg. "Go To The Head Of The Class" with Christopher Lloyd, which was directed by Robert Zemeckis. "The Pumpkin Competition", "Mummy, Daddy", "Santa '85", "Welcome To My Nightmare". A lot of good stuff there.

AutumnColorsღ

that one was pretty cheesy yet funny and cute cause well Im a huge Seth green fan and seeing him as a little boy was too cute.

Barrybgb

He's been around a long time. Lol. I remember seeing him in a few things when I was little in the 80's. He's really had quite a career when you think about it.

Barrybgb

Here you go, Mel.

*UPDATE* I have updated the main post with pictures and links!!

~MelBelle~

Thanks so much Barry.

That black and white episode is really grasping my attention up there. I am definitely putting this on my list.
It looks like a Twilight zone type show, well from what I'm seeing and reading and that's a show I LOVED to watch with my dad as a kid.

Barrybgb

You're welcome.

The black and white episode is called "No Day At The Beach" and starred Charlie Sheen. It was a war episode.

It was Twilight Zone-ish. All of the fantastical elements Spielberg was involved in in the 80s is on full display here. It's kinda cheesy at times, but that adds to the charm. Season one is out on DVD.

I'll be back later today and list my top 5 favorite episodes. Lol.

Barrybgb

My top 4 eps were easy, but #5 could be any number of episodes. Still, these are my top 5 episodes of Amazing Stories :

1. Go To The Head Of The Class. Christopher Lloyd(Back To The Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Clue, Taxi, The Addams Family) stars as a nasty teacher. A nerdy student hooks up with a rebellious girl to exact revenge on the professor. They gather up ingredients from the cemetery and perform a spell, but things go awry and what comes after them is not what they had planned. Directed by Robert Zemeckis(Back To The Future 1-3, Romancing The Stone, Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, The Polar Express.) It was written by Bob Gale, who wrote the BTTF movies with Zemeckis.

2. Welcome To My Nightmare. A nerdish teen, who thrives on movies(mostly horror, it seems) more than reality, realizes that the movies may not be all they are cracked up to be when he is magically thrown into a scene from "Psycho", completely shot in black and white, and with Norman Bates coming to make a house call. A young Christina Applegate(Married With Children) appears in the episode.

3. Mummy, Daddy. An actor, playing a mummy in a Hollywood production, jets off to the hospital when his wife goes into labor, with no time to remove his make-up. Unbeknownst to him, a real life mummy has risen, and he must get to his wife and prove to the local townfolk which mummy is genuine before they do him in. Bronson Pinchot(Perfect Strangers) appears in this one.

4. Santa '85. Santa Claus triggers a home's security system when delivering presents. Once he is arrested by the gruff, no nonsense sheriff as a thief and thrown in jail with other drunk and disorderly sidewalk Santas, a young boy must break him out and save Christmas....and make the cranky old sheriff a believer.

5. The Pumpkin Competition. A nasty old lady(Polly Holliday, Alice, Flo, Gremlins) who owns half the town, is determined to win the town's pumpkin competition, after continually losing year after year. When a mysterious professor gives her a formula to make sure she wins the next competition, the old lady bets everything that she will take home the prize. Also features June Lockhart(Lassie) in a supporting role.

~MelBelle~

awesome those sound really interesting. I won't be watching this show until after Bosom Buddies but yep it's on my list.

Barrybgb

Cool.

I haven't seen Bosom Buddies in years.

~MelBelle~

I didn't know it existed but then again I didn't know allot of tv shows or movies did.
I love discovering them though.

Barrybgb

Unfortunatley, Amazing Stories wasn't a big hit, so a lot of people don't remember it or ever knew of it. I don't know why. I mean, it was Steven Spielberg, and it got a big push from NBC.

I love discovering or re-discovering shows again and collecting them.

AutumnColorsღ

Oh yes he has, he is very talented. He has his career going for him thats for sure.

Barrybgb

Yeah. Plus, he's just hysterical. Lol.