5 TV series from the 1970’s and 1980’s ready for a reboot
Tales from the Darkside – Courtesy of Laurel Entertainment Inc., Tribune Entertainment
2. Tales from the Darkside
George A. Romero was the mastermind behind this wonderful horror anthology series from the 80’s. If you look at the credits it is like a who’s who of the genre. Tom Savini directed a few episodes of the show. Stephen King, Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison and Clive Barker were contributing writers.
That is downright impressive! Oddly enough, this program started out being pitched as Creepshow. Which is interesting considering that was 36 years ago and the current incarnation from Greg Nicotero will finally see the light of day on the small screen thanks to Shudder.
However, Laurel Entertainment one of the producers of the series decided to keep the format of the movie but move the television version in another direction. While not as heavy as Circle of Fear or The Sixth Sense, Tales from the Darkside had a distinctly black comedic approach.
Much like The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and The Outer Limits, Tales had Paul Sparer who would deliver the opening and closing narration in an ominous manner. The show ran from 1983 until 1988.
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Apparently, we aren’t the only people who think this anthology is ripe for a reboot. According to Wikipedia, Joe Hill along with Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci were going to develop Tales for the CW in 2013. Two years later, the network confirmed that a pilot had been ordered.
However, the CW passed on it. Hill and company tried shopping it around to other networks but no one was interested. Instead, IDW turned the author’s first three scripts into a comic book series.
In 2013, the climate wasn’t exactly ready for horror themed television. Ash vs Evil Dead had yet to air. Now, with Hulu’s Into the Dark series and the success of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, Tales from the Darkside could be revived.
However, Hill has moved on to AMC with NOS4A2 and he is also helming Locke & Key for Netflix. Alex Kurtzman is involved with Star Trek Discovery. Who is capable of taking this TV series on?
I would like to see Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert take a crack at a horror anthology series. Raimi has one in the works for New TV called, 50 States of Fear so why not attempt Tales from the Darkside? It would be interesting to see what sort of creative collaborations Raimi and Tapert would foster for a series like this to come to fruition.