alexanderdavies-99382 I view "Night Gallery" as a television series of two halves. The latter one was mainly ruined by that rather overbearing producer, Jack Laird. It is nothing short of astonishing in how much authority his word carried at "Universal" studios where "Night Gallery" was made. However, the first half of this show - up until the end of the second season - contains some of Rod Serling's greatest work as a writer of television drama. There are too many classic stories to list here but the writing is easily on a par with the best that "The Twilight Zone" had to offer. That is, on a good day. At its worst, "Night Gallery" makes for rather cringeworthy viewing but this is definitely not the fault of Rod Serling. To be fair to the man, the studio had the writer tied down to one of those dreaded "iron-clad contracts." To the bitter end, Jack Laird was to always have the final say in any decision and this tended to undermine Serling's reputation for writing serious drama. He must have squirmed with embarrassment at some of the ludicrous nonsense that he was lumbered with. I can't say I blame him. When the series was cancelled in 1973 after three seasons, I would wager that no one was more relieved. "Night Gallery" places a good deal more emphasis upon the Horror genre, than on Science Fiction or Fantasy. The format was quite different as well. Usually with this kind of series, the viewers would see one story per episode. With the above series, you would watch as many as two dramatic stories and one rather quirky segment at the insistence of Laird. To cater for all of this, "Night Gallery" was allotted an hour's worth of air time. The 1969 pilot episode was much longer - 90 minutes altogether - and this consisted of three dramatic stories. My favourite one out of these, is still "The Cemetery." I won't give away any plot details but it is brilliantly written. The story's title is taken from a short story by H.P Lovecraft yet bears little relation. The acting from Roddy McDowall and Ossie Davis is superb. The other two stories from the pilot episode are also very good. There are a few differences between this and the regular series that followed in 1970. The pilot episode has a completely different opening credit sequence and different music. I enjoyed this though as the viewer is given the impression of walking along a dark corridor before reaching the gallery in question. I found it to be imaginative and slightly eerie. Whilst introducing each story via a different painting, Rod Serling keeps each one covered with a red cover. In the regular series, the paintings are in full view. The idea of this opening with Rod Serling, was to imagine him as a curator of an Art Gallery. As he escorts most of the customers out of the building upon closing time, he invites a few people to remain so he can unveil some slightly more unconventional paintings that are usually hidden from the public gaze. There is some footage of Rod Serling delivering an advertisement on television about the upcoming series. 1970 to 1972 saw some terrific episodes. The opening credit sequence for the regular series, was quite original in itself. Not many people had heard a synthesizer music theme for a major television show before. The blending of different characters and how they are distorted, works to good effect. The budget was fairly tight. According to one of the many directors who worked on "Night Gallery," a vital scene from a story was deemed unsuccessful after this horse and cart failed to appear on cue. The take was ruined as a result and after taking a deep breath, the director in question approached Jack Laird about renting the horse and cart again, knowing how hectic the filming schedule was. Laird became rather annoyed by this request but still reluctantly paid the $75 that was needed. The scene of the story was completed without any further delay. The most unusual and bizarre events occur in the lives of very ordinary people, once fate has intervened. There are some fine actors who bring this marvellous dialogue to life. Larry Hagman, Burgess Meredith, William Windom, Leonard Nimoy, Bradford Dillman, Sally Field, Bill Bixby, Vincent Price, Raymond Massey, Jack Cassidy, Diane Keaton, Joseph Wiseman, Gary Lockwood, David Carradine, Edward G. Robinson, Yaphet Kotto, a very young pre- "Luke Skywalker" Mark Hamill, John Astin, David McCallum, Leslie Nielsen, Steve Forrest amongst others. It was a wise move in employing trained actors, rather than those who were established stars. After all, it takes an actor to give this dialogue the credence it deserves. I enjoy the stories that have period settings as well as the ones that are contemporary. We have incidents involving haunted houses, Devil worship, Vampires, Werewolves and plenty more besides. I watched some of the third season episodes but they aren't half as good as the previous ones. About 85% of the total number of stories are great, so I'd stick with those. Rod Serling really excelled himself with some more highly entertaining but also thought- provoking television drama.

hellraiser7 I always love horror anthologies because with them not just do you have a great variety of stories but their a creative freedom to them, you can do just about anything.This is both my favorite horror anthology show but also one of my favorite shows in general. This show I also feel has became a bit of a forgotten gem, yeah I know there have been a lot of other anthologies out there some like "The Twilight Zone", "The Outer Limits" (no surprises there), but this I just really love the best and I feel doesn't get the credit it deserves. It's also kinda a childhood relic since I seen this show when I was about 10 years old, so that's all the more reason this show is close to my heart.I love the theme song it's one of my favorite theme songs ever, it has a creepy and rather menacing tune to it which perfectly fits. It was done on a modest budget but I thought they used it really well and I thought the effects were solid because they were all practical, though there really aren't many which is fine by me, effects aren't what power this show.Rod Stirling is a great host, director, and writer as usual, his presence is almost easy to mistake this show for being a sequel to "The Twilight Zone" but it's not there is a difference; "The Twilight Zone" was more sci-fi and fantasy morality tales, this show is more horror, fantasy, and suspense stories. However what I really love is the art gallery he directs us in, which all consists of surreal and dark art all which are real paintings. This gallery I thought was awesome since both are my favorite types of paintings and seeing that gallery as a kid I wanted to make my own private art gallery that consisted of that art.There are plenty of good and memorable stories, some which are really suspenseful and even scary. It's true there are some bad apples as well but all anthologies have their hits and misses. Some of my favorites are "The Way Out" which is like an E.C. comics Suspense story on a scum bag that is trapped in a maze. "Cold Air" which is an adaptation of a story from H.P. Lovecraft one of my favorite authors, about a scientist living off borrowed time, it's both sad and creepy. "The Catapilar" on a doomed man attacked by a Caterpillar , I'll admit this one always made me squirm. And my favorite on "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" which is beautiful, sad, but also really haunting and unsettling, it's a story left to your own interpretation and I love the narration from Orson Wells which adds to the atmosphere.Like any great painting it's worth looking at, and like any great painting won't be forgotten.Rating: 4 stars

stones78 I'm referring to There Aren't Anymore MacBanes, where 3 college students/graduates either are practicing witchcraft, or have degrees in said subject, as I don't recall exactly. The build-up to me was more impressive than the conclusion, as I enjoyed the desolate college atmosphere during the holidays. As an employee at a major college, I can tell you that the campus can be a ghost town during this time, and I felt it was captured faithfully during the first half of the episode. Too bad Howard Duff the wicked old Uncle wasn't in more scenes, as he was a very convincing character and foil, although unintentional to his nephew Andrew. If you read the other review on this page, you'll get the gist of this segment and what the creature looks like and how things evolve until the conclusion, which was a bit underwhelming to this reviewer; however, there were a few more scenes I enjoyed, especially the scene when Elie is chased by the evil demon around his apartment complex, and the part when the Uncle meets his fate on the deserted campus.The final confrontation between Andrew and the demon wasn't satisfying enough for me, mainly because the demon itself looked more like a wicked witch you'd see as a Halloween decoration hanging on someone's front yard on a tree instead of the red-eyed creature stalking the uncle then Elie. That being said, I would still recommend this episode, especially the first half as we anticipate horrors about to take place.

Snusmumrikken I am a fan of Rod Sterling's Twilight Zone, and i thought this show also would be great. To my disappointment it wasn't. I saw the pilot plus season 1&2. I only liked 2 segments of the pilot in this show.They were, The Cemetery and The Escape Route. I liked The Cemetery best, because i think it had: Creepy atmosphere, good acting, suspenseful and great story.I liked the twist ending. I have seen the British lead Roddy McDowall before in several other TV-series. i think he did a great job, acting wise. I gave up watching this show after viewing season 2.If only season 1&2 had any great segments like the 2 mentioned. I think the rest of the episodes lacked the, Creepy atmosphere, good acting, suspenseful and great story. I have to give this series 2 out 10.