sgodrich Tales of the Unexpected is an iconic series which lasted around 10 years starting in the late 1970s to the late 1980s. As you'd expect with any TV series, there are fantastic, classic episodes and some that aren't so great. Thankfully the great episodes outnumber the not so great quite significantly.Originally, the series was meant to showcase the stories from Roald Dahl's books "Tales of the Unexpected" and "More Tales of the Unexpected". Each of these episodes were introduced by Dahl himself in a mock sitting room in front of a roaring fireplace. A short description of where the idea came from regarding the upcoming story then led to 25 minutes of television magic. Each story was meant to end with a twist. Although many did, some had a twist of not actually having a twist but a natural conclusion which you think could never go all the way but it does.After Dahl's stories ran out, other similarly themed stories were used by well known authors such as Henry Slesar, Bert Salzman, Jeffrey Archer and many others. They didn't have the Dahl introduction and the name "Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected" was thus shortened to the familiar "Tales of the Unexpected".Many big names have appeared in the show from Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Cole, Toyah Wilcox, John Mills, Telly Savalas and many, many more. Some early in their careers, others in their prime and some in the twilight.So if you like a story with a twist ending, you can do far worse than check out this gem. When you hear Ron Grainer's fantastic theme tune starting up and the silhouetted lady dancing in the flames, you'll be gripped for 25 minutes. After that you'll hunger for your next fix of 'The Tales'. My top 10?1. The Eavesdropper 2. Would you Believe it? 3. Taste 4. The Tribute 5. The Flypaper 6. Shatterproof 7. The Way To Do It 8. Kindly Dig Your Grave 9. Never Speak Ill of the Dead 10. Down Among the Sheltering Palms

TheJiveMaster Tales of the Unexpected took the short stories created by Roald Dahl from the book of the same name and others and put them on the small screen. Later on, other writers would be used and Dahl would provide an introduction to each story. This introduction was eventually dropped in favour of a voice over.The key to each story was in the ending which originally was usually totally unexpected. The content and the background to each storyline often involved murder, often without holding back some visualisation and this lead to it being broadcast late on Sunday evenings.The series suffered from poor production quality. It is likely that the series was shot on video tape which is evident nowadays. The appearance of studio sets is apparent as there is a definite transition between the quality of lighting indoors and for shooting on location. Some of the stories were quite laboured as the introduction of the characters and initial plot creation were quick. This left a large gap of time until the unexpected outcome. The acting was sometimes slow with long pauses in an attempt to spin out time.Despite it's faults, Tales of the Unexpected managed to attract well known names in asting for episodes and sustained an audience following for 8 years. The stories were varied in their creation and the eventual outcome but eventually the ending could be predicted. In 1988 the series was quitely axed and reruns can now be seen on digital channels in the UK.If you can ignore the poor production, it is well worth seeing, even after all these years.

theowinthrop This series was on the air in the U.S. very briefly - about one year only, which is unlike the British series that lasted nearly a decade. I recall watching it, and seeing John Houseman introduce the episodes. The particular one I can recall seeing (I was on a date the night it was being shown) was shown in April 1983 and called THE MEMORY MAN. Colin Redgrave is an expert in helping people improve their memory by various ways, including hypnosis. He discovers that a new customer (Bernard Cribbins) is having problems with his memory, but also seems quite hostile to questions that Redgrave asks innocently enough. Soon Redgrave remembers that Cribbins had another name, and was involved in a violent robbery where he stole thousand of pounds. Redgrave is slowly using his knowledge of hypnosis to extract the information that Cribbins has forgotten (and so has sought Redgrave's assistance to recall). In the end neither man does too well out of the experience.When Houseman introduced the episode, he tried to illustrate the problem of memory by shooting out one question after another. One he shot out was, "Who was the 14th President of the United States?" I amused my date by shouting out, "Franklin Pierce".Many of the stories are by Roald Dahl, and I suspect, if they are watched, some of them would have to be compared with versions of the same stories (like "Mrs.Bixby and the Colonel's Coat") that originally appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (in that case, and in "Lamb to the Slaughter", Hitchcock directed the television episodes). One wonders if the image of Hitchcock, with his plump person, and his delivery of his introduction, was behind the use of Houseman (with his plump person and delivery) as the host.

rajkowski Although there are a lot of the original Roald Dahl stories in here, there are also quite a few from other writers, which are successful to varying degrees. What is apparent from the series though is it's age - I have never witnessed acting, filming, sets, hairstyles, music, and costumes to look so dated (and just plain bad!) so quickly. Indeed the series is the quintessential "Its so bad its good" - I certainly laughed at things when no humor was implied, this may explain it's cult status in some circles. When the stories work, they're very good, and the poor acting etc doesn't seem to matter too much, but all too often either nothing interesting happens or you can see the punch line coming a mile off. The most remembered parts of the series are of course the opening credits and music (mention Tales of the Unexpected to anyone in the UK and that's what they'll comment on).