Amazing Stories (1985–1987)

Truly amazing, and sometimes odd, stories are narrated. Many famous actors and actresses made guest appearances.

Stars:

Charles Durning, Douglas Seale, Paul Bartel

Won 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Charles Durning	...	Assistant to the Boss (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Douglas Seale	...	Mike Malloy (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Paul Bartel	...	Detective Watts (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Jeff Cohen	...	Eddie (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Taliesin Jaffe	...	Mark (2 episodes, 1986)
Royal Dano	...	Elmer (2 episodes, 1986)
Gary Riley	...	Jimmy (2 episodes, 1985)
John McCook	...	Jerry Lane (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Larry Spinak	...	Arnold Skamp (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Jonathan Luria	...	Cameraman (2 episodes, 1986)
Ben Kronen	...	Bald Man (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Pamela Guest	...	Assistant Director (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Louis Giambalvo	...	Dr. Templeton (2 episodes, 1986)
Joshua Rudoy	...	Billy (2 episodes, 1986)
Sharon Spelman	...	Mom (2 episodes, 1986)
J.J. Cohen	...	Bert (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Tracey Walter	...	Blaze (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Rick Andosca	...	Haller (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Michael Horse	...	Indian (2 episodes, 1986)
Arnold Johnson	...	Johnny (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Brad Bird	...	Scientist #2 (2 episodes, 1985-1987)
Fredric Cook	...	Dr. Wittenberg (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Jed Mills	...	Marshall (2 episodes, 1986)
Lynn Kuratomi	...	Nurse #2 (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Billy Beck	...	Caretaker (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Conrad Dunn	...	Gas Station Attendant (2 episodes, 1986)
JoAnn Willette	...	Angela (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Eve Smith	...	Old Woman (2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Wade Mayer	...	Airline Representative #2 (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Gregory Wagrowski	...	Ben Oltman (2 episodes, 1986)

Storyline

Truly amazing, and sometimes odd, stories are narrated. Many famous actors and actresses made guest appearances.

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Plot Keywords:

anthology

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Taglines:

In the extraordinary worlds of Amazing Stories!

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Sci Fi Channel

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories

Filming Locations:

Colonial Street, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (45 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby (1986-1987) Stereo (1985-1986)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is taken from a bi-monthly, Sci-fi journal famous in the 1940s and '50s and edited by TV and film writer Howard Browne.

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Connections

Featured in Science Fiction: A Journey Into the Unknown (1994)

User Reviews

Solid Series With A Lot of Notable Names

As my 175th review, I chose this as I was given the Season 1 set for Christmas & have been looking at this series for the first time. I remember the ads for it years ago, but never watched it because the NBC people moved the series around so much that I could never find out when it was on.

In the season 1 shows, the first 6 episodes were really solid. Then the next 6 tailed off. The third 6 got better again. I have not watched the last 6 yet. The DVD's do feature some deleted scenes though so far the deleted scenes i have looked at have not been anything major.

What this series did have was names & not just Spielberg's - consider Clint Eastwood directing an episode with Sondra Locke in it. Mark Hammil does an episode,Kevin Costner, Sid Ceasar, Milton Berle, & others.

The episodes range from cute - Aliens touring Hollywood to World War 2 Missions to depression era stuff to the Alamo. The good thing is Spielberg did not try to get corny & do a Rod Sterling type of introduction to each one. This gave him a little more time to develop plots than Sterling format. Actually the aliens, the Alamo & the VooDoo sitter are pretty good.

The bad news is that some of the plots are quite predictable. Given the overall quality of the DVD I have seen though, the DVDs are the way to watch these. I think too many commercials are put in on the Science Fiction channel & these shows make no sense when they are shortened at all. In fact, I would not be surprised that even when they ran on NBC they were shortened too which is why the series failed.

Even with predictable plots, The DVD sticks a lot into each episode so shortening these hurts them.