ORBzine - Amazing Stories TV Review

[Season 1 !Season 2 ]

Amazing Stories This show is an anthology series. However, it suffers by (uniquely among such series) not having bookend sequences to tie the stories all together. While the actor Ray Walston is credited as the Storyteller, he is merely presented as a caveman telling a story to others around an open fire in a well-shot but silent clip shown during the opening credits.


Season 1

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 1] Ghost Train
Shown 29 Sep 85

An old man takes his grandson (Lukas Haas - Space Camp ) for a walk on the family ranch. They discover that the new house was built over a disused train line. Grandpa remembers why the railway line was shut down - there was a terrible crash sixty years ago. And now he says the train is coming again, to pick him up.

This was included in Amazing Stories: The Movie II.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 2] The Main Attraction
Shown 06 Oct 85

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 3] Alamo Jobe
Shown 20 Oct 85

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 4] Mummy, Daddy
Shown 27 Oct 85

This is based on an original story by Steven Spielberg . Bronson Pinchot ( Langoliers ) is a movie director on a horror flick. The star, dressed like a mummy, rushes off to be present when his wife gives birth. However, he runs foul of a drunken redneck played by Brion James ( Blade Runner ). He also meets the REAL mummy!

This was the first story in the Amazing Stories 3 anthology film.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 5] The Mission
Shown 03 Nov 85

Kevin Costner ( Waterworld ) captains a USAAF bomber on a mission over Germany. Kiefer Sutherland ( Mirrors ) is one of his crew, and Anthony LaPaglia ( ) puts on a phony accent as an RAF mechanic. Unfortunately the belly gunner is jinxed, and they run into trouble. Shades of Memphis Belle ensue ...

This was included in Amazing Stories: The Movie. Written from an original story by Steven Spielberg , this is just another example of his Magic Realism. The ending is just a supernatural Deus Ex Machina.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 6] The Amazing Falsworth
Shown 05 Nov 85

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 7] Fine Tuning
Shown 10 Nov 85

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 8] Mr. Magic
Shown 17 Nov 85

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 9] Guilt Trip
Shown 01 Dec 85

This was directed by Burt Reynolds, and stars his wife Loni Anderson and his buddy Dom Deluise ( Stargate SG-1 ). Deluise is a wise-cracking alcoholic. He is also the Angel of Guilt - like the opposite of Cupid, he goes around and wrecks peoples' lives. This is necessary for the Catholic Church to function. Without Guilt nobody would attend confession, and the Church would lose out on the free money the victims donate to it.

Guilt's alcoholism means he is not at his best, so his boss (Charles Durning - Night Of The Scarecrow ) sends him on a luxury cruise to recuperate. While he is on the ship, Guilt falls in love with a fellow passenger (Ms Anderson).

This was the fourth and final story in the Amazing Stories 3 anthology film.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 10] Remote Control Man
Shown 08 Dec 85

This was directed by Bob Clark , and features a hen-pecked husband whose only escapism comes from his television. One day his wife sells his television set, so he gets a new one from a mysterious ship.

The new TV's remote control is a Magic Realism device, and allows him to alter the nature of reality. He turns his wife into Shawn Weatherly - the original Baywatch babe! However, when he turns his son into the A-Team's Face Man (Dirk Benedict - Battlestar Galactica 1978 ) they end up being attacked by villainous loan sharks.

This was the third story in the Amazing Stories 3 anthology film.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 11] Santa '85
Shown 15 Dec 85

It is Xmas Day, 1985. Sheriff Pat Hingle ( Batman Returns ) rounds up a few crooks, all dressed like Santa Claus. He could give them the benefit of the doubt, but wants to throw the book at them. It turns out he blames his unhappy life on his childhood disappointment in Santa.

This was included in Amazing Stories: The Movie II.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 12] Vanessa in the Garden
Shown 29/Dec/85

An artist (Harvey Keitel - Saturn 3 ) has a ghostly muse. Think of the relationship between Clint Eastwood (who directed this ep) and Sondra Locke (who stars as the title character, Vanessa).

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 13] The Sitter
Shown 05 Jan 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 14] No Day at the Beach
Shown 12/Jan/86

This is a B&W film set in World War Two. Arnold, a rookie soldier, becomes a hero. One trooper is played by Charlie Sheen ( The Arrival ), and the sergeant is George Dzunda (The Beast Of War).

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 15] One For the Road
Shown 19/Jan/86

This was Written by Brand & Falsey (Northern Exposure). The theme is that A useless life is an early death - a quote by Goethe.

Pantoliano, Lewis, Cromwell are in a bar. They take out Life insurance on an alkie.

The ending has no explanation - it is just another example of magic realism.

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 16] Gather Ye Acorns
Shown 02 Feb 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 17] Boo!
Shown 16 Feb 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 18] Dorothy and Ben
Shown 02 Mar 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 19] Mirror, Mirror
Shown 09 Mar 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 20] Secret Cinema
Shown 06 Apr 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 21] Hell Toupee
Shown 13 Apr 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 22] The Doll
Shown 04 May 86

John Lithgow ( Third Rock From The Sun ) visits a doll shop run by a friendly old dollmaker. He buys a doll for his niece's birthday, but he does not realise that she is too old for such things.

The protagonist develops an unhealthy obsession with the doll. Is he being driven insane by loneliness, or is something supernatural influencing his behaviour?

This was included in Amazing Stories: The Movie II. It is based on a short story by Richard Matheson .

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 23] One For the Books
Shown 11 May 86

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1, Episode 24] Grandpa's Ghost
Shown 25 May 86

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Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 1 , Episode 1 ]
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Reviewed in our special supplement Amazing Stories

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    Season 2

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 1] The Wedding Ring
    Shown 22 Sep 86

    Rhea Perlman , best known as the snarky waitress who works in Cheers, now plays a put-upon waitress who works in a greasy spoon diner. She is married to Danny Devito ( Twins ), her real-life husband - and the director of this episode.

    When the husband forgets to buy her an anniversary gift, he steals a ring from his workplace. Unfortunately it is a cursed item, once worn by a nymphomaniac cannibalistic serial killer called the Black Widow. When the waitress wears it, she develop's the killer's personality traits.

    This was included in Amazing Stories: The Movie II. The direction is good, but Perlman's performance is amazing.

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 2] Miscalculation
    Shown 29 Sep 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 3] Magic Saturday
    Shown 06 Oct 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 4] Welcome to My Nightmare
    Shown 13 Oct 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 5] You Gotta Believe Me
    Shown 20 Oct 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 6] The Greibble
    Shown 03 Nov 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 7] Life on Death Row
    Shown 10 Nov 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 8] Go to the Head of the Class
    Shown 21 Nov 86

    The protagonist is an American schoolboy in the 1980s. He is the favourite target of a harsh teacher (Christopher Lloyd - Back to the Future ).

    The hero's gal-pal, Mary Stuart Masterson , has played her favourite vinyl record backwards and discovered a magical curse. The tweenagers go to the graveyard to perform the ritual at midnight, but when they curse the unfortunate teacher it has unexpected results.

    This episode is actually quite dark. It would have been better-suited to a Horror-themed anthology show such as Tales From The Crypt . However, it was included in Amazing Stories: The Movie.

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 9] Thanksgiving
    Shown 24 Nov 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 10] The Pumpkin Competition
    Shown 01 Dec 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 11] What If...?
    Shown 08 Dec 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 12] The Eternal Mind
    Shown 29 Dec 86

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] Lane Change
    Shown 12 Jan 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] Blue Man Down
    Shown 19 Jan 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] The 21 Inch Sun
    Shown 02 Feb 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] The Family Dog
    Shown 16 Feb 87

    This is an animated story about a pet dog that lives with a family in suburban USA. It encounters some burglars who double as bank-robbers, and gets involved in a life of crime.

    This was the second story in the Amazing Stories 3 anthology film.

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] Gershwin's Trunk
    Shown 13 Mar 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] Such Interesting Neighbors
    Shown 20 Mar 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] Without Diana
    Shown 27 Mar 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 13] Moving Day
    Shown 03 Apr 87

    Amazing Stories Amazing Stories [Season 2, Episode 21] Miss Stardust
    Shown 10 Apr 87