Rod Serling's Night Gallery - The Complete First Season

Rating:
Summary: Good Evening and Welcome To...
Review:
When I found out this package was coming out- it was definitely one that I wanted for the library. It's also the one I'll always have mixed feelings about. Rod Serling was an incredible talent and this series was a mixed muddle.

It should have been great. It could have been. There's no reason why it couldn't have been as shining an example to horror, as Twilight Zone was to science fiction and fantasy.

This package reveals for me what I personally always felt about this show. There's two Night Gallerys. There's the pilot- with 3 stories ' written' by him, introduced by him and delivered with great style by the directors and actors who participated in them. And this is the reason why I am giving this package the 5 star rating. The pilot deserves it.

And then there's the series. The series did not.

The Cemetary is an example of how well Serling could write. A set piece, McDowall spars with Ozzie Davis in what is really a good horror story. The direction is tight and the performances, terrific. The writing is crisp and clever.

Eyes is a one trick pony. Crawford and Sullivan are good but the real focus is the introduction of Spielberg's talent to the world.

Escape Route is the jewel (for me). It's Serling's writing at some of its best- and an example of what he did best. It's weaving the elements of the real horrors of this world (ie- Nazism), and the mystery (and perhaps the hidden justice that sometimes comes) with karma. Richard Kiely is brilliant as Joseph Strobe- the fleeing war criminal. Barry Shears direction has you sweating along with him, and the prostitutes words back to him when he speaks of forgiveness and shadows to hide in.... Serling at some of his best.

The fact that this package also includes 'They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar' (from the series and written by him, despite attempts to use him primarily for presitge purposes only ), seals the deal. This story and Windom's performance are gold (and sadly, an example of how Serling seemed to be feeling towards the end of his life).

The series wasn't him. It was high and low- depending on the directorial and acting talent. It filled a schedule. You can hand pick the stories that succeeded- and that's never a good sign. You can read the bio's, the articles or the interviews with friends to find out the way he was treated.

It's ugly and unbecoming of who he was and the talent he offered.

I am personally too fond of the man's work- what he contributed and the opportunity he helped make, to put 'real ideas' out there, (and the toll that fight ultimately took 'on 'him) to buy anything else in this series.

Find his Playhouse 90 work- watch Patterns & Requiem for a Heavyweight, Twilight Zone, the origional Planet of the Apes film and the pilot we are talking about. In watching this work, you'll understand who he was and the true talent he brought to the game. Those of us who grew up on him, did.

Good doesn't go to the grave- it resonates.

Rating:
Summary: Actually, I think the quality is very high...
Review: I just got through watching Disc 1, and "Night Gallery" has never looked better. The pilot was as good as I remembered, and so was 'The Little Black Bag'(one of my favorite "NG" segments).
With the advent of the DVD medium, the tendency for reviewers to nitpick has become prevalent...but I'm just happy that the show is out at all. I remember trying to catch the pilot movie on A&E at two or three in the morning and--even worse--struggling through those chopped, grainy, syndicated shows on the Sci-Fi Channel; now, I've got the pilot and several great episodes all in one handy set. I mean, realistically, how many copies of this thing is Universal going to sell? This is not "The Twilight Zone", after all; it wouldn't make sense for them to shoot their wad on a "Night Gallery" set. Yes, some extras would have been nice, but you can't judge the entire package by the lack of bonus features.
One quibble: they could have included better shows from the second and third seasons(where are 'Cool Air', 'The Caterpillar', 'Green Fingers', and 'The Waiting Room'?). Otherwise, nicely done.



Rating:
Summary: A wonderful slice of early seventies macabre
Review: A cult series which usually delivered wildly uneven episodes in terms of horror and creativity, "Night Gallery" is certainly one of the better anthology series to ever be produced for television. Rod Serling served as both host and sometime writer for producer Jack Laird's weekly trips into the graveyard where audiences could expect equal helpings of terror, suspense, comedy, and laugh-out-loud silliness.

The pilot delivers perhaps the strongest trio of tales -- "The Cemetery" follows the attempts of Roddy McDowall to gain his ailing uncle's estate, and the creeping, shambling monster which comes for him courtesy of a painting on the staircase wall. Ossie Davis makes a supporting role appearance, and without a doubt, this tale (written by Serling) leads to one of the most skin-crawling, chilling final thirty seconds of any television program. The second tale, "Eyes," features the directorial debut of an extremely young man named Steven Spielberg and sports his budding knack for visual inventiveness. Joan Crawford is an aging, blind, and exceedingly rich woman on Park Avenue who buys a petty crook's eyesight so that she can see for twelve hours. Naturally, fate plays a terrible hand. The final tale follows a Nazi war criminal who wishes to escape his pursuers and slip into a bucolic painting -- and he eventually gets his wish. But there's a slight mix-up that leads to a bloodcurdling twist.

The stories that followed during the first season were uneven but often provided some spine-tingling rewards. "The Dead Man" is simply terrifying (leading to another smashing, and disturbing, climax) as a husband's subconscious jealousy gets in the way of his work, "The Doll" has perhaps the creepiest little monster since Karen Black was chased around her apartment in Dan Curtis' telefilm "Trilogy of Terror," Richard Matheson writes a tale featuring a young Vincent Van Patten as a boy digging a hole underneath an oak tree to discover the "Big Surprise," and John Colicos is "The Last Survivor" in a tale worthy of "The Twilight Zone." Other stars including Vincent Price, Burgess Meredith, Agnes Moorehead, Diane Keaton, Patty Duke, Lindsay Wagner, Bill Bixby, and John Astin star as the doomed and the haunted in six full length episodes (as well as a few episodes taken from Season Two and Three).

This set is perfect for a dark and stormy night, with some hot chocolate and a crackling fire to keep you company. The transfer itself is fine, although there are some defects which creep into the picture from time to time. The sound quality is good.

Hopefully Universal will move forward with Seasons Two and Three, which contain some of the most horrific episodes in the series.

Until then, enjoy this set. And pleasant dreams.



Rating:
Summary: True Disappointment
Review: As an avid Twilight Zone (TZ) fan, I am young enough not to have caught the original Night Gallery (NG) show when it aired and never seemed to catch it consistantly on re-runs. So, I have been waiting patiently for this series to be released to judge the merits of this controversial show. After watching the pilot and the first season, what a stinker!

I have to approach this review from several different angles. First, there is the show itself, and Season 1 is the focus. In general, most stories are either rehashed concepts (even for that time period), poorly written, and/or badly acted. I can see why Serling immediately tried to distance himself from the show. While he wrote some of the episodes and did the teleplay on others, his lack of control over other aspects of the show are painfully clear.

The famous pilot 3-in-1 episode is pretty good, except of the last segment. The Ossie David-Roddy McDowall opener caught me off guard and is strong. The Joan Crawford episode is excellently done with a great twist. Unfortunately, the Nazi hunter segment is really terrible and overlong. Despite its noble intentions, the ending is predictable and the message very preachy.

The only other real highlight in the 3 disc set is "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar". And, even then, the ending is compromised and sugar coated (against Serling's wishes, of course). Most of the shows are average to below average, but historically interesting due to the connection with Serling.

In terms of the packaging/extras, it is sparse. The logic behind putting full length episodes of season 2 and 3 segments in this package confounds me. What a dumb move. The actual picture quality is fine, with some evidence of wear and tear. To me, that isn't really as important as the shows content.

This set is for die hard Serling fans who want to obtain a piece of his legacy toward the end of his career. The shows are pretty bad, but, amusing to watch TZ concepts in a 70's setting.

Rating:
Summary: Some good news and some bad news
Review: I am the coauthor, with Jim Benson, of the companion guide to "Rod Serling's Night Gallery." We've been tracking this release pretty closely and are privy to as much information as we can squeeze out of Universal Studios. We're grateful the series has been tapped for a DVD release, and the set has been struck from original, uncut prints--the same ones Columbia House used for its mail-order volumes--and not the butchered half-hour syndication version that played on the SciFi Channel for years. That said, the master for the pilot is 20 years old, and those for the series are 15 years old--acceptable, but a bit long-in-the-tooth compared to the up-to-date treatment other television series have received. Imbedded in a few of the episodes are some errors, mostly in the sound and music tracks, and it would have been preferable had Universal seen fit to correct these. We also fail to see why a series which featured the involvement of both Rod Serling and Steven Spielberg did not rate a budget that allowed special features. If Warner Brothers can load extras into DVD releases of such non-classics as "Wonder Woman" and "The Dukes of Hazzard," then Universal is out of touch with current standards in the DVD business when they fail to properly document their own classic TV shows (such as "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" and "Columbo"). However, Universal is new to the TV side of their property library and may need to get their feet wet before they finally catch up to their more forward-looking competitors.
As a caveat emptor, the first season is relatively free of errors compared to the second season. The most critical error is the crackling that runs through the soundtrack of Serling's segment "The House" (found in Episode #3). Any further critique will have to wait until the release.
And who knows, if sales for Season One are impressive enough, maybe the studio will do right by Season Two and give "RSNG" a budget that more accurately reflects its classic status.

Rating:
Summary: "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen-To the Night Gallery"
Review: I bought this dvd set the day it was released, and the best word to describe the set is adequate. I was really happy to hear that they were releasing this series on dvd(the episodes in syndication were horribly butchered in editing to fit them into half hour segments).The transfers are good(not great)but the real gem is the is that the pilot movie is included with the set.The biggest drawback(in my opinion)is that there are no extra features(no commentaries,no interviews)but if you're into just watching this series for the episodes,then this'll do fine.

Rating:
Summary: Classic 70's Television
Review: I hate modern Television. For every quality show like "The Wire" and "The Sopranos" (both on cable you notice) we have to suffer through ten recycled sit-coms and forty reality shows.

"Night Gallery" continued the trend of originality from Rod Serling, who was, clearly, ahead of his time.

The show itself has been covered here pretty well by other reviewers so I'll skip that part. As far as the discs go... are they perfect? No. The lack of extras as compared to the recent release of the "Definitive Twilight Zone: Season One" is a sore spot on this DVD release. However, the image is pretty darn sweet looking. And the fact I am able to have these uncut and unfettered episodes in my DVD Library is a good thing. I no longer have to wait for the Sci-Fi Channel to have a marathon or a special holiday weekend something or other.

I encourage all parents to buy these classic shows ("Twilight Zone", "Night Gallery", "After School Specials", "Land of The Lost", "The Outer Limits", et al) put them in their DVD Library and show them to your children when they are old enough. In the meantime, LIMIT what they see on TV now because 98% of it is dreck.

Once a week my family has Classic Television Night and we order pizza, make popcorn and watch episodes of these shows. It's a wonderful time and I know my children are seeing and enjoying something we'll never see again -- quality and creative programming made by intelligent people for intelligent people.





Rating:
Summary: Entertain the imagination.....
Review: I remember watching Night Gallery as a pre-teen...it scared me, made me laugh, scream and and kept me totally mesmerized. I devoured every episode. I still watch it on the mystery channel and have been dying for it to become available. I wish Rod Serling were still around, he was ahead of his time. I am so glad they've finally decided to put it on DVD. Some of the cinematography is less than stellar, their budget was MINIMAL, but open your mind and go with the flow. It's entertainment at it's best! You won't believe how many actors you'll recognize.

Rating:
Summary: Eye of the Beholder
Review: I tend to agree with many of the positive and negative statements made by most and have come up with a brief conclusion.

* The picture quality is very good for an early 1970's television show. Viewing on a good widescreen TV (32-52"), the quality is surprising well transferred to DVD. I was pleasantly surprised after all the negative statements made by reviewers since the show is over 30 years old. There is very little difference in audio/video quality compared to shows such as MASH, Sanford & Son and even popular late 70's television box sets.

* There are some excellent & corny episodes and is definitely not to "Twilight Zone" script standards. BUT, if you are a fan of Rod Serling influence, this is well worth the money. Episodes such as "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" make it worth it and it is fun to see some past television stars and character actors in others.

* The menu is poor. It would have been minimal effort for them to organize this collection better.

* Adding the movie pilot was terrific. No additional bonus extra's were a big disappointment.

I am very happy I purchased this set. I was a big fan of the show when it originally aired and am grateful this is available. I hope the 2nd season comes out and that Universal gives the DVD a little MORE RESPECT.

Rating:
Summary: A flawed blast from the past
Review: It really helps to have had affection for this show in the first place. I remember watching it as a kid and enjoying it. At the time, it was probably the creepiest show you could see on regular TV. When I saw the set on DVD, I really wanted to check it out...to see if the "thrill" was still there.

TV has come a long way in the intervening decades. We've seen far gorier stuff, far more titillating fare, and so forth. But so often we think that the "good old days" were better. That sometimes in horror it's what you DON'T see that scares you, that good acting and writing don't age. And with this set, we see that there is SOME truth in this. There is some good (not great...the shows were thrown together too quickly for that) acting, and occasionally some good writing or at least some lofty social agenda to comment on. But I think one of the things that the modern era HAS improved on is pacing. I don't mean the jittery jump cuts, hand held urgency, relentless, rock-music driven speed and so forth (which is sometimes good and sometimes bad...as with almost any trend in film/TV making). What I mean is the desire to just go ahead and tell the darn story. Most of the tales in NIGHT GALLERY really don't need to be more than 15 minutes long. Take the story of the on-the-lam Nazi war criminal who desires to escape into a haunting painting he sees on a museum wall. That story, which is not a bad one at all, takes FOREVER. Sometimes the length taken to tell a story gives us a chance to see the ending coming. Something faster paced just sweeps you away and when the "surprise" comes, we haven't known it was looming.

So, NIGHT GALLERY is a mixed bag. Some fun ideas and some really great opportunities to see some performers at the EARLY parts of their careers (Larry Hagman is particularly funny...a mix of Tony Nelson and JR Ewing...with a beard!) or in the waning years (a terrific Joan Crawford.) So that's fun. But if you're hoping to get "creeped out"...forget it.

And the complaints you read here about lack of extras...I agree. There are no extras. No little documentary. No bio of Rod Serling...nothing. How hard would it have been to at least talk to a few people who worked on the show to see what they thought about it? And the picture is okay, in my opinion, but you can tell it's a sorta careless transfer. Little flecks pop up from time to time.

It's fun, but flawed. Probably won't mean much to anyone who didn't enjoy them originally.