Amazing Stories 

Truly amazing, fantastical, funny, and odd, and sometimes scary, sad, and endearing stories are portrayed. Many famous actors, actresses, and directors made guest appearances.

Creators:

Steven Spielberg, Joshua Brand, John Falsey

Stars:

Charles Durning, Douglas Seale, Louis Giambalvo

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
Louis Giambalvo	...	Dr. Templeton / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Sharon Spelman	...	Mom / ... 2 episodes, 1986
J.J. Cohen	...	Bert / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Paul Bartel	...	Detective Watts / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Jeff Cohen	...	Eddie / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Dana Gladstone	...	George Gershwin / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Taliesin Jaffe	...	Mark / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Tracey Walter	...	Blaze / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Joshua Rudoy	...	Billy / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Royal Dano	...	Elmer / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Rick Andosca	...	Haller / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Gregory Wagrowski	...	Ben Oltman / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Fredric Cook	...	Dr. Wittenberg / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Brad Bird	...	Family Dog / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1987
Arnold Johnson	...	Johnny / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
JoAnn Willette	...	Angela / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Gary Riley	...	Jimmy / ... 2 episodes, 1985
Billy Beck	...	Caretaker / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
John McCook	...	Jerry Lane / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Michael Horse	...	Indian / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Larry Spinak	...	Arnold Skamp / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Jed Mills	...	Marshall / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Jonathan Luria	...	Cameraman / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Ben Kronen	...	Bald Man / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Pamela Guest	...	Assistant Director / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Lynn Kuratomi	...	Nurse #2 / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Conrad Dunn	...	Gas Station Attendant / ... 2 episodes, 1986
Wade Mayer	...	Airline Representative #2 / ... 2 episodes, 1986-1987
Eve Smith	...	Old Woman 2 episodes, 1985-1986
Priscilla Pointer	...	Lady on Train / ... 2 episodes, 1985-1987

Storyline

Truly amazing, fantastical, funny, and odd, and sometimes scary, sad, and endearing stories are portrayed. Many famous actors, actresses, and directors made guest appearances.

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Plot Keywords:

anthology | 

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Taglines:

As one experience ends... Another adventure begins.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

PG

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 Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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, science fiction journal famous in the 1940s and 1950s, and edited by television and film writer Howard Browne.

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Connections

Featured in Computer Animation Magic (1986)

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.