''Amazing Stories'' is an American

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

television series created by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

, that originally ran on NBC in the United States from September 29, 1985 to April 10, 1987. The series was nominated for 12

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s and won five. The first season episode "The Amazing Falsworth" earned writer Mick Garris an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best Episode in a TV Series. It was not a ratings hit (ranking 40th in Season 1 and 52nd in Season 2), however, and the network did not renew it after the two-year contract expired. The 1987 science fiction film '' Batteries Not Included'' was originally intended as a story for ''Amazing Stories'', but Spielberg liked the idea so much that he decided to make it a theatrical release. The series title licensed the name of '' Amazing Stories'', the first dedicated science fiction magazine created by Hugo Gernsback in April 1926. The

title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...

was made by

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...

(CGI) firm,

Robert Abel and Associates Robert Abel and Associates (RA&A) was an American pioneering production company specializing in television commercials made with computer graphics. Robert Abel's company, RA&A was especially known for their art direction and won many Clio Awards. ...

. On March 6, 2020, a revival of ''Amazing Stories'' premiered on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

Episodes

All episodes have a running time of around 24 minutes, with the exceptions of "The Mission" and "Go to the Head of the Class" (both running 46 minutes).

Season 1 (1985–86)

Season 2 (1986–87)

Soundtrack

In 1999, Varèse Sarabande released a CD containing a rerecording of the scores for the episodes "The Mission" and "Dorothy and Ben" (

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

and Georges Delerue respectively) plus Williams' opening and closing themes, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conducted by Joel McNeely. In 2006–2007, Intrada released three volumes of original music from the series, covering the impressive lineup of composers who worked on it and featuring all of the most noteworthy scores (with the exception of

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

and

Steve Bartek Steve Bartek (born January 30, 1952, in Garfield Heights, Ohio) is an American guitarist, film composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the band Oingo Boingo and for his orchestration work with composer Da ...

's "The Family Dog," because the masters could not be found – a brief suite is on ''Music for a Darkened Theatre: Vol. 2'', however), as well as two alternate versions of Williams' main title theme, one used just once (Alternate #1, on "Alamo Jobe") and the other never used. The album is also notable for the premiere release of the music Williams composed for the

Amblin Entertainment Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marsha ...

logo (although the logo music is not heard on the show itself). Other than Williams,

Bruce Broughton Bruce Harold Broughton (born March 8, 1945) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, and video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career and has contributed man ...

and Billy Goldenberg are the only composers to be represented on all three volumes. The running times below indicate the cumulative time for each score rather than the time of each track. (The series theme is not quoted in any of the episode scores, with the exception of "Ghost Train.") Volume 1 (2006) CD1: * ''Amazing Stories'' Main Title –

(1:02) * Ghost Train –

(15:45) * Alamo Jobe – James Horner (10:01) * Gather Ye Acorns –

(18:37) * The Doll – Georges Delerue (10:09) * The Amazing Falsworth – Billy Goldenberg (8:47) CD2: * ''Amazing Stories'' Bumper #1 –

(:04) * Moving Day – David Shire (13:41) * Without Diana – Georges Delerue (12:39) * Mummy, Daddy –

(13:26) * Vanessa In The Garden –

Lennie Niehaus Leonard Niehaus (June 1, 1929 – May 28, 2020) was an American alto saxophonist, composer and arranger on the West Coast jazz scene. He played with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and served as one of Kenton's primary staff arrangers. He also played ...

(13:23) * Welcome To My Nightmare –

(16:04) * ''Amazing Stories'' End Credits –

(:29) * Amblin Logo –

(:15) Volume Two (2006) CD 1: * ''Amazing Stories'' Main Title Alternate #1 –

(1:03) * Boo! –

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franc ...

(12:13) * What If...? – Billy Goldenberg (12:32) * Dorothy And Ben – Georges Delerue (10:10) * The Main Attraction –

Craig Safan Craig Safan (born December 17, 1948 in Los Angeles, California) is an American composer for film and television, whose biggest scores include ''The Last Starfighter'', '' Mr. Wrong'', ''Stand and Deliver'', '' Fade to Black'', ''Major Payne'', ' ...

(12:09) * Such Interesting Neighbors – David Newman (17:13) * Thanksgiving –

(12:14) CD 2: * ''Amazing Stories'' Bumper #2 –

(:04) * Hell Toupee – David Shire (13:41) * One For The Road –

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

(8:40) * The Remote Control Man – Arthur B. Rubinstein (12:53) * The Greibble –

John Addison John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores. Early life Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the d ...

(15:43) * No Day At The Beach –

Leonard Rosenman Leonard Rosenman (September 7, 1924 – March 4, 2008) was an American film, television and concert composer with credits in over 130 works, including '' East of Eden'', ''Rebel without a Cause'', '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''Beneath th ...

(11:04) * Santa '85 – Thomas Newman (13:05) * ''Amazing Stories'' End Credits –

(:29) * Amblin Logo (Christmas Version) –

(:15) Volume Three (2007) CD 1: * ''Amazing Stories'' Main Title Alternate #2 –

(1:03) * Go To The Head Of The Class –

Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Bac ...

(26:58) * The Wedding Ring –

(12:51) * Mirror, Mirror –

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was bor ...

(24:56) * Mr. Magic –

(12:50) CD 2: * ''Amazing Stories'' Bumper #1 –

(:04) * Secret Cinema – Billy Goldenberg (7:56) * Life On Death Row – Fred Steiner (13:57) * The Pumpkin Competition –

(14:29) * Grandpa's Ghost –

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...

(11:06) * The Mission –

(29:55) * ''Amazing Stories'' End Credits –

(:29) * Amblin Logo (Alternate) –

(:15)

Reception

The series gained a number of positive reviews. However, some reviewers were unimpressed with the show, with Jeff Jarvis of ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' saying "Amazing Stories is one of the worst disappointments I've ever had watching TV."

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

Spin-offs

One episode of the show, "Family Dog", was spun off into its own series. Six years after ''Amazing Stories'' finished its run, '' Family Dog'' ran on CBS for ten episodes before being pulled off the schedule. The video game '' The Dig'' originated as an idea Spielberg had for ''Amazing Stories'', but decided it would be too expensive to film. In 1986, Steven Bauer wrote two

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

s of the series which were both published by Charter Books in the US and Futura Books in the UK. The first book, ''Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories'' (October 1986, ), adapted episodes 5, 12, 9, 2, 7 and 12, while the second book, ''Volume II of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories'' (December 1986, ), adapted episodes 7, 20, 8, 11, 18, 25, 4, 3, 21, 17 and 19. In 1985–86, TSR published six tie-in novels under the ''Amazing Stories'' banner. They were branching (''

Choose Your Own Adventure ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's acti ...

'' style) books where the reader chose where to jump at key points. # ''The 4-D Funhouse'' by Clayton Emery and Earl Wajenberg. Cover by

Jeff Easley Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art. Early life Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...

. # ''Jaguar!'' by Morris Simon. Cover by Jeff Easley. # ''Portrait in Blood'' by Mary L. Kirchoff (credited as Mary Kirchoff). Cover by Jeff Easley. # ''Nightmare Universe'' by Gene DeWeese and

Robert Coulson Robert Stratton "Buck" Coulson (May 12, 1928 – February 19, 1999) was an American science fiction writer, well-known fan, filk songwriter, fanzine editor and bookseller from Indiana. Biography He served as Secretary of the Science Fict ...

. Cover by Jeff Easley. # ''Starskimmer'' by John Betancourt. Cover by

Doug Chaffee Douglas Stewart Chaffee (January 24, 1936 – April 26, 2011) was an American artist whose work appeared in role-playing games as well as military and Christian publications. Early life and education Chaffee was the son of Ralph and Marjorie Cha ...

. # ''Day of the Mayfly'' by Lee Enderlin. Cover by Doug Chaffee. The 1987 film '' Batteries Not Included'' was originally planned to be a segment for the series, but Spielberg thought the story would work better on the big screen instead of television.

Reboot

On October 23, 2015, it was announced that NBC was developing a reboot of the series with

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American television writer and producer who has created a number of television series, including ''Dead Like Me'', ''Wonderfalls'', ''Pushing Daisies'', ''Hannibal'', and ''American Gods.'' Fuller worked as ...

writing the pilot episode and executive producing alongside Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Production companies involved with the series were set to include

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

. Steven Spielberg was not expected to be involved with the new series. On May 5, 2017, NBC and Universal Television were formally notified that their option rights to the ''Amazing Stories'' properties had been withdrawn. Rights for the development of a genre television series under the name ''Amazing Stories'' were subsequently sold to Experimenter Media LLC. On October 10, 2017, it was announced that Apple Inc. made a deal with Steven Spielberg's

Amblin Television Amblin Television is the television production division of Amblin Partners. It was established in 1984 by Amblin Entertainment as a small-screen production arm for Steven Spielberg's '' Amazing Stories'' anthology series for NBC. The company h ...

and NBC Universal to develop a new, ten-episode series on Apple's streaming service,

. On February 7, 2018, it was announced that Fuller had stepped down as showrunner of the series over creative differences. It was further reported that it was unclear whether he would have a different role on the project going forward. He had not delivered a script to Apple before his amicable departure. Later that day, it was also announced that executive producer Hart Hanson was exiting the series as well. On May 22, 2018, it was announced that '' Once Upon a Time'' creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz had joined the production as executive producers and showrunners.

Home media

VHS

A selection of the original series episodes were released in the VHS format in 1993; these were titled "Book One" through "Book Five" in the US. In Japan and Europe episodes were cut together as movies and released in 8 volumes during the late 1980s, early 1990s. A three-tape VHS ( PAL) set was released in the UK in 2001. Europe/Japan VHS series * ''Amazing Stories: The Movie'' (1987) - contains "The Mission", "Mummy Daddy" and "Go To The Head Of The Class" * ''Amazing Stories II'' (1987) - contains "The Amazing Falsworth", "Ghost Train" and "The Wedding Ring" * ''Amazing Stories III'' (1988) - contains "The Griebble", "Moving Day" and "Miscalculation" * ''Amazing Stories IV'' (1988) - contains "Dorothy And Ben", "Family Dog" and "The Main Attraction" * ''Amazing Stories V'' (1989) - contains "The Doll", "Thanksgiving" and "Life On Death Row" * ''Amazing Stories VI'' (1989) - contains "Mirror, Mirror", "Blue Man Down" and "Mr Magic" * ''Amazing Stories VII'' (1990) - contains "The 21-Inch Sun", "Magic Saturday", "You Gotta Believe Me" and "One Amazing Night (Santa '85)" * ''Amazing Stories VIII'' (1990) - contains "The Pumpkin Competition", "Without Diana" and "Fine Tuning" US VHS series * ''Amazing Stories: Book One'' (1993) - contains "The Mission" and "The Wedding Ring" * ''Amazing Stories: Book Two'' (1993) - contains "Go To The Head Of The Class" and "Family Dog" * ''Amazing Stories: Book Three'' (1993) - contains "Life On Death Row", "The Amazing Falsworth" and "No Day At The Beach" * ''Amazing Stories: Book Four'' (1993) - contains "Mirror Mirror", "Mr Magic" and "Blue Man Down" * ''Amazing Stories: Book Five'' (1993) - contains "The Pumpkin Competition", "Without Diana" and "Fine Tuning"

DVD

Between 2006 and 2009, ''The Complete First Season'' was released on DVD in the US, UK, France, Holland, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain and Australia. In 2009, both seasons were released in Germany and Japan only. In Germany both seasons were released as 12 separate DVDs or a complete box set, which was also reissued in 2011. All countries' DVDs contain the original English soundtrack, while Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Japan have a second soundtrack, dubbed in their respective languages. The second season was never released in any video format in America despite much demand by collectors.

Apple iTunes

On January 8, 2018, Seasons 1 and 2 were released on Apple iTunes in standard definition.

Foreign broadcasts

In 1992, the series was somewhat erratically screened in Britain by

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

and

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

– billed in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

'' as "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories" – with episodes airing at any time from early on Sunday morning (such as "The Family Dog") to weekday evenings (like "Such Interesting Neighbors") to very late at night (for instance "Mirror, Mirror"); it later received a more coherent run on Sci-Fi. Three of the episodes ("The Mission", "Mummy Daddy" and "Go to the Head of the Class") were packaged together as an

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

and released theatrically in several European countries such as Spain, France (July 10, 1986) or

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

(June 26, 1987), and also in Australia on September 17, 1987. It later appeared on LaserDisc in Japan as ''Amazing Stories: The Movie'' shortly afterwards. Until 2006, the Sci Fi Channel in the United States showed episodes on an irregular schedule. The MoviePlex channel also showed the series as a collection of "movies," which are blocks of three episodes.

US TV movies

* ''Amazing Stories: The Movie'' (1992) - contains "The Mission" and "Go to the Head of the Class" * ''Amazing Stories: The Movie II'' (1992) - contains "Santa ('85)", "The Wedding Ring", "Ghost Train" and "The Doll" * ''Amazing Stories: The Movie III'' (1992) - contains "Mummy Daddy", "Family Dog", "Remote Control Man" and "Guilt Trip" * ''Amazing Stories: The Movie IV'' (1992) - contains "Life on Death Row", "Mirror Mirror", "The Amazing Falsworth" and "Vanessa In The Garden" * ''Amazing Stories: The Movie V'' (1992) - contains "The Sitter", "Grandpa's Ghost", "Dorothy and Ben" and "Gershwin's Trunk" * ''Amazing Stories: The Movie VI'' (1992) - contains "The Main Attraction", "Gather Ye Acorns", "You Gotta Believe Me" and "Lane Change"

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1980s American horror television series 1980s American science fiction television series 1985 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings American fantasy television series Edgar Award-winning works English-language television shows NBC original programming Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Universal Television 1980s American anthology television series Television shows set in Kentucky