''Amazing Stories'' is an American anthology television series based on the original 1985 television series of the same name, created by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

. The series was produced for

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

and its executive producers for the series included Spielberg,

Edward Kitsis Edward Lawrence Kitsis (born February 4, 1971) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work with his writing partner Adam Horowitz on the popular ABC drama series '' Lost'' and ''Once Upon a Time''. Early life a ...

, Adam Horowitz, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey. Episodes premiered between March 6 and April 3, 2020. Like the previous series, the name ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' is taken from the first science fiction magazine, which was launched in 1926 and has continued in various formats for decades.

Episodes

Production

Development

On October 23, 2015, it was announced that

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

was developing a reboot of the 1985 anthology television series ''

'' created by

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the television series ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009) and ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'' (2013–2015). Fuller is also known for his work as a writ ...

was expected to write the pilot episode and executive produce alongside Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

. At that time, Spielberg was not expected to be involved with the series. On October 10, 2017, it was announced that

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

had given the production a ten-episode series order. It was further announced that

Amblin Television Storyteller TV Distribution Co., LLC, doing business as 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 ''Am ...

would serve as an additional production company for the series. On February 7, 2018, it was reported that Fuller had stepped down as showrunner of the series over creative differences. It was unclear as to whether Fuller would have a different role in the production going forward but it was clarified that he had not delivered a script to Apple before his departure. Later that day, it was also reported that executive producer

Hart Hanson Hart Hanson (born July 26, 1957) is an American-born television writer and producer, as well as an author. He is best known as the creator, executive producer, and writer of the TV series '' Bones''. Biography Hanson's family moved to Canada whe ...

was exiting the series as well. On May 22, 2018, it was announced that ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' creators

and Adam Horowitz had joined the production as executive producers and showrunners. On December 4, 2018, it was reported that Mark Mylod would direct an episode of the series executive produced by Edward Burns.

Casting

On December 4, 2018, it was announced that Edward Burns, Austin Stowell, and

Kerry Bishé Kerry Bishé is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Donna Clark in the AMC period drama series '' Halt and Catch Fire'' (2014–2017) and Lucy Bennett, the lead/narrator in the final season of the ABC medical sitcom '' Scrubs'' ...

would guest star together in an episode. On October 11, 2019, it was announced that

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

would appear on the show and would be his final role after his death in the episode "Dynaman and the Volt." On January 19, 2020, it was announced that Dylan O'Brien,

Victoria Pedretti Victoria Pedretti (born March 23, 1995) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for starring in the Netflix horror series ''The Haunting of Hill House'' (2018) and '' The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), which established her as a s ...

Josh Holloway Joshua Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the ABC television show '' Lost'' (2004–2010) as Will Bowman on the USA Network science fiction drama ''Colony'' (2016� ...

, and Sasha Alexander would also appear on the show.

Filming

Principal photography for the series began in November 2018 in Georgia, US. Filming took place in various locations around the state that month including

Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

, Forsyth,

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

Dobbins Air Reserve Base Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M ...

, and

Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The largest of the city's three commercial districts (Midtown Atlanta, Midtown and Buckhead being the others), it is the location of many corporate and region ...

. In December 2018, the production was shooting in areas such as Sandy Springs,

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, Kirkwood, and Flowery Branch. In January 2019, the series was working out of locations in Atlanta including the Starlight Drive-In Theatre,

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

's Briarcliff campus and the

Centennial Olympic Park Centennial Olympic Park is a public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. It was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) as part of the infrastructur ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series' single season has an approval rating of 41% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critics consensus states, "While ''Amazing Stories aspirations are admirable, it feels more like a dated retread than a heartfelt reboot." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''Amazing Stories'' was nominated for a 2021

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

for Best Television Presentation (under 10 episodes).

References

External links

* * {{Apple TV+ 2020 American television series debuts 2020s American drama television series 2020s American science fiction television series 2020s American anthology television series American English-language television shows American fantasy drama television series Apple TV+ original programming Television series by ABC Studios Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Universal Television American television series reboots Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state)