''Amazing Stories'' is an American anthology television series created by Steven Spielberg, that originally ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

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 Mick Garris (born December 4, 1951) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, as well as making Stephen King adaptations. Early life Garris was born in Sant ...

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 ''Batteries Not Included'' (stylized as ''*batteries not included'') is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins about small extraterrestrial living spaceships that save an apartment block under threat from prope ...

'' 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 ''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 appearances ...

'', the first dedicated

science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nove ...

created by

Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish–American editor and magazine publisher, whose publications including the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publ ...

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 (CGI) firm, Robert Abel and Associates. On March 6, 2020, a revival of ''Amazing Stories'' premiered on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

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 Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

released a CD containing a rerecording of the scores for the episodes "The Mission" and "Dorothy and Ben" ( John Williams and

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C ...

respectively) plus Williams' opening and closing themes, performed by the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...

and conducted by

Joel McNeely Joel McNeely (born March 28, 1959) is an American composer, arranger, musician, lyricist, and record producer. A protégé of composer Jerry Goldsmith, he is best known for his film and television scores. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

. In 2006–2007,

Intrada A prelude (german: Präludium or '; la, praeludium; french: prélude; it, preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction t ...

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 and Steve Bartek'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 William Leon Goldenberg (February 10, 1936 – August 3, 2020) was an American composer and songwriter, best known for his work on television and film. Early life Goldenberg was born in February 10, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, New York. His ...

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 – John Williams (1:02) * Ghost Train – John Williams (15:45) * Alamo Jobe –

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was in ...

(10:01) * Gather Ye Acorns –

(18:37) * The Doll –

(10:09) * The Amazing Falsworth –

(8:47) CD2: * ''Amazing Stories'' Bumper #1 – John Williams (:04) * Moving Day –

David Shire David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film '' The Big Bus'', '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'', ''The Conversation'' and ''All ...

(13:41) * Without Diana –

(12:39) * Mummy, Daddy – Danny Elfman & Steve Bartek (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 – John Williams (:29) *

Amblin 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 (producer), Kathlee ...

Logo – John Williams (:15) Volume Two (2006) CD 1: * ''Amazing Stories'' Main Title Alternate #1 – John Williams (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'' franch ...

(12:13) * What If...? –

(12:32) * Dorothy And Ben –

(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 – John Williams (:04) * Hell Toupee –

(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 Arthur Benjamin Rubinstein (March 31, 1938 – April 23, 2018) was an American Emmy Award-winning composer. He composed several television series soundtracks and songs for film scores. He was frequently hired by film director John Badham, and the ...

(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 de ...

(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 the ...

(11:04) * Santa '85 –

Thomas Newman Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career that has spanned over four decades, he has scored numerous films including '' The Player'' (1992); '' The Sh ...

(13:05) * ''Amazing Stories'' End Credits – John Williams (:29) *

Logo (Christmas Version) – John Williams (:15) Volume Three (2007) CD 1: * ''Amazing Stories'' Main Title Alternate #2 – John Williams (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 ''Ba ...

(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 born ...

(24:56) * Mr. Magic –

(12:50) CD 2: * ''Amazing Stories'' Bumper #1 – John Williams (:04) * Secret Cinema –

(7:56) * Life On Death Row –

Fred Steiner Frederick Steiner (February 24, 1923 – June 23, 2011) was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film. Steiner wrote the theme music for ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' an ...

(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 progre ...

(11:06) * The Mission – John Williams (29:55) * ''Amazing Stories'' End Credits – John Williams (:29) *

Logo (Alternate) – John Williams (:15)

Reception

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

Jeff Jarvis Jeff Jarvis (born July 15, 1954) is an American journalist, associate professor, public speaker and former television critic. He advocates the Open Web and argues that there are many social and personal benefits to living a more public life on t ...

of ''

People A person (plural, : 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 pr ...

'' 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 novelizations 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 actio ...

'' style) books where the reader chose where to jump at key points. # ''The 4-D Funhouse'' by

Clayton Emery Clayton Emery (born December 26, 1953 in Bethesda, Maryland) is a mystery and fantasy author and a screenwriter. Works Clayton Emery has been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, vol ...

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 Thomas Eugene DeWeese (January 31, 1934 – March 19, 2012) was an American writer of science fiction, best known for his ''Star Trek'' novels. He also wrote Gothic, mystery, and young adult fiction, totalling more than 40 books in his caree ...

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 Fic ...

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

John Betancourt John Gregory Betancourt (born October 25, 1963) is an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and mystery novels, as well as short stories. He is also known as the founder and publisher, with his wife Kim Betancourt, of Wildside Press in 1 ...

. 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 Ch ...

. # ''Day of the Mayfly'' by Lee Enderlin. Cover by Doug Chaffee. The 1987 film ''

'' 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

was developing a reboot of the series with Bryan Fuller 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. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

made a deal with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and

NBC Universal The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

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 "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 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...

'' creators

Edward Kitsis Edward Lawrence Kitsis (born February 4, 1971) is an American television writer and 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 and e ...

and

Adam Horowitz Adam Horowitz (born December 4, 1971) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is known for co-creating the ABC fairy tale drama series '' Once Upon a Time'' with his writing partner Edward Kitsis. Days after the show ended its seven-year ...

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 Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

) 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 Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

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 – billed in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' 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 Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

. 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 B ...

(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 Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

in the United States showed episodes on an irregular schedule. The

MoviePlex MoviePlex, stylized as movieplex since 2006, is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the Starz Inc. subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment and headquartered at the Meridian International Business Center complex in ...

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