Streaming Sci Fi TV: Tracking down sci fi and fantasy shows of interest available on the streaming services. Note that these shows can be pulled from the services at any time with little notice.
What Is It?
This horror anthology series created by George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) presents standalone tales with elements of the supernatural, science fiction, fantasy, and psychological suspense. Each episode explores strange and often unsettling situations involving monsters, ghosts, aliens, curses, or ordinary people confronted by extraordinary events, usually ending with an ironic twist.
Aired: Syndicaton, 1983-88, 4 Seasons Totaling 92 Episodes
Notable Guest Stars: Christian Slater, Brent Spiner, Bruce Davison, Tippi Hedren, Keenan Wynn, Justine Bateman, Debbie Harry, Lisa Bonet, Patricia Tallman
Created By: George A. Romero
Why Watch It?
At the time that Tales from the Darkside hit syndication in 1983, the anthology format had all but disappeared from television, especially on the broadcast networks. The show was inspired by the success of George A. Romero’s feature film Creepshow, but due to rights issues, they had to go with a different title. Romero remained onboard as executive producer, and he managed to attract some notable writers to the show’s credits such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, Harlan Ellison, John Cheever, and Robert Bloch. The series became a cult favorite for its eerie atmosphere, memorable opening narration, and its ability to blend horror and fantasy with dark humor. And like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits before it, the show drew some notable talent to its guest star list, including up-and-coming names like Christian Slater, Brent Spiner, Lisa Bonet, and Patricia Tallman.
Tales from the Darkside had a successful run in syndication and reignited interest in the anthology format, leading to the revival of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents as well as Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. Like Creepshow, Tales channeled the old EC Comics, and eventually HBO would run with that and create the long-running horror anthology Tales from the Crypt (more on that one at this link). But Tales was certainly the one that got things started, and currently it is considered an all-time great for the anthology format and among genre shows.
Where Is It Streaming?
Despite the well-respected status of Tales from the Darkside, it is not a show you will find streaming on demand on any of the available platforms. But if you do want to catch episodes of this one, you can watch it on Comet TV. That is a free channel that you can pick up over the air if you have a digital antenna, or you can live-stream it on their website or download their app on devices like Roku. Comet TV is much like The Sci Fi Channel when it first started, and it runs shows like Tales from the Darkside, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, the Outer Limits revival, and more throughout the week along with sci fi and fantasy movies. Tales is currently airing three episodes a day back-to-back starting at 8:30 AM EST, and it shows up a few other times on the schedule as well. You can see the full Comet TV schedule at this link. Tales from the Darkside has also been collected on DVD, but it has not received the Blu-ray treatment yet, nor can you purchase it on VOD. But if you want to sample some episodes of this horror TV great, you can do so for free on Comet TV.
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