I wasn't born when it originally aired, but there were re-runs sometime in the late 70s/early 80s, so I watched them with my grandmother. She called scary shows "chillers" and Night Gallery was known as "the best chiller of them all." As a 5-7 year old, it was fascinating to me. To this day, I can't watch "The Cemetery" at night.
I’m so glad you included, “The Cemetery!” That one scared the crap out of me when I was a kid! I kept looking at the paintings in my home hoping the scenery didn’t move!
We lived across from an old cemetery and my room overlooked directly into it. That Cemetery episode scared me so bad, my parents switched rooms with me. It took over 30 years and some therapy to get over my cemetery fear.
I watched these on TV with my Grandmother. Some of them have stuck around with me even to this day. Now my wife is going to kill me. I scratched the itch and bought a disc set of the whole series. I blame you!😉
Hey Grumpy Old Wizard, hope you have been well! Ha ha, well hey I always love to hear I've inspired some physical media purchases...the ones that anger the wives however.....those I take zero responsibility for. 😉😂😂
That is a great point. The stories he wrote or adapted for this series often were darker. The series itself overall was far more focused on straight horror.
@@robertmcpherson1617 actually the humor vignettes were the result of someone else involved in production. Serling didn't like them and they clashed throughout the series. In the end most people like the show and the humor and Serling was basically "wrong".
Stayed up with my sisters past midnight back in the early 70s to watch this. I was surprised Green Fingers wasn't one of your top 10. "Everything I plant grows.EVERYTHING!"
@crs290 I was a young teen at the time and I loved Elsa Lanchester in old movies. But even tho I knew it was acting...that episode had me sleeping with the lights on.
Don't feel too bad about the ear wig thing. I saw that episode in 1972 and every night since then, I'm 68, I've slept with a blanket or sheet over whichever ear is up. Even now that I've retired, if I nap in the recliner, I cover both ears with a hoodie. 😮
My beautiful mother LOVED horror...movies, books et al. I was born to take after her, and she allowed me to watch this series. She also passed on a book she loved, one you might recognize, called Carrie. Although still living she currently resides in an Alzheimers facility in another state. And although she no longer recognizes her children, she left me with her work ethic as well as her appreciation of all things creepy. Love ya mama, miss you heaps 💜
That one truly hit hard because Richard's character was backstabbed by his own mother. He didn't deserve his fate. Most of the people who come to bad ends in this show are bad so you don't feel so bad when they get messed up.
The Cemetery is one of the scariest things I've ever seen as a kid. Gave me so many nightmares. I actually haven't seen most of this list, I'll have to check them out.
Don't forget the Outer Limits! I have both the Outer Limits and Night Gallery on DVD. Going to watch all again. Since there is basically nothing to watch on TV anymore.
In Serlings debut movie from 1969, i loved the episode where Richard Kiley was a Nazi on the run , in South America and he has to project himself into a painting. Remember the far out ending? Mind blowing!
Hey Rick, that was such a powerful story. I referenced it in my review of a 'Twilight Zone' that covered similar subject matter; 'Deaths Head Revisited'.
I believe it was called The Escape Route. I had first read it in an anthology of Night Gallery stories. It was amazing, and with a good imagination, the scene with the gallery security at the end had me sleeping with the lights on for almost a week! And I had read it quite a few times. (Electricity was cheaper when I was a teen... 😄) I finally got to see it on DVD about 6 or 7 years back and it did not disappoint.
I was 11 or so when Night Gallery debuted and I never missed an episode! These are excellent choices but Joan Crawford in “Eyes” and Patty Duke in “The Diary” are two of my all time favourites. Love your reviews ❤! Great work and so well done. Thank you 😊
Night Gallery was one of my favorite scary series to watch. I'm surprised that more people didn't mention "The Doll". That episode left me shaken as a kid. The ending raised the hair on my arms and I did have nightmares the night that I saw it. That doll was truly a terrifying figure!
Right? As a little girl, with dolls, a bedroom at the top of the stairs and some brothers who loved to scare me by turning the light off when I was halfway up them, this episode was terrifying! I still hurry up the stairs and turn around when I get to the top to make sure she's not sitting there or following me! And do not get me started on that Zuni Doll from Trilogy of Terror!
My favourite episode was the first episode of the first show, after the pilot, called 'The Dead Man' about a man who could be hypnotized to display the symptoms of any disease, but he returns to normal once the doctor pounds out a code on the table. Unfortunately, he is also having an affair with the doctor's wife, and the doctor finds out. That leads to the doctor hypnotizing him to emulate death, but the doctor 'forgets' the proper code to wake him again. The wife eventually listens to a tape of the session and discovers the real knocking code to bring him back, but too much time has passed and when she runs to the grave to awaken him, what comes back is a decaying living corpse. I watched it in the original run of the series and to this day, I still remember the pattern it took to bring him back, that is how much that episode has remained a part of me.
We watched that episode when it aired and it scared the crap out of me. I think her running through the cemetery shrieking was terrifying. The last shot was mind blowing.
To the main characters credit, the doctor wasn’t consciously trying to get the tapping code wrong, his subconscious got the better of him and made him get it wrong every time.
Yep. I always thought A Question of Fear was THE Scariest Night Gallery episode ever. It was classic early 70's horror IMO. I also like the revenge factor.
My favorite episodes are The Cemetery, Green Fingers, Sins of Your Father, and Brenda... Although there are so many more that we never missed an episode, these four always stood out to me as a little kid watching them with my big brothers and sisters
Wow so far it seems the one I see mainly popping up across everyone's lists is The Cemetery. I feel like that may be the most popular one in the whole series.
Green Fingers scared me to death as a kid.The old lady coming back to life, from a chopper off finger she plants. Sitting there in her rocking chair, covered in vines, then saying, "Everything I plant, grows."
@@FeverDreamlandTheaterEspecially the episode about the monster in the basement that beat that artist down and it turns out he was a monster as well.😊
I was in jr. high when this series came out. My sister, mom and myself would watch this every week. We looked forward to it. We also watched the scary movies of the week they had back then. Watching TV was so much fun on those days.
Agreed. She was a beautiful girl! Love “House” with her dreamily driving a large convertible and her lovely blonde hair waving in the wind. Remember it from when I was a kid along with so many of the other classic episodes. This one is interesting because the house depicted in the episode always reminded me of the Sharon Tate murder house. And in a cruel twist of fate, Pettit was Sharon’s lunch guest at the house on the afternoon just prior to the murders. She was one of the last people to see Sharon alive!
@@personaking7844 I have no doubt that she's just as beautiful now. Even at 81, alpha women like that always have a mystique and beauty about them that never fades. It's in their eyes.
i remember the mirror...where a old man takes the paint off a old mirror unveiling a prehistoric land beyond...he traps zaza gabor...(an 60s actress) behind the mirror and paint over it sealing her to her doom.....classic stuff
Conrad Aiken's original short story "Silent Snow Secret Snow" is one of the greatest English stories on its own merits, for sure, but the Night Gallery adaptation is one of the greatest cinematic short films ever made, period, end of story. It's a masterpiece amongst many other NG masterpieces. But I wanted to single out my favorite one-two punch on NG: "The House" & "Certain Shadows On The Wall". Two of the greatest ghost stories in TV history, paired together. Finally, NG is a whole damn catalogue of almost every 60s/70s actress I've had crushes on throughout my life! Sandra Dee, Leslie Ann Warren, Joanna Pettit, Susan Strasberg, Diane Baker, Michele Lee, Jeanette Nolan, Linda Marsh, Louise Sorel, Maureen Arthur, Deidre Hall, Susan Oliver, Carol Lynley, Donna Douglas, Lois Nettleton, Lana Wood, Tisha Sterling, Joan Van Ark, Lindsay Wagner, Kathryn Hays... WOW! What a phenomenally casted show. The recent bluray NG sets are stunningly beautiful, and with a remarkable number of quality, informative commentaries if you're into those like I am.
Forgot to mention: You know a show/movie is doing something right if it has the good sense to cast both Jeanette Nolan & Agnes Moorhead, two of the greatest actresses in cinematic history. They were astonishing talents who paved the way for other brilliant actresses like Ellen Burstyn.
You’re right about Silent Snow. So well done and narrated by Orson Welles to boot. The kid was played by Radames Pera who many will recognize from scores of 70s shows. Remember young “grasshopper” from Kung Fu? Another great series!
The House is my favorite episode. Excellently directed by John Astin, it is mind blowing. Silent Snow, Secret Snow is one of the best things ever presented on television.
"Silent Snow, Secret Snow" was about autism. There is a serious black & white movie that was made about it somewhere on the internet prior to NG. Night Gallery took it to a different level though.
These are all great episodes. I also remember liking the one with Elsa Lanchester, and that one with the kid who finds a monster in a pit. Now I wanna revisit the series myself...
Green Fingers haunted me. I remember seeing it late night on TV not knowing what the hell it was I was watching. Then after the weird ending, the channel signed off. I just sat there stunned. 😳
Thank you for gathering these episodes. This is a classic horror show from my childhood. The theme music and those paintings were enough to send chills down my spine. Not every story was as good as these. But, you've gathered some of the best.
I LOVED "The Big Surprise"! Such a great story! One that did indeed surprise my little mind when I watched it in the early 70s! I was 6 years old in 1972, and "BIG SURPRISE" gave me delicious nightmares! Such a good, and frightening short one. And at that time, I was the age of those 3 kids too! 😬 John Carradine is THE perfect actor for this classic! **And how about that other fantastic episode ender (even shorter), "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture," with Carl Reiner as the dramatic professor who, after reading from the Book of The Dead to his class (while ominous winds and storms are blowing windows open), his voice getting louder and more urgent!....builds and builds until w/a crash of lightning ⚡ his head morphes into something... that scared me to death at that age! I used to think that his head turned into spaghetti. And finally, I can't believe I haven't seen anyone mention "FEAST OF BLOOD" with Clint Eastwood's soon to be wife as the young girl, who succumbs to a giant rat-like monster (which morphed from the cursed broach clipped on her dress) while she walked home after an argument, on a lonely dark road. And That Witch from "I'll Never Leave You..." I love witches to begin with and the image of her stays with you! I mean, look, the poster of this clip, at the start, talks about Night Gallery being more about fright and the macabre...which is what I liked about it. Well, these 3 (BIG SURPRISE, PROFESSOR...& FEAST OF BLOOD) are a triple feature of straight up fear and macabre, whereas most of them aren't. All three, for me, rank right up there with the very best of freaky, scary Night Gallery! *Oh, and here's the other quite scary thing about the show, and it's not even an episode or short... the THEME INTRO! With it's eerie, scary music and the bizarre, frightening imagery! Brilliant! I used to dare myself I watch that intro back then, and in many instances, I just didn't make it! Marc ⚡
Hey Marc! I agree, the theme song for this show was amazing. Regarding 'The Big Surprise' I feel the same about many 80's horror movies. They really stuck with me. Especially ones which featured kids around my age at that time. Good stuff. Thanks for sharing, be well!
@@FeverDreamlandTheater Heh! I know what you mean! When you watch movies that involve people you're own age (esp when you're young) you do tend to connect more with the cinema. **Funny, you said that about 80s films, because I was a teenager then (14-21 from '80-'87) and we all know that golden age of slashers, and horror movies in general from that time. It was not only the "golden era," but most of them featured teenagers and young adults. So obviously, those really connected with me as well. ---> Like taking my girlfriend to see "A Nightmare On Elm St." at an old fashioned 2-movie theater upon release. This is when Freddie was new & actually scary, not a jokester. You know with the stretching arms and comments like "THIS, is God!," followed by the maniacal laugh and the big eyes! Plus all the other surreal frights of that excellent first one. Sooooo, when that 1st film ended, we had to walk out the "side door Exit" (from inside the theater)...a closed-in spot...through a puddle and up a metal staircase to the parking lot. The fear was palpable! Not only due to the film being trippy and frightening, but also due to our age (we were 17-18, and both felt that palpable connection!) Marc
Joe! whats up man, hope you have been well & thanks for popping in from the Zone. For me, The Cemetery was the easiest pick for this list...it was actually number one by default for some time too. Much thanks for the kind words!
I am not surprised "The Caterpillar" is on this list. That episode has stayed with me all these years. I loved this show when I was young and often watched it with my sisters.
Do you remember the one with the kid hiding in his room being taunted by kids on the street “Ugly ugly ugly freak freak freak” They pan to his face and his head looks like it’s covered with candle wax drippings. His parents decide to enroll him in the a planetary exchange program where when he arrives he runs into really good looking guy who just stares and him and says “ I hope things work out better for you than they did for me” Cut to two girls giggling about how cute the exchange student is, and they look just like him.
DJ, the episode in question is The Different Ones--Rod Serling wrote the script, and is a good example of society's intolerance of those born disfigured. They also used stock footage from Fahrenheit 451, which was released in 1966. 🐱
Wow! Thanks so much for doing this one! Night Gallery is absolutely my all time favourite horror type TV show, it's hands down the best all around and I will never grow bored with it, so much gathered in these three seasons, most of it highly entertaining but all worth watching.
Also loved the short segments. There was one with Carl Reiner, as a skeptic professor, reading a spell in a classroom and when he's done, he turns into a plant creature. Segment was 2-3 minutes. In the same episode there was a slightly longer one where kids are scarred of an old neighbor. For some reason (don't remember why) they dig a hole in his yard and he comes popping out.
That was based on Lovecraft ( and one of the students is known as Mr. Lovecraft"). Reiner's character keeps saying the name of one of the eldritch gods whose name is not to be spoken...and he is mutated into something ghastly for doing so....creeeeepy. ..
I mainly watched this show as a kid. Plenty of nightmares ensued, lol. But back then, the scariest segments for me were The Caterpillar and Green Fingers.
17 JULY 2024….. I LOVED THIS SHOW I watched as much as I could NOW I HAVE TO FIND THIS SHOW ( streaming ) Or buy the series on DVD …. THANKS MAN !!!!!!!!
In the 70's, we'd turn off the lights & everyone jumped on the furniture (no feet over the edge) & you were the safest one when someone shared the big chair with you
I love all those that everyone has mentioned but there's also "The Big Surprise" with John Carradine and "I'll Never Leave You, Ever" with Lois Nettleton. The image of that creepy witch that carved the creepy voodoo doll has stayed with me all my life. I guess it'll never leave me, ever.
I LOVED "The Big Surprise"! Such a great story! One that did indeed surprise my little mind when I watched it in the early 70s! I was 6 years old in 1972, and "BIG SURPRISE" gave me delicious nightmares! Such a good, and frightening short one. And at that time, I was the age of those 3 kids too! 😬 John Carradine is THE perfect actor for this classic! **And how about that other fantastic episode ender (even shorter), "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture," with Carl Reiner as the dramatic professor who, after reading from the Book of The Dead to his class (while ominous winds and storms are blowing windows open), his voice getting louder and more urgent!....builds and builds until w/a crash of lightning ⚡ his head morphes into something... that scared me to death at that age! I used to think that his head turned into spaghetti. And finally, I can't believe I haven't seen anyone mention "FEAST OF BLOOD" with Clint Eastwood's soon to be wife as the young girl, who succumbs to a giant rat-like monster (which morphed from the cursed broach clipped on her dress) while she walked home after an argument, on a lonely dark road. And YES! That witch from "I'll Never Leave You..." I love witches to begin with and that image stayed with me as well! I mean, look, the poster of this clip, at the start, talks about Night Gallery being more about fright and the macabre...which is what I liked about it. Well, these 3 (BIG SURPRISE, PROFESSOR...& FEAST OF BLOOD) are a triple feature of straight up fear and macabre, whereas most of them aren't. All three, for me, rank right up there with the very best of freaky, scary Night Gallery! *Oh, and here's the other quite scary thing about the show, and it's not even an episode or short... the THEME INTRO! With it's eerie, scary music and the bizarre, frightening imagery! Brilliant! I used to dare myself I watch that intro back then, and in many instances, I just didn't make it! Marc ⚡
@@timriley4543Oh yes! I've seen that several times recently. But I didn't realize it was Night Gallery. It was uploaded without that info I guess. Thank you!😃
"Escape Route" is my favorite, because it is suspenseful, well done and an absorbing morality tale. The cast includes some mighty fine actors: - Richard Kiley( the Nazi death camp guard) starred in "Man of La Mancha" on Broadway. He was in numerous films and TV shows. -Sam Jaffe(the concentration camp survivor) made many movies, among them "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "Gunga Din" and the original "Lost Horizon." Probably his most famous role was in the TV series "Ben Casey," as the elderly physician Dr. Zorba. -Norma Crane(the prostitute who mocks Kiley's character's search for solace) played Golda, Tevye's wife, in the film "Fiddler on the Roof." A fine actress whose promising career was cut short due to cancer.
Thanks quiltguy. I'm always interested in where we've seen these performers before. Often I mainly know of given performers from 1 or 2 parts, so its always facinating to see their other projects.
I read the story when I was a teen, we had a book of Night Gallery stories from the shows. It stunned me, and it was so good that I slept with the lights on more than once because it was too good a story to not read again, and again.
Rod Sterling was an unappreciated genius who's stories were edgy, brilliant and powerful, classics each and every one. Simple sets and perfect casting.
Night Gallery used to scare the crap out of me as a kid… but I kept coming back for more. Serling is an absolute genius. We all have to die but it’s too bad he left us so soon.
Night Gallery, I always thought, was just so perfect for the 1970s. The 70s were filled mystery, intrigue and the bizarre. This series, I always thought was so underrated. I so miss Rod Sterling and believed, that while he was able to go deeper into his mind with Night Gallery, I was eager to learn and see more. I wish I could explain it better but for those that lived in the 70s, then you know. Serial killer, Satanist, UFO's, Monsters & Cryptids, In Search of With Leonard Nimoy, Kolchak, the Satanic Panic, witches, kidnappings, etc. Sure, all those things existed before the 70s, they just seemed more magnified in the 70s. Luv seeing some of these actors and actresses, as some of the greatest talent we have ever seen. Talent who had a wide range of acting. As wide as the universe. Fun Vid!
Hey Grumpyoldwizard! Thanks so much! I really appreciate that and I especially appreciate your kind words. Always a pleasure! Hope you have a nice week ahead! : )
Kids nowadays will never get to 'feel' the joy of the 70's ( especially early 70s ) of when you're about 8 or 9 years old. Imagine it's late Friday night, no schools the next couple days so your parents let you stay up late to watch 'Friday Night Creature Feature' and the eerie theme of the Night Gallery' comes on your 8 inch black and white tv. The kind that has 'rabbit ear antennas ' lol....GOD, life was so good back then..
@@proggerjohn Oh, that’s who she is! In Casino Royale (1967) I could have sworn it was Diana Rigg. But credits say Pettet. She was mesmerizing. IMDb says she was in four Night Gallery episodes. Plus one Banacek.
I always look forward to your videos. Episodes I enjoyed were Green Fingers, and The Little Black Bag (it was great to see Burgess Meredith in another Serling show).
I agree that, 'The Cemetery' is one of the creepiest, scariest segments ever put to screen. Watching McDowell decend into madness was terrifying. On a lighter note, one of my favorite memories was, 'Hell's Bells,' starring John Astin as a hippie who dies, and is shown his 'forever afterlife'. It's a 5min hoot, yet it gave me one of the most profound insights into the dichotomy of Heaven & Hell, and it sticks with me to this day.
@@brianew The show typically had two stories per episode. If there was time needed filling, there was the occasional 'quickie' to fill the gap. 'Hell's Bells' was one; it came in under 10min, as I recall.
That doll episode really creeped me out back in the day. My late mother was a shrewd and knowledgeable antiques collector, when most people didn't know the value of that which collected cobwebs and dust in their basements and attics. She had a huge collection of china-faced dolls in the upstairs bedroom next to mine...and after watching that doll episode, I was deeply afraid of going to sleep upstairs for months!! She sold off her dolls in 1980 and earned enough $$ to buy a ranch house in the suburbs for cash!!
"There Are No More McBanes" caused many restless nights for me as a kid, those glowing eyes were leering at me through the closet blinds...and I always am drawn back into the eerie "Phantom Farmhouse" with it's very 70s multicolor rehab treehouse loft go-go platforms and Trina Parks being super foxy. "Something In the Woodwork"and the ghost of the evil murderer that haunts the attic of Geraldine Page's house...how he hates her...the martinis ... wasn't her ex husband a Tarzan? But that face creeped me out....and "The Diary" with Patty Duke and Lyndsay Wagner...."anyone have a pen....please someone give me a pen!" But after seeing "Feast Of Blood" with Sandra Locke's broach...the eyes...and "Pickman's Model" the hands...the clawed foot stomping on a painting and tube of paint...and a huge well in a basement in Boston. Terrifying.
This was my first time watching one of your videos and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was extremely well done and very thorough. Especially liked how you acknowledged the familiar faces in these segments. Looking forward to more of your videos! 👍👍
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this video. Some of the NG episodes have been stuck in my brain since I first saw them. Like others, I would have added The Sin Eater, surely one of the creepiest tv shows ever. Again, thanks! This is great.
Good selection. I'd change some for "Green fingers", "Someone in the Woodwork", "Pickman's model", "The House" and "The Dead Man", (which resembles some Poe's story: "The facts in the case of Mr. Valdemar"). I was about 10 when watched this series. I loved it. Remember some other stories, like "Brenda", "Certain Shadows on the Wall", "Lone Survivor", "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture", "The Painted Mirror", and "A Feast of Blood", that shocked me. Thanks for sharing and made me remember. Best whishes from Mexico.
The Cemetary, Eyes, Pickman's Model, Cool Air and A Feast of Blood are my all time favorite eps. Thanks again for another great video review. Your casual manner of speaking and also making jokes is what always makes me enjoy your videos! What was his name again....POTIFOY! 🤣🤣🤣 I also enjoyed you mentioning Leslie Nielsen and Fritz Weaver who also starred together in my all-time favorite movie CREEPSHOW. 🎃🎃👍💯👍🎃🎃
Hey Riverguy! Much thanks for the kind words man! Yeah this one was a pleasure and its a bit different for me too. Also, I'm always happy to sneak in a Creepshow reference whenever I can! 🤜🤛 Be well bro!
Hi Vanessa! That's good to hear, its been great hearing from so many fans of the series. I wish I had been able to see it when it initaly aired. Thanks for watching!
I can only remember The Cemetery and its always stuck with me. I couldn't quite remember the series or the name so I'm glad this list shows it. Great stuff from Rod Sterling!
Thank you for the review well done! Remember seeing these as reruns as a child in the late '70s, and completely horrified, I really think rod Sterling is a bona fide genius!
Gosh, I miss Rod Serling! I wasn't allowed to stay up and watch it, but my older sister would describe the stories in such detail that YEARS later I realized I knew what was going to happen! I have the first two seasons on DVD and am off to see if I can find all the others. The pilot episode with Roddy McDowell is a fav! Thanks for this!!
Hey Kelly, no prob! Also, I hear you, as a kid, sometimes just hearing stories from an older cousin would make me want to check out a movie or tv series.
I did the same with my mom born in 1966. I was the only one of the kids that seem to be interested in sci-fi, or any of the night gallery shows. I was also the only one of the kids that became an insomniac, because I was scared to close my eyes! Lol.
My late father told me about this show. He enjoyed it when it was on tv and he knew I like all things macabre so I'm finally watching the show. I do really like it.
Thank you so much! I appreciate that. Editing is the fun part for me, it's still a learning process but it's one of those things I'm happy to keep working and improving upon.
