Customer Reviews

Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour (Television)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! I recieved this book last Christmas and this was probably my favorite gift I recieved. There is soooooooo much information and is a true delight to read. I might not be your average Night Gallery fan considering I was born several years after the show went off, but in a short time due to cable reruns and ordering the Columbia House videos I have fell in love with the show. It is now tied with The Twilght Zone as my favorite show.

Thank you authors for all the hard work. I can't believe this show is so underrated. It had so much going for it. Excellent writing, acting, art direction, class, ect... Night Gallery's finest stood neck and neck with the best episodes of Zone. Deliveries in the Rear, The Caterpillar, A Question of Fear, Return of the Sorcerer, The Doll, They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar, and A Feast of Blood are just as excellent as It's a Good Life, The Masks, The Silence, The Howling Man, The Living Doll, A Game of Pool, and To Serve Man.

Only two things do I disagree with the authors' views of the show are 1) I think the 3rd season was a little better than the reviews they gave it and 2) "The black out" skits were overall enjoyable and gave the show a distinctive feel that seperated it from Zone's vibe.

I know it's a matter of opinion, but I feel many third season segments are short changed by a half star sometimes even a full star than what they are given. Segmenst like The Other Way Out, Something in the Woodwork, Rare Objects and such I like more than some of the ***.5 and **** segments from the pilot and second season.

The "black outs" were sometimes stupid and goofy, but at least they were short and sometimes put a smile on your face. While, some of the longer bad segments like The Diffrent Ones, The Diary, and Tell David are just too long for the quality of material in it. I just wish that they would have made some "black outs" that were less comedy driven and more horror in nature.

Overall,I love this book. Listen. If you know anyone who loves Rod Serling or Night Gallery than this will make an excellent gift for the Holidays or a birthday. The book is beautiful in its depth. Plus, unlike Marc Scott Zicree's The Twilight Zone Companion you can tell these guys actually love the show. Also, check out the authors' website and help us get Rod Serling's Night Gallery on DVD!!!!

Check out their site...

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! THE NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER HOURS TOUR TURNED OUT TO BE FAR MORE ENGROSSING THAN THE SERIES ON WHICH IT IS BASED! NOT SINCE MARC SCOTT ZICREE'S DEFINITIVE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION HAVE I FELT AN AUTHOR'S TRUE PASSION FOR HIS TELEVISION SERIES SUBJECT TO EMANATE FROM THE PAGE SO POWERFULLY! THIS BOOK IS EXTRAORDINARILY WELL-DOCUMENTED AND WELL-WRITTEN. LIKE OTHER TV BOOKS, SUCH AS THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE DOSSIER AND THE COLUMBO PHILE, THIS NIGHT GALLERY TOME GIVES CREDENCE TO THE BELIEF THAT A CERTAIN SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION CAN WATCH TV AND MANAGE TO BE BOTH HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND ARTICULATE AT THE SAME TIME!

Creator Rod Serling will forever be remembered for his earlier classic: a little something called "The Twilight Zone." While "Night Gallery" never quite made the ratings and dramatic success as its predecessor, the show did have its moments, all lovingly chronicled here by the authors. The book details the production, the episodes, and the various actors featured on the show. It also reveals the infighting between Serling, producer Jack Laird, and the wishes of the "suits" at NBC. Sadly, the strain of his association with the series may have contributed to Serling's untimely death.

For those fans of the show, this is an insightful and well-prepared document.

This is the best book ever written about a TV show, and the best thing about it is that it's about one of the best TV shows ever! Informative, insightful, fun to read, and PACKED with inside information for old and new fans alike. God Bless these guys for pulling it off, and God Bless the late great Mr Rod Serling for all the years of entertainment. They certainly do not make 'em like this anymore in this awful age of MTV and CGI. Cheers! Now buy the book!

When I was a little boy I LOVED this show,being a horror nut.Well,I'm still a horror nut,and I only had vague memories of it,only that it was presented by Rod Serling.Hey,Twilight Zone still airs and is awesome,so NG should be as well.I excitedly sent off for this book,and it IS great!Lovingly written,the book unravels the NG story in a highly interesting and informative manner.BUT!The Mystery Channel started showing all the restored episodes and I saw the show as a horrible,dated mess!Buy this book,even if,like me,you shudder at NG.Buy it for the great info on Serling.
PS:It is now many months later and Mystery channel isn't showing NG now,but they will in a couple weeks.I'm looking forward to seeing them all again.Heck,it's not so bad!

Once I knew this was coming out, I hewed away at the Syracuse Univ. Press to get a copy expedited to me, and managed to get one on Xmas Eve of '98, just in time. It was well worth all the phone calls. Excellently researched and just packed with info. Plot synopses, behind-the-scenes stories (some of which are hilarious), and great fun to read. I loved "The Twilight Zone" but loved "Night Gallery" even more - this is a fine tribute.

Although not expressly stated, this book has two theses:

1. Night Gallery was not as bad as we thought it was.
2. It could have been better.

Thesis 1 is the book's central mission. Reexamine the show, and look again with new, or renewed eyes! It may help to focus only on Serling's scripts:

* They're Tearing Down Tom Riley's Bar
* Eyes
* Green Fingers
* Pamela's Voice
* A Question Of Fear
* The Class of `99
* Camera Obscura

Any one of these are equal to an average TZ, and some of these are equal to TZ's best.

Thesis 2, why NG could have been better, is also explained. In short, Rod did not have creative control. NG used his name as a draw, and had him pen scripts, but he was not the final authority on the series.

It would not be correct to say that Jack Laird was a mere meddler. He had a good sense of horror. But he did not have Rod Serling's distinct vision and voice. Even Serling's horror is thought-provoking, rising above the slasher/gorefests that are mistaken called horror.

Jack Laid had all of the control--he held all the cards and was not shy about trumping Serling. In some ways, Rod and the Serling name were just props or window dressing. It was a horrorific "bait and switch."

Rod had spoken his peace. Two years previous, Serling adapted the script for Planet of the Apes. He still had "IT," but was burnt out from studio politics. TZ was a monumental, but once you make your statement, it is exponentially harder to reassert the same idea.

Laird was capable of flashes of greatness, and funny-bone quirkiness--those of lambasted segments. But was also a tinhorn. Time and again he would fire directors for going over time, or over budget. The hypocrisy was that when he directed, he also went over time.

Also, the shuffling of neophyte directors could be a problem. "Pamela's Voice" was perfectly scripted and cast (Phyllis Diller's stage persona is every annoying woman you ever met), but the director had Ms. Diller lower her rusty door-hinge voice to a normal level. The entire point (see the title!) is to have a woman with an annoying voice. We got a touchdown, but not a 3-point conversion.

There are other reasons. Not all the scripts were Rod's, so we lost his worldview. In TZ, the non-Serling scripts were just as good as Rod's. But this was not the case with NG.

One difference that no one mentions is the transition from BW to color. This classic JUMP THE SHARK red flag is worth noting. The black and white visuals enhance the black and white morality and ideas being expressed. TZ is the metaphysical equivalent of Ansel Adams.

Also, with the notable exception of the two Spielberg segments, NG followed the traditional three-camera sit-com format. Compare TZ's "Walking Distance" to NG's "There Tearing Down Tom Reilly's Bar." TZ's trick camera-work, framing, angles, etc. outstrip the more mundane NG. And something in lost in the process; NG comes off being a run of the mill sit-com with the heebie-jeebies.

*

I appreciate Messers Skelton and Benson for slavishly following Zicree's The Twilight Zone Companion in format and content. The flow from one to the next is seamless and flawless. This judgment call is worth 4 stars in and of itself. The only drawback is the size--the NG book should have been shrunk to the smaller Zicree tome. But that is a shelving quibble.

Drawback. The main one is the size--the book is not a coffee-table book, but aspires to be one. Another shortcoming is the lack of illustrations. Specifically, there are no images of the paintings. Guys!--this is Night *GALLERY*! These images, however, can be found on the book's exquisite webpage. The size and missing pictures minus one star.

*

I have no comment on the reviews. There is not accounting for taste (read Edmund Burke's treatise on taste The Scottish Enlightenment: An Anthology (Canongate Classics, 80)). For myself, I thought that "Midnight Never Ends" was great. It is not precisely horror, but it still engagings. And as a aspiring writer, I do think about these things.

*

One thing I learned was the continuity between TZ and NG. Several actors appeared in both--Ross Martin, for instance. John Carradine is another. Due to the differences in creative control, we would not call this a "follow-up series" per se, but there is substantial continuity. If we try hard enough, and focus on Serling's scripts, we might wish that this is TZ, season 6.

This book not only traces the sunset days of Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man but also several rising stars. Lindsay Wagner did a segment; so too the recently deceased David Carradine.

Of course the biggest name who got his start with Night Gallery is Stephen Spielberg. His first job was directing a segment in the pilot, "Eyes." Even as a 20-year-old, he was heads and shoulders above the other directors. He was a native talent, and it blossomed early.

This is why he was one of the contenders for Serling's legacy. After Rod's death in the 1970s, there was a vacuum. We needed a moral voice like Serling's, but there was no one.

Then in the mid-1980s, we had three revivals. CBS owned the name TZ, and did the revival series ( The Twilight Zone - Season 1 (1985 - 1986)). Ray Bradbury, who shared Rod's talent, background, worldview, and his mutual admiration, did the The Ray Bradbury Theater - Complete Series (65 Episodes). Spielberg, who actually worked with Serling, did the Twilight Zone - The Movie, and had his anthology series Amazing Stories - The Complete First Season.

All were entertaining, but none were quite Rod. That is why we need this book, this Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour (The Television Series), to celebrate the ugly stepsister that is not really all that ugly and is more than a stepsister. My congratulations to the authors!

Wow! I was excited when I read about the plans for this book. I was more excited when I read the description and placed my order. But I was STILL unprepared when I received it! This thick tome is PACKED with information, interviews, photos, facts, and trivia. Night Gallery never got its due and this scholarly, very well-researched, and eminently readable book goes a long way toward not only explaining why the show was important, but also why it failed to receive its deserved place in TV history. Not just for NG fans- not just for horror/ sci-fi fans - not even just for TV fans. All around, one of the most enjoyable books I've read in quite a while.

Im 24 , And most of what I recall about Night Gallery was what I initially saw chopped up on the sci-fi channel when I'd stay up late during my summer breaks . Needless to say when the first season dvd came out, I purchased without hesitation. I loved it. They just dont make TV shows like it anymore folks, and while it may not be as highly regarded as The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery holds a special place in my heart. So I was very frustrated when I looked around the net for information and came up a little less than empty handed for my troubles. I stumbled upon this book one night while trying to see if there was a release date for season 2 (there isn't) and at first worried that the book wouldn't warrant the 54$ price tag ...Well I couldn't have been more wrong in my assumption. If you are a fan of the series this book is worth well over that. This book covers almost every single aspect of the show from its inception to the years following its cancellation, and everything in between. You can tell from reading this the authors really took the time and care to gather information that this often misunderstood series deserves . I dont regret this purchase at all. It'll make a beautiful addition to any classic horror, or just television in general fan's bookshelf.

Night Gallery was on when I was ten years old. It scared and delighted me at the same time. Later I saw it on the Sci-Fi channel. This was not the Night Gallery I remember. A very good friend of mine sent me the entire 2nd and third season on DVD, uncut.(I bought season 1 right here on Amazon). Here was Night Gallery again! This book is the definitive version of the story behind this wonderful television series,and it is the perfect companion to the show. I will go out on a limb here and say that Night Gallery (seasons 1 & 2) compares to and even excels Twilight Zone. A must read for anyone intersested in this very unique television show.