Night Gallery

1970

Seasons & Episodes

  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
7.9| TV-PG| en| More Info
Released: 16 December 1970 Ended
Producted By: Universal Television
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Rod Serling narrates an anthology of fantasy, horror and sci-fi stories from a set resembling a macabre museum. A chilling work of art serves as the connective link between the stories.

Genre

Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

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Director

Production Companies

Universal Television

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Night Gallery Audience Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant
Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
alexanderdavies-99382 I view "Night Gallery" as a television series of two halves. The latter one was mainly ruined by that rather overbearing producer, Jack Laird. It is nothing short of astonishing in how much authority his word carried at "Universal" studios where "Night Gallery" was made. However, the first half of this show - up until the end of the second season - contains some of Rod Serling's greatest work as a writer of television drama. There are too many classic stories to list here but the writing is easily on a par with the best that "The Twilight Zone" had to offer. That is, on a good day. At its worst, "Night Gallery" makes for rather cringeworthy viewing but this is definitely not the fault of Rod Serling. To be fair to the man, the studio had the writer tied down to one of those dreaded "iron-clad contracts." To the bitter end, Jack Laird was to always have the final say in any decision and this tended to undermine Serling's reputation for writing serious drama. He must have squirmed with embarrassment at some of the ludicrous nonsense that he was lumbered with. I can't say I blame him. When the series was cancelled in 1973 after three seasons, I would wager that no one was more relieved. "Night Gallery" places a good deal more emphasis upon the Horror genre, than on Science Fiction or Fantasy. The format was quite different as well. Usually with this kind of series, the viewers would see one story per episode. With the above series, you would watch as many as two dramatic stories and one rather quirky segment at the insistence of Laird. To cater for all of this, "Night Gallery" was allotted an hour's worth of air time. The 1969 pilot episode was much longer - 90 minutes altogether - and this consisted of three dramatic stories. My favourite one out of these, is still "The Cemetery." I won't give away any plot details but it is brilliantly written. The story's title is taken from a short story by H.P Lovecraft yet bears little relation. The acting from Roddy McDowall and Ossie Davis is superb. The other two stories from the pilot episode are also very good. There are a few differences between this and the regular series that followed in 1970. The pilot episode has a completely different opening credit sequence and different music. I enjoyed this though as the viewer is given the impression of walking along a dark corridor before reaching the gallery in question. I found it to be imaginative and slightly eerie. Whilst introducing each story via a different painting, Rod Serling keeps each one covered with a red cover. In the regular series, the paintings are in full view. The idea of this opening with Rod Serling, was to imagine him as a curator of an Art Gallery. As he escorts most of the customers out of the building upon closing time, he invites a few people to remain so he can unveil some slightly more unconventional paintings that are usually hidden from the public gaze. There is some footage of Rod Serling delivering an advertisement on television about the upcoming series. 1970 to 1972 saw some terrific episodes. The opening credit sequence for the regular series, was quite original in itself. Not many people had heard a synthesizer music theme for a major television show before. The blending of different characters and how they are distorted, works to good effect. The budget was fairly tight. According to one of the many directors who worked on "Night Gallery," a vital scene from a story was deemed unsuccessful after this horse and cart failed to appear on cue. The take was ruined as a result and after taking a deep breath, the director in question approached Jack Laird about renting the horse and cart again, knowing how hectic the filming schedule was. Laird became rather annoyed by this request but still reluctantly paid the $75 that was needed. The scene of the story was completed without any further delay. The most unusual and bizarre events occur in the lives of very ordinary people, once fate has intervened. There are some fine actors who bring this marvellous dialogue to life. Larry Hagman, Burgess Meredith, William Windom, Leonard Nimoy, Bradford Dillman, Sally Field, Bill Bixby, Vincent Price, Raymond Massey, Jack Cassidy, Diane Keaton, Joseph Wiseman, Gary Lockwood, David Carradine, Edward G. Robinson, Yaphet Kotto, a very young pre- "Luke Skywalker" Mark Hamill, John Astin, David McCallum, Leslie Nielsen, Steve Forrest amongst others. It was a wise move in employing trained actors, rather than those who were established stars. After all, it takes an actor to give this dialogue the credence it deserves. I enjoy the stories that have period settings as well as the ones that are contemporary. We have incidents involving haunted houses, Devil worship, Vampires, Werewolves and plenty more besides. I watched some of the third season episodes but they aren't half as good as the previous ones. About 85% of the total number of stories are great, so I'd stick with those. Rod Serling really excelled himself with some more highly entertaining but also thought- provoking television drama.
gerard-21 Just because the creator of the Twilight Zone (TZ), Rod Serling, was "involved" in this mess doesn't make it better than it was. For those of us who were around for both, it was an extreme disappointment. Those little blackout sketches were more often than not extremely cringe-worthy and no doubt embarrassing to Serling. And, let's keep in mind, that Serling didn't have the creative control that he was allowed in the TZ and it shows. What we often have here are stories that go nowhere, have no point or whose conclusion is illogical. Not necessary a bad show, but definitely forgettable and not worth some of the accolades heaped upon it here.
Ripshin At least a dozen users have brought up Spielberg's participation, as if it were a revelation each time. Enough, already. Also, it would be nice if people would place a *spoiler* warning, when they describe plots, ad naseum.This series DOES beg a comparison to Serling's earlier "Twilight Zone," of course. And, it does NOT fair well. While a few classic episodes do pop up, "Night Gallery" is a major misfire from the first season.Ridiculous "twist" endings, with no logical basis, are mistaken as being "scary." Some episodes don't even make sense, even after repeated viewings.The hour-long show should have been reduced to thirty minutes, as it was in syndication. Apparently, many users don't realize that a separate show, "The Sixth Sense," was incorporated into "Night Gallery" in syndication, with Serling creating new wrap-around intros. The two were never intended to be "one," and it is evident. Any episode with Gary Collins was not originally a true "Gallery."
lumbergh Can anybody help me with this one please? I tried googling this and come up with nothing. It may have been an episode of Night Gallery because I remember seeing it late at night when I was a kid. It still haunts me today and I want to know if I was dreaming the whole thing. It was an episode where a woman has a lover and her daughter falls for him and the daughter and him go to a motel to fool around. He ends up killing the daughter and the next scene is a hawaiin type luau, but it is more of a ceremony. The boyfriend serves the mother some meat he has grilled, but it is actually pieces of the daughter. If you remember this or know where I can find info about it on the web please link it. Nobody seems to remember this but me. Thanks