Friends, the other evening after finishing work I was all set to head home and work on the upcoming Pop Culture Retrorama podcast – then I got a message from the Retroist, a link to the brand new trailer for the reboot of the Amazing Stories television series. The trailer itself is a little over a minute long but as soon as that memorable score by John Williams kicked in – there was a grin spreading across my face and I took a seat. After realizing that one of the five episodes that will be in this first season of Amazing Stories stars the late and great Robert Forster – I had to watch the trailer again… then I watched it again to try and get a grip on the types of stories we will be told. It’s a brilliant teaser in my personal opinion, presents just enough to leave you hungry to catch the series when it debuts on March 6th – courtesy of Apple TV+.
I have fond memories of the original Amazing Stories which premiered on NBC the night of September 29th of 1985 – with it’s first episode being the moving Ghost Train which was directed by Steven Spielberg. The debut of a television series by Spielberg was big news at my Junior High School and most mornings or lunches were spent talking about episodes like Mirror, Mirror and Remote Control Man. Although one of my absolute favorites had to be The Mission, starring none other than Kevin Costner, Anthony LaPaglia, and Keifer Sutherland.
There is very little information to go on just yet for this reboot of Amazing Stories – we know that Steven Spielberg is the Executive Producer of course. Thanks to a May 22nd, 2018 article by Nellie Andreeva for Deadline we know that Adam Horowitz as well as Edward Kitsis became both Executive Producers and showrunners when Bryan Fuller and Hart Hanson stepped away from the project. Although thanks to the Internet Movie Database we know that some of the Directors involved with the series include Susanna Fogel (Booksmart), Mark Mylod (Game of Thrones), Todd Holland (The Wizard), Chris Long (The Mentalist), Michael Dinner (The Wonder Years), and Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard). I am sure you will quickly realize that is six Directors… I think the answer is there will be five episodes for a half season with five more to follow at a later date – since the IMDB page states there are ten episodes.
Also thanks to IMDB we have the titles for the five episodes with Mylod directing The Rift which stars Austin Stowell, Kerry Bishe, and Edward Burns – I believe this episode concerns a pilot from World War II finding himself transported to modern day.
Signs of Life was directed by Dinner and appears to star Lost‘s Josh Holloway as well as Linda Park (Star Trek III: Enterprise), and Timoty Carr (The Walking Dead). Boogey Night is helmed by Holland and features Eden Riegel (The Lion Guard), Ava Telek (Freaks), and Najah Jackson (Family Time). Long has directed The Cellar which stars Sasha Alexander (Rizzoli & Isles), Micah Stock (The Right Stuff), and Cullen Douglas (Pure Genius). The Heat was directed by White and features Kailyn Gainer (Atlanta), Shiquita James (Doom Patrol), and Maria Z. Wilson (The Walking Dead). Last but certainly not least is Fogel with Dynoman and the Volt which stars Tyler Crumley (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Kyle Bornheimer (Avenue 5), and the iconic Robert Forster (The Black Hole).
We only have a couple of weeks until Amazing Stories premieres on Apple TV+ and while I would prefer to avoid adding another streaming service… with all of the talented folks in front of and behind the camera, I’m not going to be able to let this one pass. I don’t know – maybe I should write up reviews of the episodes after they air, what do you think?
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