Tales of Tomorrow

Well before "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits", there was a similar anthology series on ABC, "Tales of Tomorrow". The show generally was written very well but unfortunately its budget was practically nothing. As a result, some of the shows were just awful (such as "Read To Me, Herr Doktor") because the 'monsters' were just hilariously bad and some were brilliant ("The Window") because these episodes did NOT rely on special effects or aliens. It's a shame, however, that the show has been mostly forgotten--as these later series sure owe it a debt of thanks for paving the way for horror/sci-fi/fantasy anthology shows.

Fortunately, if you want to see the show, you can! Yep, following the links on IMDb or by going straight to archive.org you can download the shows or watch them online for free, as they are in the public domain. Give them a try, you'll likely enjoy them despite their limitations.

Tales Of Tomorrow.... I have watched this whole series on Tubi TV. These are like the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. They were 8 years before Twilight Zone. I don't think Rod Serling is the originator of this style. The only thing that made T-Zone different was the unique hosting. The stories in Tales of Tomorrow will stand up to any T-Zone episode. The episode Ice From Space.... I think theres a young, Paul Newman in it.

I picked up a dollar DVD of TALES FROM TOMORROW especially for the Lon Chaney "Frankenstein" episode (yeah, everyone knows he was drunk and thought it was a rehearsal --- he was pretty good nonetheless). I must have a different DVD from the previous posters because everyone else mentions "The Crystal Egg" and "Appointment on Mars" but no one has said anything about "The Dune Roller" which, to my mind, is the best episode of the four. Of all three it suffers most from its low budget. When your title menace is a huge, terrifying "creature" at some point the audience expects to see it, even if it turns out to be only a crude puppet. In this case the menace remains off screen at all times but the story is still very effective, thanks to good writing (reminiscent of 50s British Sci-Fi like X THE UNKNOWN and THE CRAWLING EYE) and a very strong central performance by Bruce Cabot, who up until now I'd never thought of as a particularly impressive actor. "The Dune Roller" would make a good feature film, or would have when modestly budgeted science fiction thrillers were still a commercially acceptable genre.

Watching this program back in the early 50's was a real treat; to say it scared the hell out of me would be an understatement. Here we had a live show with minimal sets and special effects; yet the writing was such that every story was totally believable. This caused me more than a few sleepless nights! I'm sure Rod Sterling learned a thing or two; some of his Twilight Zone episodes are eerily similar. Later anthology programs (Science Fiction Theatre, One Step Beyond, Outer Limits, etc.) never had the same impact on me (perhaps because I was older), though the more recent 'Tales from the Darkside' seemed to stir up a little emotion. I haven't watched any of the 'Tales from Tomorrow' tapes; maybe some memories should remain 'just a memory'.

I was lucky enough to see this series in first run! Fortunately, the episodes are still available on videotape. (I salute those who preserved the films.) This was in many ways more experimental than "Twilight Zone" and similar programs. And here's an example: I recall the episode where the program opened with a typical and excellent Tales Of Tomorrow science-fiction storyline. Just as the audience got into the live action, the entire play and its cast and even its crew were disrupted by an actual on-stage emergency! (This, of course, was a play-within-a-play, but the "reality" of it was stunning!) Seek out taped episodes, and learn what television once, long ago, could do, and how creative it could be, and what it wasn't afraid to try.