The Amazing Falsworth

Gregory Hines has a mind reading act and he is really good. As a matter of fact, he is the real deal. In order to do his magic, he must touch the participant. He goes about his business, talking about reunions, anniversaries, even possible hanky-panky, But this night he touches a stranger who sends a message that he has garroted a hooker in an alleyway. Apparently, these murders have been taking place frequently. He tries to get his boss to call the authorities and a man shows up, claiming to be a detective. What transpires now is his journey into danger as he comes face to face with a devil. This is a nicely paced episode that draws our attention and keeps us guessing. Not a lot of supernatural, but still a good story.

Despite the cliché-ridden opening, this was a good episode, a very spooky one and fantastically photographed. All of Steven Spielberg's stuff looks good but this has spectacular colors and visuals.

This turned out to be a straight crime story, with no supernatural event or comedy. It was one of the better episodes for totally keeping one's attention. This will rivet you to your screen. Kudos to cinematographer Vincent Martinelli.

About that beginning.....only in the movies and TV do you see things that make you shake your head, muttering to yourself that "nobody would ever be dumb enough to do that!" That's happens twice in the first minute of this program. There is a serial killer on the loose in the city. It's in all the headlines. So what do we see? A woman walking alone down a dark alley. Puhh-leeeze. Of course she gets strangled. To compound the matter, a witness in the alley sees the crime and runs. Does he run out of the alley yelling for police. No, he stops and goes to a telephone booth, not far from the murderer! Is he killed? Of course. Nonetheless, an excellent episode.

So what didn't I expect? I didn't expect a good episode! This is because when "Amazing Stories" began, the series really struggled due to some terribly written shows. There were, fortunately, some nice shows to follow...but not many and the show somehow lasted two seasons despite such poor writing.

In this episode, Gregory Hines plays a stage psychic. However, he has an odd talent...he actually IS psychic! One night, during the course of the show, he walks around the audience blindfolded and tells the folks lots of details of their lives. This 'trick' is no trick and when he gets to one person, he freaks out and removes the mask--but not quickly enough to see who the person was. Why was he freaked out? Well, the man he was reading is a serial killer...and Hines' character now KNOWS that he's just murdered. What follows is very tense but not perfect. Knowing who the killer is turns out to be obvious but in spite of it, the show STILL is well done and worth seeing! Too bad more of the shows weren't this good.

This episode from season one of "NBC's" "AS" series called the "Amazing Falsworth" was one that was memorable and filled with a little suspense drama. It starred the now late Gregory Hines as a stand up like comedian and psychic mind reader who shines night after night at the big local L.A. club. Also on the side a bad and cruel serial killer is bringing terror to the city of angels, and the episode takes a turn when one night Falsworth picks up a vibe and has past and future visions when he senses and feels the presence of the killer in the room. Later the episode takes more of a twist still it ends with closure and justice. Overall okay episode for season one.