The Twilight Zone was a tough act to follow, but writer and host Rod Serling found a way with Night Gallery. If less groundbreaking, NBC's anthology series attracted top talents behind and in front of the camera, creating a cult favorite with famous fans, like Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro who similarly trades in the fantastic and the macabre. In each multi-part episode, many adapted from works of short fiction, Serling introduces the stories in his clipped, deadpan style.
The network began in 1969 by presenting the two-hour pilot as a special movie event. When it met with an enthusiastic response, a series followed with a revised set (still showcasing spooky paintings by Thomas J. Wright) and a new, eerie electronic theme by Andromeda Strain composer Gil Mellé. This release includes all six episodes from the first season, each with deeply contextual commentary tracks from 10 writers and historians, including Scott Skelton and Jim Benson, co-authors of Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour.
The movie sets the tone with tales featuring Ossie Davis, Roddy McDowall, and Jeff Corey, who returned to direct nine episodes including "Certain Shadows on the Wall" with Agnes Moorhead and Rachel Roberts. Novice director Steven Spielberg, two years from telemovie debut Duel, directed the stylish Joan Crawford vehicle “Eyes," in which a blind socialite receives a vision-restoring transplant through blackmail, only to face the darkness of a Manhattan blackout. The worst part: the operation was only intended to restore her sight for half a day. In his commentary track, Gary Gerani claims that Spielberg won over the seasoned actress with his professionalism (he also directed the first-season segment "Make Them Laugh" with Godrey Cambridge as a desperate stand-up comedian).
Other highlights include "The Little Black Bag" with Rocky's Burgess Meredith as a down-on-his-luck doctor given a second chance at respectability and Serling's semi-autobiographical "They're Tearing down Tim Riley's Bar," an Emmy-nominated segment with William Windom as a middle-aged middle manager in freefall. Of the 15 tales on offer, there are a few duds, too, like "The Nature of the Enemy," a well-acted moon landing doodle with Joseph Campanella that culminates in a disappointing dénouement.
Other notable first-season guests include Diane Keaton as a handgun-wielding nurse, Jon Astin and Phyllis Diller as a supernaturally squabbling couple, and a bearded, post-I Dream of Jeannie Larry Hagman in his first significant heel turn. NBC would air Night Gallery for two more seasons, including a truncated third, before slicing and dicing it for syndication, a problematic development Craig Beam discusses in the featurette "The Syndication Conundrum." In any form, though, Night Gallery was—and remains—chillingly compelling television. Highly recommended for library shelves specializing in horror, fantasy, and classic television shows.