Season 1 Episode 12 (Original Airdate: 1/27/85) – “In The Cards” – Original Airdate 1/27/85 – Written and Directed by Ted Gershuny 

Dorothy Lyman, probably best known as “Naomi” on the syndicated 80’s sitcom Mama’s Family stars as “Catherine”, also known as “Madame Katrina”, a tarot reader who specializes in giving “positive” readings, even if that’s not what the cards actually foretell. As the episode opens, Catherine performs one such reading for an older woman who is visiting her shop for the first time. However, when Catherine isn’t looking, the woman swaps the tarot cards for a deck hidden in her purse. This leads to Catherine seeing nothing but bad omens in the readings for her regular clients, resulting in at least a couple deaths. She even attempts to destroy the cards by setting them on fire, but they refuse to burn.

Soon, Catherine learns that her “positive” approach has drawn the (negative) attention of other psychics in town. One in particular, Madame Marlena (Carmen Mathews, a prolific character actress who appears in films and television shows such as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, M.A.S.H., and Sounder), is said to believe that “Katrina” is stealing clients by doing so. Catherine visits Marlena, finding her to be the same woman from the episode’s opening. She learns that she has been cursed for mocking the tarot and that the only way to break the curse is to pass the cards on to another non-believer (or fraud). Desperate to rid herself of the deck, Catherine visits another psychic, but this only brings her closer to her final fate.

Overall, “In The Cards” is another solid episode of the series, carried by a capable performance by Lyman. The episode keeps up a rather grim tone right until its closing moments. The ending is pretty dark, but a certain sound effect that I’ve personally always considered to be quite cheesy (and which is used multiple times throughout the episode) does rob the scene of some of its intended dramatic effect.

Director Trivia: Writer/director Gershuny also wrote and directed the Christmas-set 1972 horror film Silent Night, Bloody Night, as well as co-wrote the 1989 Drew Barrymore-starring Far From Home with Tommy Lee Wallace.

 

Season 1 Episode 13 (Original Airdate: 2/03/85) – “Anniversary Dinner” –  Directed by John Strysik – Written by James Houghton

Alice Ghostley (who had a long career featuring memorable roles in films such as Grease and The Graduate, but whom I remember best as “Bernice” on TV’s Designing Women) and Mario Roccuzzo, a character actor who appeared in everything from The Monkees to B.J. and the Bear to Star Trek: The Next Generation to 2001’s remake of Earth Vs the Spider, star as an older couple who take in a stranded hiker (Fredrica Duke, who also appeared in 1990’s Keaton’s Cop, an action-comedy starring Lee Majors, Don Rickles, Abe Vigoda, and Trancers series co-star Art LaFluer that I now feel obligated to watch) just days before their 25th wedding anniversary.

Despite the couple’s welcoming demeanor, there’s an unease to the situation that quickly sets the tone for the episode. An argument can easily be made that the episode’s “twist” is fairly predictable and telegraphed early on, and there’s also some argument to be made that this aspect of predictability has magnified over the years as, in modern-day society, we generally tend to be less trusting of strangers (and rightfully so) than we were when the episode originally aired. That said, the young woman is made to feel right at home, with plenty of brandy for her to drink and a hot tub seemingly free for her to use as she pleases.

All that aside, “Anniversary Dinner” is rather a strong entry in the series’ first season. While nothing is played for laughs, there’s still the undercurrent of dark humor that the series was quickly becoming known for. Both Ghostley and Roccuzzo give respectable performances, helping to carry the episode along.

PRODUCTION CREDITS: Strysik would later direct episodes of the TV series that succeeded Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, as well as the short-lived 1991 reboot of Land of the Lost. He wrote the original script for Stuart Gorden’s 2007 film, Stuck. Meanwhile, Houghton spent the early 1980’s as a cast member on the popular “prime time” soap opera, Knots Landing, before becoming a scriptwriter for daytime soaps such as The Young and The Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.

 

Season 1 Episode 14 (Original Airdate 2/10/85) – “Snip, Snip” – Directed by Terence Cahalan – Written by Tom Allen & Howard Smith

Teacher Abe North (Bud Cort – Harold and Maude, Tobe Hooper’s Invaders From Mars remake) use the powers of the Dark Arts to help predict the winning numbers for that evening’s lottery drawing. Abe is so certain that he’ll win that he quits his job before the drawing even takes place. However, he’s shocked and mortified when he losses, missing out on winning by only one number! For whatever reason, instead of drawing 6 individually numbered balls like most lotteries do, this particular lottery chooses a winner by drawing a numbered ticket out of bin. If that weren’t odd enough, the name of the winner is announced on live television. With this new information, Abe sets out to find the winner, a hairdresser named Anne (Carol Kane – When A Stranger Calls, The Princess Bride), and steal the winning ticket from her.

Anne, however, seems less than surprised by Abe’s sudden appearance at her in-home beauty salon. Little does Abe know, but Anne has also consulted “outside sources” in order to obtain the winning number… and those sources may just prefer her to Abe. As she informs Abe, for every winner there must be a loser.

Quite frankly, I’ve never been much of a fan of “Snip, Snip”. Besides feeling like it is unable to decide which tone it wants to take, never fully leaning into dark comedy or straight-up horror, there are just certain things about this episode that have always bothered me. Namely, the lottery itself, which just feels far from realistic or believable. The announcer for the lottery at one point states that millions of people have entered, but there’s no way that any viewer is going to believe that millions of paper tickets are in the spinner cage that the winning number is ultimately drawn from. Sure, this may be a very minor element to the episode and the tale as a whole, but it creates enough disbelief to take me right out of the experience. 

While writer Tom Allen frequently served as a script consultant on episodes of Tales and later Monsters, “Snip, Snip” is the only listed screen credit for co-writer Howard Smith. As for director Cahalan, his only other film credit is as the writer of a short film called “Sex Education”.

 

SHOW OPENING LOCATIONS: As you may have seen on various websites and social media outlets a few months back, a few of the locations featured in the show’s iconic opening title sequence (in particular, the tree-lined wooden fence) have recently been located, with photos making the rounds… not that these locations were a secret or anything like that. Just hard to find. From what I understand, the location was tracked down a few years prior by prop collector and archivist Dave Burian, with his photos now receiving wide circulation. For those fans interested in seeing the place for themselves, the location is reported to be found just outside of Ligonier, PA, near a place called Linn Run State Park.

Since I do not own these, I have chosen not to share them myself, but they’re pretty easy to find online with minimal searching. What I will share, however, is this link to the series’ iconic opening (and closing) sequence.