80s & 90s TV Anthology Series (Sci-Fi, Horror, etc.)

[Hobie-wan]

It was on cable, but was edited for content. In my mind they'd use some kind of animation (maybe it was like hearts or something?) to cover up extreme gore or nudity.

It may have been on USA Network, as they showed similar b-movies on Up All Night. but I've checked Wiki for every show they had and couldn't figure it out.

I seem to remember Joe Bob Briggs Monstervision sometimes cutting out chunks of the movie. I can't remember censorship though.

[noiseredux]

I seem to remember Joe Bob Briggs Monstervision sometimes cutting out chunks of the movie. I can't remember censorship though.

yup. I had thought of Joe Bob myself. But it wasn't Monstervision. Again, this show was just like a really short version of movies. Like, you didn't really watch the movie, you watched clips of the best scenes while a narrator told you the story.


@Michi: Can't find any proof that it was Drive-In Reviews with Buzz Kilman, although the show I'm talking about very well may have only lasted briefly.

[samsonlonghair]

Between 1994-1997, there was a syndicated cable TV series called "Movie Magic" about the making of movie special effects. The Narrator would give a quick highlight reel of the movie, then there would be interviews with the special effects team and behind-the-scenes footage. One episode about movie monsters featured Pumpkinhead heavily. I remember the sfx guy explaining how they made pumkinhead walk on those long, backwards legs.

[Retrogamer0001]

Between 1994-1997, there was a syndicated cable TV series called "Movie Magic" about the making of movie special effects. The Narrator would give a quick highlight reel of the movie, then there would be interviews with the special effects team and behind-the-scenes footage. One episode about movie monsters featured Pumpkinhead heavily. I remember the sfx guy explaining how they made pumkinhead walk on those long, backwards legs.

I remember watching an episode with the Queen from Aliens - pretty neat. That movie still looks great today!

[noiseredux]

I don't think it's that Samson. This show was lower budget I believe. They just had access to some b-movies and decided to show them. The problem may be that my memory is too fuzzy. Was it a half hour version? Was it an hour version? Did the narrator talk a lot, or only before/after commercials as a way to skip chunks of the movie? It's been too long.

[samsonlonghair]

I just youtub'ed a few episoded looking for the one with pumpkinhead. I couldn't find a video of the episode in question, but it's still an awesome series. I read the titles of every episode on imdb. I think the one with pumpkinhead was "Movie Magic: Season 3, Episode 11 Stan Winston: Creating with Character (1995)". Stan Winston directed Pumpkinhead.

I don't think it's that Samson. This show was lower budget I believe. They just had access to some b-movies and decided to show them. The problem may be that my memory is too fuzzy. Was it a half hour version? Was it an hour version? Did the narrator talk a lot, or only before/after commercials as a way to skip chunks of the movie? It's been too long.

Even if this isn't the show in question, check out a few episodes just for the cool factor. They teach you a lot about old school special effects.

Just for the record, Movie Magic was a very low budget show. It was just made from clips of movies and clips of promotional "behind-the-scene" materials with a narrator to strong it all together. Still cool.

[ExedExes]

I'm still interested in being in the hunt for this, but I ask you now, is there any more information you can remember from this? Was this syndicated at all? If so, that might help.

We're making our own anthology episode right here!

A forum member needs help finding a mysterious movie review show. The problem is, nobody knows anything about it but the one member. Does the show even exist, or is it a figment of his imagination?

- from Tales from Racketboy

[MC Rex Rexler]

I thought Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction was so cool when I was a kid. It's hilariously bad now. Worth a watch if you like cheesy acting. There's a bunch on Youtube.

Probably not worth putting on your list, I don't want to make a mockery of it.

[ExedExes]

I thought Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction was so cool when I was a kid. It's hilariously bad now. Worth a watch if you like cheesy acting. There's a bunch on Youtube.

Probably not worth putting on your list, I don't want to make a mockery of it.

It was still a good show, and I'd catch reruns on some cable channels that had it later on. Good one to bring up though!

[noiseredux]

I'm still interested in being in the hunt for this, but I ask you now, is there any more information you can remember from this? Was this syndicated at all? If so, that might help.

that's the problem - my memory is way too fuzzy. And I only saw one or two episodes. Heck, I don't have proof that this show lasted more than one or two episodes. Syndicated? No idea. No idea what channel it was on - which would help a lot as well. For all I know it was a channel that doesn't even exist anymore which complicates things.

What I can say is it must have been between 1992 and 1994 going by some pretty definite time-stamping in my memory.

I don't even remember what cable service we had back then (Southcoast, MA) , but I have a feeling it was pre-Comcast.