DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '26 I => Current Talk '13 II => Topic started by: Gothick on December 06, 2013, 04:22:22 AM

Title: A NoDS forerunner?
Post by: Gothick on December 06, 2013, 04:22:22 AM

I've been catching up with some episodes of the old chestnut ONE STEP BEYOND, a supernatural-themed series that aired in the late 50s and early 60s.  I just watched an episode entitled "The Captain's Guests" and there were a number of elements in the story that made me think of the NoDS screenplay:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGsvma-Nk80

I've always thought that Sam Hall was most likely inspired by the Oliver Onions story, "The Beckoning Fair One," which had been dramatized in the late 1960s Hammer studios series JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS, but this episode makes me wonder...

G.

Title: Re: A NoDS forerunner?
Post by: Philippe Cordier on December 09, 2013, 06:27:19 PM

I've never heard of this show and can't wait to watch the episode . . .

But from this description, I'm reminded of 1987 and Gerard Stiles:

"A sadistic sea captain from the 19th century haunts a New England home and poisons the lives of a married couple."

Title: Re: A NoDS forerunner?
Post by: Gerard on December 14, 2013, 09:42:14 PM

It does have elements that are like NoDS.

Philippe, One Step Beyond ran, I believe, on ABC for a few seasons, its version of The Twilight Zone (just as NBC did The Outer Limits).  Its stories were supposedly based upon "true" incidents.  Networks back then tried to cash in on the popularity of each others series.  ABC did Bewitched, so NBC answered with I Dream of Jeannie and CBS with My Favorite Martian.  ABC had The Addams Family so CBS fired back with The Munsters (NBC apparently had no creative team for its own show).  CBS did Lost In Space, so NBC bought Star Trek (which CBS rejected).  ABC already had Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.  It seems that things don't change.  We've still got networks picking up on the popularity of each others shows. 

Gerard

Title: Re: A NoDS forerunner?
Post by: Gothick on December 18, 2013, 12:18:14 AM

There's another ONE STEP BEYOND episode on Youtube that seems like a clear forerunner of "Certain Shadows on the Wall," the Rod Serling story that had Grayson, Louis Hayward, Rachel Roberts and Agnes Moorehead onscreen together in the NIGHT GALLERY series.  The episode, "Image of Death," has a persistent "stain" on the wall that begins to change in some odd ways...

G.