Thursday Movie Picks Halloween/Television Edition: The Weird

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I'll be honest right up front. I don't really watch horror TV series, at least not on purpose. Therefore, I'm a bit out of my depth for this week's topic for Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. So, my picks this week might be a bit on the tame side. I mean, I could pick some of those shows my daughter watches and I happen to wander into the middle of every now and again, like American Horror Story and Stranger Things. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about either to do them any justice whatsoever. I do know about these really old shows, though.

The Twilight Zone

(1958-1964)

This was a constant in my household. It was two decades after its cancellation by the time I got hold of it, but syndication brought it to my generation. And I loved every weird episode framed with supreme creepiness by Rod Serling. My personal fave was "The Masks" where the greedy family of wealthy old man are all sitting around waiting on him to croak so they can find out what he left them. Man, does he have something for them!

The Hitchhiker

(1983-1991)

In the early 80s, when HBO was just figuring out how to make their own original shows, they cut their teeth on this series, heavily inspired by The Twilight Zone. Instead of Rod Serling, each episode was introduced by a "mysterious" traveler known as...um...the Hitchhiker. Usually, there was a little nudity/sex along the way to a strange twist. I was probably too young to be watching it at 12, but it is what it is.

Tales From the Crypt

(1989-1996)

Like The Hitchhiker, there is no doubt this show was inspired by The Twilight Zone. The series treated us to entertaining and twisted stories told by The Crypt Keeper. My fave this time is an episode called "My Brother's Keeper" and involves a set of conjoined twins who are, shall we say, having some issues with the company they keep.

You may, or may not, remember that Brittani at Rambling Film won the latest Spot the Movie Titles Contest. It's not as good as winning over a billion dollars in the lottery, but she's getting lots of free pub, here. Seriously, she's a great blogger, so...

Check out her review of The Sisters Brothers!