Night Gallery

Greetings, ‘Night Gallery’ is a horror anthology series that ran from 1970 to 1973 and was hosted by acclaimed writer Rod Serling in a similar manner to his appearances in his hit programme ‘The Twilight Zone’. The show contains 43 episodes which are composed of 93 segments and ran for three seasons. The first two seasons would have multiple stories that were needed to fill a 50 minute long episode while the final season’s instalments lasted 30 minutes and mostly contained only one story. The format follows Serling as the curator of a macabre art gallery as he introduces stories by way of highlighting some gruesome artwork that represents the themes of the entry’s plot. Numerous celebrities stared in this show including Orson Welles, Leslie Neilson, Leonard Nimoy, Mickey Rooney, Burgess Meredith and Adam West. Some performers, including Meredith, would have repeat appearances during the show’s run. The music was composed by Billy Goldenberg who also wrote the score for the made for TV movie ‘Duel’, Gil Mellé and Eddie Sauter.

The pilot episode was first aired on 8th November 1969, a whole year before the first season graced the screen, and has three strong segments. The first story is entitled ‘The Cemetery’ and has Roddy McDowell, Ossie Davis and George Macready as its principal cast members. The plot begins with the paralyzed and aging artist William Hendricks who overlooks the family cemetery from his bedroom window. The affluent William is unable to move by himself but gets by with the help of his faithful and diligent butler called Osmond Portifoy. The two men have mutual respect and fondness for the other after spending decades by each other’s side. One day William’s nephew, an odious man by the name of Jeremy Evans, comes to visit his uncle and it is clear he has designs on inheriting the artisan’s wealth. Jeremy wastes no time in killing off his sickly, immobile uncle by opening the window and letting in frigid air which William’s ailing body is unable to fend off.

William soon succumbs to his illness and Jeremy, as sole heir, gets his clutches on the riches he was so inhumanely prepared to kill for. A grieving but stiff upper lipped Osmond has strong suspicions that Jeremy had purposefully hastened William’s demise. Shortly afterwards, Jeremy moves into the mansion and makes no secret of his dislike for the previous owner or the butler who had once served him. He keeps Osmond in his employ to lord it over Portifoy and delights in the material fortunes his misdeeds have brought him. His contentedness doesn’t last for long. Upon a wall that ascends along the grand staircase hangs a painting. The painting’s subject is of the cemetery outside William’s window. Jeremy takes little notice of it at first but he starts to see it change ever so slightly as time goes by. As one day leads to another, it becomes clear the painting is showing the soil on his departed uncle’s grave being upturned and Jeremy fears that a vengeful apparition is coming for him.

‘Night Gallery’ had a high bar to clear after ‘The Twilight Zone’ and while I consider myself a fan, the show is certainly not on the same level as Serling’s other work which is admittedly quite the task to follow through on. It has some great vignettes such as ‘Certain Shadows on the Wall’, ‘The Caterpillar’ and ‘They’re Tearing Down Tim Reilly’s Bar’ which are well worth the watch but there are also a few misfires too. I’m very enamoured with the idea of a bleak art gallery as the setting but the flow of episodes could be quite jarring. For instance, there could be a very atmospheric section which is followed in rapid succession with a short comedy skit that is full of corny jokes. This is something that Serling himself, who didn’t have full creative control, railed against as he felt it undercut his art. With the end of ‘Night Gallery’, I’ve seen a good portion of Serling’s works but I’m always keen to explore more of it.

Plot=7/10

Characters=7/10

Special Effects=6/10

Overall=7/10

Quote of the Day

I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.

The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day