Wednesday, October 1, 2014

What Might've Been: Darkroom (1981)

Universal tried to reinvent, if you will, Night Gallery, but without Rod Serling, and for another network. Darkroom, you see, is a term associated with photography, and yet someone at Universal thought it'd be a good title for a horror anthology series.

Darkroom lasted 7 weeks from November 1981-January 1982 before ABC shut it down due to, predictably, low ratings. James Coburn, a veteran actor not known for horror, was tapped as host. Not sure when his miniseries, The Dain Curse, aired, be it before or after Darkroom, but most folks associated him with, in terms of television, a gig plugging Schlitz Light beer in the 70's, though his career goes further back than that. Cancellation wasn't his fault. Darkroom had the misfortune of airing opposite Hill Street Blues, one of NBC's few hits of the period.

Edit, 1/4/21: Episode footage, including the intro, has been deleted. In its place is a promo with host James Coburn, and narrated by ABC studio announcer Ernie Anderson, followed by a Sunday Night Movie bumper and another commercial.



Rating: B.

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