In a world of sequels, remakes and reboots, things can get stale really fast. However, not if a hot property is designed to constantly reinvent originality, then the nostalgia that comes with it can only be a plus. In this case, Apple TV+ is bringing back filmmaker Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" from the 80s to the screens of audiences old and new. (Just like "The Twilight Zone", another anthology series from the 50's which had a successful reboot recently via Amazon Prime.) On air for three years until 1987 with a whopping amount of 45 episodes, each amazing story brought upon a great sense of wonder that could only be described as "Spielberg-ian", so what better year than 2020 to bring back the series when television is in its golden age and in dire need for inspiring content?
Originally produced as a television series on NBC in the United States, "Amazing Stories" was conceived by Spielberg before he made "Jurassic Park" and whilst he was hot on the heels of his first "Indiana Jones" movie in 1984. During its run, "Amazing Stories" was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards and won five. The film "Batteries Not Included" was supposed to be an episode for the series too, but Spielberg liked it so much that he made it into a film in 1987.
The anthology series begins its first season with five amazing stories! Each episode is almost an hour long and will be released weekly. Producer Edward Kitsis, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, said, "It was like doing five pilots. You're really getting a great variety of different genres and different stories without it being repetitive." With the first episode out on 6 March, expect every Friday of March and the first Friday of April to deliver a brand new episode.
Producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis spent six years on the popular sci-fi series "Lost" and then seven years on the fantasy series "Once Upon A Time". That's a lot of commitment! With all that wealth of experience between them, why wouldn't they want to work on a series with standalone episodes that doesn't require them to harrowingly plan out a beginning, middle and end for years? As self-described Steven Spielberg fans, Horowitz and Kitsis want to bring some joy back to tv. As Kitsis so perfectly puts it via Entertainment Weekly, "...the reason that I love Steven's movies so much is when I left the theatre, I felt better about life. I felt like there was someone who understood me. That's what we want to do. There's a lot of darkness out there. We're just believers, and we still believe in magic and we want others to believe it too."
The 80s series featured a lineup of impressive casts. Among them were Brad Bird, Kevin Costner, Kiefer Sutherland, Harvey Keitel, Charlie Sheen, Mark Hamill, Forest Whitaker, Tim Robbins, Rain Phoenix, John Lithgow, Danny DeVito, Patrick Swayze, David Carradine, Kyra Sedgwick and "Weird Al" Yankovic, many whom got their big break or were in the early stages of the blooming career with "Amazing Stories. For the 2020 reboot, audiences can expect Dylan O'Brien ("The Maze Runner"), Victoria Pedretti ("You"), Josh Holloway ("Lost") and more familiar faces that are yet to be revealed in coming episodes.
Speaking of the cast, the series also serves as Oscar-nominated actor Robert Forster's final role before his passing. The episode Forster will be in is called "Dynoman and The Volt" and it is aptly dedicated to his memory. The heart-warming episode will revolve around the relationship between a tween boy and his grandpa, when a 'superhero ring' the grandpa ordered 50 years ago from a comic book suddenly arrives, giving them superpowers.