Lovecraft Meets The Twilight Zone In The Cult 43-Part Sci-Fi Series That Time Forgot

While The Twilight Zone is deservedly credited with revolutionizing the TV anthology genre, the show’s Lovecraftian follow-up deserves to be as famous as its sci-fi predecessor. The iconic twist of The Good Place proves that the influence of The Twilight Zone is truly immeasurable. The show obviously shaped future anthologies like Black Mirror, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, and even Tales from the Crypt, but The Twilight Zone was also instrumental in introducing sci-fi concepts to mainstream TV audiences.

If it weren’t for the show’s success, it is unlikely that Lost’s best episodes would ever have aired. Decades before JJ Abrams pushed the boundaries of network TV with his time-twisting sci-fi mystery epic, The Twilight Zone was one of the first big shows to feature unreliable narrators, chopped-up timelines, and other narrative innovations that are used to wrong-foot the viewer. Even later, Westworld’s twisty sci-fi story owed an obvious creative debt to the iconic anthology show.

However, creator Rod Serling’s unique blend of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, and character drama is typically credited with being the best anthology show of all time, so it is fair to say that The Twilight Zone’s contributions to TV history have been acknowledged. It is the show’s follow-up, Night Gallery, that rarely receives as much critical acclaim and attention, which perhaps befits its genre shift. Among critics, horror has long been viewed as the grubby little sibling of more reputable genres like sci-fi, and this goes some way to explaining Night Gallery’s underrated status.

Night Gallery Was The More Lovecraftian Alternative To The Twilight Zone

While Serling saw Night Gallery as a natural extension of The Twilight Zone’s vision, the show was more explicitly focused on supernatural and paranormal horror where its predecessor trended more toward sci-fi stories. This wasn’t a hard and fast distinction as, like the later ‘90s cult hit The X-Files, The Twilight Zone did dip its toes into straightforward horror from time to time.

However, Night Gallery was entirely at home in the world of vampires, ghosts, monsters and Lovecraftian stories, with the series even directly adapting numerous original Lovecraft tales like “Cool Air” and “Pickman’s Model.” This meant that the show never managed to earn the same mainstream adoration as Serling’s earlier cult classic, even though Night Gallery’s most influential episodes and best twists can go toe to toe with anything from The Twilight Zone.

Without Night Gallery, there could be no Tales from the Crypt or Tales from the Darkside, without which viewers would never have gotten the boundary-pushing anthologies Masters of Horror and Fear Itself. Those ‘00s horror anthology shows, in turn, influenced Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, American Horror Stories, Inside No. 9, and Shudder’s Creepshow, with Del Toro even personally listing Night Gallery as a huge influence on his output.

Night Gallery Isn't As Famous As The Twilight Zone Today, But Should Be

The popularity of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of franchise, Shudder’s Slasher, and the campy American Horror Story means that viewers are not accustomed to horror anthologies whose stories last an entire season instead of changing from episode to episode. However, Night Gallery’s influence on small screen history is still tough to miss.

The show’s host segments inspired The Simpsons season 5, episode 5, “Treehouse of Horror V,” wherein Bart takes on the role of Serling’s sardonic announcer, as well as the ingenious Tiny Toon Adventures parody “Night Ghoulery.” Throughout the 43 episodes of its three-season run, Night Gallery pulled off some daring twists that had an obvious inspiration on Flanagan, Del Toro, and Stephen King, among many others.

The show was as influential as The Twilight Zone, and deservedly acclaimed in its time. However, Serling’s The Twilight Zone follow-up, Night Gallery, never received its flowers since the show's taste for Lovecraftian horror stories was a touch too much for many mainstream viewers of the era.