Exactly! The opening credits scared the *bejeezus* out of me as a kid. I loved the show but I’d frequently hide behind a pillow until the credits were over. Great music, too.
As a kid I thought the paintings were scarier than the show itself. I thought the music was scarier than the show, too. The show was both scary and fun.
I agree entirely. There’s a VERY spooky video with creepy music on the background and it shows all the paintings! look it up! Just don’t do it at night. lol
I wondered what happened with the paintings! This show was before my time only meaning I didn’t get to watch them when they originally premiered! But I love this show just like kolchak!! For both series on DVD! Night Gallery opening theme music has to be the most unnerving and unsettling of all time!!it was scary, some segments were quirky! Sci-fi, suspense. Too many BEST segments to pick! My time is almost up! Now I’m looking for that coffee table book!
The early 1970s was a bit of a renaissance for classic-style horror, both in films and TV. It faded quickly, to be replaced by slasher-themed horror in the 1980s.
As a young teen I had just gotten the black and white TV put in my bedroom that family used when they got a new one. I had so much fun watching all these scary shows without parental discretion, lol. Night Gallery has to be just about my favorite. So scary!
The main reason I watched this series when I was a kid was for the paintings. They were thrilling for a country kid who didn't get to see a lot of TV.❤
I liked the one with the Nazi war criminal dreaming of going into the fisherman on the lake painting and getting a surprise at the end! Thanks for the great trivia videos!
My family would watch this show all the time. My father once asked me if one of those artists would do a portrait of our family and I told him that the painting would have ended up on the show! I was grounded for a week for making that comment.
40 odd years ago ... I was at one of the SCENE DOCKS at Universal and there were some of the paintings. I remember thinking how cool it was to see these as NIGHT GALLERY was one of my favorite shows as a kid. D.A.
I watched this show as a child and it terrified me then and I still cannot watch certain episodes to this day. Absolutely terrifying - especially after the show ended and you had to go to bed!
Yep! I'll never forget the one about the mean father, who made his son kill a deer or he wouldn't get his inheritance. The father's head ended up on the wall as a trophy. Scared the HELL outta me.
Still remember the final words of the episode The Caterpillar...it was a female,Mr.Macy,.. they lay eggs...got it on disc.. they are old but they still work.
Bowling for Dollars... and The Dark Shadows... No, seriously, I watched ALL of the TZ, and OL episodes. And then the Night Gallery as well. Great times.
Lmfao..i use to paint three 4x6 paintings in one morning..while.watching tv...ibwould make about 100 of each one..in thr afternoon I would paid t about 40 to 50 water colors...then I would do one show..i would sell out first day..one time before the event started..so it's not impossible at all.
@@sislertxI'm trying very hard..... But nothing you wrote there makes sense. A 4x6 canvas? Wait.... Watercolors? That doesn't use canvas.... What do you mean you'd make a hundred in the afternoon?? Paintings? Dollars?? Is this painting or screen printing? I showed this to my artist friends (I'm a writer, not a painter).... But they couldn't make sense of it all either. 😶
Main title designer Wayne Fitzgerald created the credits for Night Gallery. Hired at the last minute, he borrowed the design from a film that he had worked on a year earlier, "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever."
I saw a smaller exhibition of these works at the actual Creature Features shop in North Hollywood a year or so prior. Loved it so much I went through twice. They hired my buddy, Brett Butler, to walk around doing his impersonation of Rod Serling. It was pretty great.
I have always wondered about this. I loved Night Gallery..more even than the Twilight Zone.. It used to come on at 9 p.m. and just the sound of the theme music would send a chill down my spine.
Same! However, I always get angry looks when I admit that I like _Night Gallery_ better than _The Twilight Zone_ 😄. As I mentioned in another post, it was my introduction to H.P. Lovecraft and I will forever be grateful for that.
Seen from our vantage point 50 years later, it's astonishing that the studio took such a cavalier attitude toward the paintings, which were more involved and creative than most "props." Probably the notion of collector's items was much less developed then, or things tended to get lost in the scale and cost of TV productions - but it's a shame the whole collection wasn't preserved in some way. There would be plenty of people willing to visit that exhibition today! Tom Wright's work is amazing for the insight he showed, how it fit in perfectly with the show, the speed at which he painted, and the genre diversity he achieved. Great work! Interesting video!
As mentioned in the video, certain individuals, such as Sylvester Stallone, appreciated and valued the paintings. However, as a previous poster pointed out, after the studio changed hands a number of times, the system to keep track of props fell by the wayside. The paintings then became vulnerable to ignorance, apathy, and opportunists.
@@jornfox3545 that’s a great one! I had him paint me “The Nature of the Enemy” and “Midnight Never Ends”. The latter ended up being my favorite, not only because it’s one of my top episodes but also because it’s like a tribute to Rod.
@@completesentences2125 i think it's great that you had those paintings reproduced, but as an artist myself would not want anyone to paint a duplicate of my work, but in this case what can you do. Too bad you couldn't have gone directly to Tom Wright !
Great video-thanks! I was a kid when _Night Gallery_ first aired and absolutely loved it. It also broadened my tastes in science fiction and fantasy. I was one of those weird kids who always read the credits of the shows I watched. I noticed more than once that the screenplay was based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, who I had never heard of before. So, I went to the library and checked out several of his titles and got hooked on his works.
It breaks my heart to hear the story of how neglected the paintings were after the show was canceled. They should have been collected and stored together for a museum.
When Universal Studios began their tram tours in the 1970s the trams actually drove through a (cordoned off) section of Uni's Prop House. Several of the Night Gallery paintings were prominently hung for riders to view. Even as late as the 1990's several of the paintings were owned by various prop houses in the L.A. area.
I remember an episode starring Roddy McDowall. The painting depicted an old house and a nearby cemetery. During the episode, the painting changed as it depicted a spectral figure moving closer and closer from the cemetery to the house. It freaked me out a a kid. I would love to have that painting.
That was "The Cemetery," part of the Night Gallery pilot movie. The original painting sold several years ago for tens of thousands of dollars at auction. Reproduction posters of the Night Gallery paintings can be found at Night Gallery Dot Net.
Roddy McDowall was such a great actor and that… he was also so incredibly beautiful looking. I loved his clothes, but he was just so gorgeous facially . I love everything about him.
I own the DVD box set of both Serling series and remember watching them as a kid. This is a wonderful piece of trivia to enhance the enjoyment of watching them.👍👍
Rod Serling has always been one of my favorite people. I heard he didn't really want to host Night Gallery but bless him, his introductions were so cool! Talented writer and good looking man too.🥺🥰
Rod Serling soured on Night Gallery only toward the end of the show's run, after the network began creatively interfering with the series. Serling had a much better experience on The Twilight Zone, however, Rod Serling made a significant impact on Night Gallery, writing over one-third of the show's stories.
What a scary and unforgettable show. The paintings at the beginning just forced your curiosity into overdrive! The writers really messed with what was culturally cool and often stuck a finger in it's eye! Masterfully done paintings the scared you like crazy.
Those Tom Wright paintings sure add to the very macabre atmosphere that was prevalent on Night Gallery. That's why it was one of my favorite TV shows of the 70's. 😱
With only 43 episodes there were a lot of them never featured. My favorite was with Roddy McDowell and the painting of the house that included the graveyard. The grave opened and his dead (uncle?) made his way to the door in progressive paintings. That had to be fun to paint.
This is a wonderful piece about a favorite subject of mine. I always loved seeing the new paintings each week and wondering about the mind of the artist that produced them. Thank you for sharing this! ⚘
Really cool to learn this! Those paintings were so cool! NG doesn't get the love its older brother does but some all time great episodes are there! TY!
I will NEVER forget the night I watched the Night Gallery Episode entitled "THE CEMETARY " because when the painting CAME TO LIFE it freaked me out so much that I couldn't sleep. I was four.
Oh, how I miss the television shows of those years. So many Westerns, variety shows, talent shows, comedies, detective series and quiz shows. We would actually hurry up to finish our supper and get the dishes washed so we could all take our special spot in the living room to watch our favorite sitcoms or action series. Many times we would fall asleep and miss the conclusion of a show but could see it when the season reruns would be televised. I miss those times.
I have your book and the coffee table book as well. I really appreciate the work of enthusiasts. For those of us who were kids when the show ran, the paintings are iconic. I wasn't able to see the exhibit, but hopefully it won't be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Joan Crawford painting sold at Heritage Auctions for over $110,000 last year or the year before I believe. A couple of the other paintings have gone up for sale. The one you noted at $7,000 is a steal in my opinion. Some others have failed to meet the minimum bid and didn't sell. If memory serves me correctly one didn't sell at $12,000 and another at $40,000. That's a lot of money to spend on nostalgia. I really don't know if they are a sound long term investment. The younger generations don't care about shows such as Night Gallery and Twilight Zone.
Thank you for the kind words! Fortunately, some younger viewers have discovered The Twilight Zone, via the marathons and videos about the series are still popular on You Tube. The best way for older content to be discovered and appreciated by younger generations are the young people who produce 'reaction' videos featuring classic movies, songs and TV shows on You Tube. Sadly, that will not be the case with Night Gallery, as Universal is no longer making the series available to online platforms.
@@thetvtimemachineHope you're right on younger people discovering real television 📺 from the classic years. Vast majority of today's material is junk, plain and simple.
😊 👍 That was really nice 🙂. Thank you for posting this. I love watching Night Gallery. It's a damn shame they didn't take better care of those beautiful paintings. 5/2/24.
Awesome video, I enjoyed taking a dark stroll back in time. My sister and I would watch Night Gallery together under a blanket on the couch for protection. I especially remember "The Doll" episode from January 13, 1971. My sister had dolls, and after the episode, I was terrified the dolls might come to life at night while I was asleep! Boo! 😱👻🦇
This is great!! I have often wondered what happened to these paintings. I would love to own several of them, especially The Cemetery and Pickman’s Model. Wow.
Loved that show. I wonder if they still have the wurlitzer jukebox one from "the tune in Dan's cafe, when I was a child in the '70's there were little roadside cafes all over, eastern North Carolina like that, 0.50 cent hamburgers, 0.65 cent cheeseburgers,frozen crinkle fries and fountain cokes in a paper cup of crushed ice . "If you leave me tonight I'll cry" by Jerry Wallace was the haunted jukebox's favorite song. The plywood booths, they portraied it perfect! Maybe life is just a big simulation....
"The Tune In Dan's Cafe,'" while not the strongest script, was superbly directed by one of Night Gallery's editors, David Rawlins. Rawlins perfectly captured the very look and feel you describe. Incidentally, the actress who played 'Red," Brooke Mills, was the wife of David Rawlins.
I was born in 1964 and missed out on Twilight Zone (one of my top favorites) but I clearly remember seeing several Night Gallery episodes on their original run. In the ensuing years you would often recollect them with your friends - “remember the one where…?” - etc. One of the best was called Silent Snow and was narrated by Orson Wells. It featured Radames Pera, the kid who portrayed a young David Carradine on Kung Fu.
I watched Night Gallery when I was a child and absolutely loved it. I slept with cotton in my ears for weeks after one episode. Lol. I have often wondered what became of all the paintings. Thank you for sharing this.
Night Gallery makeup artist Leonard Engelman actually glued grass roots to Elsa Lanchester's arms and legs to create the effect of an newly-grown old lady. Thank you for watching!
Thanks for the cool information. Fantastic program interesting insight still scares hell out of me, The writing was so accurate and visual We’re so purposeful. Can’t walk by a garden without thinking of it.👍🏻
Very well done. I had actually forgotten about Night Gallery until I seen the thumbnail and it came flooding back to me. It can't remember particular episodes, but I do remember that me and my siblings enjoyed it. Thanks for bringing back a memory for me.
I had always enjoyed the paintings at the beginning of each Night Gallery episode but knew little about them otherwise. Thanks for an informative video!
I LOVED "Night Gallery"! at least when Rod Serling was in charge. I like a good "Scare", and some episodes were indeed scary, perhaps as much as "Twilight Zone" which I was a Fan of as a Teen. Rod grew up in the City where I was later born -- Binghamton, NY. Some of his Twilight Zone stories were inspired by his experiences of growing up in Binghamton. I think the "Kick the Can" episode was one of those. His associations with Binghamton were so strong that the Premiere of the "Twilight Zone" Movie (1983) (which did include "Kick the Can" one of the segments) was in Binghamton, Hosted by another well-known Actor from Binghamton, Richard Deacon ("Mel Cooley" on the "Dick Van Dyke Show"), Richard wasn't born in Binghamton, but grew up there. Rod had only ONE wife! Unusual for Celebrities in Hollywood. His wife, Carolyn Louise Kramer (1929 - 2020) was an 8th cousin to my mother. Her mother, and my mother's father were 7th cousins.
@@jameswood231 I assume your Last Name is WOOD. I am also a WOOD, with WOOD ancestors having arrived from England to the Mass. Bay Colony in the 1600's, settling in Topsfield.
Definitely remember! A different time period indeed. I remember as a kid, our family doctor would sit on his rolling stool as I sat on the exam table. He would pull out that cold stethoscope to listen to my lungs/chest while he was chewing on his lit cigar. This of course was in the early 70's. He was an Osteopathic doctor. His wife was the secretary at the window counter puffing away/chain smoker. Go figure😮 I'm glad I never picked up the habit.
I'll never forget the episode about a former concentration camp guard, whose guilt gave him no peace. I remember something he said, "Get me into the picture!" He wanted to escape into a painting of a boat in a lake -- but he ended up in one of those scary paintings. I also remember the pilot episode with Joan Crawford as a blind woman.
Fantastic video, thank you for putting this together. I’ve been wondering for so long what happened to all those wonderfully mysterious paintings. It’s such a shame that many were lost. I’m going to seek out that book which displays them. 🖼️😃👍
The *"earwig"* episode scarred me for life. I was just a little kid and supposed to be in bed but my parents were out late that night and my sister let me stay up late to watch TV with her.
What a shame Universal failed to appreciate and protect its own property. Those works should have been kept together and made available to the public for viewing.
Jim, thanks for this wonderful and edifying video. I still have my “After Hours Tour” NG series retrospective you co-authored with Scott and it sits proudly in my bookcase for many years now. Around 1978 or so I had the good fortune to see one of Tom Wright’s paintings on a Universal Tour, the Rod Serling portrait “Midnight Never Ends”, which coincidentally is my favorite episode of the series. Thanks again!
Great vid. I'm 70 now and back in the day when this was on, I used to call it Night Ghoulery. One episode I remember was when a doctor puts someone in suspended animation and then forgets the number of thumps with his fist it takes to revive him. He finally remembers years later with the right number of thumps and of course Mr. Ghoul comes out after all that time - definitely pissed off.
Wow this was fantastic...I was a big fan of Night Gallery because l loved The Twilight Zone...Rod Serling was so cool, sometimes he'd smoke while introducing the show...
I so loved this series. The one episode that has never left my memory (meaning that it’s in constant rotation, with no help from me) is The Sin Eater (if I’m not mistaken).
I remember watching "Night Gallery" as a boy (I'm 64 now) and liked it, even though it scared me more than those "Goosebumps" books ever scared my son. But I never gave a thought about (much less appreciated the work that went into making) all the paintings showcased in the macabre exhibit, and whatever became of them - until now. This was extremely interesting! Now I'm starting to wonder whatever became of the Western lithographs shown at the beginning of each episode of "Bonanza" (along with the map of the Ponderosa Ranch.) A lot of work must have gone into making those, as well! Thanks for sharing this with us. My Like is in the 3Ks.
I had a Night Gallery themed Halloween display once. I got cheap art from the thrift stores and added monsters or creepy stuff and set them up along the walkway to my door, and lit them with electric candles and battery operated string lights. And then played the theme song on a loop. It was easy and fun and several kids commented that my yard was really spooky ☺
my favorite painting was always the one at the closing credits: the stairs with the creepy open floor, the columns and appearing to float high above the earth or horizon. always made me a little dizzy.
Rod Serling was indeed a nice man. He was also a paratrooper. He has said ideas and concepts for the TZ were infrequently taken from his time in the service. I wanted NG to just be a continuation of the TZ, but it was different. Still creepy though. Yes, the paintings held a lot of weight in setting the tone of each episode. Mr Serling died way too early...damn cigarettes!
Serling originally pitched this concept, titled "Rod Serling's Wax Museum" to ABC shortly after The Twilight Zone was cancelled. Producer Jack Laird had creative control over the series, but Serling was the show's most prolific writer. Night Gallery is the product of the two men's distinct creative visions.
Without the means to make it happen, I have for decades desired to collect paintings as DIRECT as Wright's amazing works or *any* from TV/film usage. Wright may have had varying degrees of script access to help imagine the canvas but - oh my WORD! - the man was an artistic, interpretive GENIUS! "Tell David" and especially "The Tune in Dan's Cafe" come to mind. SUCH talent. (SO sad that most are likely lost forever.)
Great show. As a little kid it scared the hell out of me. The Roddy McDowell episode showing a corpse coming out of a grave painting comes to mind.
That one scared the crap out of me too and was my favorite!
That's "The Cemetery," painted by Jaroslav Gebr, for the 1969 Night Gallery pilot movie. Fortunately, that painting still exists.
Portifoy
That was the one that scared ME the most, too!
I spent a many Sunday night 🌙 hiding under the cover thanks to this show. Lol. Wasn't funny then.
Great show! We certainly don't have shows like this anymore. 😮😮😮
Some of these paintings may be lost forever, but they continue reside in my nightmares ever since I first saw them as a kid in the early 1970s.
Me too!!!
Night Gallery was a Friday night fright treat as a young kid in the 70s. 😄
Unimportant.
Sometimes the paintings were scarier than the show.
Exactly! The opening credits scared the *bejeezus* out of me as a kid. I loved the show but I’d frequently hide behind a pillow until the credits were over. Great music, too.
As a kid I thought the paintings were scarier than the show itself. I thought the music was scarier than the show, too. The show was both scary and fun.
That theme music was the best! Sometimes the music outshines the show, like Mod Squad or Ironsides.
@@solitaryman777And now no tv shows have theme music. Sad.
Agreed completely.
I agree entirely. There’s a VERY spooky video with creepy music on the background and it shows all the paintings! look it up! Just don’t do it at night. lol
I wondered what happened with the paintings! This show was before my time only meaning I didn’t get to watch them when they originally premiered! But I love this show just like kolchak!! For both series on DVD! Night Gallery opening theme music has to be the most unnerving and unsettling of all time!!it was scary, some segments were quirky! Sci-fi, suspense. Too many BEST segments to pick! My time is almost up! Now I’m looking for that coffee table book!
Early 70's horror is my personal favorite. Night Gallery is a great example of that era's aesthetic.
Legend of Hell House with Roddy McDowell.
Great movie of that era.
The early 1970s was a bit of a renaissance for classic-style horror, both in films and TV. It faded quickly, to be replaced by slasher-themed horror in the 1980s.
As a young teen I had just gotten the black and white TV put in my bedroom that family used when they got a new one. I had so much fun watching all these scary shows without parental discretion, lol. Night Gallery has to be just about my favorite. So scary!
Trilogy of Terror comes to mind.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
The main reason I watched this series when I was a kid was for the paintings. They were thrilling for a country kid who didn't get to see a lot of TV.❤
I liked the one with the Nazi war criminal dreaming of going into the fisherman on the lake painting and getting a surprise at the end! Thanks for the great trivia videos!
Exactly what I said. I gave away the ending because I haven’t been able to find the show.
You're welcome!
This is the one painting I remember well.
That episode stays with me to this day. It's definitely a childhood memory for me.
That was poetic justice.
The paintings just ADDED to the creepiness of the stories. Some of the stories can still scare me today.
Agreed!
I won't watch them today. Lol. 😮"Once Bitten, Twice Shy."🙈 Classic memories of my early childhood days.
My family would watch this show all the time. My father once asked me if one of those artists would do a portrait of our family and I told him that the painting would have ended up on the show! I was grounded for a week for making that comment.
😆
In my family if someone had said that, the comment back was would have been. yeah, probably.. LOL
😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂 that's cute
Now that's funny 😂😂😂
40 odd years ago ... I was at one of the SCENE DOCKS at Universal and there were some of the paintings. I remember thinking how cool it was to see these as NIGHT GALLERY was one of my favorite shows as a kid.
D.A.
I watched this show as a child and it terrified me then and I still cannot watch certain episodes to this day. Absolutely terrifying - especially after the show ended and you had to go to bed!
Yep! I'll never forget the one about the mean father, who made his son kill a deer or he wouldn't get his inheritance. The father's head ended up on the wall as a trophy. Scared the HELL outta me.
@@klvr5863The horrific, "The Caterpillar."
Still remember the final words of the episode The Caterpillar...it was a female,Mr.Macy,.. they lay eggs...got it on disc.. they are old but they still work.
Yep. Bedtime. Believe me, nightlight on, covers over my head, sometimes trusty flashlight🔦 handy.😅
As a kid, I loved this show....it was the best of television times: miss those shows (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, etc).....
Another good one was Tales of the Dark Side.
Bowling for Dollars... and The Dark Shadows... No, seriously, I watched ALL of the TZ, and OL episodes. And then the Night Gallery as well. Great times.
Agreed. Even Circle of Fear was often better than it's often credited as being
Don't forget: 'One Step Beyond'.
@@Bluerose888Oooh Creepy😮
It's amazing one painter could create such works of art on demand in a short period of time.
Lmfao..i use to paint three 4x6 paintings in one morning..while.watching tv...ibwould make about 100 of each one..in thr afternoon I would paid t about 40 to 50 water colors...then I would do one show..i would sell out first day..one time before the event started..so it's not impossible at all.
@@sislertxI'm trying very hard..... But nothing you wrote there makes sense.
A 4x6 canvas?
Wait.... Watercolors? That doesn't use canvas....
What do you mean you'd make a hundred in the afternoon?? Paintings? Dollars??
Is this painting or screen printing?
I showed this to my artist friends (I'm a writer, not a painter).... But they couldn't make sense of it all either. 😶
@@sislertxat that rate yours probably weren't that great.
Pay me and I could paint you some great works of surreal horror post haste.
@@sislertx No way you did that many in one afternoon. Not any that were any good.
Being 12 when it came on late at night. Great childhood
Rod Serling is an icon of mine. Such an intelligent man, wonderful to listen to.
Agreed!
Thank you for doing this video. I was always fascinated by the Night Gallery paintings but didn't know anything about them. Id love to own one.
You're welcome! I'd love to own one as well, but they're a bit out of my price range. :-)
Night Gallery's paintings stood out thanks to Tom Wright, a versatile artist. I wouldn't mind displaying one of these paintings at home.
😊🖌️🎨
Agreed!
I was a little kid when this show was on and the theme music combined with the imagery in the opening credits absolutely freaked me out
Main title designer Wayne Fitzgerald created the credits for Night Gallery. Hired at the last minute, he borrowed the design from a film that he had worked on a year earlier, "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever."
Rod Serling and Mr Wright are one of a kind! Thank you
You're welcome!
How can 2people be one of a kind?
@@cliffordbowman6777 who is equal to Mr Serling and who is equal to Mr Wright? In the context of this show?
Rod created so many scripts that are metaphysical truths. My inspiration for inspired thinking and moral truths.
That theme song still gives me chills!!!!
By the great composer Gil Melle'. Night Gallery was the first electronic score ever composed for a television series.
Me too!😳 My scary childhood memories.
The original one from the pilot is what does that for me! More so than the other theme that followed!
As does me.
@@thetvtimemachineCreeped me out as a kid.😮
I saw a smaller exhibition of these works at the actual Creature Features shop in North Hollywood a year or so prior. Loved it so much I went through twice. They hired my buddy, Brett Butler, to walk around doing his impersonation of Rod Serling. It was pretty great.
I have always wondered about this.
I loved Night Gallery..more even than the Twilight Zone..
It used to come on at 9 p.m. and just the sound of the theme music would send a chill down my spine.
Same! However, I always get angry looks when I admit that I like _Night Gallery_ better than _The Twilight Zone_ 😄. As I mentioned in another post, it was my introduction to H.P. Lovecraft and I will forever be grateful for that.
Night Gallery was a turbocharged Twilight Zone. As great as TZ was, it had some clunkers. NG was darker and waaay more intense
The artist was a genius! Sunday nights, 10 pm. I had to sneak watching it since it was a school night(junior high). Now, I bought the series on DVD.
Agree. Tom Wright is amazing!
Seen from our vantage point 50 years later, it's astonishing that the studio took such a cavalier attitude toward the paintings, which were more involved and creative than most "props." Probably the notion of collector's items was much less developed then, or things tended to get lost in the scale and cost of TV productions - but it's a shame the whole collection wasn't preserved in some way. There would be plenty of people willing to visit that exhibition today! Tom Wright's work is amazing for the insight he showed, how it fit in perfectly with the show, the speed at which he painted, and the genre diversity he achieved. Great work! Interesting video!
As mentioned in the video, certain individuals, such as Sylvester Stallone, appreciated and valued the paintings. However, as a previous poster pointed out, after the studio changed hands a number of times, the system to keep track of props fell by the wayside. The paintings then became vulnerable to ignorance, apathy, and opportunists.
Just found the entire series on DVD for $2 at a thrift store. Score!
I got an artist friend of mine to paint me two of the paintings. He did an amazing job! They’re still proudly hanging in my home today.
can I ask which paintings you had reproduced? 'Lone Survivor' is one that I remember, great painting.
@@jornfox3545 that’s a great one! I had him paint me “The Nature of the Enemy” and “Midnight Never Ends”. The latter ended up being my favorite, not only because it’s one of my top episodes but also because it’s like a tribute to Rod.
@@completesentences2125 i think it's great that you had those paintings reproduced, but as an artist myself would not want anyone to paint a duplicate of my work, but in this case what can you do. Too bad you couldn't have gone directly to Tom Wright !
I'm pleased to find that one of my personal favorites, "A Question of Fear," is among the works that were spared.
Agreed! Great painting and great episode.
“Spectre in Tap Shoes” was the painting that captured my attention as a child, and I was so thrilled to see it survived the purge.
Great video-thanks! I was a kid when _Night Gallery_ first aired and absolutely loved it. It also broadened my tastes in science fiction and fantasy. I was one of those weird kids who always read the credits of the shows I watched. I noticed more than once that the screenplay was based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, who I had never heard of before. So, I went to the library and checked out several of his titles and got hooked on his works.
You're welcome! Yes, two Night Gallery episodes were based on H.P. Lovecraft short stories: "Cool Air," and "Pickman's Model."
go watch "From Beyond" a movie from the makers of " reanimator".
@@thetvtimemachine Ohh, "Cool Air" was my favorite! So creepy!! I still think of the ending sometimes and it's still frightening.
I lose it laughing when I spot a painting on a Universal series set. "Ask him about his art dealer, Columbo!"
It breaks my heart to hear the story of how neglected the paintings were after the show was canceled. They should have been collected and stored together for a museum.
Agreed. At least a percentage survived so they could be displayed for that one last time in 2019!
That’s a great idea.
When Universal Studios began their tram tours in the 1970s the trams actually drove through a (cordoned off) section of Uni's Prop House. Several of the Night Gallery paintings were prominently hung for riders to view. Even as late as the 1990's several of the paintings were owned by various prop houses in the L.A. area.
I remember seeing the statue of Bill Bixby from Last Rights Of A Dead Druid in there.
Creating a painting is hard enough...creating a show referencing that painting is at another level. 😱
I had two of these paintings, in my possession, and sold them through an auction house about 14 years ago. Still wish I had them.
Which ones did you own?
I remember an episode starring Roddy McDowall. The painting depicted an old house and a nearby cemetery. During the episode, the painting changed as it depicted a spectral figure moving closer and closer from the cemetery to the house. It freaked me out a a kid. I would love to have that painting.
That was "The Cemetery," part of the Night Gallery pilot movie. The original painting sold several years ago for tens of thousands of dollars at auction. Reproduction posters of the Night Gallery paintings can be found at Night Gallery Dot Net.
I loved the paintings of the guy crawling out of his grave and slowly coming up to the house. I think Roddy McDowell was in that episode.
That was "The Cemetery," from the Night Gallery pilot movie.
Portifoy....
@@helbitkelbit1790 LOL! yes
Roddy McDowall was such a great actor and that… he was also so incredibly beautiful looking. I loved his clothes, but he was just so gorgeous facially . I love everything about him.
I own the DVD box set of both Serling series and remember watching them as a kid. This is a wonderful piece of trivia to enhance the enjoyment of watching them.👍👍
Thank you for your kind words!
I never guessed all those, so different paintings, were done by one person.
Rod Serling has always been one of my favorite people. I heard he didn't really want to host Night Gallery but bless him, his introductions were so cool! Talented writer and good looking man too.🥺🥰
Rod Serling soured on Night Gallery only toward the end of the show's run, after the network began creatively interfering with the series. Serling had a much better experience on The Twilight Zone, however, Rod Serling made a significant impact on Night Gallery, writing over one-third of the show's stories.
What a scary and unforgettable show. The paintings at the beginning just forced your curiosity into overdrive! The writers really messed with what was culturally cool and often stuck a finger in it's eye! Masterfully done paintings the scared you like crazy.
Agreed! Tom Wright was an amazing artist.
Many thanks to Jim and Tom! 🖼
Thank you!
@@thetvtimemachine You're very welcome. 💐
Those Tom Wright paintings sure add to the very macabre atmosphere that was prevalent on Night Gallery.
That's why it was one of my favorite TV shows of the 70's. 😱
With only 43 episodes there were a lot of them never featured. My favorite was with Roddy McDowell and the painting of the house that included the graveyard. The grave opened and his dead (uncle?) made his way to the door in progressive paintings.
That had to be fun to paint.
That was "The Cemetery," from the 1969 Night Gallery pilot movie.
This is a wonderful piece about a favorite subject of mine. I always loved seeing the new paintings each week and wondering about the mind of the artist that produced them. Thank you for sharing this! ⚘
You're very welcome!
Oh, I would LOVE to get my hands on one of these!
We all would! :-)
The Cemetery with Roddy Mc.Dowall…I watched it several dozen times..
I was in elementary school and this show would air around midnight and just the show's intro, would just freak me out?!!
Would love one of his paintings from the iconic show.
Really cool to learn this!
Those paintings were so cool!
NG doesn't get the love its older brother does but some all time great episodes are there!
TY!
You're very welcome!
I will NEVER forget the night I watched the Night Gallery Episode entitled "THE CEMETARY " because when the painting CAME TO LIFE it freaked me out so much that I couldn't sleep. I was four.
Portafoy! Yes that one terrified me as a 7 year old damn I loved it though. Roddy McDowall I think it was
That one still scares me. I am 65 !
@@deborahchesser7375Also Ossie Davis as Portafoy!
@@coffeecoffee1627 IDK how people can even watch TV now days honestly
@@deborahchesser7375 With all the crap going on. I stick to cartoons. :) Self preservation.
Oh, how I miss the television shows of those years. So many Westerns, variety shows, talent shows, comedies, detective series and quiz shows. We would actually hurry up to finish our supper and get the dishes washed so we could all take our special spot in the living room to watch our favorite sitcoms or action series. Many times we would fall asleep and miss the conclusion of a show but could see it when the season reruns would be televised. I miss those times.
I have your book and the coffee table book as well. I really appreciate the work of enthusiasts. For those of us who were kids when the show ran, the paintings are iconic. I wasn't able to see the exhibit, but hopefully it won't be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The Joan Crawford painting sold at Heritage Auctions for over $110,000 last year or the year before I believe. A couple of the other paintings have gone up for sale. The one you noted at $7,000 is a steal in my opinion. Some others have failed to meet the minimum bid and didn't sell. If memory serves me correctly one didn't sell at $12,000 and another at $40,000. That's a lot of money to spend on nostalgia. I really don't know if they are a sound long term investment. The younger generations don't care about shows such as Night Gallery and Twilight Zone.
Thank you for the kind words! Fortunately, some younger viewers have discovered The Twilight Zone, via the marathons and videos about the series are still popular on You Tube. The best way for older content to be discovered and appreciated by younger generations are the young people who produce 'reaction' videos featuring classic movies, songs and TV shows on You Tube. Sadly, that will not be the case with Night Gallery, as Universal is no longer making the series available to online platforms.
@@thetvtimemachineHope you're right on younger people discovering real television 📺 from the classic years. Vast majority of today's material is junk, plain and simple.
😊 👍 That was really nice 🙂. Thank you for posting this. I love watching Night Gallery. It's a damn shame they didn't take better care of those beautiful paintings. 5/2/24.
I agree. Thank you for watching, I appreciate it!
@@thetvtimemachine You're very welcome. 5/5/24.
Awesome video, I enjoyed taking a dark stroll back in time. My sister and I would watch Night Gallery together under a blanket on the couch for protection. I especially remember "The Doll" episode from January 13, 1971. My sister had dolls, and after the episode, I was terrified the dolls might come to life at night while I was asleep! Boo! 😱👻🦇
Thank you! "The Doll" is horror director Guillermo del Toro's favorite episode!
This is great!! I have often wondered what happened to these paintings. I would love to own several of them, especially The Cemetery and Pickman’s Model. Wow.
Thank you!
Night Gallery! a favorite of mine👍
Loved that show. I wonder if they still have the wurlitzer jukebox one from "the tune in Dan's cafe, when I was a child in the '70's there were little roadside cafes all over, eastern North Carolina like that, 0.50 cent hamburgers, 0.65 cent cheeseburgers,frozen crinkle fries and fountain cokes in a paper cup of crushed ice . "If you leave me tonight I'll cry" by Jerry Wallace was the haunted jukebox's favorite song. The plywood booths, they portraied it perfect! Maybe life is just a big simulation....
"The Tune In Dan's Cafe,'" while not the strongest script, was superbly directed by one of Night Gallery's editors, David Rawlins. Rawlins perfectly captured the very look and feel you describe. Incidentally, the actress who played 'Red," Brooke Mills, was the wife of David Rawlins.
After the last 4 years, I know it is😮. Feels like the Twilight Zone everyday. Rod Serling would be rolling in his grave.
Glad to see that there are quite a few that were preserved.
Agreed. But no nearly enough!
I was born in 1964 and missed out on Twilight Zone (one of my top favorites) but I clearly remember seeing several Night Gallery episodes on their original run. In the ensuing years you would often recollect them with your friends - “remember the one where…?” - etc. One of the best was called Silent Snow and was narrated by Orson Wells. It featured Radames Pera, the kid who portrayed a young David Carradine on Kung Fu.
All the kids in school talked about Night Gallery the next day after it aired--especially The Earwig episode!
They were compelling as well as provocative
I watched Night Gallery when I was a child and absolutely loved it. I slept with cotton in my ears for weeks after one episode. Lol. I have often wondered what became of all the paintings. Thank you for sharing this.
You're very welcome. Thank you for sharing your Night Gallery memories!
Awesome! Thanks for researching this and bringing it to the world's attention. Visual art is the manifestation of dreams ....or nightmares.
You're very welcome!
thank you for this. the paintings influenced me when i watched back in 71 72. i was 8 or 9 yrs old so it made a big impression on me
You're welcome, thank you for watching!
Thanks for sharing this important commercial art history!
You're welcome! Thank you for watching!
As a little kid the paintings scares the crap out of me
Me too. The stores were terrifying as well.
Thank you for this - I had been wondering what happened to them. They creeped me out at 10 years old. Got you a new subscriber.
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much!
Thanks for answering this question
You're very welcome!
I saw green fingers way back. I’m 66 now. And that show still scares the hell out of me… well played.
Night Gallery makeup artist Leonard Engelman actually glued grass roots to Elsa Lanchester's arms and legs to create the effect of an newly-grown old lady. Thank you for watching!
Thanks for the cool information. Fantastic program interesting insight still scares hell out of me, The writing was so accurate and visual We’re so purposeful. Can’t walk by a garden without thinking of it.👍🏻
Very well done. I had actually forgotten about Night Gallery until I seen the thumbnail and it came flooding back to me. It can't remember particular episodes, but I do remember that me and my siblings enjoyed it. Thanks for bringing back a memory for me.
Thank you so much!
Night gallery and twilight zone were me and moms favorite shows..still watch old reruns today.
What a great video of a great artist, what a travesty to lose paintings such as these...
Hopefully more of the Night Gallery paintings will surface someday.
I had always enjoyed the paintings at the beginning of each Night Gallery episode but knew little about them otherwise. Thanks for an informative video!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for watching!
I was a kid when that show was on. It scared the crap out of me. That said I watched most of them. Great show actually.
It was a great show!
I LOVED "Night Gallery"! at least when Rod Serling was in charge. I like a good "Scare", and some episodes were indeed scary, perhaps as much as "Twilight Zone" which I was a Fan of as a Teen.
Rod grew up in the City where I was later born -- Binghamton, NY. Some of his Twilight Zone stories were inspired by his experiences of growing up in Binghamton. I think the "Kick the Can" episode was one of those. His associations with Binghamton were so strong that the Premiere of the "Twilight Zone" Movie (1983) (which did include "Kick the Can" one of the segments) was in Binghamton, Hosted by another well-known Actor from Binghamton, Richard Deacon ("Mel Cooley" on the "Dick Van Dyke Show"), Richard wasn't born in Binghamton, but grew up there.
Rod had only ONE wife! Unusual for Celebrities in Hollywood. His wife, Carolyn Louise Kramer (1929 - 2020) was an 8th cousin to my mother. Her mother, and my mother's father were 7th cousins.
Great family history there!😊
@@jameswood231 I assume your Last Name is WOOD. I am also a WOOD, with WOOD ancestors having arrived from England to the Mass. Bay Colony in the 1600's, settling in Topsfield.
I've been watching the old reruns . Even doctors were smoking in the
hospital .
And the patients, too!
Definitely remember! A different time period indeed. I remember as a kid, our family doctor would sit on his rolling stool as I sat on the exam table. He would pull out that cold stethoscope to listen to my lungs/chest while he was chewing on his lit cigar. This of course was in the early 70's. He was an Osteopathic doctor. His wife was the secretary at the window counter puffing away/chain smoker. Go figure😮 I'm glad I never picked up the habit.
I'll never forget the episode about a former concentration camp guard, whose guilt gave him no peace. I remember something he said, "Get me into the picture!" He wanted to escape into a painting of a boat in a lake -- but he ended up in one of those scary paintings. I also remember the pilot episode with Joan Crawford as a blind woman.
Both of those segments were from the Night Gallery 1969 Pilot movie: "The Escape Route" starring Richard Kiley, and "Eyes," starring Joan Crawford.
Fantastic video, thank you for putting this together. I’ve been wondering for so long what happened to all those wonderfully mysterious paintings. It’s such a shame that many were lost. I’m going to seek out that book which displays them. 🖼️😃👍
Thank you so much, I appreciate it!
The *"earwig"* episode scarred me for life. I was just a little kid and supposed to be in bed but my parents were out late that night and my sister let me stay up late to watch TV with her.
The Earwig scared all of us!
That is a very disturbing episode.
Just hearing that theme music gave me the chills.
What a shame Universal failed to appreciate and protect its own property. Those works should have been kept together and made available to the public for viewing.
Jim, thanks for this wonderful and edifying video. I still have my “After Hours Tour” NG series retrospective you co-authored with Scott and it sits proudly in my bookcase for many years now.
Around 1978 or so I had the good fortune to see one of Tom Wright’s paintings on a Universal Tour, the Rod Serling portrait “Midnight Never Ends”, which coincidentally is my favorite episode of the series. Thanks again!
You're welcome! Hopefully the "Midnight Never Ends" painting will be found one day!
A blast
From
My
Past😎😊
Great vid. I'm 70 now and back in the day when this was on, I used to call it Night Ghoulery. One episode I remember was when a doctor puts someone in suspended animation and then forgets the number of thumps with his fist it takes to revive him. He finally remembers years later with the right number of thumps and of course Mr. Ghoul comes out after all that time - definitely pissed off.
Thank you so much! The episode you mention was the first Night Gallery episode aired, entitled, "The Dead Man."
Amazing wonderful stuff by this artist to create all these paintings. Sad they weren’t preserved together by the studio.
Wow this was fantastic...I was a big fan of Night Gallery because l loved The Twilight Zone...Rod Serling was so cool, sometimes he'd smoke while introducing the show...
Thank you!
This show terrified me, but I never missed an episode.
This is so cool ! Thanks for this . I loved that show .
Thank you so much!
I so loved this series. The one episode that has never left my memory (meaning that it’s in constant rotation, with no help from me) is The Sin Eater (if I’m not mistaken).
That's correct. That episode is "Sins of the Fathers," starring Richard Thomas.
I remember watching "Night Gallery" as a boy (I'm 64 now) and liked it, even though it scared me more than those "Goosebumps" books ever scared my son. But I never gave a thought about (much less appreciated the work that went into making) all the paintings showcased in the macabre exhibit, and whatever became of them - until now. This was extremely interesting!
Now I'm starting to wonder whatever became of the Western lithographs shown at the beginning of each episode of "Bonanza" (along with the map of the Ponderosa Ranch.) A lot of work must have gone into making those, as well!
Thanks for sharing this with us. My Like is in the 3Ks.
You're welcome! You and I are about in the same demographic, so I can relate. Thank you for your like, I appreciate it very much!
I had a Night Gallery themed Halloween display once. I got cheap art from the thrift stores and added monsters or creepy stuff and set them up along the walkway to my door, and lit them with electric candles and battery operated string lights. And then played the theme song on a loop. It was easy and fun and several kids commented that my yard was really spooky ☺
Great subject to cover! Thanks!!
You're very welcome!
my favorite painting was always the one at the closing credits: the stairs with the creepy open floor, the columns and appearing to float high above the earth or horizon. always made me a little dizzy.
It would be quite a conversational piece if one had the great privilege of owning one! Fantastic video.
Thank you. And thank you for watching!
Was my favorite show as a kid. I bought the DVD boxed set for when I want to relive old (scary) memories.
They did a great job with the DVD/Blu Ray release of Night Gallery!
Rod Serling was indeed a nice man. He was also a paratrooper. He has said ideas and concepts for the TZ were infrequently taken from his time in the service. I wanted NG to just be a continuation of the TZ, but it was different. Still creepy though. Yes, the paintings held a lot of weight in setting the tone of each episode. Mr Serling died way too early...damn cigarettes!
Serling originally pitched this concept, titled "Rod Serling's Wax Museum" to ABC shortly after The Twilight Zone was cancelled. Producer Jack Laird had creative control over the series, but Serling was the show's most prolific writer. Night Gallery is the product of the two men's distinct creative visions.
@@thetvtimemachine The concept had also been titled Witches, Warlocks And Werewolves by then ABC president Tom Moore.
I loved Night Gallery as a kid. It’s too bad it was cancelled. Rod Serling was a genius.
Agreed!
Yes he was.😊
Thank you for this!
You're very welcome!
I used to watch with my grandpa back in the day! Let's discuss formative TV 😁
Without the means to make it happen, I have for decades desired to collect paintings as DIRECT as Wright's amazing works or *any* from TV/film usage. Wright may have had varying degrees of script access to help imagine the canvas but - oh my WORD! - the man was an artistic, interpretive GENIUS! "Tell David" and especially "The Tune in Dan's Cafe" come to mind. SUCH talent. (SO sad that most are likely lost forever.)
Very well said!
It is such a mysterious show! Love it
thanks for the wonderful post. loved that show as a kid.
You're welcome. Thank you for watching!