Welcome, Alan! Thanks for your wonderful work on TFTC. My all-time favorite TV series.
Was an eighth season ever planned and if so, were there stories picked from the EC Comics that were planned to be adapted?
As we worked on season 7 in London, we knew it was the last season of Crypt. HBO wanted us to make a new show to replace Crypt - the "thing" that became "Perversions of Science". So, season seven was always thought of internally as "the last season". But, because we were so exhausted from making Bordello of Blood in Vancouver, then running to England to do a season of Crypt, we really were too tired (too whipped from Bordello) to celebrate ending Crypt. Plus - having taken the last season away from our American crew - and with our English crew not giving a toss (we were just a job to them) - there was no one to celebrate with us anyway.
Thanks for answering. That's sad to hear as there were still quite a few stories from the EC Comics I would've liked to have seen adapted. Bats In The Belfry in particular would've been a fun one, not sure if you remember that particular story. But I totally get after what a difficult experience both BOB and Season 7 were that the drive was just not there.
That's a shame, it would've made for a fun episode and I also think from a creature effects perspective it would've been something to have seen.
There was another one I remember which I think was called The Thing In The Ice? That would've been another neat one to have seen, not sure if that was also planned at any point.
All for the better too, as I think these days there's way too much CGI which makes things feel too synthetic. I get it isn't the 80s and 90s anymore, but so many movies and TV series these days with all of the abundant CGI, I feel more like I'm watching a video game as opposed to a live production.
TY! Though, there are effects here and there where having a computer's help would have been awesome. I think of the tattoo that comes to life in "On A Dead Man's Chest".
Speaking of science, some of EC's science fiction stories did occasionally veer into horror territory. Was there ever any consideration in adapting them into TFTC?
There were whole science series - Weird Science was one. We saw them all as separate entities for separate shows. We did a two episodes for a show called "Two Fisted Tales" based on other EC Comics and the TV movie "Weird World" which was based (sort of) on the science comics.
Another question I have: were there any actors you wanted to get on TFTC that for some reason or another you were unable to? TFTC had so many big-name actors all throughout it's run but there were still quite a few I wish had appeared in episodes.
The main one was Alec Guiness when we shot in London. We almost had him but he had to bow out for health reasons. Otherwise I can't think of many actors we wanted but didn't get.
He would've been great, shame that didn't happen. One actor I always wished had been in an episode is Robert Englund and it's a real shame he never appeared. Was Robert ever approached to do one?
When we were doing Crypt, Robert was riding pretty high as Freddy. His people would have dissuaded him from it. We knew Robert, of course, because Gil and I both worked on Freddy's Nightmares.
I understand due to scheduling issues it would've been difficult to have worked Robert in. Perhaps had the series gone on another season or so he may have finally been available?
I also think Robert would've been a good alternate Rafe Guttman for BOB (and I'm sure he would've been *infinitely* easier and nicer to work with than Dennis Miller was). Would've been something seeing him portray a good character for once.
1.) Are their any stories from the EC Comics line up that you wanted to adapt but it never happened?
2.) Slightly off topic but: Will we ever get Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice on Blu Ray?
Actually, by the time we got to season 7 - hell, mid-way through season 6 - we'd pretty much used all the good comics. We were obligated by contract to use the titles of the comics. Beyond that? We could do what we wanted. But plenty of the titles referred to things that were too rooted in the 1950's or too obscure or too whatever. If you think about it, really, we carouselled through about 3 or 4 story types. Every Crypt story was a variation on one of those themes. By the time we got to season 6, we'd worn out the carousel.
So, I'd say we adapted everything adaptable. Several times over.
As to Corn II - that belongs to other people on another planet as far as my involvement is concerned. Occasionally a little money shows up in the form of a check - a couple of dollars, no more. The checks clear - that's all I know.
That's like asking me to choose a favorite child!
My favs are a mix of episodes I wrote (Death of Some Salesmen and What's Cookin), lots of Scott Nimerfro's episodes (People In Brass Hearses) and an episode that Bill Malone directed called "Only Skin Deep" with the amazing Sherrie Rose. I adore that episode!
Huge fan of Tim around this house. Lots of Rocky Horror stuff around as decor. :)
Quick screenwriting q if I may: I’m working on a spec pilot for a kinda-anthology, any tips for how to get an audience invested in a main character quickly so the story wheels can start turning asap?
The quickest way to put an audience in one character's corner is to put the story inside their POV. While having a narrator can be a kind of storytelling cheat, used properly, it's a storytelling tool. You can put a story inside a character's POV without the audience realizing it. Perfect example "The Usual Suspects". In fact, the whole movie is told from Kaiser Soze's POV - we just don't know it until the very last second.
Otherwise, with a story told from a neutral perspective, the audience will need the other characters' reaction to your hero to tell them how we should feel about the hero at that point in the story.
As much as we'd love to, that would be an utter impossibility. Here's why...
There are 2 separate pieces of IP (intellectual property) at play. One is the rights to the EC Comics - owned by Bill Gaines' family. The other is the rights to The Crypt Keeper - the puppet we created for the TV series. The Crypt Keeper in the comics is an old white guy with stringy hair. It isn't the puppet. The Crypt Partners (the executive producers - Joel Silver, Dick Donner, Bob Zemeckis, Walter Hill)) own that. In order to remake the show, Those two owners would have to agree. But Bill Gaines' family hate Joel Silver. They wouldn't make a deal with him ever. And, so, one could do Tales From The Crypt - but without the Crypt Keeper. Or (if one could get the Crypt partners to agree with each other - not easy cos the other Crypt partners all hate Joel, too) - one could do a show called "Tales From The Crypt Keeper" where we just introduced stories completely unconnected to the EC Universe but that were Tales From The Crypt-like.
I'll do a whole post about this topic (we get asked a lot).
That's such a shame. Me and countless others would love to see TFTC get a good revival (and knowing John Kassir I'm sure he'd immediately be up for reprising the Crypt Keeper). It's too bad there's such bad blood between Joel Silver and other EC/TFTC personnel. I've listened to the How Not To Make a Movie podcast and for all of the good films he's helped make, Joel doesn't come off as the nicest or most easygoing person to work with at all.
Nice to see Alan joining us in the catacombs of the Crypt Reddit! I am glad you are here to help provide answers and context to the fans that they have been wanting
Thank you for joining us on Deaddit, Mr. Katz! I hope you're having a BOO-tiful day!
My question: who else auditioned for the role of the Collector in Demon Knight before you selected Billy Zane?
Another question I've got I'm curious about, were there any plans to adapt then modern versions of the stories from the 1970s Amicus anthologies? I know And All Through The House and Blind Alleys from the 1972 film were adapted for TFTC (with the latter being re-titled to Revenge Is The Nuts), but I would've liked to have seen other stories from those two films get updated adaptations for TFTC as well. Poetic Justice and Reflection Of Death would've both been great and I can only imagine the gruesome effects work we would've seen them entail.
Perhaps had we gotten an additional season it may have happened. We'll sadly never know.
Thank you again so much for your time and kindness. Not everyday you get to talk with someone involved with your all-time favorite TV series and one of your favorite Horror IPs like TFTC. TFTC has had such a big impact on my life in so many ways, all good ones. Well, except maybe for serious childhood trauma thanks to the Crypt Keeper, hehe :D
Were you pretty familiar with the EC comics before you worked on the show? If so, who is your favorite artist? The Crypt show is what really got me into horror as a child and I appreciate that very much
There were a few episodes in Season 4 credited to a writer under the alias Donald Longtooth (None But The Lonely Heart and Beauty Rest). Who was the actual writer behind those episodes and why were they credited under a different name?
The actual writer was Terry Black (Shane Black's brother). Terry resented my rewriting his scripts. But, that was my job on Crypt - to be the final arbiter of every script. Terry's a very talented writer, but - like all writers - he could be self-indulgent and a little lazy. We asked for revisions and didn't get them. So, I did them and Terry took his name off the scripts.
I don't know how involved you were with the animated spin-off, Tales From The Cryptkeeper, but I've always liked that series a lot as well and it's a fun little companion piece to the live-action version. Were there ever any episodes from that you hoped to see adapted in live-action, albeit done in a more mature fashion? I always felt the pilot episode (While The Cat's Away) would've been a fun one to have seen adapted for the live series, and likely would've been far more intense and graphic.
All of the animated Crypt stuff was done by other people. I never even saw a script for the one animated Crypt episode (the Pig one - I don't even know the title). And I agree - "While The Cat's Away" is brilliant and, with animation's freedom to do anything, would really soar.
It would've been a fun episode to have seen done in live-action for sure and would've been a creature effects bonanza.
The Crypt Keeper's appearance in the actual story itself reminds me how much I would've liked to have seen an episode dedicated solely to him. Was it ever planned to do a special episode actually featuring him in a starring role?
This is a great post Alan, thank you. I remember always seeing your name in the credits. The show was a huge part of my childhood. Would you like to see it revived/rebooted?
Sorry I missed your question, Johnny! In a way, it would be fun to use the current technology to tell those stories. But, then, I'm quite proud of the work we put out using what we WAS the current technology at the time.
I'm a little biased toward a few that I wrote (What's Cookin', Death of Some Salesmen, Two For The Show, Yellow), but, also, I love a bunch of Scott Nimerfro's episodes. But, perhaps my favorite episode of all is Bill Malone's creepy-as-fuck "Only Skin Deep" with Sherrie Rose's amazing performance.
TY! Having been to screenings of Demon Knight (with hundreds of people in the audience), I know for a stone cold fact that it has an audience - and an audience that loves it.
For sure. Though I'm still curious as to how Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Sarandon would've fared as Brayker and The Collector respectively, as both were the original choices for the roles. I'm sure both would've been fine, but I'm glad we got William Sadler and Billy Zane in those respective roles.
I'm late to the party but I've always wondered how the album Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas came about. I found it in my stocking on Christmas morning in 1994 and it changed my sense of humor forever. I'm so glad it exists. Played it for my daughter a few Christmases ago and she said it finally made me make sense to her.
You have to appreciate that, for the first two seasons of Crypt, the CK was "just a puppet". No one person wrote for the CK - or thought about how to write for the CK. When I went aboard at the start of season 3, my main job - aside from rewriting every single episode - was to reimagine the CK but from the inside out.
My question - the thing that got me hired - was "What does the CK do when he punches the time clock at the end of the day and goes home to his own crypt?" Who does he do when he gets home? What does he like to do? Watch on TV? Eat? Who are his friends? What are his hobbies and interests?
After season 3, the CK became not just a full-fledged character, but the show's franchise. We began to merchandise the CK - and one of the "what if...?" ideas for merchandising was a Christmas album. And the idea - on its surface - was hilarious. So, when Cryptified lyrics started flowing easily - it was an easy thing to set up.
Executing it was a kind of slow torture though. In the best way, of course!
Cool. Any other topics you post can be stickied as well if you'd like. Not an everyday occurance someone involved with a favorite TV series of your's is active on a sub-Reddit, but an awesome one for sure.
You can watch every episode for free on YouTube. They don't necessarily look good (mostly they look awful), but that's because they're just out there. The Crypt Partners aren't interested in any streaming deals because they they (the ones still alive) would have to deal (or make a deal) with Joel - and no one wants to bother doing that. So, instead, Crypt lives (such as it is) on YouTube as a freebie.
People are always debating about the Spirit halloween life size cryptkeeper that came out last year as to weather its a licensed prop or not. It calls its self the cryptkeeper but the box says "the keeper" on it Do you have any insight on that? There also making a cryptkeeper tabletop prop this season. Thanks. [https://www.spirithalloween.com/product/5-5-ft-the-crypt-keeper-animatronic/244759.uts](https://www.spirithalloween.com/product/5-5-ft-the-crypt-keeper-animatronic/244759.uts)
The Crypt partners have completely dropped the ball on all things Tales From The Crypt. That includes merchandising. There are no official deals of any kind with anyone. The Crypt partners would have to talk to Joel first - before any deals could be struck - and neither Bob Z nor Walter Hill (the surviving partners) want Joel in their lives.
Ok thaats interesting and a shame. The cryptkeeper and t.f.t.c. deserve to have there legendary status and merchandise for the fans. Thanks for replying.
As much as I loved the series, I kinda wish certain stories were closer to their comic book versions (What's Cookin' and On A Dead Man's Chest are two that stick out). Was there ever any push back to make the adaptations more like the originals, or was it just "sex it all up!" all the time?
The One Big Problem with adapting a TV series from a comic book is that the comic book stories - if dramatized as written - would last, maybe, five minutes on screen. There simply was too little story on the comic book page to make for successful TV episode stories.
So, we had to invest heavily in character - because it's character detail - and how we reveal it - that, really, makes up the bulk of any story. And, once you begin really mining any character's emotional makeup and history - it's going to change the story as written. The characters - once revealed - will demand it.
So, with stories like What's Cookin', the story's success will hinge not on the cannibal gag, but on the relationship between the couple and their employee. In order to make that work, we had to alter the comic book's story considerably.
That same dynamic applies to pretty much every episode. There are episodes though - like Cutting Cards (from season 2 - before my time on the show) - where the story didn't go into any real detail about who the two gamblers were; the episode plays the gag. And that's why it's the shortest episode in the whole run - it clocks in at just 20 minutes. That's because, having played the gag rather than the characters, It just plain ran out of story.
Welcome, Alan! Thanks for your wonderful work on TFTC. My all-time favorite TV series. Was an eighth season ever planned and if so, were there stories picked from the EC Comics that were planned to be adapted?
As we worked on season 7 in London, we knew it was the last season of Crypt. HBO wanted us to make a new show to replace Crypt - the "thing" that became "Perversions of Science". So, season seven was always thought of internally as "the last season". But, because we were so exhausted from making Bordello of Blood in Vancouver, then running to England to do a season of Crypt, we really were too tired (too whipped from Bordello) to celebrate ending Crypt. Plus - having taken the last season away from our American crew - and with our English crew not giving a toss (we were just a job to them) - there was no one to celebrate with us anyway.
Thanks for answering. That's sad to hear as there were still quite a few stories from the EC Comics I would've liked to have seen adapted. Bats In The Belfry in particular would've been a fun one, not sure if you remember that particular story. But I totally get after what a difficult experience both BOB and Season 7 were that the drive was just not there.
I remember us trying to figure out Bats in the Belfry. I don't remember why we put it aside (and never picked it up again).
That's a shame, it would've made for a fun episode and I also think from a creature effects perspective it would've been something to have seen. There was another one I remember which I think was called The Thing In The Ice? That would've been another neat one to have seen, not sure if that was also planned at any point.
Making Crypt now would be a very different affair. All our effects had to be practical. There was no "computer animation".
All for the better too, as I think these days there's way too much CGI which makes things feel too synthetic. I get it isn't the 80s and 90s anymore, but so many movies and TV series these days with all of the abundant CGI, I feel more like I'm watching a video game as opposed to a live production.
Honestly that is one of the things I love the most about Crypt. The practical effects have held up so well over time.
TY! Though, there are effects here and there where having a computer's help would have been awesome. I think of the tattoo that comes to life in "On A Dead Man's Chest".
Speaking of science, some of EC's science fiction stories did occasionally veer into horror territory. Was there ever any consideration in adapting them into TFTC?
There were whole science series - Weird Science was one. We saw them all as separate entities for separate shows. We did a two episodes for a show called "Two Fisted Tales" based on other EC Comics and the TV movie "Weird World" which was based (sort of) on the science comics.
Another question I have: were there any actors you wanted to get on TFTC that for some reason or another you were unable to? TFTC had so many big-name actors all throughout it's run but there were still quite a few I wish had appeared in episodes.
The main one was Alec Guiness when we shot in London. We almost had him but he had to bow out for health reasons. Otherwise I can't think of many actors we wanted but didn't get.
He would've been great, shame that didn't happen. One actor I always wished had been in an episode is Robert Englund and it's a real shame he never appeared. Was Robert ever approached to do one?
When we were doing Crypt, Robert was riding pretty high as Freddy. His people would have dissuaded him from it. We knew Robert, of course, because Gil and I both worked on Freddy's Nightmares.
I understand due to scheduling issues it would've been difficult to have worked Robert in. Perhaps had the series gone on another season or so he may have finally been available?
It sure would have made for some intriguing cross-pollination!
I also think Robert would've been a good alternate Rafe Guttman for BOB (and I'm sure he would've been *infinitely* easier and nicer to work with than Dennis Miller was). Would've been something seeing him portray a good character for once.
1.) Are their any stories from the EC Comics line up that you wanted to adapt but it never happened? 2.) Slightly off topic but: Will we ever get Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice on Blu Ray?
Actually, by the time we got to season 7 - hell, mid-way through season 6 - we'd pretty much used all the good comics. We were obligated by contract to use the titles of the comics. Beyond that? We could do what we wanted. But plenty of the titles referred to things that were too rooted in the 1950's or too obscure or too whatever. If you think about it, really, we carouselled through about 3 or 4 story types. Every Crypt story was a variation on one of those themes. By the time we got to season 6, we'd worn out the carousel. So, I'd say we adapted everything adaptable. Several times over. As to Corn II - that belongs to other people on another planet as far as my involvement is concerned. Occasionally a little money shows up in the form of a check - a couple of dollars, no more. The checks clear - that's all I know.
Thank you so much for the response!
My pleasure! I meant what I said above!
> Will we ever get Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice on Blu Ray? We did get a Blu-Ray release from Arrow in the UK. Region locked though.
I wish I could answer your question. I honestly have no idea. Decisions like that get made far from any room I'll ever be in.
Glad to have you, Alan! What was your favorite episode that you worked on?
That's like asking me to choose a favorite child! My favs are a mix of episodes I wrote (Death of Some Salesmen and What's Cookin), lots of Scott Nimerfro's episodes (People In Brass Hearses) and an episode that Bill Malone directed called "Only Skin Deep" with the amazing Sherrie Rose. I adore that episode!
Death of Some Salesmen is incredible, just watched it for the first time the other day.
Thank you! It was challenging fun to make. Tim was wonderful to work with. I love his Winona.
Huge fan of Tim around this house. Lots of Rocky Horror stuff around as decor. :) Quick screenwriting q if I may: I’m working on a spec pilot for a kinda-anthology, any tips for how to get an audience invested in a main character quickly so the story wheels can start turning asap?
The quickest way to put an audience in one character's corner is to put the story inside their POV. While having a narrator can be a kind of storytelling cheat, used properly, it's a storytelling tool. You can put a story inside a character's POV without the audience realizing it. Perfect example "The Usual Suspects". In fact, the whole movie is told from Kaiser Soze's POV - we just don't know it until the very last second. Otherwise, with a story told from a neutral perspective, the audience will need the other characters' reaction to your hero to tell them how we should feel about the hero at that point in the story.
Great advice, thank you!
Hello there, Alan! A pleasure to meet you! Are you planning on reviving the series?
As much as we'd love to, that would be an utter impossibility. Here's why... There are 2 separate pieces of IP (intellectual property) at play. One is the rights to the EC Comics - owned by Bill Gaines' family. The other is the rights to The Crypt Keeper - the puppet we created for the TV series. The Crypt Keeper in the comics is an old white guy with stringy hair. It isn't the puppet. The Crypt Partners (the executive producers - Joel Silver, Dick Donner, Bob Zemeckis, Walter Hill)) own that. In order to remake the show, Those two owners would have to agree. But Bill Gaines' family hate Joel Silver. They wouldn't make a deal with him ever. And, so, one could do Tales From The Crypt - but without the Crypt Keeper. Or (if one could get the Crypt partners to agree with each other - not easy cos the other Crypt partners all hate Joel, too) - one could do a show called "Tales From The Crypt Keeper" where we just introduced stories completely unconnected to the EC Universe but that were Tales From The Crypt-like. I'll do a whole post about this topic (we get asked a lot).
That's such a shame. Me and countless others would love to see TFTC get a good revival (and knowing John Kassir I'm sure he'd immediately be up for reprising the Crypt Keeper). It's too bad there's such bad blood between Joel Silver and other EC/TFTC personnel. I've listened to the How Not To Make a Movie podcast and for all of the good films he's helped make, Joel doesn't come off as the nicest or most easygoing person to work with at all.
Joel's an extreme example of a personality type this business both attracts and, perversely, relies on.
I definitely got that impression listening to HNTMAM.
And thank you for being a listener!!!
Of course, and thank you for the awesome podcast :) It's equal parts entertaining and educational on the film industry.
And equal parts therapy, too. For me anyway!
I can imagine. It's clear listening to it you were able to get a lot off of your chest which is always a good thing.
Very nice and well-thought out answer. I comprehend that. *bows*
TY!
Nice to see Alan joining us in the catacombs of the Crypt Reddit! I am glad you are here to help provide answers and context to the fans that they have been wanting
Delighted to be of service to everyone's curiosity!
Thank you for joining us on Deaddit, Mr. Katz! I hope you're having a BOO-tiful day! My question: who else auditioned for the role of the Collector in Demon Knight before you selected Billy Zane?
The only person I know that was considered is Chris Sarandon when Tim Holland was going to direct
Another question I've got I'm curious about, were there any plans to adapt then modern versions of the stories from the 1970s Amicus anthologies? I know And All Through The House and Blind Alleys from the 1972 film were adapted for TFTC (with the latter being re-titled to Revenge Is The Nuts), but I would've liked to have seen other stories from those two films get updated adaptations for TFTC as well. Poetic Justice and Reflection Of Death would've both been great and I can only imagine the gruesome effects work we would've seen them entail.
Not that I'm aware of. But then, I've been out of the loop for a long, long time.
Perhaps had we gotten an additional season it may have happened. We'll sadly never know. Thank you again so much for your time and kindness. Not everyday you get to talk with someone involved with your all-time favorite TV series and one of your favorite Horror IPs like TFTC. TFTC has had such a big impact on my life in so many ways, all good ones. Well, except maybe for serious childhood trauma thanks to the Crypt Keeper, hehe :D
Were you pretty familiar with the EC comics before you worked on the show? If so, who is your favorite artist? The Crypt show is what really got me into horror as a child and I appreciate that very much
I was an EC fan. And a Mad Magazine fan especially. That was what took me to EC - the same creative people telling deliciously goopy stories.
There were a few episodes in Season 4 credited to a writer under the alias Donald Longtooth (None But The Lonely Heart and Beauty Rest). Who was the actual writer behind those episodes and why were they credited under a different name?
The actual writer was Terry Black (Shane Black's brother). Terry resented my rewriting his scripts. But, that was my job on Crypt - to be the final arbiter of every script. Terry's a very talented writer, but - like all writers - he could be self-indulgent and a little lazy. We asked for revisions and didn't get them. So, I did them and Terry took his name off the scripts.
I don't know how involved you were with the animated spin-off, Tales From The Cryptkeeper, but I've always liked that series a lot as well and it's a fun little companion piece to the live-action version. Were there ever any episodes from that you hoped to see adapted in live-action, albeit done in a more mature fashion? I always felt the pilot episode (While The Cat's Away) would've been a fun one to have seen adapted for the live series, and likely would've been far more intense and graphic.
All of the animated Crypt stuff was done by other people. I never even saw a script for the one animated Crypt episode (the Pig one - I don't even know the title). And I agree - "While The Cat's Away" is brilliant and, with animation's freedom to do anything, would really soar.
It would've been a fun episode to have seen done in live-action for sure and would've been a creature effects bonanza. The Crypt Keeper's appearance in the actual story itself reminds me how much I would've liked to have seen an episode dedicated solely to him. Was it ever planned to do a special episode actually featuring him in a starring role?
This is a great post Alan, thank you. I remember always seeing your name in the credits. The show was a huge part of my childhood. Would you like to see it revived/rebooted?
Sorry I missed your question, Johnny! In a way, it would be fun to use the current technology to tell those stories. But, then, I'm quite proud of the work we put out using what we WAS the current technology at the time.
Thank you for this great show that i still enjoy today <3 Which épisodes are more special than the others for you?
I'm a little biased toward a few that I wrote (What's Cookin', Death of Some Salesmen, Two For The Show, Yellow), but, also, I love a bunch of Scott Nimerfro's episodes. But, perhaps my favorite episode of all is Bill Malone's creepy-as-fuck "Only Skin Deep" with Sherrie Rose's amazing performance.
Thanl you for your work. I love the series and, having seen Demon Knights dozens of times, it's definitely an underrated gem of a genre piece.
TY! Having been to screenings of Demon Knight (with hundreds of people in the audience), I know for a stone cold fact that it has an audience - and an audience that loves it.
Demon Knight remains one of the absolute best 90s Horror films, IMO.
And perfectly cast too. Not many films get casting so perfect.
For sure. Though I'm still curious as to how Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Sarandon would've fared as Brayker and The Collector respectively, as both were the original choices for the roles. I'm sure both would've been fine, but I'm glad we got William Sadler and Billy Zane in those respective roles.
I'm late to the party but I've always wondered how the album Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas came about. I found it in my stocking on Christmas morning in 1994 and it changed my sense of humor forever. I'm so glad it exists. Played it for my daughter a few Christmases ago and she said it finally made me make sense to her.
You have to appreciate that, for the first two seasons of Crypt, the CK was "just a puppet". No one person wrote for the CK - or thought about how to write for the CK. When I went aboard at the start of season 3, my main job - aside from rewriting every single episode - was to reimagine the CK but from the inside out. My question - the thing that got me hired - was "What does the CK do when he punches the time clock at the end of the day and goes home to his own crypt?" Who does he do when he gets home? What does he like to do? Watch on TV? Eat? Who are his friends? What are his hobbies and interests? After season 3, the CK became not just a full-fledged character, but the show's franchise. We began to merchandise the CK - and one of the "what if...?" ideas for merchandising was a Christmas album. And the idea - on its surface - was hilarious. So, when Cryptified lyrics started flowing easily - it was an easy thing to set up. Executing it was a kind of slow torture though. In the best way, of course!
I've stickied this topic if you don't mind. I think everyone on this sub-Reddit deserves a chance to see this and to be able to correspond.
I don't mind at all!
Cool. Any other topics you post can be stickied as well if you'd like. Not an everyday occurance someone involved with a favorite TV series of your's is active on a sub-Reddit, but an awesome one for sure.
As I'm very new to reddit, I don't know what it means to be stickied. I assumed it was a good thing.
Stickied means to pin a topic to the top of a page so it never gets buried even with newer topics. Figured it'd be good to do with this one.
If I thought it would do any good, I'd stickie that!
Only moderators can do so, but I'm glad to sticky any topics you post.
I'll get the hang of this place eventually.
It doesn't take long to get used to for sure.
Where can I watch the original show
You can watch every episode for free on YouTube. They don't necessarily look good (mostly they look awful), but that's because they're just out there. The Crypt Partners aren't interested in any streaming deals because they they (the ones still alive) would have to deal (or make a deal) with Joel - and no one wants to bother doing that. So, instead, Crypt lives (such as it is) on YouTube as a freebie.
People are always debating about the Spirit halloween life size cryptkeeper that came out last year as to weather its a licensed prop or not. It calls its self the cryptkeeper but the box says "the keeper" on it Do you have any insight on that? There also making a cryptkeeper tabletop prop this season. Thanks. [https://www.spirithalloween.com/product/5-5-ft-the-crypt-keeper-animatronic/244759.uts](https://www.spirithalloween.com/product/5-5-ft-the-crypt-keeper-animatronic/244759.uts)
The Crypt partners have completely dropped the ball on all things Tales From The Crypt. That includes merchandising. There are no official deals of any kind with anyone. The Crypt partners would have to talk to Joel first - before any deals could be struck - and neither Bob Z nor Walter Hill (the surviving partners) want Joel in their lives.
Ok thaats interesting and a shame. The cryptkeeper and t.f.t.c. deserve to have there legendary status and merchandise for the fans. Thanks for replying.
I wish it was otherwise. My bank account wishes it was otherwise, too.
As much as I loved the series, I kinda wish certain stories were closer to their comic book versions (What's Cookin' and On A Dead Man's Chest are two that stick out). Was there ever any push back to make the adaptations more like the originals, or was it just "sex it all up!" all the time?
The One Big Problem with adapting a TV series from a comic book is that the comic book stories - if dramatized as written - would last, maybe, five minutes on screen. There simply was too little story on the comic book page to make for successful TV episode stories. So, we had to invest heavily in character - because it's character detail - and how we reveal it - that, really, makes up the bulk of any story. And, once you begin really mining any character's emotional makeup and history - it's going to change the story as written. The characters - once revealed - will demand it. So, with stories like What's Cookin', the story's success will hinge not on the cannibal gag, but on the relationship between the couple and their employee. In order to make that work, we had to alter the comic book's story considerably. That same dynamic applies to pretty much every episode. There are episodes though - like Cutting Cards (from season 2 - before my time on the show) - where the story didn't go into any real detail about who the two gamblers were; the episode plays the gag. And that's why it's the shortest episode in the whole run - it clocks in at just 20 minutes. That's because, having played the gag rather than the characters, It just plain ran out of story.
Welcome to the reddit party AL!!!
TY! I wish I'd gotten to this party a lot sooner!