Scott Edelman: Television Writing
Tales From the Darkside
We like to think that we have control of our lives, but so much of life happens by accident. I ended up writing for the syndicated TV series Tales From the Darkside not because of any conscious plan, but due to a series of coincidences.
Tom Allen, the Story Editor for the show, liked the comic-book stories I was writing at the time for such DC Comics titles as House of Mystery and House of Secrets. He had been talking with other members of the staff about contacting me to see whether I would consider trying to write the same sort of twist-ending tales for them. Tom Allen happened to work at the Village Voice, which was across the street from the SF bookshop Forbidden Planet, which sold copies of Last Wave magazine, which I published and edited. Browsing through the store on his lunch hour, Tom saw a copy of Last Wave , realized that he now had a way to conatct me, and so wrote me a letter suggesting a meeting. Without this string of coincidences, the opportunity would never have arisen.
We met over Chinese food at the offices of the Village Voice, and I agreed to try to think up some stories for him. This partnership resulted in three episodes of the show. "Fear of Floating," starring Yeardley Smith, the voice of Bart Simpson, first aired on May 25, 1986. "Baker's Dozen," starring Mabel King and Larry Manetti, was first shown on November 23, 1986. "My Ghost Writer, the Vampire," adapted from one of the comic-book stories that initially brought me to his attention, first aired February 1, 1987. Jeff Conaway played a hack horror writer, while Roy Dotrice was the vampire who traded vampiric knowledge for a place to spend his days. Unfortunately, I have no stills from any of these episodes, so the show's logo will have to serve.