Everything old is relentlessly new again, especially now that we live with way too many streaming services, each of which constantly needs new content. So it was probably inevitable that Steven Spielberg would eventually get around to dusting off Amazing Stories, his beloved (though semi-short-lived) anthology program from the mid-’80s. A reboot was attempted a few years back, and while that stab never saw the light, the one soon hitting Apple TV, did. And here, only a couple weeks out, is a trailer to prove it.
Amazing Stories was like a more lighthearted Twilight Zone, with fantastical tales that usually (though not always) ended on a Spielbergian upbeat. The ad doesn’t get too into specifics, instead having its cast — which includes Sasha Lane, Ed Burns, Jacob Latimore, Austin Stowell, and Victoria Pendretti — do the Spielberg Look: that wide-eyed, open-mouthing gape at something spectacular and world-changing just off-screen.
The original show aired for two seasons between 1985 and 1987, around the time of the first Twilight Zone revival. The Spielberg name attracted a lot of big names; one episode called “The Mission,” helmed by Spielberg personally, starred Kevin Costner, Kiefer Sutherland, and Anthony LaPaglia. Will the revival keep the original’s grim-yet-sentimental vibe? Or will it reflect the times and go bleak-o-rama? And will it feature a performance as deranged as the one where Christopher Lloyd is a tyrannical English teacher?
The first batch of Amazing Stories stories hits Apple TV on March 6.
