|
|
Post by ripper on Jan 7, 2013 20:33:37 GMT
Ghost Story was a short-lived supernatural anthology series that first aired on the US NBC channel in 1972. There were 14 episodes including a pilot before low ratings resulted in a change of title to Circle of Fear, which lasted for a further 9 episodes.
Ghost Story was hosted by Sebastian Cabot as Winston Essex, manager or proprietor of a mysterious hotel called Mansfield House. The series had William Castle as executive producer. When the series changed to Circle of Fear the Winston Essex character and Mansfield House location were dropped.
I don't remember seeing this on UK television in 1972, but caught it on several re-runs later in the decade and also in the 1980s, although I am not sure if it was broadcast on the BBC or ITV. I preferred the series when it was Ghost Story. It had a creepy opening sequence and I liked the hosting by Sebastian Cabot. Some episodes that spring to mind include a concrete block on a lonely shore which contained the body of a sea captain and had a harpoon through the block I think. There was an episode with a TV set that could show future events. In one episode a boy creates an evil doppelganger, who proceeds to murder people. I also seem to remember episodes with vampires and were-beasts. The Circle of Fear episodes are very hazy in my memory. All I can recall is that there were lots of circles in the opening titles. The last time I saw the Ghost Story/Circle of Fear series being transmitted was around 1996 on Bravo, though I did not see it as we didn't have Sky. It is far less well remembered than its contemporary, Night Gallery, but had some decent guest stars; I remember seeing Doug McClure, Carolyn Jones, Jason Robards and Helen Hayes.
|
|
|
|
Post by doug on Jan 7, 2013 20:50:42 GMT
Ghost Story was a short-lived supernatural anthology series that first aired on the US NBC channel in 1972. There were 14 episodes including a pilot before low ratings resulted in a change of title to Circle of Fear, which lasted for a further 9 episodes. Ghost Story was hosted by Sebastian Cabot as Winston Essex, manager or proprietor of a mysterious hotel called Mansfield House. The series had William Castle as executive producer. When the series changed to Circle of Fear the Winston Essex character and Mansfield House location were dropped. I don't remember seeing this on UK television in 1972, but caught it on several re-runs later in the decade and also in the 1980s, although I am not sure if it was broadcast on the BBC or ITV. I preferred the series when it was Ghost Story. It had a creepy opening sequence and I liked the hosting by Sebastian Cabot. Some episodes that spring to mind include a concrete block on a lonely shore which contained the body of a sea captain and had a harpoon through the block I think. There was an episode with a TV set that could show future events. In one episode a boy creates an evil doppelganger, who proceeds to murder people. I also seem to remember episodes with vampires and were-beasts. The Circle of Fear episodes are very hazy in my memory. All I can recall is that there were lots of circles in the opening titles. The last time I saw the Ghost Story/Circle of Fear series being transmitted was around 1996 on Bravo, though I did not see it as we didn't have Sky. It is far less well remembered than its contemporary, Night Gallery, but had some decent guest stars; I remember seeing Doug McClure, Carolyn Jones, Jason Robards and Helen Hayes. All that I can remeber is that I enjoyed it as a kid back then. Take care. Doug |
|
|
|
Post by mcannon on Jan 8, 2013 9:09:05 GMT
>>Ghost Story was hosted by Sebastian Cabot as Winston Essex, manager or proprietor of a mysterious hotel called Mansfield House. The series had William Castle as executive producer. When the series changed to Circle of Fear the Winston Essex character and Mansfield House location were dropped. >>
I recall seeing this on late-night Australian TV back circa 1972 or 73. I have no real memory of the stories, other than enjoying them, though I clearly remember Mr French - sorry, Sebastian Cabot - as host (come to think of it, Mrs Beasley, Buffy's creepy favorite doll from Sebastian's sitcom "Family Affair", would have made a good devil-doll companion for him on this show). I recall enjoying the show, though, and picked up a bootleg set a year or so back - but as yet, haven't watched a single episode! Of course, I have a large stack of other DVDs of which I could say the same.....
A few months back I saw mention of a legitimate, print-on-demand set of the show being released in the USA at a ludicrous price, but I've no idea whether it was ever actually made available.
MarkC
|
|
|
|
Post by mcannon on Jan 8, 2013 9:09:32 GMT
>>Ghost Story was hosted by Sebastian Cabot as Winston Essex, manager or proprietor of a mysterious hotel called Mansfield House. The series had William Castle as executive producer. When the series changed to Circle of Fear the Winston Essex character and Mansfield House location were dropped. >>
I recall seeing this on late-night Australian TV back circa 1972 or 73. I have no real memory of the stories, other than enjoying them, though I clearly remember Mr French - sorry, Sebastian Cabot - as host (come to think of it, Mrs Beasley, Buffy's creepy favorite doll from Sebastian's sitcom "Family Affair", would have made a good devil-doll companion for him on this show). I recall enjoying the show, though, and picked up a bootleg set a year or so back - but as yet, haven't watched a single episode! Of course, I have a large stack of other DVDs of which I could say the same.....
A few months back I saw mention of a legitimate, print-on-demand set of the show being released in the USA at a ludicrous price, but I've no idea whether it was ever actually made available.
MarkC
|
|
|
|
Post by ripper on Jan 8, 2013 10:45:07 GMT
It's a shame that Ghost Story isn't better known and more widely available as it struck me as being a decent little anthology series, particularly when Sebastian Cabot was acting as host. A very young Jodie Foster starred in one episode, though I don't remember that particular one. I think that I also saw that site with the print-on-demand dvds of the series but, as you say, the prices were pretty steep. Perhaps one day there will be a reasonably-priced official release. Yes, the doll from Family Affair was rather creepy :-).
|
|
|
|
Post by mcannon on Jan 9, 2013 7:53:13 GMT
ripper :
>>It's a shame that Ghost Story isn't better known and more widely available as it struck me as being a decent little anthology series, particularly when Sebastian Cabot was acting as host. A very young Jodie Foster starred in one episode, though I don't remember that particular one. I think that I also saw that site with the print-on-demand dvds of the series but, as you say, the prices were pretty steep. Perhaps one day there will be a reasonably-priced official release. Yes, the doll from Family Affair was rather creepy :-).>>
Young Jodie certainly got around. There's an episode of "Ironside", probably made around the same time, in which she plays a young girl interested in witchcraft who becomes convinced that she's caused terrible things to happen. It's notable because Rod Serling also appears as the manager of a "witchcraft shop"!
MarkC
|
|
|
|
Post by ripper on Jan 10, 2013 10:07:32 GMT
Jodie Foster was kept pretty busy in the early 1970s with various TV appearances before she hit the big time. Pamela Franklin, who starred in Legend of Hell House, was also a guest star on Ghost Story. I always liked her as an actress and thought she was very good in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
|
|
