Monsters (TV series)

Monsters was a syndicated TV series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and was probably most popular for its post-production run on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s.

Related Topics:
Syndicated - TV series - 1988 - 1991 - Sci-Fi Channel - 1990s

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A horror anthology show in a similar vein to Tales from the Darkside, it shared the same producer, Richard Rubenstein, and in some ways succeeded the show (which had ended the same year in which Monsters began). It differed in some respects nonetheless. While Tales often dabbled in stories of science fiction and fantasy, this series was more strictly horror. As the name implies, each episode of Monsters featured a different monster which the story concerned, from the animatronic puppet of a fictional children's television program to mutated, weapon-wielding lab rats.

Related Topics:
Horror - Anthology - Tales from the Darkside - Science fiction - Fantasy - Animatronic - Puppet

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Similar to Tales, however, the stories in Monsters were rarely very straightforward action plots and often contained some ironic twist in which a character's conceit or greed would do him in, often with gruesome results. Adding to this was a sense of comedy often lost on horror productions which might in some instances lighten the audience's mood (often deceptively) but in many cases added to the overall eeriness of the production. For instance, the introduction of the show is a perverse take on a sitcom intro which begins with an aerial view of a neighborhood drawing closer to what seems to be merely a typical suburban home. The camera enters this seemingly innocuous setting as the family inside is discussing what to watch on television. They are revealed to be hideous humanoid creatures with an abnormal number of eyes and elongated, deformed faces who snack on candied insects, yet they are all dressed in very human-looking clothing and live with typical affluent suburban surroundings. The mother eyes what is on the television, "It's Monsters, our favorite show!" to which the daughter remarks, "Shh, it's starting," while the camera zooms in to the father's face, a sinister, dark laugh ending the segment.

Related Topics:
Plot - Ironic - Comedy - Sitcom - Suburb - Camera - Humanoid - Creature

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In this way, the show avoided memorable opening narration (or indeed any at all) at the same time as it has both set the mood and attempted to throw the audience for a bit of a loop.

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