“Hello, Boils and Ghouls!”
The Crypt Keeper from “Tales from the Crypt” is about to pop out from his coffin soon because according to Variety, the iconic horror anthology series will be getting a reboot treatment at TNT.
“Tales from the Crypt” is an American horror anthology TV series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on premium cable channel HBO. It aired 7 seasons with a total of 93 episodes.
Its title is based on William Gaines’ 1950s EC Comics series of the same name and most of the content originated in that comic or the 6 other EC Comics of the time (“The Crypt of Terror”, “Haunt of Fear”, “Vault of Horror”, “Crime SuspenStories”, “Shock SuspenStories”, and “Two-Fisted Tales”).
An animated version of the show was created in 1993 as well, but some of the adult content from the original series were stripped off as it was aimed at younger audiences. The Crypt Keeper, the host of both shows, were voiced by John Kassir.
Since most episodes of the original show would end with unexpected twists, the upcoming reboot series is expected to return with more twists because M. Night Shyamalan will be curating and producing it.
Shyamalan is best known for the unexpected “twist” at the end of his films such as “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs”. He agreed to partner up with TNT to curate the 2-hour block’s combination long and short form programming, with The “Tales from the Crypt” reboot as the centerpiece. He is producing it with his partner at Binding Edge Pictures, Ashwin Rajan.
Plots of the reboot series will not be based on the long-running HBO series. Instead, it will be based on the original EC Comics series along with new stories.
In a statement, the Oscar-nominated writer-director said:
To be part of such a beloved brand like “Tales from the Crypt,’ something I grew up watching, and to also have the chance to push the boundaries of genre television as a whole, is an inspiring opportunity that I can’t wait to dive into.
During his executive session at Television Critics Association on Thursday in Pasadena, California, TNT president Kevin Reilly also said:
It is an umbrella for what hopefully will be many shows. We’re going to put a variety of different genre shows, some of which may have a weird sense of humor, some of which may be actually downright frightening, some of which may be a unique blend of genres, but all united under the “Tales From the Crypt” brand.
“Night is definitely going to direct, most likely the first one, and we’ll see how that evolves,” he added.
According to Reilly, TNT has “about 4 properties in the development pipeline to move through this.” He said the “Tales from the Crypt” episodes will be an hour each. Additional series will be added in the coming months.
Sarah Aubrey, TNT’s EVP of original programming, said in a statement:
This … horror block demonstrates not only TNT’s commitment to working with today’s top talents, but also our strategy to stand out in today’s marketplace by challenging the conventional rules of programming and scheduling.
TNT’s new horror block will premiere in fall 2016.
