Amazing Stories (1985 TV series)

The elderly "Opa" Clyde Globe (Roberts Blossom) disapproves of his son Fenton (Scott Paulin) building a new country home on the site where he accidentally caused a train, the Highball Express, to derail 75 years ago. Opa believes that his destiny is to get on board the train when it comes back, telling his young grandson to be cautious as it will careen through the house.

Also starring Gail Edwards, Lukas Haas, and Renny Roker.

High school jock Brad Bender (Scott Clough), in the running for Prom King and feeling too cool for the nerdy and persistent Shirley Crater (Lisa Jane Persky), is hit by a meteorite during a meteor shower, giving his body magnetic properties.

Also starring Richard Bull, Barbara Sharma, and Brad Bird.

During the Battle of the Alamo, 15-year-old messenger boy Jobe Farnum (Kelly Reno) is tasked with delivering a message from Colonel William Travis (William Boyett) to John Lefferts (Michael Cavanaugh). Before he is killed in a bout of crossfire, Jobe manages to travel through time to San Antonio, 1985, where he draws the attention of everyone around him as he tries to find Lefferts.

Also starring Lurene Tuttle, Richard Young, Robert V. Barron and Benji Gregory.

Harold (Tom Harrison), an actor playing a mummy in a horror movie being filmed in the deep South, hears that his pregnant wife has gone into early labor. Unable to take his constricting costume off, he rushes to the hospital through any mode of transportation he can find. Some locals mistake him for Ra Amin Ka, an actual mummy of local legend, and form a posse to pursue him. What no one knows is that the actual Ra Amin Ka is also out and about.

Also starring Bronson Pinchot, Brion James, Tracey Walter, William Frankfather, Larry Hankin, Len Lesser, Billy Beck, and Elden Henson.

Johnathan (Casey Siemaszko), a courageous ball turret gunner and aspiring cartoonist, is trapped in the belly gun of his company's Boeing B-17 (named "Friendly Persuasion") after a firefight. With the landing gear damaged, the only other way the plane can land is if the crew parachute out as it crashes, inevitably killing him. It's for this reason that Johnathan must rely on his imagination to get out of his predicament.

Also starring Kevin Costner, Kiefer Sutherland, J.J. Cohen, and Peter Jason with Anthony LaPaglia and Gary Riley in a minor role.

The Amazing Falsworth (Gregory Hines), a nightclub magician with psychic abilities, is able to see visions of a trenchcoat-clad person strangling two people with piano wire. Realizing that he's found the infamous Keyboard Killer, Falsworth's fears are intensified when the killer starts focusing exclusively on him.

Also starring Richard Masur and Don Calfa.

For their science project, three high-schoolers, Andy, Jimmy, and George (Matthew Laborteaux, Gary Riley, and Jim Gatherum), manage to construct an antenna that can pick up interstellar transmissions. Through these transmissions, the trio discover a race of aliens (Debbie Lee Carrington, Daniel Frishman, Patty Maloney, and Kevin Thompson) that have modelled their entire civilization on 1950s television, and learn that these aliens are en route to Earth to meet some of their favorite stars.

Also starring Milton Berle, Vance Colvig, Paul Garner, Happy Hall, and Angelo Rossitto.

Lou Bundles (Sid Caesar), an aging, once-great illusionist, purchases a magical deck of playing cards to put on an amazing final show before he retires, but desperately tries to get them to perform tricks when they appear to lose the magic.

Also starring Leo Rossi, Larry Gelman, and Julius Harris.

In a world where emotions are personified as human beings, the exhausted Guilt (Dom DeLuise) is made to take a cruise for a mandatory vacation, where he meets and grows attracted to Love (Loni Anderson), causing him to begin neglecting his important duties.

Also starring Charles Durning, Charles Nelson Reilly, John Fiedler, Beverly Sanders, Carol Arthur and John D'Aquino.

Walter Poindexter (Sydney Lassick), a henpecked, unhappy, and frustrated man dealing with his nagging wife Grendel (Nancy Parsons) and his incorrigible sons (Jeff Cohen and David Stone), uses TV to escape his miserable existence. When his wife sells his set for a new outfit, Walter buys a newer, more-unusual looking one at a peculiar electronics store. Walter finds that using the set's remote control allows him to bring any character onscreen into the real world, using it to respectively turn his abusive family into June Cleaver, Arnold Jackson, and "Face" (reprised by Barbara Billingsley, Gary Coleman, and Dirk Benedict). Things soon get out of hand when Walter's new "family" earns the ire of some loan sharks.

Also starring Phil Bruns, Lyle Alzado, Jim Lange, Ed McMahon, LaWanda Page, Richard Simmons, Jake Steinfeld, and Sid Haig.

On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus (Douglas Seale) accidentally trips a couple's burglar alarm and is arrested by cynical sheriff Horace Smyvie (Pat Hingle), locked in a prison cell with a trio of drunks dressed like him. With no one believing Santa's claims of who he is, it falls to Bobby Mynes (Gabriel Damon), the 8-year-old son of the couple who had him arrested, to save Christmas by busting Santa out and/or restoring Horace's Christmas spirit.

Also starring Frances Bay.

In the 19th century, talented artist Byron Sullivan (Harvey Keitel) loses his beloved wife Vanessa (Sondra Locke) in a carriage accident. Driven to despair, Byron soon finds a way for Vanessa to live on through his artwork, making plans to paint an entire life for the pair of them.

Also starring Beau Bridges.

Jennifer Mowbray (Mabel King), a babysitter from Jamaica, uses the powers of voodoo to get Lance and Dennis Paxton (Seth Green and Joshua Rudoy), the beleaguering and overactive brothers she's charged with looking after, under control.

Also starring Wendy Phillips, Fran Ryan, and Michael Horse.

In World War II, Arnold Skamp (Larry Spinak), a GI rebuked by his fellow soldiers, becomes a war hero by saving them all with apparent miraculous abilities during the charge on Port Nuovo.

Also starring Charlie Sheen, Ralph Seymour, and Philip McKeon.

Based on the true story of Michael Malloy. During the Great Depression, Michael Malloy (Douglas Seale) is tricked into signing an insurance policy so Tony Maroni (Al Ruscio) and his fellow barflies can collect the money once he drinks himself to death, only to learn that they're dealing with much more than they expected.

Also starring James Cromwell, Geoffrey Lewis, Joe Pantoliano, and Royal Dano.

In the 1930s, an ancient tree troll (David Rappaport) encourages young Johnathan Quick (David Freedman) to pack his comic book collection and follow his dreams after his practical parents (Lois de Banzie and Royal Dano) disapprove of them. As the years roll on, things don't go well for the now-older Johnathan (Mark Hamill), but an opportunity approaches that may allow him to finally get a break.

Also starring William Dear and Forest Whitaker.

Ditzy porn star Sheena Sepulveda (Wendy Schaal) and her sleazy husband Tony (Robert Picardo) move into a house they discover is haunted by the ghosts of its previous owners, the kind-hearted Nelson and Evelyn Chumsky (Eddie Bracken and Evelyn Keyes), who reluctantly try to scare their rude guests away.

Also starring Bruce Davison and Taliesin Jaffe.

Ben Dumfy (Joe Seneca), freshly-awoken from a 40-year coma, is able to mentally communicate with Dorothy (Natalie Gregory), a young girl who is similarly comatose.

Horror novelist Jordan Manmouth (Sam Waterston), known for his huge ego and flagrant dismissal of the supernatural, is soon haunted by a phantom with a misshapen face (Tim Robbins), which appears in any reflective surface he looks at.

Also starring Helen Shaver and Dick Cavett.

A young woman named Jane (Penny Peyser) thoroughly believes that her life is secretly being recorded, influenced, and filmed for an unknown audience.

Also starring Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Griffin Dunne, Eve Arden, Richard Paul and Barry Dennen.

Note: This episode is a remake of Bartel's 1968 short of the same name.

Balding accountant Murray Bernstein (E. Hampton Beagle) recently purchased a hairpiece that drove him to murder three lawyers, prompting inept defense attorney Harry Ballentine (Tony Kientz) to grow fearful with his new client.

Also starring Cindy Morgan and James Avery.

The shy and lonely John Walters (John Lithgow) buys a special doll, handcrafted by a mysterious German toymaker, for his niece Doris (Rain Phoenix). While Doris is less than thrilled by the doll, her uncle embarks on a search for the woman who modelled for it, leading him to the equally lonely teacher Mary Dickenson (Anne Helm).

Elderly college janitor Fred (Leo Penn) finds that his brain can instantly absorb any fact of any subject taught in any classroom he cleans. When this discovery becomes public, he becomes subject to a heated debate among campus professors Rand, Gilbert, and Smith (John Alvin, Gary Berghen, and Ben Kronen) about the abilities and limitations of human intellect, proving to be more than he can handle.

Also starring Joyce Van Patten.

Edwin (Andrew McCarthy) learns that his grandfather, Charlie (Ian Wolfe), very recently died in his sleep, yet that doesn't stop the old man from hanging around his apartment, playing the piano, and swapping stories with his grandmother.

Also starring Herta Ware.

Wax-museum dresser Herbert (Danny DeVito) takes a ring from a statue and gives it to his wife Lois (Rhea Perlman) as an anniversary present, which turns her into a wicked seductress.

Also starring Louis Giambalvo, David Byrd, and Tracey Walter.

While fooling around in chemistry class, luckless-in-love college student Phil (Jon Cryer) spills a chemical element on a picture of a puppy, and brings it to life. He tries using this chemical to bring his pornographic magazines and pin-ups to life so he can finally have a girlfriend, but the results are both surprising and horrifying.

Also starring JoAnn Willette, J.J. Cohen, Lana Clarkson, Galyn Görg, and Rebecca Schaffer.

10-year-old Mark (Taliesin Jaffe) adores his grandfather "Stormin' Norman" (M. Emmet Walsh), who tells him stories and plays baseball with him every Saturday. When "Norman" soon falls ill, Mark uses a magic spell that allows them to swap bodies so the old man can treat him to one last ball game.

Also starring Jeff Cohen.

Teenage horror film buff Harry (David Hollander) has become the subject of concern from his family (Sharon Spelman, Robert L. Gibson, Christina Applegate, and Parker Jacobs) for how out of touch with reality he is, even declining a date offer from a new girl in town (Robyn Lively). Angry that the real world is so dull, Harry wishes he was in the movies, resulting in him being transported to the set of Psycho, where the blood-curdling nature of a certain scene leaves him scrambling to get back to the real world.

Earl Sweet (Charles Durning) races against time as he tries to prevent a Boeing 747 he saw in a nightmare from crashing, just as it did in said nightmare.

Also starring Wil Shriner, Richard Burns, and Tim Russ.

Harried housewife Joan Simmons (Hayley Mills) encounters a large furry creature (performed by Don McLeod, vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) during a storm, which causes havoc with its appetite for inanimate objects.

Also starring Dick Miller.

Eric David Peterson (Patrick Swayze), an inmate on death row, is struck by lightning hours before his execution, and finds that he has been given miraculous healing powers.

Also starring James T. Callahan, Kevin Hagen, and Héctor Elizondo.

High school student Peter Brand (Scott Coffey), utterly obsessed with his sexy classmate Cynthia Simpson (Mary Stuart Masterson), helps his crush cast a spell on their sadistic and tyrannical English teacher B.O. Beanes (Christopher Lloyd), but black magic only seems to make Beanes more powerful.

Also starring Tom Bresnahan and Billy Beck.

On Thanksgiving, the mean-spirited Calvin (David Carradine) and his stepdaughter Dora (Kyra Sedgwick) find treasure in a dry well which is believed to be inhabited by a race of "hole people", which trade this treasure in exchange for things, specifically food.

The rich and miserly Elma Dinnock (Polly Holliday) gains a secret from mysterious botanist Bertram Carver (J. A. Preston) to win the Yarborough Country pumpkin-growing contest against her rival Mildred (June Lockhart) after 22 years of losing to her.

Also starring Ritch Brinkley and Joshua Rudoy.

Little Jonah Kelley (Jake Hart) starts seeing things randomly disappearing to the point where the house becomes sterile, and worries why his status-seeking parents Pamela and Raymond (Clare Kirkconnell and Tom McConnell) are more concerned with their social lives than they are with his problems. An explanation for this phenomenon is only revealed when he meets an expectant mother at a toy store.

Also starring Dennis Haskins and Michael Horse.

Dying scientist John Baldwin (Jeffrey Jones) becomes the first human subject of a test that merges man and machine. The results of this action, unfortunately, bring John unexpected heartaches.

Also starring Katherine Borowitz and Robert Axelrod.

Charlene Benton (Kathy Baker), driving on a stormy night while approaching divorce, gets glimpses of her past through the windshield after she picks up a stranded woman (Priscilla Pointer) along the way.

Duncan Moore (Max Gail), a police officer who lost his young partner DeSoto (Chris Nash) in a supermarket shootout and remains surrounded by the guilt, regains his confidence with the help of his new partner Patty O'Neil (Kate McNeil), a woman who appears invisible to everyone else.

Also starring Sal Viscuso and Richard Epcar.

Sitcom scriptwriter Billy Burliss (Robert Townsend), suffering from writer's block, discovers that one of his houseplants has become sentient after absorbing the rays from a TV set. Since the plant also gained a sense of humor this way, Billy begins using it as a ghostwriter.

Also starring Michael Lerner and Craig Richard Nelson.

The show's only animated episode, serving as the backdoor pilot to the cartoon series of the same name. A dog (voiced by Brad Bird) goes through life with his new family (voiced by Stan Freberg, Annie Potts, Scott Menville, and Brooke Ashley) in three separate vingettes.

Also starring the voices of Jack Angel, Marshall Efron, Mercedes McCambridge, and Stanley Ralph Ross.

Jo-Jo Gillespie (Bob Balaban), a Broadway lyricist/composer desperate to deliver a hit musical, seeks inspiration from the spirit of George Gershwin (Dana Gladstone), summoned from the dead by psychic Sister Teresa (Lainie Kazan). Rumors begin speculating that the phenomenal music Jo-Jo produces isn't his, prompting Jo-Jo to do anything to protect his secret.

Also starring John McCook, Paul Bartel and Carrie Fisher.

The Lewise family, Al, Nel, and Randy (Frederick Coffin, Marcia Strassman and Ian Fried), suspect that their new neighbors, Ann, Ted, and Brad Hellenbeck (Victoria Caitlin, Adam Ant, and Ryan McWhorter), are behind various disturbances in the neighborhood, such as mysterious animals, sudden earthquakes, and time to start warping and repeating.

George Willoughby (Billy "Green" Bush) and his dying wife Kathryn (Dianne Hull) are comforted by Diana (Gennie James), the daughter they had lost in the woods 40 years ago, and never stopped believing would appear one last time before they passed on.

Alan Webster (Stephen Geoffreys) learns that he and his parents, Mara and Val (Mary Ellen Trainor and Dennis Lipscomb) are moving. Alan is understandably upset with this major change, but is surprised to learn that they intend to move to the planet Alturus, 85 billion miles from Earth.

A sentient plant-like alien known as "Cabbage Man" ("Weird Al" Yankovic) threatens to destroy the Earth if the Miss Stardust beauty pageant doesn't allow contestants from other worlds to compete. This causes public relations worker Joe Willoughby (Dick Shawn) to give in to his demands, and hurriedly allow interplanetary beings to compete in the pageant.

Also starring Laraine Newman, Rick Overton, Jack Carter, James Karen, Jim Siedow, and Angel Tompkins.