swag

See, this is why conventions are so good: you find items like the complete series Tales From the Darkside on DVD. 4 seasons! 7 discs! 90 episodes! Mama like.

I loooooved this show when it was on back in the day- back in the 1983 day, y'all. And though I'm a little loathe to admit it, something about the music and voiceover at the beginning creeped me out quite a bit. There was always something a little more sinister, a little less goofy about this show than its contemporaries and followers such as Ray Bradbury Theatre, Tales from the Crypt, and Monsters. That could just be me, though- I was young. And hell, if I can be scared by Track of the Moon Beast, I can be scared by anything.

Watching this show as an adult, it's fun to pick out obscure names and faces in each episode, names and faces I didn't know so much as a kid. I've only watched a couple of episodes so far and already I've encountered George Romero (the show's Executive Producer and sometimes writer), Vic Tayback (Vic Tayback, dingy!), Keenan Wynn (that's Digger Barnes #2 on Dallas if you're nasty), Billy Jacoby (Curtis from Bloody Birthday), and Armand Mastroianni (director of He Knows You're Alone). It's a veritable gold mine of stars! If such a thing is possible.

When I was contemplating whether or not to purchase this little box set (the contemplation didn't take long, trust me), I found a curious thing on the back of the case. See if you can find it.

No? Maybe you need a close-up of what's actually the biggest picture on the box:

Umm...that's David and Victoria Beckham. On the box for Tales from the Darkside. I pointed it out to the vendor and asked if there was maybe a Tales anniversary variety show that featured the Spice Girls, one that I was unaware of- the show ended in 1988, after all, when the Spice Girls were, like, four. "Hmm," he replied, "I don't know why that's on there."

I guess they're there to add a Touch of Class. I mean, he is holding a top hat, after all.