Amazing Stories: Season 1
1985 · 24 episodes · ★ 6.8
What Season 1 of Amazing Stories
Tales of the Unexpected premiered on NBC in 1985 with a simple premise: each week, a new story set in Los Angeles, with no common thread tying the episodes together. The first season brings together stories with light humor and others that are more dramatic, always with a touch of fantasy. A grandfather convinced his destiny is tied to a ghost train, an actor who attends his wife's delivery without taking off his mummy costume, or a university janitor whose brain absorbs unlimited knowledge are some of the story setups. There are no fixed leads: each episode follows different celebrities and aims to surprise viewers with unexpected situations.
Season 1 Episodes
1x01 Ghost Train
Ohpa Globe is happy to see his son's new house, but when he sees that the home is built on ghost train tracks, he changes his focus. To his family's chagrin, he is convinced it is his destiny to die in those cornfields, to board a train he inadvertently caused to crash 75 years ago! He tells his nine-year old grandson he still has his ticket for the old "Highball Express", and that arriving train will careen through their house!
Directed by Steven Spielberg · Written by Frank Deese · Starring Roberts Blossom, Lukas Haas, Gail Edwards, Scott Paulin
1x02 The Main Attraction
Big Man on Campus Brad Bender has no problem attracting people to his charms. But when a meteorite crashes in his neighborhood, his magnetism gets even stronger, sometimes attracting the wrong people... and things.
Directed by Matthew Robbins · Written by Mick Garris, Brad Bird · Starring Lisa Jane Persky, John Scott Clough, Brad Bird, Eric Bruskotter
1x03 Alamo Jobe
During the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, 15-year-old messenger Jobe H. Farnum is about to be killed. He is transported forward in time to San Antonio in 1985. The 1980s prove to be too much for Jobe to handle.
Directing: Michael D. Moore · Writing: Joshua Brand, John Falsey · Starring: Kelly Reno, Jon Van Ness, Richard Young, William Boyett
1x04 Mummy Daddy
An actor who's playing a mummy in a horror film learns that his wife has gone into labor and rushes to be with her – without removing his costume.
Directing: William Dear · Writing: Earl Pomerantz · Starring: Bronson Pinchot, Tom Harrison, Brion James, Tracey Walter
1x05 The Mission
During World War II, men in an air force bomber are caught in a no win scenario when their belly gunner (an amateur artist) is trapped in his seat and the plane has no wheels for landing.
Directing: Steven Spielberg · Writing: Menno Meyjes · Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Casey Siemaszko, Kevin Costner, J.J. Cohen
1x06 The Amazing Falsworth
A psychic showman realizes that during a performance that someone in the audience wants to commit murder. Frightened, he calls the police, and the detective shows up to investigate.
Directing: Peter Hyams · Writing: Mick Garris · Starring: Gregory Hines, Richard Masur, Joseph G. Medalis, Don Calfa
1x07 Fine Tuning
Three high-school kids build an antenna that can catch signals from outer space. They learn that the aliens are big fans of 1950s American television and are coming to Hollywood to meet some of their favorite Earth stars.
Directing: Bob Balaban · Writing: Earl Pomerantz · Starring: Milton Berle, Matthew Labyorteaux, Gary Riley, Debbie Lee Carrington
1x08 Mr. Magic
A fading illusionist has a last shot at greatness thanks to a deck of magic playing cards.
Directing: Donald Petrie · Writing: Joshua Brand, John Falsey · Starring: Sid Caesar, Leo Rossi, Julius Harris, Larry Gelman
1x09 Guilt Trip
The emotion Guilt feels overworked. He takes a vacation cruise and falls for the emotion Love.
Directed by Burt Reynolds · Written by Gail Parent, Kevin Parent · Starring Loni Anderson, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Charles Nelson Reilly
1x10 Remote Control Man
A henpecked man finds comfort in a unique television set that bring lifelike images to him.
Directing: Bob Clark · Writing: Douglas Lloyd McIntosh · Starring: Sydney Lassick, Nancy Parsons, Jeff Cohen, David Stone
1x11 Santa '85
A little boy helps Santa when the legendary man is thrown in jail while delivering presents.
Directed by Phil Joanou · Written by Joshua Brand, John Falsey · Starring Gabriel Damon, Douglas Seale, Frances Bay, Pat Hingle
1x12 Vanessa in the Garden
When an artist is devastated by the death of his wife, he finds a way for her to live on in his painting.
Directing: Clint Eastwood · Writing: Steven Spielberg · Starring: Sondra Locke, Harvey Keitel, Beau Bridges, Randy Oglesby
1x13 The Sitter
Two young boys get the best of every sitter in town, until they meet one who uses voodoo to settle them down.
Directing: Joan Darling · Writing: Mick Garris · Starring: Mabel King, Seth Green, Joshua Rudoy, Wendy Phillips
1x14 No Day at the Beach
A GI tries to be a hero during an amphibious assault in Italy during World War II.
Directing: Lesli Linka Glatter · Writing: Mick Garris · Starring: Charlie Sheen, Larry Spinak, Luca Bercovici, Philip McKeon
1x15 One For the Road
During the Depression, several bar patrons hope to get insurance money by tricking a man into signing a policy with the hope that he will drink himself to death.
Directing: Thomas Carter · Writing: James D. Bissell · Starring: Joe Pantoliano, Geoffrey Lewis, Al Ruscio, James Cromwell
1x16 Gather Ye Acorns
On the advice from a mysterious little man, an 18-year-old boy begins to collect rare comics and toys. When he sells them as an old man, he gains wealth and happiness.
Directed by Norman Reynolds · Written by Stu Krieger · Starring David Rappaport, Mark Hamill, Forest Whitaker, William Dear
1x17 Boo!
Ghosts in an attic try to get rid of a couple who move into their house.
Directed by Joe Dante · Written by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel · Starring Eddie Bracken, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Davison, Andrea Marcovicci
1x18 Dorothy and Ben
After 40 years in a coma, Ben Dumpfy awakens and discovers that he can communicate with a seven-year-old girl who is in a coma after a bike accident.
Directed by Thomas Carter · Written by Michael De Guzman · Starring Natalie Gregory, Joe Seneca, Lane Smith, Louis Giambalvo
1x19 Mirror, Mirror
A popular horror novelist is terrorized by a strange figure in his bathroom mirror.
Directing: Martin Scorsese · Writing: Joseph Minion · Starring: Tim Robbins, Sam Waterston, Dana Gladstone, Dick Cavett
1x20 Secret Cinema
Young everyday woman Jane becomes convinced that someone is recording and influencing her everyday life and that she's become the unwilling star of a secret cinema.
Directed by Paul Bartel · Written by Paul Bartel · Starring Penny Peyser, Eve Arden, Griffin Dunne, Paul Bartel
1x21 Hell Toupee
Defense attorney Harry Ballentine is understandably nervous when his client is mild-mannered accountant Murray Bernstein - who after investing in a strange toupee had felt compelled to murder the first lawyer he saw. Harry goes after it.
Directing: Irvin Kershner · Writing: Gail Parent · Starring: Tony Kienitz, Cindy Morgan, Stanley Brock, E. Hampton Beagle
1x22 The Doll
The lonely, loveless life of a shy bachelor takes an astounding turn when he buys a special doll, exquisitely hand-crafted by a mysterious German toymaker. He tries to track down the woman who modeled for it.
Directing: Phil Joanou · Writing: Richard Matheson · Starring: John Lithgow, Anne Helm, Albert Hague, Sharon Spelman
1x23 One For the Books
An elderly college janitor amazes himself, his wife and the scientific community when his brain turns into a sponge that soaks up more and more incredible knowledge of every subject taught at the school - until a shocking event changes everything.
Directing: Lesli Linka Glatter · Writing: Richard Matheson · Starring: Leo Penn, Joyce Van Patten, Nicholas Pryor, Rodney Kageyama
1x24 Grandpa's Ghost Season Finale
Edwin's grandpa died in his sleep last night. So why is the old man still hanging around the apartment, playing the piano and swapping stories with Edwin's grandma?
Directing: Timothy Hutton · Writing: Michael De Guzman · Starring: Ian Wolfe, Herta Ware, Andrew McCarthy, Tom Willett
Season 1 Cast
Tom Willettprisoner3 episodes
Gary RileyTail Gunner2 episodes
Larry SpinakGeek2 episodes
Ben KronenBald Man2 episodes
Pamela GuestAssistant Director2 episodes
David RappaportTrollEpisode 1
Gabriel DamonBobby MynesEpisode 1
Sondra LockeVanessa SullivanEpisode 1
Natalie GregoryDorothyEpisode 1
Herta WareGrandma HelenEpisode 1
Frances BayMrs ClausEpisode 1
Mabel KingJennifer MowbrayEpisode 1
Al RuscioTony MaroniEpisode 1
Where to Watch Season 1 of Amazing Stories
It is currently not available on the major streaming platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes are in Season 1 of Amazing Stories?
Season 1 of Amazing Stories has 24 episodes.
When did Season 1 of Amazing Stories premiere?
Premiered on September 29, 1985.
Where to watch Season 1 of Amazing Stories?
Currently not available on the major subscription platforms (availability may vary by country).
What is the best episode of Season 1?
According to the TMDB audience score, episode 1x22, «The Doll», with a 7.8.