The Dark Side Series

[Hayley Sweigard]

Tales from the Darkside is an American anthology horror television series created by George A. Romero.[1] A pilot episode was first broadcast on October 29, 1983. The series was picked up for syndication, and the first season premiered on September 30, 1984. The show would run for a total of four seasons.

Each episode is a self-contained story, which often ends with a plot twist. The series spans various genres of speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy in addition to horror, and many episodes have darkly comic elements.

Some episodes were adapted from the works of well-known authors, or written by the authors themselves. Stories or teleplays by Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison,[1] Clive Barker,[1] Michael Bishop, Robert Bloch, John Cheever, Michael McDowell, and Fredric Brown were used over the course of the series. Two episodes, "Word Processor of the Gods"[3] and "Sorry, Right Number",[4] were based on short stories by Stephen King. The latter was adapted for television by King himself.

In the vein of previous anthology series The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, each episode opens with a montage and an unseen narrator. Several bucolic scenes are shown, morphing to a black-and-white negative image as the series title appears.

In its initial run, LBS Communications distributed Tales from the Darkside in barter syndication. Distribution rights later passed to Worldvision Enterprises after Aaron Spelling Productions acquired Worldvision Enterprises and Laurel Productions in 1989 and are currently held by CBS Media Ventures.

Paramount Home Entertainment, through CBS Home Entertainment (sister company to Spelling Television, the successor to Laurel), released the series on DVD, beginning on February 10, 2009. The company rereleased the complete series on Region 1 DVD in 2018. Revelation Films released the entire series in Region 2.

An audio commentary by Executive Producer George A. Romero on the pilot episode, "Trick or Treat", as well as two unaired eplsodes, "Akhbar's Daughter" and "Attic Suite", are cited on the cover of the DVD.

Tales from the Darkside executive producer Richard P. Rubinstein and his company Laurel would go on to make the horror anthology series Monsters, which premiered in 1988 and ran for three seasons,[5] as well as Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, which was released theatrically in 1990.[6] A sequel to the film was announced, but never made.[7]

In November 2013, it was reported that Joe Hill, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci were developing a reboot of the series for The CW, with CBS Television Studios.[8] In 2014, Hill said that he would serve as creative director, and guide the show. Added Hill, "Darkside is a loose reboot ... It tells stories about different characters. It also tells an ongoing story. I love the original Tales From The Darkside, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone, but I think in a post-X-Files world there's really no room for a straight anthology show. There has to be more. I like stories that work like puzzle boxes, every episode is turning another facet. We have something a little like that in Darkside ... every episode is a different story but three or four episodes in, you're going, 'Wait a minute, these parts actually all go together, don't they?'"

In February 2014, The CW gave the reboot a pilot order. Shooting began on March 19 and wrapped on April 4. The CW did not pick up the series, however. It then was offered to other networks unsuccessfully.[9][10][11]

Scripts written by Hill for the proposed reboot were adapted into a four-issue comic book series published in June 2016, followed by a collection of scripts in book form in October 2016. Both the comics and the book were released by IDW Publishing.[12][13]

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The dark side of the Force, also known as Bogan,[2] regarded as the dark side of the Unity by the Sorcerers of Tund,[3] and called the shadow by the Knights of Ren,[4] was one of two ways of channeling the Force.[5] To tap into the power of the dark side was to indulge in raw emotions such as passion, anger, and hatred. The dark side was greed, the fear of change, and the inability to let go. By holding on to things, one became angry and hateful, which in turn led to suffering. Those who were unable to conquer their dark side were devoured by it.[1] The Sith were Force-sensitives well known for serving the will of the dark side and being the mortal enemies of the Jedi, who served the will of the light side of the Force.[6][7]

The dark side was associated with the night. As with the light side, it was an integral part of all living things, and as the shadow of the soul, the dark side had to be continually overcome by sentients to walk the path of the light; indulging in the dark side led to imbalance.[8] The dark side was not more powerful than the light side; it was an easier, albeit destructive, path. Failing to resist the temptation of darkness would allow the dark side to dominate one's destiny,[5] although redemption was always a possibility.[9]

Anakin Skywalker, gifted in the Force,[6] succumbed to the seduction of the dark side because of his refusal to let go of his attachments. Skywalker was attached to his mother and his wife, and the possibility of their deaths caused him to rebel against the natural course of life and the Force itself, seeking power in his fear of losing his loved ones and becoming a hateful, disfigured cyborg and an agent of evil.[1][10]

The dark side was often given into because it tempted its possible users; even the Son,[11] a Force wielder who embodied the dark side,[12] was unable to resist it.[11] Farmer Kaeden Larte, who had previously seen her friend Ahsoka Tano use the light side of the Force, felt as though the dark side was unnatural and wrong upon seeing the Sixth Brother use the Force choke ability.[13]

The dark side of the Force was defined as anger, fear, aggression[5] and a lust for power. It was stated that the Sith referred to the dark side as "dark" because it was secretive. The Sith kept their knowledge and identities secret because they believed it would make it easier for them to impose order.[14]

The dark side was selfishness and possession, interlocked with the fear of loss that gave rise to anger and hate and brought suffering to those on whom its power was unleashed and who embraced it alike. As noted by former Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, those who followed the dark side were never satisfied, always desiring more than what they gained.[15] In fact, Grand Master Yoda stated that giving into fear, anger and hate was a path to the dark side. He further declared that suffering was an inevitable next step for the individual who had given into the dark side after they reached hate.[6] Yoda believed that once someone took the dark path, it would dominate their destiny forever due to its addictive nature.[5] Nevertheless, a return to the light side was always possible.[9][16] An example of living in line with the dark was hating the Jedi and hoping for them to fail or die.[17]

Dark side adepts, such as the Sith Master Darth Sidious and his Sith apprentice Darth Vader, maintained that hatred was the key to their strength.[18][19] Despite Yoda's warning that one would find only suffering after they gave into hate,[6] the fallen Jedi Count Dooku, known also as the Sith Lord Darth Tyrannus, declared that he had persevered and moved beyond the stage of suffering in order to secure ultimate power.[15] Alternatively, Sidious claimed that one could find power in hatred, with suffering only an alternative path if one failed to forge their hate into power. Vader believed the same, demanding Sab, who was not Force-sensitive but had the chance to serve him as his lieutenant, chose between suffering or power.[18] She, however, rejected his question altogether by deciding not to hate.[20]

Sidious's power in the dark side was so great that he fed off the hatred of others; as he told Vader during the Scourge of Coruscant, in which Vader had tried to test his master with his increased power in the Force granted by his hate, Sidious thrived off the hatred Vader and anyone else was radiating towards him. In effect, Vader's efforts to increase his powers with hate of his master had only made Sidious stronger.[19] Indeed, the Scourge told Vader that his fear and hate only made him into a stronger weapon for Sidious, instead of allowing him to live on his own terms.[21]

In 19 BBY,[22] Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi confronted his former Padawan, the fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, on the volcanic planet of Mustafar. Skywalker had turned to the dark side, creating the persona of the Sith Lord Darth Vader, and believed himself capable of overthrowing his Sith Master Darth Sidious.[1] The duel between Kenobi and Vader resulted in a stalemate,[23] although Vader refused to concede despite his former master gaining the high ground.[1] The dark side filled his senses with rage and hubris, causing Vader to ignore Kenobi's warning as he attempted another attack.[23] Vader was consequently disarmed by Kenobi's counterattack, losing the Skywalker lightsaber and his organic limbs in the process. As a result, he nearly burned to death on the banks of the lava river.[1]

Anakin Skywalker struggled to balance his life as a Jedi with the personal attachments he formed, in particular with Padm Amidala whom he married despite the Jedi Code. Throughout the Clone Wars, Skywalker had faithfully served the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. Ultimately, however, he was prepared to sacrifice the galaxy rather than lose Amidala.[25]

The trap of the dark side was that whatever one selfishly gained through it, it was never enough. The Sith were butchering each other, victims of their own greed, which led to their defeat and near destruction during their wars against the Jedi.[26] Darth Sidious' ultimate desire was to use the powers of the dark side to alter the universe itself.[27] Anakin Skywalker, who initially only wanted the power to defeat death out of attachment to his wife, ultimately developed the desire to rule the galaxy and make things the way he wanted them to be.[1]

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