The Ray Bradbury Theater

Every episode (totally 65) in this TV series is based on a short story written by Ray Bradbury. I have seen most of them and I am more than happy on the way Bradbury's stories are presented on screen. The lack of budget for some episodes at least does not get in the way and the presentation exposes sufficiently well Bradbury's imaginative power.

Bradbury is one of my favorite novelists. He is (perhaps) mostly known for his science-fiction novel 'Fahrenheit 451' and the compound stories of 'The Martian Chronicles'. Nonetheless, his strength I think lies to his short stories that contain a rich blend of many themes ranging from lighthearted comedies to horror stories of the macabre. These episodes (for the most part produced for cable TV) do a more-than-decent job of introducing us to Bradbury's universe and can be an ideal starting point for many viewers to discover Bradbury. 'The Ray Bradbury Theater' is a must for fans and highly recommended for everybody.

I used to watch this show when I was somewhere between fourth or fifth Grade. I didn't always understand everything. I knew that almost every episode had a twist ending, like Twilight Zone, but I was confused sometimes. Even so, the show changed the way I thought about the world and several episodes, although I haven't seen them in years, still stick with me. Every time someone is yakking on a cell phone, I think of the episode The Murderer, and I think "I want a chocolate milkshake". At a fifth Grade book-fair one fateful day I remember seeing the the name "RAY BRADBURY" blaring on the cover of a shiny book, The Martian Chronicles. I still recall my exact thoughts. I ran up, surprised, and said to myself "Heeeeeeey! thats that guy from TV!." So I bought the book, still sitting on my bookshelf next to numerous other Bradburys. I was impressed by some stories, baffled by others. The Cold War references were lost on me, and for a long time I was confounded looking for a continuous plot. The story "There will Come soft Rains" introduced me to a favorite poet, Sara Teasdale. Although I was left a little confused, I continued to raid the school library for more Bradbury, reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, S is For Space, R is For Rocket, Twice Twenty-Two, Death is a Lonely Business. My only disappointment is that I never got around to reading I Sing the Body Electric.

Now, years later, as a teenager, I found The Ray Bradbury Theater DVD set at a best buy. 68 episodes, and only 30$! Well, needless to say, I grabbed the only copy they had left and clung to it for my life. I got home, and, perusing though episode titles, came across many of my favorite stories, A Sound of Thunder, The Lake, The Murderer, and many others I realized I had read since I watched the series as a child. In fact, I recall my elation at coming across "The Murderer" (always my favorite) as a short story.

In short, Ray Bradbury Theater is a great series for people of all ages. It will make you think, an stick with you, and possibly cause you to read more Ray Bradbury stories than you watch in episodes.

Ray Bradbury will doubtless be remembered as one of the 20th century's most brilliant writers. This series captures some of his best short stories, including some fairly obscure ones, quite well. In many episodes, Bradbury does a special introduction, giving the viewer a tidbit of background about the story, which is a nice touch.

If there is one major flaw in this show, it is the production values. The show was an independent production, shot on a modest budget for cable TV. The first few episodes were done for HBO and the remainder for USA Network. The visual effects are lackluster, even for the time in which it was produced, and many of the episodes seem a bit dated--not exactly modern but not quite vintage either. Still, Bradbury's amazing ability to spin a yarn comes through to save things. Had the show been based on material from a lesser writer, it would have been unwatchable.

Each of the 65 episodes divided into 6 seasons, pose the problem and solution in under 30 minutes.

As you hear the introduction you will recognize many of the novels the teleplays are based on.

We get many famous actors of the time period that the presentation from 1985 to 1992 are present in these productions. We even start off with Leslie Nielsen playing a straight man as in Il pianeta proibito (1956) as opposed to the joke in L'aereo più pazzo del mondo (1980).

Do not get distracted by the ancient technology as devices and transportation of the time. They have something called computers in some of the series.

You will need to watch them all to find your favorite. I can only imaging having to wait for each one for almost a decade.

Different episodes may be of different values to you but the series in general is top notch.

I saw this on "Home Box Office" (heh! Love that...HBO now) when it first aired. Drew Barrymore's Screaming Woman has always impressed me and still does.

I recently picked up the Platinum Disc Corp DVD set for this series and was pleasantly surprised by the image quality. It's has nice color for the most part but may appear too pink at other times. I doubt the source material was outstanding visually. The biggest problem is something that was not a big surprise: image tearing. This happens when there is a lot of action on screen. It's infuriating that a company does this to a series that isn't available any way else just to save a few bucks. I paid about $25 but I'd pay more for better quality spread across more DVDs. It really sucks! And they could've turned themselves around with this collection. Yey to PDC for releasing these but boohiss for dropping the quality. For that I WON'T BE buying this for Christmas for another member of the family who is a fan. :(