One of the earliest TV memories I have, is of the show, 'SOAP'.
I haven't thought about this for years, but the episode that totally freaked me out, was the one where the baby became possessed by the Devil.
Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode 'Special Delivery'
This is online somewhere. Can't locate where. A little boy orders a kit for growing mushrooms. Slowly, the boy's personality changes and his behavior becomes odd. I think what freaked me out about this episode, is that it was one of the few times on television that something strange like that .. would happen to a child. Which definitely doesn't happen these days.
Thanks! Great site!
Soap was one of those shows that was brilliant, unless you are a little kid and don't understand the concept of parody. I remember watching it and always being confused as to why people were laughing when there were people who were going through so much crazy stuff.
I don't remember ever seeing the possessed baby episodes, and I am glad that I didn't see them. They would have rocked my naive little world for certain.
I had totally forgotten about this- it freaked me out too!
DDD, I was just thinking the same thing! I had absolutely no concept of SOAP being a parody of soap operas as a kid. I just thought it was a sitcom about a family.So for me it was the same as if there was a possessed baby on HAPPY DAYS or something. As a kid, my whole purpose for watching the show was to see the ventriloquist dummy. I thought he was funny.
And thanks for the clip Bill! I remember taking that ominous ending very seriously!
Wish I could find more clips of the baby.
I just cheated and used an image from PROGENY for that top image.
Oh and Alfred Hitchcock Presents is on Netflix but only the first 3 seasons! (That ep is from season 5).
We now eagerly await your photoshop of Fonzi proudly giving the thumbs up to the bay from It's Alive.
Soap! Oh, the memories! What a terrific show that was – and yeah, the possessed baby freaked me out too at first – but when it started bonking Chester over the head with a stuffed giraffe it became hilarious. Now that I think of it, that storyline got me through my fears (at the time) of what horrors movies like "The Exorcist" and "The Omen" had in store for me.
I had the biggest crush on Corrine from "Soap."
And I once bought a Shonen Knife CD that came with a hologram sticker of the girls.
Oh yikes. Now I'm remembering the TV show "I'm a Big Girl Now"….
and double yikes…"Throb"
I always thought the Hitchcock hour episodes were superior to the 30 minute ones.
Most are available on YouTube, I suggest John Wyndam's "Consider her ways" a dystopian frightmare that feels like you're trapped in a Residents video.Ray Bradbury's "The jar" with favorite stars from Green Acres and Andy Griffith Show in an eerie hillbilly psychodrama.
There is something about the look of a TV soundstage shot on 1970s videotape format that is creepy and I never could put my finger on it. Doesn't matter if its Dark Shadows, Dr. Who, Sapphire & Steel, Armchair Thrillers, or this clip from Soap… something about the color or the lighting(?) There could be nothing scary content-wise going on, and yet….
Wow – that's lil' Paul Walker in Throb!