Ananthology series is a written series,radio,television,film, orvideo game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each differentepisode,season, segment, orshort.[1] These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such asFour Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe ofcharacter actors who would appear in a different drama each week.[2] Some anthology series, such asStudio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.[3]
The word comes fromAncient Greekἀνθολογία (anthología, "flower-gathering"), fromἀνθολογέω (anthologéō, "I gather flowers"), fromἄνθος (ánthos, "flower") +λέγω (légō, "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined byMeleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally asΣτέφανος (στέφανος (stéphanos, "garland")) to describe a collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – seeGreek Anthology.Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express.
Many popularold-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such asInner Sanctum Mysteries, the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of the earliest such programs wasThe Collier Hour, broadcast on theNBCBlue Network from 1927 to 1932.[4] As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials fromCollier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete withThe Saturday Evening Post. Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in the magazine.[4]
Radio anthology series provided forscience fiction,horror, suspense, andmysterygenres (all produced in the US, unless noted):
The final episode ofSuspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era.[6] However, genre series produced since 1962 include:
In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during theGolden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such asThe United States Steel Hour andThe Philco Television Playhouse.[7][8]
Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series,Four Star Playhouse, with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, asLucille Ball andDesi Arnaz had done successfully withDesilu studio. Powell had intended for the program to feature himself,Charles Boyer,Joel McCrea, andRosalind Russell. When Russell and McCrea backed out,David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star.CBS liked the idea, andFour Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952.[2] It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating withAmos 'n' Andy. It was successful enough to be renewed and became a weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956.Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company.
Americantelevision networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsoldtelevision pilots.[9] Beginning in 1971, the long-runMasterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television.
In 2011,American Horror Story debuted a new type of anthology format in the United States. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons but playing different roles—in an echo of theFour Star Playhouse format.[10]
The success ofAmerican Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such asAmerican Crime Story andTrue Detective.[11]
| Title | Started | Ended | Seasons | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | 1955 | 1962 | 7 | 268 | Original series |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | 1962 | 1965 | 3 | 93 | Hour-long continuation of Alfred Hitchcock Presents |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | 1985 | 1989 | 4 | 76 | Revival series |
| Behind Closed Doors | 1958 | 1959 | 1 | 39 | |
| The Best in Mystery | 1954 | 1954 | 1 | 13 | |
| The Boris Karloff Mystery Playhouse | 1949 | 1949 | 1 | 13 | |
| Byline | 1951 | 1951 | 1 | 39 | Also known asAdventures in Mystery andNews Gal |
| The Chevy Mystery Show | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 26 | |
| The Clock | 1949 | 1952 | 3 | 78 | |
| Danger | 1950 | 1955 | 5 | 178 | |
| Dark of Night | 1952 | 1954 | 2 | 104 | |
| Darkroom | 1981 | 1982 | 1 | 7 | |
| Dow Hour of Great Mysteries | 1960 | 1960 | 1 | 26 | |
| The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre | 1960 | 1965 | 5 | 47 | American TV version of British theatrical second features |
| Escape | 1950 | 1950 | 1 | 26 | |
| Escape | 1973 | 1973 | 1 | 6 | |
| Espionage | 1963 | 1964 | 1 | 24 | |
| Eye Witness | 1953 | 1953 | 1 | 13 | |
| Fallen Angels | 1993 | 1995 | 2 | 15 | |
| George Sanders Mystery Theater | 1957 | 1957 | 1 | 39 | |
| Gun | 1997 | 1997 | 1 | 6 | |
| Hands of Mystery | 1949 | 1952 | 3 | 156 | Also known asHands of Destiny,Hands of Murder |
| The Hitchhiker | 1983 | 1987 | 4 | 58 | |
| I Spy | 1955 | 1957 | 2 | 117 | |
| Inner Sanctum | 1954 | 1954 | 1 | 39 | |
| Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder | 1952 | 1952 | 1 | 13 | |
| Kraft Mystery Theatre | 1961 | 1963 | 3 | 39 | Summer series 1961, 1962, 1963 |
| Kraft Suspense Theatre | 1963 | 1965 | 2 | 62 | |
| Mr. Arsenic | 1952 | 1952 | 1 | 26 | |
| Murder in Mind | 2001 | 2003 | 3 | 18 | |
| Murder Most Horrid | 1991 | 1999 | 4 | 24 | UK series |
| Mystery! | 1980 | ongoing | 44+ | 600+ | Long-running PBS anthology series |
| Panic! | 1957 | 1958 | 1 | 39 | |
| Philip Morris Playhouse | 1953 | 1954 | 1 | 52 | |
| Rebound | 1952 | 1953 | 1 | 78 | Also known asCounterpoint |
| Scene of the Crime | 1991 | 1992 | 1 | 13 | |
| Stage 13 | 1950 | 1950 | 1 | 26 | |
| Sure as Fate | 1950 | 1951 | 1 | 52 | |
| Suspense | 1949 | 1954 | 5 | 260 | |
| Suspicion | 1957 | 1958 | 1 | 42 | |
| Target | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 39 | |
| Twisted Tales | 1996 | 1997 | 1 | 13 | |
| Two Twisted | 2006 | 2006 | 1 | 13 | Sequel toTwisted Tales |
| The Vise | 1955 | 1957 | 2 | 78 | |
| Volume One | 1949 | 1949 | 1 | 26 | |
| The Web | 1950 | 1954 | 4 | 208 | |
| The Web | 1957 | 1957 | 1 | 39 | Syndication titleUndercurrent |
| Your Play Time | 1953 | 1955 | 2 | 104 |
| Title | Started | Ended | Seasons | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patriarchs and Prophets | Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | – | – |
| Crossroads also known as Way of Life | 1955 | 1957 | 2 | 78 | – |
| Family Theater | 1949 | 1958 | – | 540 | – |
| Insight | 1960 | 1984 | 23 | 250 | – |
| Lamp Unto My Feet | 1948 | 1969 | – | – | – |
| Look Up and Live | 1967 | 1971 | – | – | – |
| This Is the Life also known as The Fisher Family | 1952 | 1988 | – | – |
| Title | Started | Ended | Seasons | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond | 1959 | 1961 | 3 | 96 | – |
| Amazing Stories (original series) | 1985 | 1987 | 2 | 45 | – |
| Amazing Stories (reboot) | 2020 | 2020 | 1 | 5 | – |
| American Horror Story | 2011 | Present | 11 | 114 | – |
| American Horror Stories | 2021 | Present | 3 | 24 | – |
| Are You Afraid of the Dark? | 1990 | 2000 | 7 | 91 | – |
| Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | 1997 | 2002 | 4 | 45 | – |
| Black Mirror | 2011 | Present | 6 | 27 | British series |
| Castle Rock | 2018 | 2019 | 2 | 20 | – |
| Channel Zero | 2016 | 2018 | 4 | 24 | – |
| Chiller | 1995 | 1995 | 1 | 5 | – |
| Darknet | 2013 | 2014 | 1 | 6 | – |
| Dark Realm | 2001 | 2001 | 1 | 13 | – |
| Deadtime Stories | 2012 | 2013 | 1 | 11 | – |
| Dimension 404 | 2017 | 2017 | 1 | 6 | – |
| Electric Dreams | 2017 | 2018 | 1 | 10 | – |
| Exposure | 2000 | 2002 | 2 | 42 | – |
| Fantasy Island | 1977 | 1984 | 7 | 152 | Includes 2 Movies |
| Fear and Fancy | 1953 | 1953 | 1 | 15 | – |
| Fear Itself | 2008 | 2008 | 1 | 13 | – |
| The Fearing Mind | 2000 | 2000 | 1 | 12 | – |
| Freddy's Nightmares – A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series | 1988 | 1990 | 2 | 44 | – |
| Ghost Stories | 1997 | 1998 | 1 | 44 | – |
| Ghost Story | 1972 | 1973 | 1 | 22 | 23 total includes 1 Pilot |
| Goosebumps | 1995 | 1998 | 4 | 74 | – |
| Great Ghost Tales | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 12 | – |
| Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities | 2022 | 2022 | 1 | 8 | – |
| A Haunting | 2005 | 2022 | 10 | 105 | Stopped in 2007 and returned in 2012 |
| The Haunting | 2018 | 2020 | 2 | 19 | – |
| Historias para no dormir | 1966 | 1982 | 3 | 29 | – |
| The Hunger | 1997 | 2000 | 2 | 44 | British/Canadian Series |
| Infinity Train | 2019 | Present | 4 | 40 | – |
| Inside No 9 | 2014 | 2024 | 9 | 55 | – |
| Into the Dark | 2018 | 2021 | 2 | 24 | – |
| Journey to the Unknown | 1968 | 1969 | 1 | 17 | – |
| Lee Martin's The Midnight Hour | 2008 | 2015 | – | ||
| Lights Out | 1946 | 1952 | – | ||
| Lore | 2017 | 2018 | 2 | 12 | – |
| Love, Death & Robots | 2019 | Present | 3 | 35 | – |
| Masters of Horror | 2005 | 2007 | 2 | 26 | – |
| Masters of Science Fiction | 2007 | 2007 | 1 | 6 | – |
| Métal Hurlant Chronicles | 2012 | 2014 | 2 | 12 | – |
| Monsterland | 2020 | 2020 | 1 | 8 | – |
| Monsters | 1988 | 1991 | 3 | 72 | – |
| Mystery and Imagination | 1966 | 1970 | 5 | 24 | British series |
| Night Gallery | 1970 | 1973 | 3 | 43 | – |
| Night Visions | 2001 | 2001 | 1 | 13 | – |
| The Nightmare Room | 2001 | 2002 | 1 | 13 | – |
| Nightmare Cafe | 1992 | 1992 | 1 | 6 | – |
| Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King | 2006 | 2006 | 1 | 8 | – |
| Out of the Unknown | 1965 | 1971 | 4 | 49 | British series |
| Out of This World | 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 13 | British series |
| Out There | 1951 | 1952 | 1 | 12 | – |
| The Outer Limits | 1963 | 1965 | 2 | 49 | – |
| The Outer Limits | 1995 | 2002 | 7 | 154 | – |
| Perversions of Science | 1997 | 1997 | 1 | 10 | – |
| Play for Tomorrow | 1981 | 1981 | 1 | 6 | British series |
| Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected | 1977 | 1977 | 1 | 8 | Not to be confused with the British series (below) |
| The Ray Bradbury Theater | 1985 | 1992 | 6 | 65 | – |
| R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour | 2010 | 2014 | 4 | 76 | – |
| Room 104 | 2017 | 2020 | 4 | 48 | – |
| Science Fiction Theatre | 1955 | 1957 | 2 | 78 | – |
| Scream | 2015 | 2019 | 3 | 30 | – |
| Slasher | 2016 | Present | 3 | 24 | – |
| Strange Stories | 1956 | 1956 | – | – | – |
| Tales from the Darkside | 1984 | 1988 | 4 | 89 | Plus 1 Pilot |
| Tales from the Crypt | 1989 | 1996 | 7 | 93 | – |
| Tales of Mystery | 1961 | 1963 | 3 | 29 | – |
| Tales of Mystery and Imagination | 1995 | 1995 | 1 | 13 | – |
| Tales of the Unexpected | 1979 | 1988 | 9 | 112 | British series unconnected with the Quinn Martin series (above) |
| Tales of Tomorrow | 1951 | 1953 | 2 | 85 | – |
| The Terror | 2018 | 2019 | 2 | 20 | – |
| Thriller | 1960 | 1962 | 2 | 67 | – |
| Trapped | 1950 | 1951 | – | – | – |
| The Twilight Zone (original series) | 1959 | 1964 | 5 | 156 | – |
| The Twilight Zone (revival series) | 1985 | 1989 | 3 | 65 | – |
| The Twilight Zone (revival series) | 2002 | 2003 | 1 | 43 | – |
| The Twilight Zone (revival series) | 2019 | 2020 | 2 | 20 | – |
| The Unexpected | 1952 | 1952 | – | – | – |
| Urban Gothic | 2000 | 2001 | 2 | 22 | – |
| The Veil | 1958 | 1958 | 1 | 11 | – |
| Way Out | 1961 | 1961 | 1 | 14 | – |
| Welcome to Paradox | 1998 | 1998 | 1 | 13 | – |
| What If...? | 2021 | 2024 | 3 | 26 | – |
| Star Wars: Visions | 2021 | Present | 2 | 18 | – |
| Title | Started | Ended | Seasons | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Theatre | 1950 | 1950 | – | – | No episodes are known to have survived. |
| Death Valley Days | 1952 | 1970 | 18 | 452 | – |
| Frontier | 1955 | 1956 | 1 | 31 | – |
| Zane Grey Theater | 1956 | 1961 | 5 | 149 | – |
| Cheyenne | 1957 | 1962 | 7 | 107 | – |
| Dead Man's Gun | 1997 | 1999 | 2 | 44 | – |
Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within the horror genre to have a franchise with an anthology format, such as with theHalloween franchise where the third film,Halloween III: Season of the Witch, was meant to be the beginning of a series of anthology horror films, but due to negative reception that plan was shelved.
| Title | Started | Ended | Instalments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cities of Love | 2006 | N/A | 5 | [14] |
| Title | Started | Ended | Instalments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carry On... | 1958 | 1992 | 31 | Comedy series which used the same roster of comedic actors and comedians |
| Yagyu Chronicles | 1961 | 1964 | 9 | Composed of two versions of the "Yagyu Bugeicho" novel byKosuke Gomi (films #1–2 and films #4–8) and two stand-alone stories (film #3 and film #9). |
| Shinobi no Mono | 1962 | 1970 | 9 | Composed of five unrelated stories/characters. Story 1 (films #1–3), story 2 (films #4–5, 7), story 3 (film #6), story 4 (film #8), story 5 (film #9). |
| Seventeen Ninja | 1963 | 1966 | 2 | Composed of Seventeen Ninja (十七人の忍者) and the in-name-only sequelSeventeen Ninja: The Great Battle (十七人の忍者 大血戦). |
| TheBloodthirsty Trilogy | 1970 | 1974 | 3 | |
| TheNinja Trilogy | 1981 | 1984 | 3 | Composed ofEnter the Ninja,Revenge of the Ninja, andNinja III: The Domination.[15] |
| Shake, Rattle & Roll | 1984 | 2023 | 16 | |
| Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 | 1987 | 1988 | 10 | The series ofsyndicated animatedtelevision films produced byHanna-Barbera, as part ofThe Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera programming block. |
| Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy | 2004 | 2013 | 3 | |
| Cloverfield | 2008 | N/A | 3 |
Anthology video games have been rare since the 1980s.[citation needed] Compilation or package video games (e.g.Castlevania Anniversary Collection) are not included.
| Title | Started | Ended | Installments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Far Cry | 2004 | N/A | 6 | While taking place in the same fictional universe, each game features different protagonists, characters, locations, mechanics, etc. One game takes place in theStone Age (Far Cry Primal) while another takes place in aretrofuturistic world (Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon). |
| Fatal Frame | 2001 | N/A | 6 | Each of the Fatal Frame games has a mostly standalone story in which the protagonists investigate a haunted location to learn about how it became cursed. |
| Fears to Fathom | 2021 | N/A | 5 | An episodic psychological horror game where each episode unveils a short story narrated by the ones who survived. |
| Final Fantasy | 1987 | N/A | 16 | Many games have different settings and playable characters. Each game incorporates a different fantasy genre (fromhigh fantasy toscience fantasy todark fantasy) and a new setting, with some supporting or minor characters having recurring names (e.g. Biggs, Wedge, and Cid). |
| Resident Evil Outbreak (File #2) | 2003 | 2004 | 2 | A spin-off ofPlayStation-era mainlines (1,2 and3: Nemesis); each chapter or "scenario" is set in a different location of Raccoon City, and featuresnonlinear gameplay. |
| Silent Hill | 1999 | N/A | 10 | Each game presents a different story and set of characters, but is usually set in the same titular town of Silent Hill; a major exception isSilent Hill f, which is instead set in a fictitious Japanese town. |
| The Dark Pictures Anthology | 2019 | N/A | 5 | It is planned to consist of eight games, with one entry per year. |
