This Was Television On October 30
1990: Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society
Are You Afraid of the Dark, best known to American children of the 1990s as a founding member of Nickelodeon’s Saturday night “SNICK” line-up, debuted on Canada’s YTV on this date. The anthology horror/fantasy series was a sort of Twilight Zone for tweens, with each spooky story framed as a campfire tale shared among the Midnight Society, a group of recurring characters who appeared at the beginning and end of each episode. The series aired regularly from 1992– 96, with two rebooted seasons in 1999–2000.
The pilot episode, “The Tale of the Twisted Claw,” premiered in the States on Halloween 1991, a year and a day after this debut in its native country on Canadian Halloween. -A.D.
Today’s Birthdays: Michael Beach, paramedic (49); Tory Belleci, mythbuster (42); Sarah Carter, alien fighter (32); Stefan Dennis, neighbour (54); Harry Hamlin, attorney (61); Nia Long, officer (42); Matthew Morrison, glee club coach (34); Henry Winkler, jukebox juicer (67).
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