Tales from the Crypt is arguably the best horror anthology show ever, but it spawned a mostly forgotten spinoff called Perversions of Science. While a planned reboot by M. Night Shyamalan failed to get off the ground due to various legal worries, Tales from the Crypt still holds a special place in pop culture history. While horror anthologies were nothing new to the TV world by the time Crypt premiered on HBO back in 1989, several factors made it stand out amidst the field.
Being on HBO, Tales from the Crypt was basically allowed to go wild, throwing in R-rated levels of gory violence, nudity, and occasional sex scenes. Some of the spicy situations even overlapped with the monsters sometimes, leading to a truly unique atmosphere and feel. That's not to say that adult content was all the show had to offer though, as Tales from the Crypt became beloved due to its playful spirit, never hesitating to get campy, give villains their just desserts, or have host The Cryptkeeper utter the most groan-worthy puns possible.
It's no wonder HBO and Crypt's creators thought they could expand the formula into another successful anthology, this time targeting sci-fi, but with the same craziness viewers had come to expect. While some fans did indeed enjoy Perversions of Science, which was hosted by a CGI female robot character named Chrome, the spinoff only ran a mere ten episodes.
Perversions of Science: Tales from the Crypt's Sci-Fi Spinoff
Featuring the same line-up of superstar producers behind the scenes - Robert Zemeckis, Joel Silver, etc. - as Tales from the Crypt, Perversions of Science premiered on June 7, 1997, about a year after Tales from the Crypt's finale aired. Like Crypt, it premiered with a triple-header, three back-to-back episodes. Since only ten episodes were produced, Perversions of Science was only actually on TV airing original installments for a month and a half. While Perversions wasn't as star-studded as Crypt had been, it did feature the on-screen talents of present or future stars like Jeremy London, Kevin Pollak, Re-Animator's Jeffrey Combs, William Shatner, Ron Perlman, Jason Lee, Wil Wheaton and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Heather Langenkamp. Shatner and Astin also directed episodes, as did The Texas Chainsaw Massacre helmer Tobe Hooper.
Yet, despite all that talent, and some genuinely good episodes, Perversions of Science failed to make any kind of splash in pop culture. Its ratings were down from Tales from the Crypt's, and today, it's quite uncommon to find people who've actually watched it. That's partly due to the fact Perversions of Science has never been available on any streaming service, or been given a DVD release. The only way to watch it is by tracking down bootlegs recorded off of Canadian reruns.
That's a shame, as three of Perversions of Science's episodes are good enough to be worth checking out, independent of their placement in a forgotten Tales from the Crypt spinoff. One, "Panic," stars Lee and Jaime Kennedy as real alien invaders who happen to arrive on Earth during Orson Welles' famous on-air radio reading of War of the Worlds in the 1930s. The second, "Snap Ending" stars Wheaton and Sean Astin as members of a spaceship crew who have to make difficult decisions after a viral outbreak happens onboard. Finally, Saved the Bell's Elizabeth Berkeley turns up in "Planely Possible," where after her character is murdered, her husband uses a device to travel to other dimensions hoping to find a living version. Things get crazy from there. Unfortunately, it seems HBO has no desire to give Perversions of Science a legit release.