The concept of a sci-fi/horror themed anthology TV series is not a new or modern idea. Iconic shows like ‘The Twilight Zone,’ ‘The Outer Limits,’ and ‘Night Gallery‘ (among several others) having been doing it since the 1950s – and have been doing it well. The great thing about the television medium, however: much like movies, novels, and comic books, there is plenty of room for a little “healthy competition” for similarly-themed products.
One of the newest entrants into the genre is ‘Black Mirror,’ an anthology series made popular on Netflix over the past few years. While part of the American audience may believe that ‘Black Mirror’ is a Netflix original piece of programming, the first two seasons were actually produced and aired for BBC Channel 4 in Great Britain. Those two seasons – or series, as the British prefer to call individual seasons of TV series – were first aired in late 2011 and early 2013, and after receiving a positive reception and critical acclaim, Netflix released these episodes starting in late 2015, with Netflix-exclusive third and fourth seasons being released in 2016 and 2017. A standalone ‘Black Mirror’ film, entitled ‘Bandersnatch,’ was released on the streaming service in late 2018; the fifth season of the show is due later this year.
TonySchaab . com 