WHY DID I TAPE THIS? is a peek inside a wood cabinet of poorly labeled VHS tapes taking up space in some parents' basement. Rewind through these years of broadcast television thanks to various archivists and their Youtube accounts

Forever wedged in the corner of 20th Century funny pages, Gary Larson's THE FAR SIDE was a childhood primer of the avant garde. And, in 1994, it animated itself into a Halloween special. TALES FROM THE FAR SIDE took the familiar character designs of scientists, farmers and (of course) cows and inserted them into a macabre setting of wordless set pieces. And while there was an enjoyable jolt of seeing these familiar caricatures move about the screen, it was the melodramatic and often uneasy musical score that stands out in memory. Strangely, Tim's tape of this went almost immediately missing. He remembers setting the VCR timer and recalls the poor penmanship of the VHS label, but as for its current day whereabouts, he is left scratching his head like a Larson-drawn caveman.

Clip posted on YOUTUBE by TECHNOMORPH SOUND DESIGN.

TALES FROM THE FAR SIDE I & II (1994, 1997)
starring the voices of: Kathleen Barr, Doug Parker, Lee Tockar, Dale Wilson
written by: Gary Larson, Marv Newland, J. Falconer, Dieter Mueller,
directed by: Marv Newland (I) & Marv Newland & Gary Larson (II)
originally aired October 26th, 1994 (I) and December 31st 1997 (II)

POP NOTES

The original TALES FROM THE FAR SIDE aired only once on U.S. television as a Halloween special on CBS. Its follow-up, TALES FROM THE FAR SIDE II, only ever aired in Canada.
Was screened and awarded the Grand Prix trophy at the 1994 Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Director Marv Newland began his career with the 1969 underground animated short BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA.
The music score was composed by jazz muscian Bill Frisell, most notable for his experimental 80s collaborations with musician John Zorn.
The title to both specials is a rather fortunate parody of the live-action horror anthology TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE.