Ghost Story aka Circle of Fear

Ghost Story is a now all-but forgotten supernatural anthology series that ran on NBC from late 1972 to early 1973. 

The show actually had an impressive pedigree, being the brainchild of bravura 60's horror director/producer William Castle and author Richard Matheson.  

Additionally, it involved the writing talents of Robert Bloch and D.C. Fontana of Star Trek, and boasted guest stars such as Patricia Neal, Melvyn Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Rory Calhoun, Shirley Knight, Carolyn Jones, Janet Leigh, John Astin, Patty Duke and then up-and-comers such as Martin Sheen, Jodie Foster and Hal Linden.

Unfortunately, the show never displayed Matheson's intelligence nor the bold tongue-in-cheek humor that gave Castle's films their character.  Episode after episode tended to be dull, bland, and ordinary.  Despite the high production values, Ghost Story simple never demonstrated the visual style or the frisson of The Outer Limits, Thriller, One Step Beyond or even the oft-maligned but oft-effective Night Gallery.  It simply looked and felt like an average early 70's network program of no particular distinction.

Worse still, the episodes show a consistent problem with pacing.  That is to say, even the best of them seem to plod endlessly, padded with irrelevant scenes and visuals that add nothing to the atmosphere or story.

Finally and perhaps most fatally, even the show's best episodes are undercut by a regrettable silliness.  Castle was known for his humor, but the jokes (if they were intended as such) on Ghost Story nearly always fell flat.  Some episodes are built on simply absurd premises (such as a ghostly toy returned to seek revenge for the destruction of its fellow toy) (in spite of this, this particular episode, "Dark Vengeance" actually does have some effective moments until the nature of the haunting is revealed).  Others ruin a good set-up with a jokey ending, such as "Alter Ego", where a young boy's evil doppleganger is undone when the ghost of the kindly teacher he murdered shows up to drag him off to eternal detention by the ear.

During the first half of the show's run, it was hosted by Sebastian Cabot, who introduced each episode while ambling around a resort hotel.  Cabot was an odd choice for host - by then known as the lovable Mr. French from Family Affair, his introductions added nothing to the stories and rarely even made much sense.

Mid-way through the run, Castle dumped Cabot and the whole framing device and re-titled the series Circle Of Fear.  Despite a very tiny raise in the energy level of the stories, this change failed to address the show's real problems (poor pacing, lack of style, lack of truly memorable or unsettling stories) and failed to save it.  It was cancelled by season's end.

Ghost Story never made much of an impression on horror fans.  A few who remember seeing it as children may recall an episode or two.  Few who saw it again during a brief, late-night filler syndication run on NBC affiliates in the 80's, or now streaming on the web, find their vague memories rewarded.  The show had great parentage but simply was never very good.