DAVE: Let’s talk Tales from the Inner Sanctum. I originally had some ideas for exploring the Inner Sanctum in Scare on the Air, but after a discussion with Dr. J decided that it would be better suited to make a new series for it. Plus, we needed a good anthology series. We follow a long line of brilliant anthology series like The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales from the Crypt, and the like. It presents an opportunity to explore more genres that we might be able to in say The Dog & Pony Show (which might still explore them, but more as a spoof than a serious take).
DOC: I knew from the beginning that we had a killer idea with “Sanctum”…in addition to the wide variety of story and location ideas behind the doors, there was the Sanctum itself–a perfect creation for radio drama, and a Silly Putty building that can have whatever we want–from a truly heinous Hardee’s restaurant to a set of Bat-poles.
DAVE: The idea of exploring doors is kind of a take on Night Gallery’s different portrait or painting each week. And we had made a few allusions to the creepiness of the Inner Sanctum, so it kind of set itself up.
One idea I had always wanted to play around with was switching the parts of the Golden Girls around, and Tales from the Inner Sanctum presented that opportunity. Jason and I kind of did our impressions of the others interpretation of the characters which really made for a fun and interesting production.
DOC: My favorite episode thus far is “11 Oxen For Brother Kalin”, a script that I wrote at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The performances by Dangerous Dave, Mike Glesinger, Kalin Krohe, Pat Adriance, Steven Crabb and Jeremy Fifield were spectacular, and western stories are ideal for radio theater…horse hooves, crickets by the campfire…you can really paint a picture.
DAVE: I also had a lot of fun coming up with the hot dog eating competition that featured some of the largest WWF superstars in history. (I included The Undertaker because I wanted to do the voice for him and Paul Bearer.)
And one episode I put a lot of thought into was The Doors of Perception an Inner Sanctum Musical. I always wanted to sing some Doors songs on the Dog & Pony Show, but I had a hard time coming up with which one to include and what kind of episode to write around it, so I went all out and did The Doors of Perception instead.
DOC: This is what I love about “Sanctum.” One week it’s a western yarn, next week it’s a musical play, next week it’s…well, you get the idea.
DAVE: Coincidentally, The Doors of Perception is a book that was written by Aldous Huxley that inspired the Doors in the naming of the band, and since our show is about us exploring doors in the Inner Sanctum, it all just clicked for me.
DOC: Thanks to my years of “Dragnet” rerun watching, I am very familiar with Huxley…Joe Friday tells a hippie “I’ve read Huxley,” and the hippie replies, “Wow…a cop who reads.”
The magic of radio is that every single listener has a different picture in their mind of what the Sanctum looks like. Dave and I probably have different pictures!
DAVE: In fact, I think my picture of the Sanctum changes depending on the script I’m reading or writing.
A good friend, and former shipmate, from my Navy days made a killer piece of artwork to represent Tales from the Inner Sanctum. It’s on the show’s IMDb page, and I’m sure Wenty will put it here on this blog entry.
DOC: But of course!
DAVE: Special thanks to Ryan Marlatt for the awesome artwork, and for his guest appearance as our referee in the WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event episode. He has his own podcast Marly Ramone’s Mad, Mad House of the Dead in which he discusses different pieces of art he has created. I’ve been fortunate to make two guest appearances on the show.
It can be fun to do two-headers where Jason and I voice all of the characters, but sometimes we just NEED to bring in additional performers, and we’ve been very fortunate to have amazing performances from many talented individuals over the years (for ALL of our shows).
DOC: This is absolutely true. Our list of guest actors is long and distinguished…as Dave can attest, sometimes I lose patience with large cast shows because it does take a long time to get everyone’s parts recorded. But my grumpy-gus-itis disappears when we get the voices and hear how amazing they are.
DAVE: Wenty, if Scare on the Air is your favorite child, er uh show, Tales from the Inner Sanctum might be mine. That being said, I think we’ve only just scratched the surface of the potential of the show.
DOC: Indeed! And in our final chapter of this saga we’ll take a look at co-productions and specials. I would say that some of my favorite shows have been the specials, but I need to watch my favoritism…