The Third Eye (American TV series)
An anthology of psychic-themed sci-fi serials from abroad.
The Third Eye is an American anthology series that aired on Nickelodeon, featuring multiple English-language science fiction serials from the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The program focused on characters with psychic abilities.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 1 hour
- Country
- United States
- Network
- Nickelodeon
- First aired
- 8 January 1983
- Last aired
- 1984
Facts from the source article.
History
The Third Eye premiered on Nickelodeon on January 8, 1983, typically opening with a disclaimer stating the program was intended for older children and might contain startling scenes. The intro featured voice-over by Don LaFontaine describing someone who hears the unheard and sees with the third eye. Initially, three serials were shown: Into the Labyrinth, The Haunting of Cassie Palmer, and Under the Mountain. A fourth serial, Children of the Stones, was added in April 1983, followed by a fifth, The Witches and the Grinnygog. Nickelodeon president Geraldine Laybourne described the series as part of a confusing checkerboard schedule, and it was eventually pulled so the network could focus on original series. In 1984, film historian Aljean Harmetz noted that Nickelodeon acquired the programs for a pittance because their low production values and foreign accents made them unacceptable to other networks.
Series within the anthology
In The Haunting of Cassie Palmer, the main character, whose mother works as a medium, decides to find out if she shares that ability. She attempts to summon a ghost, which leads to unforeseen consequences, and by the final episode her gift has faded completely. This story comes from a book by Vivien Alcock. Under the Mountain features twins Rachel and Theo Matheson, who have weak telepathic skills and can turn light into a weapon. With assistance from a strange alien named Mr. Jones, they fight an evil alien hiding beneath Rangitoto Island. Their key ability is a mental link with two stones from a different world, which serve as weapons and are strongly suggested to be alive. This series was based on a book by Maurice Gee. In Children of the Stones, Adam Brake and his son Matthew relocate to the small town of Milbury, where they find that many residents seem to be in a hypnotic state, and the odd events are tied to a nearby ancient stone circle. Into the Labyrinth follows Phil Church and siblings Terry and Helen, who receive temporary powers from the wizard Rothgo and are sent into a labyrinth. They can talk to Rothgo with their minds across time; Phil channels Rothgo’s strength to challenge the ruler Cynon, Helen frees everyone imprisoned by Masrur (who is actually Belor in disguise), and Terry gets control of a genie in the episode “Masrur.” At the story’s end, Rothgo changes history so the three never made the journey, though they keep small mementos, likely nidus fragments. Two additional seven-episode seasons of Into the Labyrinth were broadcast in the UK, but not on Nickelodeon. The Witches and the Grinnygog begins when an old English church is relocated, and a strange stone statue called the Grinnygog goes missing. Its accidental discovery by a woman who gives it to her elderly father as a garden ornament happens at the same time three odd elderly women and a timid, otherworldly child arrive in town. The residents explore their shared history, and a group of children figures out how to correct an old wrong. This serial was adapted from a book by Dorothy Edwards.
More in American Children's Science Fiction Television Series
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