With great anticipation I bought the entire series on DVD. Knowing Ray Bradbury's reputation, I expected outstanding stories on a par with Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. To call this series a disappointment would be a gross understatement. After viewing over 50 of the series 65 episodes and finding only about 5 that were decent, I'm convinced this is the worst anthology I've ever seen. Most of the episodes are just plain dumb. Many episodes have major logic gaps. Story problems are simply ignored in most episodes. Many of these come off as first draft stories written by a child. Bradbury wrote all or almost all of them based on original stories of his own. I am simply dumbfounded by how poor the writing is. In many instances the dialogue does not ring true as to the way people really talk, which is just another flaw in this truly horrible series. I just had the displeasure of watching two ridiculous and pointless Season 6 episodes: "The Happiness Machine" and "The Anthem Sprinter," both about as enjoyable as a root canal. Bradbury also shows his fixation on Mars, with several episodes centered there without the characters required to wear suits. This series was produced in the mid-1980's, well after the fact that Mars did not contain an atmosphere that would support human life. Bradbury either didn't know or didn't care. Such laziness is unacceptable. Based on this I would never read anything written by him again. The only conclusion one can come to after watching this monstrosity is that Ray Bradbury is staggeringly overrated.
Review of The Ray Bradbury Theater
