Filming for the show began during July 2000 in Vancouver, Canada. Veteran punk and metal singer Henry Rollins got hired as host after discussions with Fox executives, who initially wanted him to play a recurring role on their popular sci-fi series The X-Files. In a 2001 interview, Rollins remarked "It's kind of a Twilight Zone-thing and I'm the Rod Serling. It's awesome. I got the job last year, and I'm working on it now and again up in Vancouver. Really nice people, really good material. That's the best part of it, really. If it's bad material it doesn't matter how much money they're throwing at you, it's not worth it." Originally, Night Visions was not going to feature a host. Co-creator Billy Brown stated, "I never wanted a host. There should have been an introductory voice-over, a laOuter Limits. But the network said 'No host, no show'. So we started looking, and actually got a commitment from Gary Oldman. Having played Dracula, and being a fantastic actor, he would have been a real presence. The network said no. They wanted Henry Rollins. I didn't get it, nor did anyone else on the show's staff. It seemed like someone's desperate idea to make the show hip". Regarding Fox's involvement in the creative process, Brown said "They said many conflicting things. We had a chance to option an incredible Dean Koontzshort story that was just terrifying, and they nixed that because it was too scary. And yet they complained that other stories weren't scary enough." The show's directors included some best known for feature films, including Tobe Hooper and Joe Dante, and others, such as Brian Dennehy, JoBeth Williams, and Bill Pullman, known primarily as actors.
Broadcast history
The show was scheduled to debut during October 2000 at 8:00 p.m. on Fridays, but this never eventuated, with reality showPolice Chase and Freakylinks airing in its place. It eventually aired on Fox from July 12 to September 6, 2001 as a summer filler. Billy Brown reflected "There was a changing of the guard at Fox between the time we filmed the pilot and the time the network was ready to order the series. The new regime wasn't convinced an anthology would work, yet everyone agreed that the pilot was good. I had the feeling the network didn't think the show was hip enough." It was later picked up by the Sci Fi Channel, which reran the series beginning June 14, 2002. During September 2002, Sci Fi broadcast the final three remaining episodes that never aired on Fox, which was due to scheduling conflicts arising from the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks. One of these, "Cargo/Switch", ran as part of the Night Visions series, while the two other episodes' segments were edited into the Sci Fi Channel film Shadow Realm, minus the Rollins introductions and the Night Visions name. Reruns of the series also aired on the Nine Network in Australia and on cable channelChiller. The show has never been released on DVD.
Reception
Night Visions has been favorably compared to other horror/sci-fi anthology shows, particularly The Twilight Zone, although The Washington Post claimed the show is "far more graphic and scary."
