Amazing Stories - Book Five [VHS]

Next is "Without Diana," starring character actor Billy Green Bush as a returning World War II veteran whose young daughter, Diana, feels alienated from him after his prolonged absence. After rebuffing his warm overtures, Diana disappears in a forest and is presumed dead. The story (by Steven Spielberg, creator of the series) then jumps ahead several decades, where we find the now-doddering dad and his wife preparing for the latter's passing and still pining for their lost little girl--who makes a surprise appearance at a crucial moment. This sentimental ghost story gets a boost of pure drama from director Lesli Linka Glatter.

Finally, the goofy "Fine Tuning" closes things out with a story about three school kids, all guys, who invent a radio telescope that picks up signals from other planets. Instead of hearing greetings from our extraterrestrial neighbors, however, the boys find evidence that a distant world is enamored of our old reruns of I Love Lucy and Milton Berle's comedy shows. Clever and funny, "Fine Tuning" is directed by actor Bob Balaban and graced with an appearance by the real Uncle Miltie. --Tom Keogh