Tales from the Darkside: A Serpent's Tooth

"A Serpent's Tooth" is the eighth episode from season three of the horror anthology series Tales from the Darkside, and the fifty-sixth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Frank De Palma with a script written by Edithe Swensen. It first aired in first run syndication on Sunday, November 16th, 1986. In this episode, a domineering mother named Pearl King, grows frustrated with her rebellious teenage children. A friend named Myron gives her a mystical serpent's tooth, that grants her the ability to make her every command come to pass - even if she mis-speaks things accidentally.

Notes & Trivia

 * Tales from the Darkside is an anthology television series that aired in syndication from September 30th, 1984 to July 24th, 1988, spanning a total of four seasons and ninety episodes. The series was developed by horror film icon George Romero and was presented in the same vein as programs such as Tales from the Crypt and Amazing Stories.


 * "TFTD: A Serpent's Tooth" redirects to this page. This serves as a shortcut for users who wish to find the page without typing out the entire name of the series.


 * This episode is included on the Tales from the Darkside: The Third Season DVD collection, which was released by Paramount Home Entertainment in Region 1 format on October 27th, 2009. It is also included in the Tales from the Darkside: The Complete Series boxset collection, which was released on September 6th, 2016.


 * The setting for this episode is unclear, but gauging by the accents of the characters, it likely takes place in New York City, possibly somewhere in Brooklyn, or The Bronx.


 * Madeline states that she is 21-years-old in this episode.


 * This is the sixth episode of Tales from the Darkside directed by Frank De Palma. He directs eight episodes of the series in total. He previously directed "The Casavin Curse". His next episode is "My Ghostwriter - The Vampire".


 * This is the seventh episode of Tales from the Darkside written by Edithe Swensen. She previously wrote "Heretic". Her next episode is "Red Leader".


 * This is the second to last television acting work for Louis Quinn. It is his final work in the horror genre.


 * Actor Jared Rushton is also known for playing the role of Clyde Parker in the film Pet Sematary Two in 1992.


 * Actress JoAnn Willette also played a character named Ruta Mae in the "Mummy, Daddy" episode of Amazing Stories in 1985.

Allusions

 * The title of this episode comes from Act 1, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's King Lear: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child". Myron quotes this line to Pearl while sitting in her kitchen.

Quotes

 * : Madeline, don't do anything you wouldn't want to show on Network television!