1970s children's show with scary glowing door

November 16, 2015 4:18 AM

In the late 70s or early 80s, I saw a TV show that involved a kid who wasn't supposed to open a glowing door. The kid reached for the door... he was about to open it... and at that point, I got freaked out and ran out of the TV room. My sense of terror makes it one of my more vivid childhood memories, and to this day, I often wonder what was behind that door. From these vague details, can you help me figure out what the show was so I can finally find the answer?

A few more details, which are based on my decades-old childhood memories and may or may not be accurate:
• It was live action, rather than animation or puppets.
• It was a program aimed at children.
• We didn't have cable, so it would have aired on a regular TV channel.
• It was one segment in a show with multiple short segments, rather than a single over-arching story line.
• I often watched Zoom! and 3-2-1 Contact at this age, so it could have been one of those shows (but it could have been something else entirely.)

PS: Googling "Zoom! glowing door" turns up this sketch, which could possibly be it -- except that it was apparently filmed in 2004 and anyway never aired.

posted by yankeefog to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

There's a famous scene like this in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Maybe some kids' TV shows later riffed on this imagery?
posted by gentian at 4:36 AM on November 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

The first episode of Sapphire and Steel had some scary imagery with doors and hallways, for instance starting around the 18-minute mark. But I wouldn't call it a childrens show, and the doors don't overtly glow-- it's more like the doors are tears through which a malevolent time seeks to free itself. All of this whole series scared the crap out of me as a child.
posted by seasparrow at 5:41 AM on November 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Seasparrow: Thanks for the suggestion. I took a look at your link and it looks incredibly creepy-- but it's not the one I was thinking of.

Also, you remind me that I left out an important part of my question: I grew up in the US, and it had to have been a show that aired in the US at the time.
posted by yankeefog at 6:09 AM on November 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Forgotten Door?
posted by Ralston McTodd at 6:41 AM on November 16, 2015

I have a slightly similar memory... Was it a fridge door?
posted by shenkerism at 9:17 AM on November 16, 2015

Response by poster: Ralston: Hmmm... I couldn't find video footage of The Forgotten Door, but the text descriptions I've read don't quite line up with my memory. I kind of have the feeling that it was a human opening a door on earth, as opposed to somebody from another world.

Shenkerism: Hmmm again. I don't specifically remember it being a fridge but it could have been!
posted by yankeefog at 12:00 PM on November 16, 2015

Makes me think of H.R. Pufnstuf, though I don't remember much about that show. It really freaked me out.

Thanks for mentioning the "TV room," that really took me back!
posted by soakimbo at 8:44 PM on November 16, 2015

Could it be The Magic Door? It showed in Chicago during the 70s. Not scary, but maybe to a little kid it would be.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:21 AM on November 17, 2015

Response by poster: Soakimbo: I was going to say I never watched H R Pufnstuf, but I just looked up a clip and I immediately recognized the theme song, so it's clearly in my memory somewhere. But after browsing through a couple of clips, I'm pretty sure it's not the show I'm thinking of.

Persona Au Gratin: I grew up in Washington DC, so it couldn't have been that.

Thanks for trying, everybody. It's beginning to look like this is a childhood mystery that will have to stay a mystery.
posted by yankeefog at 3:36 AM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]