Ever heard the episodes that has the Lipton Iced Tea Lady with Mr. Host? They're strange, but they fit right in with the whole laidback format. She's a very proper, English lady that plugs Lipton Iced Tea, and ignores Mr. Host's ghoulish one-liners. The Host seems to be infatuated with her, and the whole thing seems improvised on the spot. Weird.

I've come to the conclusion that Inner Sanctum was the Jerry Springer to the OTR Horror Field more obviously represented by Suspense's Phil Donahue and Escape's Oprah Winfrey. Sanctum blithely felt free to break its mood (instead of a Man in Black or a Whistler, it was hosted by a punster with a Lipton's Tea shill by his side). Sanctum lovingly seemed to go for "twist" endings that showed it was a set-up or go by trusted mundane endings (for an example of both, see the otherwise well-acted "The Man Who Couldn't Die"--you'll be enthralled until the end when you develop a serious frown).