The film was originally produced as three episodes of an unsold anthology series of the same name, which would have followed the same format as Tales from the Crypt (1989), but focused on EC Comics' adventure and war stories, rather than on horror. When "Two-Fisted Tales" was not picked up, the three episodes were aired as a TV movie, as well as edited into three episodes of "Tales from the Crypt" despite the fact that they are not horror stories.