The Twilight Zone

[Larry Schuler]

Every one has to at least appreciate this show. It had some of the most original and creative storylines ever imagined and it debuted in 1959. People nowadays can't come close to reproducing the level of psychological horror and thought provoking sci-fi this show managed in the early 60's. Most of the storylines were actually cleverly hidden social commentary too.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone here has some favorite episodes. Mine are:

- It's a Good Life (Evil 8 year old boy controls everything with his mind)
- Nick of Time (Young couple gets glimpse of future by putting pennies in a novelty fortune teller machine and asking it yes or no questions)
- One where prisoner is held in solitary confinement on an asteroid in space and is secretly given a robot girl to keep him company.

[Falls City Beer]

Greatest TV show of all time, IMO. The Beatles of television shows. Almost too much good stuff to catch your breath.

[Roy Tucker]

The one with the girl robot on an asteroid is "The Lonely".

Rod Serling went to school at Antioch College up in Yellow Springs.

My favorites:

A Stop at Willoughby
The Midnight Sun
Little Girl Lost

[TeamCasey]

I like the one where the guy just wants a quiet place and some time to read.

[KronoRed]

I like the one where the guy just wants a quiet place and some time to read.

Then breaks his glasses when he's the only man left on earth ;)

[Chip R]

I like the one where the guy just wants a quiet place and some time to read.That's one of my favorites as well. I like to watch the marathons on Sci Fi Network.

[westofyou]

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

The Bewitchin' Pool

[Falls City Beer]

Hitchhiker.

Nick of Time, definitely

The messed up part is, I really don't like Sci-Fi very much. But this show was written so captivatingly, it didn't seem to matter (though I would argue that the show was far more ghost story/proto-horror than it was sci-fi).

[TRF]

only slightly off topic. The day I realized every episode of The Outer Limits was something with an ironic ending i stopped watching.

[Yachtzee]

To Serve Man

[UKFlounder]

I don't know the names of any episodes (other the the Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge), but one I like is when the bus stops at a tiny diner in winter, and there are reports of an UFO around, with the restaurant owner ending up being one.

One good thing about New Year's Day (at least the past couple of years), besides football, is the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci-Fi & the Three Stooges marathon on AMC.

[Larry Schuler]

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

In high school I had to read the short story this episode was based on. Then we got to watch it in class. Pretty good episode.

[westofyou]

In high school I had to read the short story this episode was based on. Then we got to watch it in class. Pretty good episode.

I went to film school and had to see in at least 3 different classes, it's a classic example of time manipulation in that medium. The short story is also very good.

The movie Jacobs Ladder steals the premise somewhat.

[westofyou]

FYI the episodes can be found at www.tvtome.com

[Bob Borkowski]

one I like is when the bus stops at a tiny diner in winter, and there are reports of an UFO around, with the restaurant owner ending up being one.


It is called "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up"

[RFS62]

Wasn't William Shatner the lead in Nightmare at 20,000 Feet?

[Bob Borkowski]

Wasn't William Shatner the lead in Nightmare at 20,000 Feet?

Yep...as well as 'Nick of Time' mentioned earlier (the one about feeding pennies into a 'future-telling' machine in a restaurant)

[Bob Borkowski]

I like to watch the marathons on Sci Fi Network.



Did anyone notice that the SciFi network had a mini-marathon of Twilight Zones today...just ended at 4 pm.

[Bob Borkowski]

Here are a few episodes I like and I don't think they have been mentioned yet.

* The Invaders: A woman (played by Agnes Moorhead) in an isolated farmhouse is forced to defend herself from invading space men. No dialog at all from her and only limited communication from the flying saucer guys at the end. Well done.

* Walking Distance: Gig Young plays a guy who is kind of fed-up with life and walks a short distance back to his hometown and finds that everything is just the way it was when he was a kid. Taps in on that 'good old days' feeling that some of us understand. ;)

* Nothing in the Dark: An old lady is visited by Mr Death (Robert Redford) and he convinces her that he is not to be feared.

* Two: Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson are apparently the last two people on earth after some kind of battle on earth causes devastation.

*The Eye of the Beholder: Has plastic surgery helped a young lady get beyond the abnormal look of her face? When the bandages are finally removed we find that the surgery has been a failure...she is still 'ugly' (played by Donna Douglas who was Ellie May on Beverly Hillbillies), although to our human eye she is beautiful and it is the medical staff who have the distorted facial appearance.

* A Stop at Willoughby: Similar to 'Walking Distance', picking up on the theme of looking for a way out of the stress-filled present life.

*A Hundred Yards Over the Rim: In the mid-1800's, a man (Cliff Robertson) traveling in a wagon train is transported into the future. Time travel has always fascinated me.

Lots more, but these stand out, along with the ones already mentioned. For me personally, the episodes I enjoyed least were the ones that tried to inject 'whimsy' or humor into the story.

Anyway, a great tv series. One of the best ever, for sure. :)

[Larry Schuler]

* The Invaders: A woman (played by Agnes Moorhead) in an isolated farmhouse is forced to defend herself from invading space men. No dialog at all from her and only limited communication from the flying saucer guys at the end. Well done.

The ending makes this one for me. I was starting to get tired after 20 minutes of what seemed like nothing, then the ending tied it together nicely. Good episode.

[Falls City Beer]

http://www.goodstuffcards.com/images/twilight_zone/twilightzone2nd.jpg

"Can you tell me, will the Reds ever win again?"

[Falls City Beer]

http://www.netdevelopment.net/um/SS/TZ/Invader.jpg

John Allen

[Bob Borkowski]

Bringing this one to the top again because the Sci-Fi channel is doing a 'Twilight Zone' marathon again today. They seem to do that on or around holidays, right?

Watching some of these episodes reminds me that I have seen some of them literally dozens of times and they still hold my interest. Quality does wear well.

[KittyDuran]

Bringing this one to the top again because the Sci-Fi channel is doing a 'Twilight Zone' marathon again today. They seem to do that on or around holidays, right?

Watching some of these episodes reminds me that I have seen some of them literally dozens of times and they still hold my interest. Quality does wear well.And most IIRC were in B&W which sometimes has a creepy effect to the show. My favs are "Nick in Time" and "To Serve Man". Didn't they revive either The Outer Limits or the "Twilight Zone" in the 80's? I only remember one episode - something of a man from the 1800s wagon trail - timetravelling to present day to get penicillin for his daughter.

[pedro]

If you like the Twilight Zone, you may want to check this out.

It's "Planet of the Apes" re-imagined as a Twilight Zone episode.

Pretty cool

http://theforbidden-zone.com/media/tzone.shtml

[macro]

Didn't they revive either The Outer Limits or the "Twilight Zone" in the 80's?

CBS came out with a new batch of "The Twilight Zone" episodes in the 80s. IIRC, they weren't bad. Also, I think UPN has revived the series, as well. I watched one with Jessica Simpson and another with Usher a few weeks ago.

One of the themes that seemed to come up often with the original Rod Serling series was society's fear of technology in the early 60s, including the threat of nuclear war and extraterrestial life. I watched five or six episodes yesterday during the Sci Fi Channel's marathon, and at least two dealt with people's fear and/or loathing of technology and the "noisy" world they were living in.

In one, a guy tries to go back to live in 1881 and finds that it doesn't work, and in another two men use a "time travel helmet", one to go from his time forward and the other to go from his time backward. Neither liked what they found and returned to their own times.

I recall other episodes about rogue robots and other technology that was out to get people. Even the episode where the woman in the farmhouse was being attacked by the miniature spacemen touched on people's apprehension about space travel and where it might take us. The same could be said of the "To Serve Man" episode.

What I'm finding as I get older is that the themes portrayed in the original series will always be relevant. Yes, it's funny to laugh that people were afraid of telephones in 1960, but all one need do is replace the telephone with some technology that is new today. The more things have changed and will change, the more they have and will stay the same.

[Hap]

Once Upon A Time -- Buster Keaton does half the episode as a silent film

Death Ship -- Very cool spaceship story

A Game Of Pool -- Predictable plot, outstanding performances

The Obsolete Man -- Burgess Meredith's finest performance

The Hunt -- A nice fairy tale message overshadows the horrible acting