The Twilight Zone - General Discussion

[Wordsworth]

Denver Pyle was in season five's "Black Leather Jackets".  He went on to play Briscoe Darling on "The Andy Griffith Show" and Uncle Jesse on "The Dukes of Hazzard".

 

Speaking of the Dukes, James Best, who also had a couple of episodes of Andy Griffith under his belt, and went on to play Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane, appeared in season three's "The Grave" and "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank", then season four's "Jess-Belle".

[Frisco]

Stop at Willoughby is my favorite.  I love the TZ marathons!

[Wordsworth]

"The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" has a great opening narration.  Only Serling could write, "struck down by hit-and-run years, lying on the pavement, trying desperately to get the license number of fleeting fame"

[Wordsworth]

Fans of "Little House on the Prairie" will recognize Kevin Hagen (Doctor Baker) in season 1's "Elegy" and in season 5's "You Drive".  Dabbs Greer, also known as Reverend Alden, played in season 3's "Hocus Pocus and Frisby" and season four's "Valley of the Shadow".

[benteen]

The AV Club has resumed their reviews of The Twilight Zone, picking up with Season 5.  I've enjoyed reading them a lot.  The first two here are In Praise of Pip and Steel.

 

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/twilight-zone-praise-pipsteel-205522

 

[DXD526]

Season 5 was the final season, ran from '63-64. The entire series was '59-64.

 

The show wasn't that strong in the last season, IMO, and doesn't contain any standout episodes other than the legendary "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet". Rod Serling still wrote a few episodes, with "The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms" being one of my latter-series favorites. I saw "Queen of the Nile" for the first time in high school and had nightmares for weeks.

 

"Night Call" is a contender for weakest ep ever, just plain silly with plot holes to drive an 18-wheeler through. Interesting note: it was scheduled to air the night of Nov. 22, 1963, but that afternoon, President Kennedy was killed. It was preempted, and finally aired Feb. 7, 1964.

[Guest]

Season 5 was the final season, ran from '63-64. The entire series was '59-64.

 

I set the thread titles like that on purpose to show the differences between versions.  That's why all the original seasons say 59-64.  If enough of you guys want to change the titles, just let me know.

[benteen]

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet is the classic, no doubt about that.  But I would argue Living Doll is as well.  Season 5 also contains some really good episodes like Steel and The Masks.

[GreekGeek]

Complete list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Twilight_Zone_(1959_TV_series)_guest_stars

In addition to those already mentioned, the ones who stood out for me were:

Mary Badham ("Scout Finch" in To Kill a Mockingbird) in The Bewitchin' Pool.

Art Carney in Night of the Meek. People who knew him only as goofy Norton in The Honeymooners really saw another side of him.

Peter Falk in The Mirror.

George Grizzard in The Chaser.

Jonathan Winters in A Game of Pool.

Gig Young in Walking Distance.

[Gimmick Genius]

One of my favourites is Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room; Joe Mantell is brilliant in his arguments with the mirror, and the special effects still really hold up.

[Gimmick Genius]

One of my favourites from this season is The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross.

[SlovakPrincess]

Do y'all get a channel called "MeTV"? They show an episode every night. I've really enjoyed recording it.

 

Yes!  In fact, Ring a Ding Girl is on right now!

 

Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room: I love the two sides of his personality, fighting each other through a mirror.

 

Twenty-Two is a favorite of mine - I just love the creepy "Room for one more, honey!" lady.  That would be truly terrifying, to keep dreaming about a morgue where a nurse beckons you in with that line!

 

The After Hours is also fantastic - except for one thing that always bothered me:

if she was a mannequin all along, why did she think she was buying a  thimble for her mother.  Who in hell did she think her mother was?!  She's a mannequin, for cripes sake!

 

Nightmare as a Child - I love that creepy little girl!

 

Living Doll - Ok, this one is silly, but I always crack up when Talking Tina is all: "I'm going to kill you!"

 

I also love the ones with William Shatner: there's one where he has a mental breakdown on a plane, and another one where a young couple becomes obsessed with a fortune-telling slot machine in a diner.  

 

And any of the ones with Jack Klugman!  I love Jack Klugman. 

[benteen]

My top five would be "It's a Good Life," "The After-Hours," "The Midnight Sun," "Living Doll," and "Nick of Time." I'm also fond of a fairly obscure episode called "Steel," with Lee Marvin as the manager of a robot boxer.

 

I don't know about Steel being as obscure anymore after Real Steel although it's not one of the episodes people always talk about.  It's a favorite of mine as well and one of the first episodes I ever saw.

 

I'll share the love for Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room as well for the reasons already stated.  A terrific performance by Joe Mantell and the mirror work still looks convincing.

 

Nick of Time with Shatner is one of my favorites.  The Little People is another.  I've always liked Third from the Sun too.  I like the whole "trying to escape from a doomed planet" storyline.

Edited July 4, 2014 by benteen

[Brn2bwild]

I have a fondness for The Bewitching Pool, as silly as it is.  

 

Not long ago, I saw an episode that is never shown in the regular rotation: the one where George Takei was a Japanese-American gardener who got locked in an attic with a drunk WWII vet.  It was a fascinating idea, but ridiculously executed, and more than a little racist.

[Brn2bwild]

Question about The Howling Man: David Ellington is supposed to be American, but is it me, or does his accent sound European?

[merylinkid]

Just saw Nightmare at 20,000 Feet on the SciFi Channel marathon.   All I could think is how different everything would have been if Bob had just taken a train home.  I mean what doctor sends a guy who has a nervous breakdown while flying home on a plane?   Sure he was "cured."   Sure it was the era of "get back on the horse." but come on, it was also the era where train travel was still the norm.   Take the train, no little green man.  

 

Also, just realized something from the Bewitching Pool.   Really, the parents dump it on the kids to decide who to live with?   Umm, you are the parents YOU decide.  But then these 2 aren't the greatest parents on the planet.   They just love to put the kids in the middle of their divorce.   I would love to see them in front of a judge with their stunts.   Sadly, this happens in real life and the kids don't have an Auntie T to save them.

[merylinkid]

My all time favorite happy ending one is I Sing the Body Electric.   Followed closely by the one where the guy gets the magic sack to hand out toys to the poor kids at Christmas.

 

My favorite sad ending one is a tie between Time Enough to Read and A Stop at Willoughy.   Both men have shrews for wives, but they find a way out.   Until Burgess Meredith breaks his glasses.   And the less said about how Willoughby ends the better.   Also like the Endless Sun.   Such a twist.

 

My favorite freak outs one are THe Martians are Due on Maple Street and the one with the bus and the diner.  Both have pretty much the same story -- how do we react when aliens are suspected among us.   And of course, the ever awesome -- To Serve Man.   It's a .....

[benteen]

Auntie T was a little creepy though.

[benteen]

I Sing the Body Electric was the only episode written by Ray Bradbury.  It's sad he didn't write anymore.  He wrote two scripts but they were considered unfilmable.  Years later, he wrote them for his own show.

[Fairlily26]

This show stays in my Netflix queue. Favorite episode? Mirror image followed closely by 22. Never has a series scared me by a beautiful woman being absolutely creepy! "Room for one more honey..."

[Boots]

Where is Everybody? 

People Are Alike All Over (brilliant!!!)

And When the Sky Was Opened

The Four of Us Are Dying

Elegy

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (brilliant!)

A Stop at Willoughby 

A Thing About Machines (brilliant!!)

The Howling Man (BRILLIANT!)

Eye of the Beholder- Personal story- When I was 5 or 6 I was watching this and my evil stepmother turned off the television right as they were unwrapping the bandages.. Ugh the delight she took in that. I didn't finally see it until I was 16 or so. 

The Invaders (Agnes is great in this)

The Silence (Oh snap! Ohhh that's unfortunate)

Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? (just a fun episode)

The Obsolete Man (Can see it happening)

Two (Liz Montgomery was sooo hot)

The Shelter (Definitely realistic)

The Grave (creeepy)

Deaths-Head Revisited (My favorite!)

Nothing in the Dark (REDFORD!)

The Hunt (Damn straight old man!)

To Serve Man 

The Gift

Young Mans Fancy

The Changing of the Guard (Sad)

Valley of the Shadow (Love this one! So cool)

He's Alive (HOPPER!!)

The Old Man in the Cave

Uncle Simon (so dark!)

You Drive

Number 12 Looks Just Like you (we are already there)

From Agnes- With Love

The Brain Center at Whipple's

[SlovakPrincess]

Nothing in the Dark (REDFORD!)

 

 

So good!  I forgot how much I loved this one. 

 

 

Eye of the Beholder- Personal story- When I was 5 or 6 I was watching this and my evil stepmother turned off the television right as they were unwrapping the bandages.. Ugh the delight she took in that. I didn't finally see it until I was 16 or so.

 

Ooh, that was an evil thing to do!

 

 

Number 12 Looks Just Like you (we are already there)

 

The young actress in that was so good!

[SlovakPrincess]

"What You Need" is on right now. I'm fond of this one - probably because the man playing the mysterious peddler is just so good.

[benteen]

I liked that one too.

Edited August 22, 2014 by benteen

[BooksRule]

I saw on the news this morning that Richard Kiel died.  Most remember him as 'Jaws' in two James Bond films, but he also played the alien Kanamit on the classic TZ episode 'To serve man'.  He was extra tall and creepy in that one.

[magpye29]

My favorite episode is "Miniature" with Robert Duvall.  They don't show it very often, but I have always loved it.

[merylinkid]

Loving this year's marathon.   Seeing some episodes I have never seen (or don't remember seeing) but get talked about a lot here.   The one where the pitchman has to make the pitch of his life to save a little girl's life got me right in the feels.   Death Head's Revisited is on as I type this.    

 

Of course saw most of my favorites too.   Willoughby was on last night.   I sing the Body Electric will be on later.   Going to go hide while "It's a Good Life" is on.   

[redlaces]

Yes.. Yes she was.. Just watching it now again, and it never changes.. No. Thanks.. Get your fuckin' shine box Tommy! I know their parents were horrors, but shit, at least wait out for the inheritance..  Hot damn I want that pool though. Aunt T ate the hell out of those chllren, and took their voices with her. :) :)

[hypnotoad]

Time Enough At Last is a favorite of mine. I also love The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms, The Odyssey of Flight 33 and Third From the Sun. Truthfully, I pretty much like all TZ episodes except for the 'comedy' ones. I never find them funny and usually end up skipping them during athons!

[Brooklynista]

Time Enough at Last is my all time favorite closely followed by Obsolete Man.

Romney Words worth being willing to die for his love of reading always moves me.

Maybe I just have a crush on Burgess Meredith

Edited January 6, 2015 by Brooklynista

[CrazyDog]

All of my favs have been mentioned, except The Hunt. Not spooky or twisted, but sweet. I always loved that Simpson won't leave his dog even to go to what appears to be heaven.

I have a hard time watching Little Girl Lost. So good, but so creepy.

[Wordsworth]

Walking Distance with little Ronnie Howard in it, too!

[merylinkid]

Oh my, I never realized Cloris Leachman was the Mother in "it's a good life."    Wow.

 

And I knew the dad in  "I sing the Body Electric" was someone I should know.    Of course, Larry.   

[psychoticstate]

The Odyssey of Flight 33 and Time Enough at Last are my two absolute faves.  Burgess Meredith was fantastic in everything he did so Time Enough is a given and I love, love, love any story that has to do with time travel. 

 

I'm also a fan of Richard Matheson and his episodes The Invaders, Once Upon a Time (with Buster Keaton!), Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, The Last Flight and Third From the Sun are all wonderful.

[ByTor]

I pretty much like all TZ episodes except for the 'comedy' ones. I never find them funny and usually end up skipping them during athons!

I'm sorry, I'm not so great with titles but I love the one where the used car salesman wasn't able to lie. I think that was a comedic one that really worked.

[mojito]

I watched this as a child during prime time. "Little Girl Lost" was a favorite as was "Living Doll". But one that I caught as an adult that I thought was good and wicked was "To Serve Man". That was the funniest one, I think.

 

There are so, so many good ones. I tend to like the ones where you aren't sure who/where people are. Like the famous one with Agnes Moorhead, the ones with the different characters trying to escape some non-descript room (the toybox), or the one where the the couple enters a town and the train keeps passing the same landmarks (they're on a child's train track). I also like the nostalgia ones (people yearning for a simpler time).

 

All these years later, TTZ is still my favorite drama of all time.

[amaranta]

Anne Francis in "The After Hours."  For some reason that episode really freaked me out; I've never looked at mannequins the same since.  As in they totally creep me out (as do ventriloquist dummies and clowns.) 

 

She was also in an episode called "Jess-Belle," which I don't think I've seen.  I've only watched this series in syndication so I've probably missed a good many.

 

Diana Hyland in "Spur of the Moment."  I really liked this one, have seen it a few times, and always wish for a different outcome. 

[redlaces]

Jesse-Bell is painfully boring. 

[VCRTracking]

The main character, McNulty in "A Kind of Stopwatch" episode is played by Richard Erdman, who is Leonard the elderly Greendale student on Community:

 

[ForeverPluto]

The Masks

Spur of the Moment...I didn't initially love this episode at first but now it has become one of my favorites. I can relate to the episode. I won't spoil the episode but it's has a really good message, imo. 

Midnight Sun

A Stop at Willoughby

Will The Real Martian Stand Up?

People Are Alike All Over

[nottopbravo]

SyFy marathon starts tonight.  All episodes are shown in order.  About time.

[merylinkid]

That's why it started so much earlier than usual.   But I am going to misss so many of them because I still have to work today.

[merylinkid]

I gotta say that Julie Newmar makes as sexy a devil as she did Catwoman.   Wow.

[Brn2bwild]

That's why it started so much earlier than usual.   But I am going to misss so many of them because I still have to work today.

 

Yeah, on the one hand, I'm missing a lot of favorites due to the time they're being aired.  On the other hand, I get to see ones I haven't seen in a long time, or in some cases ever.

[bettername2come]

Watching Ring a Ding girl and this line just made me laugh like crazy. The main character is talking to her nephew and says, "Call me Bunny. Aunt Bunny sounds like the housemother at the Playboy club."

[benteen]

Yes.. Yes she was.. Just watching it now again, and it never changes.. No. Thanks.. Get your fuckin' shine box Tommy! I know their parents were horrors, but shit, at least wait out for the inheritance..  Hot damn I want that pool though. Aunt T ate the hell out of those chllren, and took their voices with her. :) :)

 

That was a GREAT pool.

[benteen]

One thing I didn't like about the marathon (though I always enjoy watching the show and enjoyed myself when I did watch is) is their editing.  God, Syfy sucks!  Their cuts and forced commercial breaks really did the episodes a disservice.  They were cutting out dialogue from important speeches the characters gave that really undercut those moments.  They had unnatural commercial breaks that killed the episodes momentum.  They did the show and viewers a disservice with that.

[Racj82]

One thing I didn't like about the marathon (though I always enjoy watching the show and enjoyed myself when I did watch is) is their editing. God, Syfy sucks! Their cuts and forced commercial breaks really did the episodes a disservice. They were cutting out dialogue from important speeches the characters gave that really undercut those moments. They had unnatural commercial breaks that killed the episodes momentum. They did the show and viewers a disservice with that.

I don't even understand why so many are still attached to the marathon. I get the tradition and everything but you can watch it on hulu, Netflix, Amazon, I think cbs. Com. They air sometimes on that cable network decades. So, I fail to care about how they edit anything. I don't need to watch them on there. Edited January 3, 2016 by Racj82

[merylinkid]

For those of us who don't want to spend the money on watching it online a tiny computer screen, the marathon is the main time we get to see any episodes.

 

Although all the episodes in order got to be a bit long.

[Racj82]

For those of us who don't want to spend the money on watching it online a tiny computer screen, the marathon is the main time we get to see any episodes.

 

Although all the episodes in order got to be a bit long.

You don't have to pay money with some of those options and you can just stream it to your tv screen through various options. I mean most people cut the cord and use these services because of money concerns anyways. Not judging anybody. Just saying that this aint the only avenue to get your twilight zone fix anymore. So, for me, they can cut what they want. I have options now. I refused to pay 100 plus dollars for the box sets back in the day but we are far past a couple of options now.