Oh too bad, just sounded like a good title and not at all familiar. I got 2 Volumes of Classics from library and I'm only watching ones I hadn't seen. Third From the Sun a good one, The Fugitive really different , kind of charming story. Wouldn't think classics though as never came across them over the years of marathons or heard them mentioned. What do you think ?
Favorite TV series EVER! My Top #30 __________________ 30- Stopover in a quiet town 29- One more pallbearer 28- The little people 27- A most unusual camera 26- Time enough at last 25- Nick of time 24- Twenty-two 23- Monsters are due on Maple street 22- Person or persons unknown 21- Eye of the beholder ------------------------------ 20- Third from the sun 19- The dummy 18- The invaders 17- To serve man 16- It's a good life 15- Perchance to dream 14- The last rites of JM 13- Mirror image 12- Living doll 11- Walking distance ------------------------------ 10- A nice place to visit 9- The hitch-hiker 8- Midnight sun 7- The trouble with Templeton 6- The grave 5- And when the sky was opened 4-Will the martian please stand up? 3- A stop at willoughby 2- Shadow play 1- Five characters in search of an exit
I'm not sure how I'd rank the episodes. I've never been good at that. To me there are about three categories of TWILIGHT ZONE episodes: - Good to great - Medium/so-so - The ones I likely skip. And there are episodes that I've seen so many times because they're "great", that I don't really care to see them too often again.
Just watched "On Thursday We Leave For Home". It is one of the hour-long episodes that could be edited down to a half-hour episode and still get its point across.
Totally agree. It's the kind of show in some episodes though that once certain things are revealed it's not meant for repeated viewing. Like suspenseful movies in a way. The lesser episodes I found there isn't enough to the story sometimes so there's this one thing and it's repeated throughout and when you get to the end it's lackluster. But much of the series is good - great and that's remarkable for writing this type of show. What a trailblazer and what an imagination.
This series is just genius. So many genres. Mini-movies told in thirty minutes. A study of humanity, in all of its forms. Twists so inventive, we are still talking about them over sixty years later. Serling was a genius and left a tremendous legacy.
"Best"? Always debatable. Favorite? Not. For me, my favorite is Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. I routinely put it on my DVR to watch. It's there now. I tend to agree with Jerry Seinfeld about Twilight Zone. It hasn't stood the test of time with me. A guy who just wants to spend the rest of his life reading books, and he breaks his glasses just when he's about to start? I think Serling read way too much O. Henry growing up.
This made me laugh. You just better believe Serling wished he wrote ' The Gift of The Magi'! The wife sells her long hair to buy a chain for her husband's watch but he sold the watch to buy a set of combs for her to brush her hair....that could easily be a Twilight Zone episode. A little on the lighter side, perhaps. Certainly not a ' To Serve Man' ending!
some favorites: Jess-Belle Miniature A Stop At Willoughby The Night Of The Meek The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine Number 12 Looks Just Like You Mr. Denton On Doomsday The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street Static Eye Of The Beholder It's A Good Life The Fugitive The Last Rites Of Jeff Myrtlebank A Hundred Yards Over The Rim And When The Sky Was Opened Where Is Everybody?
Of course it's all opinion, but I totally disagree. Not only do I think "On Thursday We Leave for Home" is the best of the hour-long episodes, but it's my favorite of all Twilight Zone episodes. Whether it could get its "point" across in half an hour can be debated, but I feel its full hour length is completely earned - beautifully written, performed, and executed overall. And this is coming from someone who generally doesn't find the hour-long episodes to be all that successful (with some notable exceptions).
The story goes that the French short film had won all sorts of awards and was getting a lot of buzz. One of Serling's co-horts urged Rod to look at the film to see if it could work as a TWILIGHT ZONE. Rod was impressed, and negotiations with the film owners and the CBS network went back and forth, with the ultimate outcome that the owners would send the negatives and all materials necessary to adapt the show as a TWILIGHT ZONE and that the network would get two runs - an original and one rerun. At the cost of $20,000, this brought the series fifth season more in line with the per-episode budget, which had a bunch of overages. The episode was not included in the syndication package when the series left the network. Sometime in the 80s, I recall a cable channel - might have been WPIX New York or WGN Chicago, both of which we got on that rudimentary cable, ran the full French film of "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" with the Rod Serling intro tacked on. Thereafter, CBS must have re-negotiated the deal with the film owners as it started showing up in home video.
Originally a short story by Ambrose Bierce. I don’t recall if I saw the film or read the story first. I think I saw it as a 16 mm film in high school. I didn’t know it aired as part of TZ until many years later.
I'm trying to remember if there was a home video release of just the film. I know I've seen the whole, unedited thing in rather low resolution. I remember the foggy, contrasty version where the white original titles were hard to read.
These would be my top 50 episodes: Where Is Everybody? / One For The Angels / Walking Distance / Escape Clause / Time Enough At Last / What You Need / The Four Of Us Are Dying / Third From The Sun / Elegy / The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street / People Are Alike All Over / The Big Tall Wish / A Nice Place To Visit / Nightmare As A Child / A Stop At Willoughby / A Passage For Trumpet / Mr. Bevis / The Mighty Casey / A World Of His Own / The Man In The Bottle / The Howling Man / Eye Of The Beholder / A Most Unusual Camera / The Night Of The Meek / The Whole Truth / A Penny For Your Thoughts / Twenty Two / Mr. Dingle, The Strong / The Prime Mover / Long Distance Call / The Silence / The Mind & The Matter / Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up? / The Obsolete Man / A Game Of Pool / It's A Good Life / The Midnight Sun / Once Upon A Time / One More Pallbearer / To Serve Man / The Fugitive / The Dummy / I Sing The Body Electric / Cavender Is Coming / I Dream Of Genie / A Kind Of Stopwatch / Living Doll / Uncle Simon / The Masks / The Brain Center At Whipple's. here's a treat for you all. A sequel to "It's A good Life" (With Billy Mumy) titled "It's Still A Good Life". It stars Billy Mumy as an adult & features a great performance by his daughter Liliana Mumy. I was impressed!!! Enjoy!
yeah, the was the ONLY episode of that series I enjoyed. The rest were pretty bad from that revival. It was nice to see Cloris Leachman in this one too!
You can edit anything down and still get its point across. Sometimes it nice to let something breathe a bit. Enjoy the journey, not the rush.
I’d also add five from the 80’s version Night crawlers (directed by William Friedkin) The Shadow Man (Written by Rockne O’Bannon) Her Pilgrim Soul (written by the brilliant Alan Brennart) To See The Invisible Man (written by Steve Barnes) Paladin of the Lost Hour (written by Harlan Ellison) All five worthy of Rod’s original series Original series Nightmare at 20,000 Feet Eye of the Beholder The Monsters are Due on Maple Street To Serve Man It’s a Good Life The Masks And When the Sky Opened The Silence The Invaders Little Girl Lost AnOccurance at Owl Creek The Howling Man Time Enough at Last A Stop at Willowby The Death Ship A Most Unusual Camera I Sing the Body Electric Steel Nervous Man in a 4 Dollar Room The Mighty Casey The Bard I’ll have to think about the others…
