Any fans of THE TWILIGHT ZONE?

[BearSkinBathRobe]

https://media.giphy.com/media/eOJh1R0wpsheE/giphy.gif

I was immediately intrigued by this show when I first saw it on TV somewhere. Memory escapes me. Caught it on the TV at work in recent years.

I had been eyeballing it on Netflix for a while now, loving that intro video with the eerie music that plays if you hover over it. After seeing that each episode is just 25 minutes, I dived in. That first episode is awesome. I love that it's all in HD, despite being B&W.

I also really think that scene of him running into the glass and breaking the fourth wall so to speak is just the best! Tricky how they framed that shot to not show the sill of the window until he smashes into it, then the camera's eye changes to show the busted sill. It's just awesome, mostly because I've only ever seen characters running out of the frame or toward the camera toward an exit door and then seeing the film cut to the next scene/location. It's very clever! I put the link below to the clip, but you can't see the rest of the scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH2S4kg2tY8

Interesting how they were talking up the moon travel thing back in early 60s, with us actually venturing space-ward in '69. That was a good twist, as it was getting quite inexplicable toward the end. I wasn't sure. Thought he was maybe a soldier with a brain injury or amnesia, turns out he was part of a moon-travel experiment to assess damage of space travel to the human body.Last night,I watched the "Death of a Saleman" episode about a man bickering with the reaper about how he's not ready to die yet, but upon hearing someone else has to take his spot instead, he makes the selfless choice.

I just really love these kinds of shows that make you think and question your perception/how society perceives things. I've seen one other episode almost in its entirety about the people that wear the masks over their faces. Oh, and the plane episode with the monsters. Very interesting the social commentary and who knows what else the Emmy-winning writing team was going for here. I'm assuming there'll be some cold war/nuclear fear episodes too.

Any recommendations for really good episodes?

tl;dr: The Twilight Zone is a neat show! Do you agree? Any favorite episodes?

[Captain Steel]

Big fan.

I usually think I've seen every episode, then once in a while I see one I've never seen before.
On Sunday nights (on "MeTV") they've been showing the hour-long episodes, and it turns out, some of them I've never seen. That network currently shows a regular episode every weeknight at 12:30 a.m.

P.S. I always wondered why the famous Twilight Zone marathon (on Syfy network) is always shown on the July 4th holiday, when it seems Halloween would be a much more appropriate holiday for it!

[cat_sidhe]

I haven't seen every episode, but I loved what I have seen. I should probably look into purchasing the complete series at some point.

[Saunch]

I prefer The Scary Door.

[Camo]

Top ten show, seen every episode more than once. Rod Serling is my hero.

[cat_sidhe]

Reminds me...I've never seen Night Gallery.

[Camo]

Reminds me...I've never seen Night Gallery.

From what i've seen it's pretty good but Serling didn't have the same creative control that he had over Twilight Zone which IMO hurt the show overall as Serling was a genius.

[cat_sidhe]

From what i've seen it's pretty good but Serling didn't have the same creative control that he had over Twilight Zone which IMO hurt the show overall as Serling was a genius.

I liked the single season horror/thriller anthology series Darkroom, and I imagine Night Gallery's a bit similar to that.

[Camo]

I liked the single season horror/thriller anthology series Darkroom, and I imagine Night Gallery's a bit similar to that.

Never heard of it. The Outer Limits is a good anthology that sometimes ventures into horror, it's mostly sci-fi though.

[gbgoodies]

Any recommendations for really good episodes?

tl;dr: The Twilight Zone is a neat show! Do you agree? Any favorite episodes?


I used to watch "The Twilight Zone" every night, but I haven't watched it as much recently as I would like to. I usually try to catch a few episodes whenever one of the networks runs a marathon of it, usually on a holiday like Christmas or New Year's Day.


These are some of my favorite episodes:

And When The Sky Was Opened
The Arrival
I Shot An Arrow Into The Air
People Are Alike All Over
The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street
Time Enough At Last
Long Distance Call
Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up
Escape Clause
It's A Good Life
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet
Nothing In The Dark
Where Is Everybody?
The Grave
Walking Distance
The Odyssey of Flight 33
Nick Of Time
To Serve Man
A Most Unusual Camera

[gbgoodies]

Never heard of it. The Outer Limits is a good anthology that sometimes ventures into horror, it's mostly sci-fi though.


I've only seen a few episodes of "The Outer Limits", but I recently bought the DVD set of the original series at a garage sale, so I'm hoping to find some time to watch it over the summer.

[Mr Minio]

The Eye of the Beholder :bawling:

[Citizen Rules]

I just finished all of Season 3 of The Twilight Zone. And a few weeks ago I watched all of Season 1....Great show, some of the best writing and acting every done for TV. Not all the episodes are amazing, but all are worth watching.

These episodes from Season 1 totally amazed me:


Mr. Denton on Doomsday
The town drunk in the old-west faces his past when Fate lends a hand. With Dan Duryea.

A Passage for Trumpet
A suicidal despondent trumpet player finds himself in a bizarre world where he seems to be the only moving being, except for one helpful other musician. With Jack Klugman

Both of those are some of the best, heartfelt, emotional acting I've ever seen.


These are all great too:


The Lonely
A convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives from the police a realistic woman-robot. Great concept piece.


The Four of Us Are Dying
A man who can change his face to look like other people uses his ability to improve his life regardless of his affect on others. Another cool story idea, shot very film noirish!

What You Need
A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need. The classic Twilight Zone style story with heart and a twist.


The Hitch-Hiker
A young woman driving cross country becomes frantic when she keeps passing the same man on the side of the road. No matter how fast she drives the man is always up ahead, hitching her for a ride. This reminded me of Carnival of Souls.


Mirror Image
While waiting in a bus station, Millicent Barnes has the strange feeling that her doppelganger is trying to take over her life. A good examination of what might be a totally mental breakdown, or not?


The After Hours
A woman is treated badly by some odd salespeople on an otherwise empty department store floor. This is just cool, and Ann Francis is a living doll!


A World of His Own
A writer demonstrates he can control reality simply by dictating changes. The great Keenan Wynn in a lighter and fun story!

[Camo]

The Lonely
A convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives from the police a realistic woman-robot. Great concept piece.

This and Escape Clause were the last ones i watched, agreed The Lonely is great and underrated. Well so many are underrated as only like six episodes get regularly mentioned.

[SeeingisBelieving]

I've never seen The Twilight Zone but I'll have seen a lot of things it's influenced over the years.

When I was actively a fan of Doctor Who, before it came back in 2005, new stories were made for audio. I was aware enough at the time to connect Storm Warning, in which a flying monster appears by a window on the airship R101, with Nightmare at 20,000 Feet ;).

[BearSkinBathRobe]

Big fan.

I usually think I've seen every episode, then once in a while I see one I've never seen before.
On Sunday nights (on "MeTV") they've been showing the hour-long episodes, and it turns out, some of them I've never seen. That network currently shows a regular episode every weeknight at 12:30 a.m.

P.S. I always wondered why the famous Twilight Zone marathon (on Syfy network) is always shown on the July 4th holiday, when it seems Halloween would be a much more appropriate holiday for it!Oh, yeah. MeTV is awesome. That is curious. Maybe because they're not all scary, necessarily? I just watched the Fate/western/rummie-turned-marskman again regret/redemption episode and that was refreshing.

[BearSkinBathRobe]

I just finished all of Season 3 of The Twilight Zone. And a few weeks ago I watched all of Season 1....Great show, some of the best writing and acting every done for TV. Not all the episodes are amazing, but all are worth watching.

These episodes from Season 1 totally amazed me:


Mr. Denton on Doomsday
The town drunk in the old-west faces his past when Fate lends a hand. With Dan Duryea.

A Passage for Trumpet
A suicidal despondent trumpet player finds himself in a bizarre world where he seems to be the only moving being, except for one helpful other musician. With Jack Klugman

Both of those are some of the best, heartfelt, emotional acting I've ever seen.


These are all great too:


The Lonely
A convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives from the police a realistic woman-robot. Great concept piece.


The Four of Us Are Dying
A man who can change his face to look like other people uses his ability to improve his life regardless of his affect on others. Another cool story idea, shot very film noirish!

What You Need
A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need. The classic Twilight Zone style story with heart and a twist.


The Hitch-Hiker
A young woman driving cross country becomes frantic when she keeps passing the same man on the side of the road. No matter how fast she drives the man is always up ahead, hitching her for a ride. This reminded me of Carnival of Souls.


Mirror Image
While waiting in a bus station, Millicent Barnes has the strange feeling that her doppelganger is trying to take over her life. A good examination of what might be a totally mental breakdown, or not?


The After Hours
A woman is treated badly by some odd salespeople on an otherwise empty department store floor. This is just cool, and Ann Francis is a living doll!


A World of His Own
A writer demonstrates he can control reality simply by dictating changes. The great Keenan Wynn in a lighter and fun story!

You got me all excited now! Thanks for the descriptions! :)

[BearSkinBathRobe]

Is every episode, well, episodic? Or are there any two-parters, continous storylines? In-universe callbacks?

[Siddon]

Is every episode, well, episodic? Or are there any two-parters, continous storylines? In-universe callbacks?


Yes, everything is episodic, though Season 4 they move from a half hour to an hour.

[Camo]

Season 4 is the worst season, still has some great episodes but it has an uncommon amount of meh and bad episodes compared to the first three which were consistently solid with the odd bad one IMO.

[dadgumblah]

I just finished all of Season 3 of The Twilight Zone. And a few weeks ago I watched all of Season 1....Great show, some of the best writing and acting every done for TV. Not all the episodes are amazing, but all are worth watching.

These episodes from Season 1 totally amazed me:


Mr. Denton on Doomsday
The town drunk in the old-west faces his past when Fate lends a hand. With Dan Duryea.

A Passage for Trumpet
A suicidal despondent trumpet player finds himself in a bizarre world where he seems to be the only moving being, except for one helpful other musician. With Jack Klugman

Both of those are some of the best, heartfelt, emotional acting I've ever seen.


These are all great too:


The Lonely
A convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives from the police a realistic woman-robot. Great concept piece.


The Four of Us Are Dying
A man who can change his face to look like other people uses his ability to improve his life regardless of his affect on others. Another cool story idea, shot very film noirish!

What You Need
A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need. The classic Twilight Zone style story with heart and a twist.


The Hitch-Hiker
A young woman driving cross country becomes frantic when she keeps passing the same man on the side of the road. No matter how fast she drives the man is always up ahead, hitching her for a ride. This reminded me of Carnival of Souls.


Mirror Image
While waiting in a bus station, Millicent Barnes has the strange feeling that her doppelganger is trying to take over her life. A good examination of what might be a totally mental breakdown, or not?


The After Hours
A woman is treated badly by some odd salespeople on an otherwise empty department store floor. This is just cool, and Ann Francis is a living doll!


A World of His Own
A writer demonstrates he can control reality simply by dictating changes. The great Keenan Wynn in a lighter and fun story!




Great picks, CR and gbgoodies! I love all of The Twilight Zone. I'll show my faves, and use IMDB's description and I'll add my two cents. :)

From Season 2, I love these:

The Howling Man:
Seeking refuge from a storm, a traveler comes upon a bizarre abbey of monks, who have imprisoned a man who begs for his help. When he confronts the head monk, he is told that the man is the Devil, and he must decide whom to believe. Me: The ending of this is super!

Eye of the Beholder:
A young woman lying in a hospital bed, her head wrapped in bandages, awaits the outcome of a surgical procedure performed by the State in a last-ditch attempt to make her look "normal". Me: This is a classic one that has a justifiably famous twist.

The Invaders:
When a woman investigates a clamor on the roof of her rural house, she discovers a small UFO and little aliens emerging from it. Or so it seems. Me: Agnes Moorehead stars in this and is superb as she delivers a excellent performance without speaking a word.

A Penny For Your Thoughts
Gaining telepathic abilities when his coin lands on its edge bank clerk Hector B. Poole learns about the difference between other people's plans and fantasies. Me: Dick York from "Bewitched" is great as Poole who, after the coin flip, can suddenly hear people's thoughts.

Long Distance Call
A toy telephone becomes the link between a young boy and his dead grandmother. Me: The description tells the story but it's a pretty eerie episode. Me: Bill Mumy, from "Lost in Space" stars as the young grandson.

Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
Following a frantic phone call about a crashed spaceship, two policeman try and determine who among the passengers of a bus at a snowed-in roadside diner is from another world. Me: This one has a great double-twist at the end!

Season Three:
It's a Good Life
On an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish. Me: Bill Mumy (again) is perfectly creepy as the all-powerful little boy.

Nothing in the Dark
An old woman has fought with death a thousand times and has always won. But now she finds herself afraid to let a wounded policeman in her door for fear he is Mr. Death. Is he? Me: I put a spoiler tag on the last bit of the IMDB description as it could spoil the whole episode, but do as you wish. A great episode that features a young Robert Redford.

The Hunt
Upon returning from a coon hunt, Hyder Simpson discovers that no one can see or hear him because he has passed on. Me: Great old character actor Arthur Hunnicutt is Simpson in this episode and there's more to it than what the description tells, leaving a few surprises for the audience to enjoy.

The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank
A young man wakes up at his own funeral and wants to know what the heck is going on. The townfolk are glad to see him back, but they begin to wonder if he's a man.. or something else? Me: Jeff is played by James Best (Rosco P. Coltrane from TV's "The Dukes of Hazzard") and if you'd only seen him in his later years, you'll be shocked at what a handsome young dude he was. This is not a shock episode but a nice rumination on life and death.

To Serve Man
This is a classic episode (as are most of them) with Richard Kiel (with a dubbed voice) as an alien ambassador, and that's all I'm going to say. :)

Little Girl Lost
Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help. Me: This is a great episode and what's happened to the girl makes me think that this episode inspired part of the movie Poltergeist.

I Sing the Body Electric
A recent widower, needing loving care for his three young children, orders a cybernetic "grandmother". While two of the children accept her, one of his daughters fiercely rejects her, with near tragic consequences. Me: Super one, co-written by Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling.

Season Four:
The Thirty-Fathom Grave
In the early 1960's, as a U.S. Navy ship cruises near Guadalcanal in the South Pacific, its sonar detects muted hammering on metal undersea. The eerie sounds emanate from a submarine on the ocean floor, maybe there since World War II. A very nervous crew member (Mike Kellin) on the ship served aboard that sub - and he was its sole survivor. Me: Pretty spooky one!

Jess-Belle
Appalachian beauty Jess-Belle can't bear to lose the object of her passion to the local rich girl, so she turns to the local witch for aid. The results bring unexpected and tragic consequences. Me: Ann Francis is great as Jess-Belle, albeit with black hair, which is a nice look for her. James Best is back again.

Season 5
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
A man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in. Me: William Shatner---that's all I got to say. :)

Living Doll
A frustrated father does battle with his stepdaughter's talking doll, whose vocabulary includes such phrases as "I hate you" and "I'm going to kill you". Me: Telly Savalas is the mean step-dad in this and let me say, I was rooting for the evil doll more than Telly.

Night Call
Telephone calls begin to haunt a disabled elderly woman. Me: This is a good and creepy one that ends up rather poignant. One of my favorites.

The Jeopardy Room
A defector is trapped in a hotel room and given 3 hours to find a hidden bomb. Me: Martin Landau is the star of this one and he's terrific as he tries to escape the room and outwit the bad guys.

Mr. Garrity and the Graves
Mr. Garrity comes into town offering to resurrect the dead and reunite the townsfolk with their departed loved ones out of the goodness of his heart. Do the town-folks want these miracles to occur? This may be my favorite episode. Excellent TV actor John Dehner is Mr. Garrity and he's super as usual. This one is really spooky, especially at the end.

These are just my favorites. Almost every single episode is no less than compelling and more than most are classic television. I hope this helps, BearSkin.

[gbgoodies]

Little Girl Lost
Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help. Me: This is a great episode and what's happened to the girl makes me think that this episode inspired part of the movie Poltergeist.

This was a great episode, but it gave me terrible nightmares when I was a kid. :eek:


Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
A man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinced that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in. Me: William Shatner---that's all I got to say. :)


Another great episode, and after you watch this episode, you have to watch that segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie, followed by the 3rd Rock from the Sun episode "Dick's Big Giant Headache: Part 1", with guest star William Shatner. :lol:

[Captain Steel]

The other night I caught Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room.
I don't recall seeing this one before - about a two bit hood ordered to carry out his first "hit," but then meets himself in the mirror.
The role was played by Joe Mantell - most famous for his role as Angie in the movie Marty (1955). This guy was an underrated actor as he excelled in believably - I always remember his role in Marty, you always got the impression he was a real person. Despite the far out premise, he was pretty good in his Twilight Zone episode as well. Nice to see he lived to be 94 years old!

[dadgumblah]

This was a great episode, but it gave me terrible nightmares when I was a kid. :eek:




Another great episode, and after you watch this episode, you have to watch that segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie, followed by the 3rd Rock from the Sun episode "Dick's Big Giant Headache: Part 1", with guest star William Shatner. :lol:

Yeah, gb, I saw Twilight Zone: The Movie and I liked it quite a bit. And the movie version of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet was the best of all of them. George Miller of Mad Max fame directed that one and his energy really drove that sucker! John Lithgow was so good in the Shatner part, with his shrieking and his eyes bugging out. Loved it! I used to watch 3rd Rock From the Sun religiously, but I can't remember that particular episode off the top of my head. I remember Shatner as The Big Giant Head though. And I just realized that the show put both Nightmare at 20,000 actors together. I guess that's what you were referring to, gb, and it totally went over my head until I starting typing this out. :dizzy:

And I forgot to say that I liked your recommendation of The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street. Great episode. I remember reading the teleplay in Middle School, though I don't remember the class...maybe English? So a few years later, in the 70's, when I saw it, I really appreciated it better after discussing it in school in depth.

Also, was I Shot an Arrow Into the Air the one where the astronauts take off in their rocket, then crash on what they think is a desert planet, only for the last guy to find out that they crashed back on Earth? And this after he killed a few of them for their water? If so, that's another of my favorites.

Oh yeah, Captain Steel that episode sounds good. I remember watching Marty but it's been a while. I don't remember the Mantell actor but I want to see that "Zone" episode.

[gbgoodies]

Yeah, gb, I saw Twilight Zone: The Movie and I liked it quite a bit. And the movie version of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet was the best of all of them. George Miller of Mad Max fame directed that one and his energy really drove that sucker! John Lithgow was so good in the Shatner part, with his shrieking and his eyes bugging out. Loved it! I used to watch 3rd Rock From the Sun religiously, but I can't remember that particular episode off the top of my head. I remember Shatner as The Big Giant Head though. And I just realized that the show put both Nightmare at 20,000 actors together. I guess that's what you were referring to, gb, and it totally went over my head until I starting typing this out. :dizzy:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTNOihQnqVQ

[dadgumblah]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTNOihQnqVQ

Oh man, that is the very definition of greatness! :rotfl: Thank you so much!