In which I post my top 10 moments from The Twilight Zone.

Bonus: I will also be listing ten of my favorite episodes of television that aren't from The Twilight Zone. I wouldn't necessarily say that they're my top 10 episodes from television. They aren't in any order. I haven't watched enough TV to create a definitive top 10. They're just great episodes that I've watched over the years.

I'm not great at introductions, so, um...

#10

The Venusians are Coming
Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?



Unless I'm forgetting something, Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? seems to be the only well-liked comedic episode of The Twilight Zone. It helps that it forgoes broad silliness and instead relies on charm and wit. Jack Elam almost completely walks away with most of this episode as a dotty old man who delights in pestering everyone around him, but the ending is definitely the best part of the episode. It really is a completely ridiculous twist, devoid of any sort of moral that one might expect from the show and completely out of left field. "Oh, one of the bus passengers actually being a Martian isn't much of a twist for you? Well, uh, it turns out that there were two aliens all along!" It's just so funny, and yet it's also rather unnerving. All of the other passengers are now dead from drowning in icy waters, Venusians are getting ready to conquer Earth, and "Ross" has to sit and wait for his impending death. It's a surprisingly dark ending for such a lighthearted episode.

#9

The Smiling Doppelganger
Mirror Image




If there's one big criticism I have of Mirror Image, it's that Millicent's long-winded theory about her doppelganger is wholly unnecessarily. The very idea of a doppelganger is frightening enough, and why this is all happening to her should have stayed a mystery. That mischievous smile that her twin gives her when spotted in the bus window tells you all you need to know. The doppelgangers never do anything outwardly malicious, but they don't need to in order to convey a sense of menace. The scene at the end of Paul chasing after his twin gives me chills. There's definitely some schadenfreude involved after what he did to Millicent, but then that haunting music kicks in and there's this lingering dread as we wonder what's eventually going to happen to the real Paul and Millicent after what has just transpired.

Favorite Episodes of Television

Cousin Liz
All in the Family (1977)



Suitable for Framing
Columbo (1971)

Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? is one of my favorite "Twilight Zone" episodes. I even nominated it in the Twilight Zone HoF.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

"All in the Family" had a lot of great episodes, but this is my favorite scene from "All in the Family":

"Columbo" is another show that had so many great episodes that it's hard to pick a favorite, but this is one of my favorite "Columbo" endings:

Demon with a Glass Hand, 1964, Outer Limits TV series, season 2 episode 5. Starred Robert Culp. Based on a script by Harlan Ellison.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0667812...m_flmg_act_122
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_with_a_Glass_Hand

WARNING: Spoilers in this YouTube video:

I haven't seen an episode of "Outer Limits" in over 20 years, (maybe even over 30 years), so I don't remember them, but I read the synopsis on IMDB for this episode and it sounds very strange.

Maybe we should have an "Outer Limits" Hall of Fame, like we did for "The Twilight Zone"?

Oh, I love this scene. It's a strong contender for my favorite moment, too.

#8

Are You Happy?
The After Hours



The After Hours is often considered to be one of the most frightening episodes of the show, but up until the mid-episode twist, it doesn't rely on big scares. At first, we can only tell that there's something very... off...what with the odd behavior of the saleswoman and the weirdness surrounding her having exactly what Marsha wants to buy and nothing else. Even after knowing the episode's twist, the saleswoman / mannequin's behavior is super interesting to pick part. She obviously can't just outright tell Marsha that she's a mannequin, so she sort of half plays around with her feelings and half acts annoyed that Marsha believes herself to be a human. She almost seems amused by Marsha's lack of understanding about what's going on. Her question, "Are you happy?" is an interesting one. Marsha brushes her off by saying that it's none of her business, but it doesn't seem like she knows the answer to that question. As relatively free as Marsha is when she's out in the human world, she's still playing the role expected of her in post-war America, that of the consumer. And even though she's surrounded by others who are supportive and care about her when she's a mannequin, this a very limiting role. At the end of the episode, we're left wondering if Marsha is truly happy in either world.

#7

Is It So Bad Where You're From?
Walking Distance



I'm glad that Walking Distance takes a measured approach in its analysis of nostalgia. It could have easily been a mere warning about the dangers of wallowing in the past, but the message is more that one should find a balance between basking in warm memories from childhood while still finding things to appreciate in the present. When Martin talks to his father about wanting to get away from the drudgery of his adult life, he at first talks about specific things from his childhood that he loved: playing on the merry-go-round, eating cotton candy, listening to a band concert. It's hard not to think that, okay, he's just stuck in the past like so many others. Then he talks about needing to stop and breath and listen to it all, and his yearning for his childhood becomes a lot more sympathetic. Nostalgia can be both an emotional trap and a source of comfort, and its heartening that Martin has learned this lesson by the episodes end, even though it may be a struggle at first.

What really makes me dizzy when watching this episode is that it's about a man from 1959 getting all nostalgic about the 1930s.

#6

The Running is Over
Nothing in the Dark



Gladys Cooper gives the best performance of the entire series in this episode. It's a performance that makes me forget that I'm even watching a performance. The pain and fear seen on Wanda's face as she contemplates death throughout this episode is so raw and real and heartbreaking. The way this episode portrays going into the great beyond in the final scene is really remarkable. The episode sort of wavers between portraying death as something both terrifying and peaceful. When I first watched this episode, it barely registered with me how Robert Redford's character switches between being gentle and menacing in the final scene. Before he says, "Trust me," he almost looks annoyed and impatient that she hasn't given in yet. The music even switches from being a peaceful melody to a foreboding one and then back to being peaceful just before she finally takes his hand. The episode doesn't proclaim to know all the answers, and Wanda is justifiably terrified of dying! This is a very honest look at death. The unknown can be very frightening, and while it ultimately ends on a happy note, I would say that this episode is successful at avoiding an overly sentimental look at death.

Favorite Episodes of Television

The Tick vs. The Tick
The Tick (1994)



Joe Pera Takes You on a Fall Drive
Joe Pera Talks with You (2018)

Yes.

Good call. This may be favorite episode of that series.
"And just like that, I can feel my soul grow back."

#5

Me, I'm Just a Pool Player... But I'm the Best
A Game of Pool




Something I noticed with a recent rewatch of A Game of Pool is that Jonathan Winter's performance gets better and better as the episode goes on. By the time he gives his climatic speech, he has such a calm assurance in every word he says that I hang onto everything he says. He could have said, "Winning is everything, and you are a total failure if you don't make this shot," and I would have believed in what he was saying. Of course, the actual rather straightforward message of the episode is that it can be lonely at the top and oftentimes the sacrifices made to get there are not worth it. When Fats delivers his speech about everyone needing a challenge and someone out of the past to look up to, he's also speaking about himself. Like many champions, it's possible that Fats doesn't actually believe that there is a best, but he feels compelled to keep the legend alive anyway. Despite the straightforward story and moral of this episode, I like that there's a little bit of ambiguity to Brown's character and what he truly believes.

#4

Father and Son Bonding Time
It's a Good Life



I'm going with the less obvious choice with this one. I find that something like this happens often: when I first watch an episode, the most emotional or intense moment is my favorite. Then, after a while and a few repeat viewings, another scene takes it's place as my favorite and won't let me go. Dan Hollis' unfortunate demise is of course an amazing scene, but I have a new favorite. In the scene where little Anthony joins his father in the master bedroom, we learn, just through dialogue, about a few of the horrific things that Anthony has done: he's terrorized animals by turning them into monsters, killed a couple children that he was apparently having a good time with, and murdered another person who was thinking bad thoughts about him. Anthony can't even remember who this person was! This scene is maybe four minutes long, but it gives us a good picture of how terrifying Anthony is when he's unhappy. And perhaps the most chilling moment is the one that may not register at first: when Anthony's father tells him that they'll find more children for him to play with, he knows full well that there's a good chance that they too will be killed. This episode indicts every adult who is complicit in enabling the monster.

Yeah, that episode has several standout moments.

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Favorite Episodes of Television

Wild Horses
Cowboy Bebop



Raindrops and Rainbows
Mushishi

#3

The Disappearance of Ed Harrington
And When the Sky Was Opened





"And When the Sky was Opened" has to be the show's best title, and that's saying a lot since the show had so many good ones. And when the sky was.. opened? This is a paranormal force beyond human comprehension. I love the ambiguity of the central mystery surrounding this episode. It is never explained why these three astronauts are slowly being erased from existence. I could have chosen any one of the glorious meltdowns that Colonel Forbes (wonderfully played by Rod Taylor in a performance that often threatens to go too over the top but never does) has throughout the episode as he tries to understand what has happened to his friend, but it's the scene of Ed's disappearance that haunts me the most. He doesn't just disappear with absolutely no build up to that moment. No, the Twilight Zone is too good for that. Instead he has this...feeling...that he doesn't belong in this world. It's a vague feeling that none of us will ever feel, but the panic in his voice and terrified facial expressions sell this incomprehensible feeling to the audience. It's the horror of an unknown force- from the chilling title, to the vague feeling that all of the men get before they are wiped from existence, to the ambiguity of what exactly is happening to them- that makes this episode great.