Thief enters The Twilight Zone

I'm a fan of mystery, supernatural, and sci-fi, so it makes sense that I would some day decide to venture into these classic series. I know I've seen some scattered episodes, but mostly of the 80s version. However, if I was to enter, I wanted to enter through the front door and experience the classic one.

In this thread, I will share my thoughts of each episode as I watch them, so feel free to share your thoughts as well or anything I might be looking forward to (without spoiling anything!) So join me as I enter... The Twilight Zone!

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I've already seen two episodes, but before posting my thoughts, I wanted to ask... what is everybody's thoughts on this series?

Great series! I have seen a bunch of episodes, but not all.

Ground breaking sci-fi anthology series...Rod Serling is the man! I've seen the episodes several times each over the decades but I sure could rewatch them again. We did a The Twilight Zone Hall of Fame hosted by SpelingError which was a blast. I'd join another too.

Thanks for sharing that thread. I'll check it out

Great stuff, obviously some episodes are repeaters of better episodes but I found so much I enjoyed about it, even the longer episodes in season 4 or 5. I own the original boxset with all 156 episodes but never got around to the bluray.

When I get home this evening, I can provide a list of my favorite episodes. Overall, it's a brilliant show and I hope you enjoy it.

For the most part, I tend to enjoy the episodes I have seen. I can't say I have seen them all, but whenever someone mentions an episode in conversation, I tend to have seen it. I have a few favorites, which I will list off below:

Time Enough at Last
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
Eye of the Beholder
Twenty Two
Walking Distance
Shadow Play
The Invaders
The Bewitchin' Pool

I can think of more, but will cut the list here. Some really great episodes throughout the run.

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I started writing something on the first episode last night but then I entered the Twilight Zone myself and dozed off on the keyboard Will post it when I get home.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, when I was a bit more of a partier, each New Year's Day I would be laying around on my couch, hungover. Some channel up here in Boston would run a Twilight Zone marathon all day, and it was sort of an annual tradition to waste the day recovering while watching all the episodes they showed. With 156 in the bunch, I am sure there are many I haven't seen, but I have seen a good chunk of them, and some of them multiple times.

I love it. So far ahead of its time.

Broad appeal aside, I have a huge soft spot for high concept stuff, and short story collections and the like. Anything which just churns out ideas and keeps coming at you with something new, and this is one of the earliest modern examples of that.

It sure is, and man, reading through the list of episode descriptions, it's stunning how much stuff came to mind that lifts ideas/concepts from this series.

Which episodes have you seen so far?

Sweet! I wish I had all the episodes, standard def would be fine by me.

The Bewitchin' Pool...People seem to not like that episode. I Iiked it and thought it was unique in its concept and that alone makes it good for me. A lot of my favorites were during the season that they did 1 hour episodes. The first couple seasons was packed with great episodes as well.

Yup, that's what I like about The Twilight Zone too. It's the writing which is usually top notch and IMO that's what separates timeless great shows from fun shows like Lost in Space. Alot of top rated actors cut their teeth early in their careers on the show.

Twilight Zone is one of only two television shows I will rewatch at any given opportunity, and the only one I own in entirety, on Blu-ray.


Personal favorites:


"The Four of Us Are Dying"
"Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room"
"Nick of Time"
"The Silence"
"Shadow Play"
"The Arrival"
"A Game of Pool"
"It's a Good Life"
"Still Valley"
"Five Characters in Search of an Exit"

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"If it was priggish for an older generation of reviewers to be ashamed of what they enjoyed and to feel they had to be contemptuous of popular entertainment, it's even more priggish for a new movie generation to be so proud of what they enjoy that they use their education to try to place trash within the acceptable academic tradition." -- Pauline Kael

My guess is a big reason people don't like The Bewitchin' Pool is the bizarre dubbing of the voice of Mary Badham (who also played Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird) through half the episode. The dubbed voice sounds nothing like her natural voice (even her accent changes).

P.S. Anyone notice that the children in the TZ episode are named "Sport" and "Gil", while the children in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) are named "Scout" and "Jem" (and their friend is named "Dill")?

... including Lost in Space regulars Jonathan Harris and Bill Mumy!

I assembled a comprehensive list of my favorite episodes some time ago, but I can't find it. I might've deleted it. Regardless, here's a shorter post I wrote on the show some time ago:

Favorite Twilight Zone episode of each season:
Season 1: A Stop At Willoughby
Season 2: The Howling Man
Season 3: The Midnight Sun
Season 4: On Thursday We Leave for Home
Season 5: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

Most underpraised Twilight Zone episode of each season:
Season 1: I Shot an Arrow into the Air
Season 2: The Odyssey of Flight 33
Season 3: The Grave
Season 4: The New Exhibit
Season 5: I Am the Night-Color Me Black

Worst episode ever: Season 5 Episode 36: The Bewitchin' Pool

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That very well might be the reason. I know I hate it when adults dubbed little kids in movies as it sounds so fake. In old films they sometimes had an adult woman dubbing a baby

That's interesting. I wonder if any of the writers worked on both projects.

Bill Mumy kicked ass as the precocious little monster! He was good as an adult actor on Babylon 5 too. Jonathan Harris always a treat to see him.

Once again good choices! I see at least one of my favorites are in that list.

Links to my MoFo reviews of my favorite TZ episodes.
A Game of Pool
A Passage for Trumpet
The Midnight Sun