An off-hand comment tonight got me thinking about an old Twilight Zone episode called "Kick the Can" that was also included (as a remake) in the theatrical version of the show. If I had to list one TV show as my all-time favorite, The Twilight Zone (TWZ) would probably be it.
There are a number of reasons, not the least of which was the quality of most of the episodes. Like many TV shows, some episodes are better than others, and the disparity in TWZ episodes maybe more so than others. They covered a wide range of subjects and genres, unlike Rod Serling's follow on project, The Night Gallery, which was primarily a horror anthology. Even a comparison to the science fiction anthology The Outer Limits would not be appropriate.
TWZ had genuinely scary episodes, like "Twenty-Two" and "The Hitch-Hiker" but they were the minority. It also had some true science fiction episodes, like "Back There" (a time travel story starring the Professor - Russell Johnson - from Giligan's Island), "To Serve Man" (a first contact story), and "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You" (a look at life in the year 2000). Again, these are more the minority. The shows covered the fringes of horror and science fiction, focusing more on characters, surprise endings (who are the invaders in "The Invaders"), and the question of what it means to be human.
Some episodes, like "The Encounter" about a WWII soldier and a young American of Japenese descent (Sulu - George Takei - from the original Star Trek), were too controversial for repeat airings. "The Howling Man" deals with the reality of the Devil and "The Obsolete Man" deals with individual faith versus a totalitarian state atheism. A few were more or less comedies (e.g. "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby").
If you are going to watch television, and have never seen The Twilight Zone, I strongly recommend it to you. Whether you catch repeats on The Sci Fi channel or buy a DVD (just make sure you get the original series circa 1959-1964) it is arguably as good as TV gets.
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2 comments:
You know, I had forgotten all about TTZ - but I did grown up watching that and loving it - but also remember more than a few episodes where, at the end, I thought, "whhhat?"
Thanks for the instructions - I found the correct page after several tries, so am not quite sure how I got there - but mission accomplished!
You're welcome.
When Serling first started out, he wanted a lot more "What just happened?" reactions, but sponsors and the network toned them down. When the show was a success, he was able to do that a little more often. That was one of the attractions for me - it wasn't as predictable as most TV.
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