Children of The Twilight Zone: 10 Best Episodes
It was 50 years ago on Friday, October 2, 1959, that The Twilight Zone premiered on national television. Even though it was never a top twenty show, The Twilight Zone was a jewel that captured a generation. However, it almost didn't happen. Its subject matter troubled television executives, and the fact that the episodes often left viewers hanging went against formula.
I was barely 13 when I saw the pilot episode, "Where Is Everybody?" It left me speechless and compelled me to watch the following 156 episodes (which aired from 1959 to 1964).
The fact that children were fascinated by the show caught television executives off-guard. As Zone producer Buck Houghton recalls, "The appeal to children was a complete surprise to us. We never thought of that. I don't think CBS did, either; it was on at ten o'clock. We got a lot of nasty notes from parents saying, 'You're keeping the kids up!'"
The Twilight Zone, however, was a natural transition from the science-fiction films of the 1950s. I saw virtually every sci-fi film that came to town, and the theater was crowded with popcorn-and-Coke-guzzling kids like me. So when sci-fi hit television in the guise of the Zone, we were ready.
Children quickly picked up on the most basic plot elements -- Martians, space or time travel, talking dummies or dolls, grotesque creatures and the like. Although young people initially enjoyed the stories on a superficial level, they are in many ways more intelligent than adults, more honest and eager to learn. "Maybe that's because kids are hungry for the full play of their imagination," Zone writer Charles Beaumont commented, "while the elders are inclined to fear it."
Most Zone episodes dealt with alienation, vulnerability and the conflict of emotions that make up the human condition. Besides great storytelling, Rod Serling, the show's creator, had something to say. His onscreen narration tied the show together, but it also gave him the chance to moralize. He often emphasized the moral of the story, just in case we had missed the point. And unlike most shows children watch today, Serling entertained us with substance and intelligent subject matter. Below are ten of my favorite episodes.
Time Enough at Last: Mild-mannered Henry Bemis, hen-pecked by his wife and brow-beaten by his boss, sneaks into a bank vault on his lunch hour to read. He is knocked unconscious by a shockwave that turns out to be a nuclear war. When Bemis regains consciousness, he realizes that he is the last person on earth.
I Shot an Arrow into the Air: Three of eight astronauts survive a crash after their craft disappears from the radar screen. They find themselves on what they believe to be a dry, lifeless asteroid; only five gallons of water separate them from joining the men who died in the crash.
The Howling Man: During a walking tour of Europe after World War I, David loses his way and comes to a remote monastery. He is turned away but passes out, and the monks take him in. He regains consciousness and hears a bizarre howling. He eventually finds a man in a cell who the monks say is the Devil himself, kept in the jail by the "staff of truth."
Eye of the Beholder: Janet lies in a hospital bed, her face wrapped in bandages, hiding the hideous face that has made her an outcast all her life. This is her eleventh hospital visit and the last allowed by the government. The faces of the doctors and nurses are also hidden by shadows and camera angles. Janet's bandages are finally removed, and the medical staff retreat in disgust.
The Invaders: A haggard woman hears a strange sound on the roof. She climbs up to see a miniature flying saucer and tiny spacemen who invade her home. Their small ray guns sting, but she fights back.
Shadow Play: Adam is on trial, and the judge gives him the electric chair. Adam chortles that it's all a joke, a recurring nightmare in which all the participants are bit players in a scripted play.
The Obsolete Man: Romney is a God-fearing librarian in a future state in which books and religion have been banned. Romney is judged obsolete by the government chancellor but is granted several requests before he dies. He chooses to have a television audience watch his execution and to have only the assassin know the method of his death. Forty-five minutes before he is to die, he invites the chancellor to his room and locks them both inside.
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Robert has just been discharged from a mental hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown. He looks out his window during an airplane flight and sees a weird creature on the wing. Alarmed, he alerts others. However, when they look out, the creature disappears. Robert eventually realizes that what he sees is a demon trying to dismantle the plane so it will crash.
Living Doll: Erich is angry at his wife for buying his stepdaughter an expensive doll. Erich has a nasty disposition and soon discovers that the doll dislikes him. In fact, it tells him so. Talky Tina says emphatically "I hate you" and "I'm going to kill you."
The Masks: On his deathbed, Jason Foster calls his four heirs to his side on a Mardi Gras evening. Each heir has a character flaw -- self-pity, avarice, vanity or cruelty. Foster demands that each wear a mask he has fashioned for them. If they refuse to keep the masks on until midnight, they will be disinherited. The masks are hideous, and the heirs do not want to don them. But out of greed, they slide them onto their faces.
All the episodes are now available on DVD. Take a chance and enjoy, in the words of Rod Serling, "a journey into the wondrous land where the boundaries are that of imagination--Next stop, the Twilight Zone!"
Follow John W. Whitehead on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rutherford_inst
Dave Howe: When Science Fiction and Reality Merge, Change Happens
The message this week is that technological innovation, together with political commitment, can drive social change. Interestingly this is a very sci-fi theme.
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Has anyone mentioned that the Twilight Zone is free for viewing here:
http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_zone/
Post-9/11 American hysteria is predicted in "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."
Also deserving mention -- the one with Robert Duvall as a guy obsessed with a doll in a dollhouse. There is also another one that really creeped me out -- I don't know the name of the episode, but it features a camera that takes pictures of what is about the happen several minutes in the future.
The doll episode with Telly Savalas is actually really disturbing, and much scarier than the "Chuckie" evil-doll movies.
Definitely not an episode to watch alone in the dark. The thing that makes it creepy is Savalas--he's weirder and more disturbing than the doll. (Amazing that he became something of a sex symbol in his Kojak days.)
How about "Room for One More," where a woman recently released from a sanitarium has recurring dreams/hallucinations of a scary looking uniformed woman beckoning her to get on a gurney in the morgue, "saying room for one more, honey." In the dream, the scared woman runs away as fast as she can.
One day the woman ascends the stairs to board a plane and sees a flight attendant welcoming her with the same phrase. She bolts from the plane and back to the terminal. Only to learn minutes later that the flight she missed has crashed on take-off with all aboard dead. PHEW!
If that episode wasn't enough to create the fear of flying for entire generation, I don't know what else would...except maybe William Shatner's iconic performance in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet ."
BTW, as someone who went to university in Binghamton, NY and lived there for seven years, it was a point of pride for us residents that Rod Serling was a hometown hero. Serling was a native of Binghamton and a graduate of Central High.
Submitted for your approval: A brief interview given a few days ago by George Clayton Johnson, who wrote for Twilight Zone and went on to write for Star Trek.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/10/02/segments/141869
Serling was my hero as a toddler.
Mr LSD I called him.
Who can overlook the Canadian short film "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" that he licensed and used for an episode. Gosh, "Carnival of Souls", "Siesta" and "Sixth Sense" and "Jacob's Ladder" were all inspired by that episode!
Dooes anyone know what the episode was called about the astronauts on a foreign orb who were doomed to relive their crash over and over? Or the town with the machine that made guns or whatever you needed?
The astronauts reliving their flight over and over was called "Death Ship", with Jack Klugman and Ross Martin. A good one.
Thank yoU!
It wasn't produced by Serling but "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" is my favorite episode. It is actually an Italian short film.
I think it was French-Candian, actually. But it is great.
An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge—in two forms, as it was dreamed, and as it was lived and died. This is the stuff of fantasy, the thread of imagination...the ingredients of the Twilight Zone.
They bought that short for the series to bring the series to budget. (actually I think it was a French production)... and it was shown once on network, I believe, and then was not part of the syndication package for many many years. It may be now - although I never see it on the famous July 4th T-Zone marathons here in LA. But I remember seeing it first run (as a boy), and was really knocked out by it... then followed a longggg quest to see it again. I'm not sure I ever did!
You know a show is a hit when it gets to reruns and people know all the scenes and episodes as evidenced by the comments here. I too occasionally catch the reruns on KDOC.
So many faves, I couldn't possibly make a list.
It is great to see that this show still has a huge following.
Who could forget "A Nice Place to Visit" with Sebastian Cabot? "This is the other place!"
My vote is for "A game of Pool" with Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters.
What annoys me about the list is that he tells you the set up but not the flip.
There are probably some young people around who actually haven't seen these. My guess is he wants to encourage people to watch and not ruin it for them.
Rod Serling was a genius.
The original Twilight Zone was the finest show on television and I have enjoyed watching reruns and reading Rod Serling's books throughout my life.
Best when it was I/2 hour show. The magic was in the writing.
Remember Donna Douglas (of Beverly Hillbilly fame) who was ugly. Remember her doctors.
Kaftka meets TV.
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