The Twilight Zone

[BroSCFischer]

I have been (re)watching this great series recently, and was wondering if anyone else had a particularly favorite episode of the series.

The one that sticks out to me more than any other is "Time Enough at Last". I wear glasses, and enjoy reading, so it's the one that gets to me every time.

The one I literally can't stand is "Mute". It seems unnecessarily cruel, and the end never made much sense to me.

SC

[Food Lady]

Oh, I do like "Time Enough At Last." Oh, the irony. I am a big TZ fan. One of my favorites is "The Midnight Sun" and the one where the little girl goes in the 4th dimension through her wall.

[BroSCFischer]

... the one where the little girl goes in the 4th dimension through her wall.

"Little Girl Lost" by Richard Matheson.

SC

[Food Lady]

OK, I admit that one scared me as a kid; I was al freaked out about the wall behind my bed and my mom was mad at Dad for letting me watch it. Another fave is the one with the mannequin Marsha. (sorry, I don't know any titles). I have a digital box, no cable, and it comes on our retro channel at 10 pm weeknights, so I do sometimes get my TZ fix.

[Cazzi]

Funnily enough I was discussing an episode of this the other day.. The Star.
I admit I haven't seen a lot of the shows, something I need to rectify, but that episode stuck out as I found it incredibly moving, even though I'm not particularly religeous.

As it was based on an Arthur C Clarke short story (http://web.archive.org/web/20080718084442/http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/star_clarke.html), I managed to find a version to read too :)

(URL goes to an internet archive page)

[LillFilly]

Time enough to last was one of my favorites too! I always wonder where I'll get a prescription when the Zombie Apocalypse happens! So many other good episodes too, they still make you think.

[Eireann]

The one where a very talkative man makes a bet that he won't be able to speak for a year.

The one where a woman driving cross-country keeps seeing the same hitchhiker, no matter how fast she drives.

And, of course, "How to Serve Man". WHAT a classic!

[Andrew B.]

Mine is "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street".

[BroSCFischer]

Another fave is the one with the mannequin Marsha.

"The After Hours" starring Anne Francis

The one where a very talkative man makes a bet that he won't be able to speak for a year.

"The Silence" stariing Franchot Tone

The one where a woman driving cross-country keeps seeing the same hitchhiker, no matter how fast she drives.

"The Hitchhiker" starring Inger Stevens
Mine is "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street".

I actually prefer the remake "The Monsters Are on Maple Street" from the 2002 series hosted by Forrest Whitaker. Instead of aliens, its our own military performing experiments. That just makes it a bit more realistic for me.

Another couple of my favorites are "Deaths-Head Revisited" and "The Trade-ins" both starring Joseph Schildkraut.

SC

[Eireann]

Yeah, you wouldn't have known it to see his Twilight Zone performances, but Joseph Schildkraut was absolutely stunning during his heyday in the silent era. He was a great actor.

"Jess-Belle" is another interesting episode, and man, talk about your obvious name references!

[morgana]

As it was based on an Arthur C Clarke short story (http://web.archive.org/web/20080718084442/http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/star_clarke.html), I managed to find a version to read too :)

(URL goes to an internet archive page)

I was in a college literature class a bunch of years ago where each of us had to read a story to the class. That was the one I chose. Had a couple of people crying by the end.

I'm no longer Catholic myself, but that one gets to me every time.


ETA: As for Twilight Zone? Too many to count. That was one amazing show; way ahead of its time.

[Food Lady]

I actually think the maple street is my favorite episode.

[Redbeard]

I actually think the maple street is my favorite episode.

Agreed, although a close second is The Hunt, where a man refuses to enter what he thinks is heaven because they won't allow him to bring his dog.

[Eireann]

Then there's "Living Doll", a VERY freaky episode.

Not to mention "Number 12 Looks Just Like You", one of those episodes where the name is just as weird as the story.

[Aethian]

The fact some of you can name the titles I'm in awe of. I think my all time favorite was where they made the librarian obsolete and he took the judge with him.

[Mytical]

Not sure if it is a Twilight Zone episode or not, but there was one about a man who thinks he is in heaven..but is actually NOT (he is in the other place). He is a gambler, and learns he can not lose unless he wants to and comments...

"I don't think I belong in heaven" or some such..and the 'devil' comments. "Who said you were in heaven."

[Eireann]

Yes, that's a Twilight Zone episode. The man says he's tired of heaven, and tells his "angel" that he wants to go to "the other place".

The "angel" replies, "This is the other place."

[Mytical]

Ah ok ... thank you :). Me and my memory sometime...:rolleyes:

[Eireann]

One truly fantastic episode is "Once upon a Time", with the incomparable Buster Keaton (my favorite). I think Rod Serling must have been a huge fan of his too, because Buster and his costar act out a skit that Buster did with Roscoe Arbuckle in his early days, during the silent era - and it was just as good then as it was almost fifty years earlier.

[aqutalion]

Ooooh!
Some of my favorites:

"I Shot An Arrow Into the Air": Astronauts crashland on an asteroid, and turn on each other. Good twist at the end.

"A Stop at Willoughby"
But I always skip the last few seconds. The bit with the hearse just ruins it, for me.

"The Invaders"
No dialogue, at all, except for at the end, but still one of the creepiest episodes.

[AccountingDrone]

Yeah, you wouldn't have known it to see his Twilight Zone performances, but Joseph Schildkraut was absolutely stunning during his heyday in the silent era. He was a great actor.


THey actually played Death's-Head (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths-Head_Revisited) Revisited last Twilight Zone-thon they did. Stunning and very strong episode.
The fact some of you can name the titles I'm in awe of. I think my all time favorite was where they made the librarian obsolete and he took the judge with him.

The Obsolete Man, if I remember correctly. Excellent episode.

Do they have a DVD set with every episode? Back when the VCR tapes came out it wasn't every episode.

[Redbeard]

The fact some of you can name the titles I'm in awe of .
Google and IMBD is my friend :lol:

[MoonCat]

What was the one about the woman having plastic surgery because she was "so ugly" but actually she's gorgeous, and all the other people are the ugly ones?

[auntiem]

I don't know the proper titles but among my favorites are Talking Tina, Main Street, To Serve Man, the Shatner/airplane episode and the one with Carol Burnett and her guardian angel.

I refer to those emails you get at work to let you know so and so no longer works there as "sent to the cornfield" emails.

Does anyone remember Night Gallery? Those were way creepier, in my opinion, than his Twilight Zone episodes.

[Merriweather]

Not sure if it is a Twilight Zone episode or not, but there was one about a man who thinks he is in heaven..but is actually NOT (he is in the other place). He is a gambler, and learns he can not lose unless he wants to and comments...

"I don't think I belong in heaven" or some such..and the 'devil' comments. "Who said you were in heaven."

There was a similar one I loved (not positive if it was TZ or Outer Limits, actually). Starred John Astin (Gomez Adams). He was in a parlor with a couple showing their holiday photos on and on and on.... Basically, it was their heaven, his hell.

[BroSCFischer]

The fact some of you can name the titles I'm in awe of. I think my all time favorite was where they made the librarian obsolete and he took the judge with him.

"The Obsolete Man" with Burgess Meredith

Not sure if it is a Twilight Zone episode or not, but there was one about a man who thinks he is in heaven..but is actually NOT (he is in the other place). He is a gambler, and learns he can not lose unless he wants to and comments...

"I don't think I belong in heaven" or some such..and the 'devil' comments. "Who said you were in heaven."


Yes, that's a Twilight Zone episode. The man says he's tired of heaven, and tells his "angel" that he wants to go to "the other place".

The "angel" replies, "This is the other place."

"A Nice Place to Visit" with Larry Blythe

Ooooh!
Some of my favorites:

"I Shot An Arrow Into the Air": Astronauts crashland on an asteroid, and turn on each other. Good twist at the end.

"A Stop at Willoughby"
But I always skip the last few seconds. The bit with the hearse just ruins it, for me.

"The Invaders"
No dialogue, at all, except for at the end, but still one of the creepiest episodes.

The first 2 are on my favorites list, but I can't stand "The Invaders".

What was the one about the woman having plastic surgery because she was "so ugly" but actually she's gorgeous, and all the other people are the ugly ones?

Originally it was "A Private World of Darkness", but it was renamed to "Eye of the Beholder"

I don't know the proper titles but among my favorites are Talking Tina, Main Street, To Serve Man, the Shatner/airplane episode and the one with Carol Burnett and her guardian angel.

I refer to those emails you get at work to let you know so and so no longer works there as "sent to the cornfield" emails.

Does anyone remember Night Gallery? Those were way creepier, in my opinion, than his Twilight Zone episodes.

#1) "Living Doll" with Telly Savalas (doll voiced by June Foray)
#2) "The Monsters are Due on Maple St." I believe.
#4) "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (remade for the movie with John Lithgow)
#5) "Cavender is Coming" was actually a remake of an earlier TZ episode called "Mr. Bevis" starring Orson Bean. Both were intended to be backdoor pilots to their own series, but neither series got made. Cavender is Coming is also the only TZ episode with a laugh track.
#6) "It's a Good Life" with Billy Mumy and Cloris Leachman (remade for the movie) and sequeled in the 2002 series with Mumy returning with Leachman, and Liliana, his daughter.

No IMDB for me, I watched them too many times. :p

SC

[Ironclad Alibi]

My favorite episode is The Odyssey of Flight 33 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_of_Flight_33).

Other favorites include In Praise of Pip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise_of_Pip), and A Game Of Pool (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Pool_(1961)), which was Jonathan Winters' first dramatic role. Both of these starred Jack Klugman.

[BroSCFischer]

My favorite episode is The Odyssey of Flight 33.

Other favorites include In Praise of Pip, and A Game Of Pool, which was Jonathan Winters' first dramatic role. Both of these starred Jack Klugman.

"The Odyssey of Flight 33" starred John Anderson, who played Gabriel in another Jack Klugman episode (another of my favorites as well as all of the others mentioned by IA) "Passage for Trumpet".

I liked "A Game of Pool" with Klugman and Winters, but I also enjoyed the 80's take starring Esai Marales and Maury Chaykin, where the end is changed from the original.

SC

[XCashier]

The one that sticks out to me more than any other is "Time Enough at Last". I wear glasses, and enjoy reading, so it's the one that gets to me every time.
Me too! Plus I'm a voracious reader. I totally sympathized with the main character.

Another one that got me was "It's A Good Life". That one was creepy!

[Food Lady]

"It's A Good Life" now reminds me of stories on this board in which parents approve of whateeeever their little precious darlings do. Now, that's creepy.

[Eireann]

The short story "It's a Good Life", by Jerome Bixby, is truly horrifying. I haven't seen the episode yet. Interestingly, the short story was included in a Hitchcock anthology, and that guy also knew how to tell a creepy story. Too bad we never had a Serling/Hitchcock cooperation!

And, yes, Night Gallery was truly weird.

[dalesys]

What I remember is having to walk home alone through the back yards and fields after the Friday Night WTFathon of Twilight Zone, Nightmare Theatre & Outer Limits...:eek:

[DaDairyDruid]

I liked "crazy as a soup sandwich" from the reboot series

[Pixilated]

My favourite is "One More Pallbearer," in which a rich but bitter and vindictive man tries to get three people, who he feels wrong him long ago, to apologize -- it backfires on him badly.

Second favourite is "The Midnight Sun," which had a neat twist at the end.

I was in a college literature class a bunch of years ago where each of us had to read a story to the class. That was the one I chose. Had a couple of people crying by the end.

I'm no longer Catholic myself, but that one gets to me every time.


ETA: As for Twilight Zone? Too many to count. That was one amazing show; way ahead of its time.

True enough! I've seen some of the newer TZ episodes but they seem to be fixated on ensuring a "happy" ending. The original one didn't have that.

Speaking of heartbreaker stories, have you ever read "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin? It was made into a TV movie, which wasn't bad, but (not surprisingly) wasn't as good as the story.

[Andrew B.]

What was the title of the episode with the all powerful kid?

[Pixilated]

I think it was "It's a Good Life."

Whoops, got it mixed up with "It's a Wonderful Life," LOL.

[Redbeard]

I think it was "It's a Good Life."

Whoops, got it mixed up with "It's a Wonderful Life," LOL.

The reboot that had Forrest Whitaker did a sequal to that episode, as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBEJKymuk6k

[BroSCFischer]

My favourite is "One More Pallbearer," in which a rich but bitter and vindictive man tries to get three people, who he feels wrong him long ago, to apologize -- it backfires on him badly.

Wonderful episode, one of my favorites.

True enough! I've seen some of the newer TZ episodes but they seem to be fixated on ensuring a "happy" ending. The original one didn't have that.

I wouldn't say that, at least the 2002 series had a few that weren't happy: "One Night at Mercy", "How Much Do You Love Your Kid", and "It's Still a Good Life" off the top of my head.

Speaking of heartbreaker stories, have you ever read "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin? It was made into a TV movie, which wasn't bad, but (not surprisingly) wasn't as good as the story.

There was an 80's TZ episode of the same name, too.

SC

What was the title of the episode with the all powerful kid?

"It's a Good Life" starring Billy Mumy of Lost in Space fame.

SC

[Immortal1982]

I always liked "nothing in the dark " starring a young actor named Robert Redford. I wonder if that guy had a long career?