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Twilight Zone

Posted by Abaco 9 years, 10 months ago to Entertainment
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I just started recording the old Twilight Zone shows on SyFy. You know what?...That show was WAY better than almost anything on tv today. Sure, the effects were corny (per today's standards) but many of the story lines were pretty deep, though-provoking. I am really enjoying it. Some of the acting was also very, very good. Wow... And, the blessing...When I take the time to sit and watch one, my kids (5 and 10) will sit quietly and take the whole episode in - asking questions about it. You can look at them and see the wheels turning.

This weekend I watched the episode, "Walking Distance", about a man who's professional life is driving him nuts. He ends up walking back to his hometown (left the car at a roadside shop a mile away). He walks in and the town is in a timewarp, back when he was a kid. Really good stuff. I highly recommend you guys set your DVRs to this.

All Comments

  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 9 years, 10 months ago
    I thought so too, having watched maybe 20 episodes. I'll have to go binge a bunch. Maybe my Dr Who-loving daughter will join in.
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  • Posted by diessos 9 years, 10 months ago
    I agree, the acting in the Twilight Zone was fantastic. I was always impressed that REAL movie stars would do a TV series. Can you imagine Tom Cruise or Angelina Jolie doing a 1/2 to 1 hour cameo today?

    I enjoy watching old movies. No flashy special effects. The script and the acting is what holds your attention.

    Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and Laura are some of my favorites.
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  • Posted by ProfChuck 9 years, 10 months ago
    I agree. My daughter gave me the complete series on dvd and it is also available on NETFLIX. These shows are truly classic sciFi with some of the best authors of the time making contributions to the stories. Great stuff! One of my favorites is "How to serve man". A bunch of aliens arrive with the supposed intention of providing for all of mans needs and solving all of his problems. Their guide is a book titled "How to serve man". Only too late do the humans realize that it is a cook book.
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  • Posted by LibertyBelle 9 years, 10 months ago
    I remember an episode where a man (played by
    Bill Bixby), could temporarily read minds.--And
    there was a really good episode about a crooked
    used car salesman (not that I mean to endorse that
    stereotype) came into possession of an antique
    car that forced him to tell the truth while try-
    ing to ply his trade. He was in despair until he
    came across a politician to whom (under pres-
    sure from the car) he confessed his predica-
    ment. The politician rescued him from it. I guess I'd better not say how, because of maybe
    spoiling the episode for somebody.
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  • Posted by Eyecu2 9 years, 10 months ago
    I have ALWAYS LOVED Twilight Zone! My favorite episode is "Time Enough at Last" with Burgess Meredith.

    I really identified with him several years ago when I had a job and my boss hated that I was always reading on my free time.
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  • Posted by yno 9 years, 10 months ago
    Looks like a lot of great actors had they're start in shows like this. Our current education system and electronic toys and gaming have sucked the imagination out of the last couple of generations and more to come. Even the commercials were entertaining back then instead of annoying like they are today.
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  • Posted by ycandrea 9 years, 10 months ago
    My Favorites are The Eye of the Beholder, (about the beautiful woman getting a face lift because she was considered ugly), and How To Serve Man, (about the seemingly altruistic aliens who come to earth to "help" us, but were actually fattening us up for their cook book!)
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  • Posted by $ splumb 9 years, 10 months ago
    I've always loved that show. So much so, I bought the boxed set of DVDs.
    Serling was a genius, and you could always tell which ones he wrote without looking at the credits.
    Lots of high-calibre movie stars.
    And proof you can tell a great story in only 30 minutes.
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  • Posted by BradA 9 years, 10 months ago
    Yes, excellent series.
    One of my favorites was "A Small Talent For War." As with many episodes, it takes an unexpected turn at the end. "Dying is easy, Comedy is hard."
    Oh, and if you're looking for more thought provoking science fiction, you can find it in the tatooed carcases of dead trees, also known as books.
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  • Posted by BeenThere 9 years, 10 months ago
    And, at the time, Ayn Rand considered Rod Serling as the best writer for television.
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  • Posted by ycandrea 9 years, 10 months ago
    I loved the Twilight Zone. It always had a moral message and made you think. I always watch the Twilight Zone marathons on New Years Day. They never get tiresome.
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  • Posted by $ TomB666 9 years, 10 months ago
    These are available on Netflix, without commercials FYI
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  • Posted by Steven-Wells 9 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You missed John Carradine who was in the episode, The Howling Man. It's one of my favorites, if for no other reason than its great real-time transformational make-up effect that could only be done in black & white.

    And Vic Perrin, who was the control voice of The Outer Limits.
    And Phillip Pine, who was in some classic Star Trek and many other shows.

    I picked up the whole Twilight Zone series (156 episodes) re-mastered on Blu-ray several years ago for around $160 at Costco. There's a comparable $US deal on eBay (for the moment.)
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    One of the very interesting things to me was how well the comedians did in dramatic roles. They all seemed to have hidden acting chops.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 10 months ago
    No question Rod Serling was a genius. His arrows hit the mark most of the time. If you don't mind putting up with the corny effects, and dated references, you can learn a lot from The Twilight Zone, or just be entertained.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 9 years, 10 months ago
    My favorite episode is "The Invaders" in which Agnes Moorehead (later Smanthat's mother in Bewitched) never utters a word to be found in the dictionary.
    You'd have to see the whole 30 minutes to marvel at her tremendous acting, but here is a spoiler alert for the ending compressed two minutes of that episode~

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n99iN...
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  • Posted by Rex_Little 9 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Don't know that I'd go that far--I think there were a few clunkers in there--but yes, there were a lot of great episodes. Many were based on published science fiction short stories (which I read before seeing the TZ episodes), and they did a wonderful job bringing those stories to life.
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