As fans of the weird on TV, I’m sure many of us are fans of Rod Serling’s classic sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology show. Every ending is a twist. Every show a surprise. And yet, so re-watchable. Which are your favorites? My two are Time Enough at Last with Burgess Meredith (but I’ll watch anything with Burgess Meredith)…
Rod Serling was from my town. The park from the “Walking Distance” episode is walking distance from where I live. (Though the episode wasn’t filmed there.)
I remember the script to The Monsters are Due on Maple Street was in one of my textbooks and I looked forward to when that came up in the curriculum. It never did. Still read it.
My father used to tell the story that my brother saw the twist at the end of Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? and it blew his little six-year-old mind. His jaw just dropped and he stood there, stunned.
My favorite is The After Hours from the first season - very creepy, plus it stars the lovely Anne Francis as Marcia (who was also lovely in the film Forbidden Planet and the TV series Honey West).
It’s not scary or twisty; it’s simply a smartly told, sharply acted love story. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, it gives us one man (Charles Bronson) and a woman (Elizabeth Montgomery) from opposing sides of the war and places them in this burned-out town. What I like about the script is that doesn’t spell it all out. That kind of restraint is rare in TZ eps and welcome here. We don’t know what started the war, what has really happened with the two sides, we just watch these former enemies slowly connect. Both actors are wonderful; Bronson does most of the heavy lifting, but Montgomery (who only speaks one word, in Russian) delivers the payoff. I loved it when she shows up in the pretty dress Bronson gave her but is still draped in gun belts and weapons (and a quick lift of the dress reveals her combat boots as well). And then she offers a smile that is achingly beautiful and hopeful. That smile sealed the deal for me
Number 12 Looks Just Like You (Season 5)
I thought Richard Long was a hoot, he was in several eps and always did a good job. The lead actress was very good as well (she was in To Kill a Mockingbird.) - Those final scenes made me sad I wish she could have fought the power to the end
The Twilight Zone is a great show and always will be. That is I prefer the 1959 version. I’ve not viewed the 1980s remake…and I refuse to watch the more recent revival.
That said, one of my favorite episodes is paradoxically one I have the most problem with - To Serve Man.
Don’t get me wrong - this is a very memorable episode and among the best written.
But why would Kanamits want to eat humans?! Humans are very bony and have little meat content. You can’t farm humans either due to how neither they are quick/efficient at food-to-meat conversion, nor can they eat inedible biomass (grass anyone)?
Kanamits also passed up on creatures with much more meat content like cattle, bison, etc. to eat bony, scrawny humans with not much meat on them.
There were some good episodes in the 80’s series, like The Last Defender of Camelot, but some not-so-good ones as well. Theme music by Mickey Hart (with some more of the GD) WAS AWESOME.