Dave2112
Level of Cherry Feather
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I have been enjoying Sci-Fi Channel's weekend-long "Twilight Zone" marathon and was wondering if anyone else was, or is a fan of the show and why. They started out with the second incarnation, the 80's version, which was pretty cool. But over the past two days have been running through the classics, the 60's black-and-white Rod Serling originals.
Anyone remember these? Still a fan? What was your favorite iconic episode and why?
Right before work today, they played my favorite, and still memorable and creepy, "It's a Good Life". Starring a young Billy Mumy (who would later be Will Robinson on "Lost in Space"), it told the story of a town in Ohio in which the rest of the world was gone. The six-year-old boy, Anthony Freemont, had godlike powers of omniscience and could make anything happen that he could imagine. All the adults in the town, those left, were always smiling around him, telling him what a good thing it was that he did (even when creating a three-headed gopher and then killing it) becuase of the consequences. If you thought bad thoughts about Anthony or displeased him in any way, he could set you on fire, or "wish you into the cornfield". Finally, at a birthday party for one of the townspeople, during Anthony's enforced "Tv Night" where he allowed only what he liked to be shown and everyone had to watch, the man whose birthday it was got drunk. Finally breaking down, he drew Anthony's ire, and tried to get the others to "finally end this!" while his attention was on himself. The others were too afraid to act, and the man was turned into a jack-in-the-box with the man's own head.
Being upset, Anthony makes it snow, and his father tells him all the crops will die...but it's a real good thing he did.
Of all the episodes, this one remains timeless. Most of Serling's episodes were social commentary, of course, but this one stands the test of time. For it's day, the episode was extremely creepy. Serling fought with the network to show the brief scene of the man's head on the jack-in-the-box spring, one of the few times they'd show something rather than let the viewers imagination take over. (In this day of being jaded with special effects, I believe we've forgotten what Serling and Hitchcock and Bradbury knew...it's the things you don't see which scare you the most.)
But, even by today's standards, the dark lighting, excellent acting (especially by Bill Mumy at such a young age) and subject matter make this episode scary still.
Many people saw the surface theme and took it for that. In an age of Beaver Cleavers and Opie from Mayberry, it was a lesson that being spoiled and getting everything you want will still make people not like you. But if you look deeper, this episode was Serling's commentary on the political and social ills of the day. Of unchecked and absolute power...and how we all bow to it for fear of it hurting us. In the time this was created, before the youth counterculture movement, civil rights and the like...people did live in fear of their governments. On the heels of the McCarthy era, it was a commentary of bad things happening to you if you "thought bad thoughts". This is a theme that in our current social order, remain true. We replaced being accused of of communism with being accused of terrorism.
Sorry for the ramble, but this is why The Twilight Zone stands strong even today. Being frightening or thoughtful or the "twist endings" were less of its appeal than the social commentary. Rod Serling found a way to say subversive things, but wrap them in entertaining stories that could be taken another way by the populace. And today, they still have the same things to say.
So, what are your favorite or memorable episodes?
Anyone remember these? Still a fan? What was your favorite iconic episode and why?
Right before work today, they played my favorite, and still memorable and creepy, "It's a Good Life". Starring a young Billy Mumy (who would later be Will Robinson on "Lost in Space"), it told the story of a town in Ohio in which the rest of the world was gone. The six-year-old boy, Anthony Freemont, had godlike powers of omniscience and could make anything happen that he could imagine. All the adults in the town, those left, were always smiling around him, telling him what a good thing it was that he did (even when creating a three-headed gopher and then killing it) becuase of the consequences. If you thought bad thoughts about Anthony or displeased him in any way, he could set you on fire, or "wish you into the cornfield". Finally, at a birthday party for one of the townspeople, during Anthony's enforced "Tv Night" where he allowed only what he liked to be shown and everyone had to watch, the man whose birthday it was got drunk. Finally breaking down, he drew Anthony's ire, and tried to get the others to "finally end this!" while his attention was on himself. The others were too afraid to act, and the man was turned into a jack-in-the-box with the man's own head.
Being upset, Anthony makes it snow, and his father tells him all the crops will die...but it's a real good thing he did.
Of all the episodes, this one remains timeless. Most of Serling's episodes were social commentary, of course, but this one stands the test of time. For it's day, the episode was extremely creepy. Serling fought with the network to show the brief scene of the man's head on the jack-in-the-box spring, one of the few times they'd show something rather than let the viewers imagination take over. (In this day of being jaded with special effects, I believe we've forgotten what Serling and Hitchcock and Bradbury knew...it's the things you don't see which scare you the most.)
But, even by today's standards, the dark lighting, excellent acting (especially by Bill Mumy at such a young age) and subject matter make this episode scary still.
Many people saw the surface theme and took it for that. In an age of Beaver Cleavers and Opie from Mayberry, it was a lesson that being spoiled and getting everything you want will still make people not like you. But if you look deeper, this episode was Serling's commentary on the political and social ills of the day. Of unchecked and absolute power...and how we all bow to it for fear of it hurting us. In the time this was created, before the youth counterculture movement, civil rights and the like...people did live in fear of their governments. On the heels of the McCarthy era, it was a commentary of bad things happening to you if you "thought bad thoughts". This is a theme that in our current social order, remain true. We replaced being accused of of communism with being accused of terrorism.
Sorry for the ramble, but this is why The Twilight Zone stands strong even today. Being frightening or thoughtful or the "twist endings" were less of its appeal than the social commentary. Rod Serling found a way to say subversive things, but wrap them in entertaining stories that could be taken another way by the populace. And today, they still have the same things to say.
So, what are your favorite or memorable episodes?
