Continuing the list from yesterday's entry, below is a complete list of the Twilight Zone episodes to be aired on SyFy from midnight New Year's Day through 7pm.
A third entry will follow covering 7pm through 6am Sunday morning (this is very time-consuming, but I'm passionate about my Zone, and I've been meaning to do this for years).
First is the short list including the Time Top 10, my personal favorites, and other noteworthy episodes.
Since the colored fonts do not get picked up in the Facebook feed (and if you are reading this entry in my FB Notes and want to see all the pretty colors, please view it here), I'm adding additional formatting.
So, the categories are:
(1) Episodes on the Time Top 10 List -- These are the acknowledged classics; titles and times are red with bold underline.
(2) My Personal Favorite Episodes -- These are underrated gems with strong scripts and beautiful performances; titles and times are fuchsia with bold italics.
(3) Episodes Worth Watching -- These have flawed scripts or execution, but often have strong performances and/or ideas; titles and times are blue with bold.
My Favorites -- Short List
12:00 AM -- The Midnight Sun
1:00 AM -- Long Distance Call
1:30 AM -- One For The Angels
2:00 AM -- Night Of The Meek
3:00 AM -- Night Call
5:00 AM -- The Grave
6:00 AM -- Judgment Night
6:30 AM -- Long Live Walter Jameson
7:30 AM -- A Quality Of Mercy
10:30 AM -- A World Of His Own
11:30 AM -- Mr. Denton On Doomsday
2:00 PM -- Mr. Dingle, The Strong
2:30 PM -- People Are Alike All Over
3:30 PM -- A Game Of Pool
4:00 PM -- Number Twelve Looks Just Like You
4:30 PM -- Nick Of Time
5:30 PM -- The Dummy
6:30 PM -- Kick The Can
Full List -- With Descriptions
12:00 AM -- The Midnight Sun -- Earth has been knocked off its orbit and is gradually approaching the sun. Thermometers pop, a painting melts off its canvas (this is actually a painted wax tablet on a hot plate!), but this apocalyptic tale is most interesting for its relationships -- an excellent script, beautifully acted.
12:30 AM -- Third From The Sun -- Trigger-happy world leaders have their finger on the button! Doomsday is near! Time for a select few to secretly gather their families to escape to a nearby planet. Hm... now what planet would that be..?
1:00 AM -- Long Distance Call -- Creepy dead gramma wants her favorite grandson to be with her forever, and conveys her wishes via a toy phone. (Now if only Billy Mumy -- TZ's favorite child actor -- could wish her into the cornfield!)
1:30 AM -- One For The Angels -- One of TZ's more successful dark comedies features Ed Wynn as a fast-talking salesman who must use his skills to save a child's life.
2:00 AM -- Night Of The Meek -- Down-and-out department store Santa, Art Carney, loses his job but finds a bag of gifts and plays Santa one last time for the neighborhood kiddies. But is it just an act? Beautiful, touching episode.
2:30 AM -- Nightmare As A Child -- Freaky, annoying brat spooks schoolteacher. Or does the marm have more to fear? Find out, if you can stay awake through this snoozer.
3:00 AM -- Night Call -- Originally called "Sorry Right Number," this careful-what-you-wish for tale features calls from beyond and a beautiful performance by Gladys Cooper. It has also been recycled as internet glurge.
3:30 AM -- Probe 7 Over and Out -- Stranded astronaut Richard Basehart, meets hostile alien female on deserted planet. She hurls rocks at him. Or maybe it's just foreplay. Now, what shall we call this place...? The same story is better told in "Two."
4:00 AM -- The Rip Van Winkle Caper -- It's Treasure of the Sierra Madre with suspended animation and blah writing. Good performances and a fun twist at the end make it sort of worth watching.
4:30 AM -- I Am the Night - Color Me Black -- Murderous bigotry, hatred and fear are bad things. OK. We get it.
5:00 AM -- The Grave --Spooky old west tale of a dare gone bad, featuring James Best, Lee Van Cleef and Lee Marvin. Also recycled on the internet.
5:30 AM -- The Fear -- Reclusive writer and state trooper battle giant (or maybe not-so-giant) aliens in this bottom-of-the-barrel turkey.
6:00 AM -- Judgment Night -- Nehemiah Persoff just knows a nearby U-boat will blast his passenger steamer. But no one one board will believe him! (And exactly how does he know anyway...?) Excellent performances, great ending and a sweet cameo by The Avengers' Patrick MacNee.
6:30 AM -- Long Live Walter Jameson -- TZ's most successful working of the "morality of mortality" theme features fine performances, a strong script and a touch of righteous revenge.
7:00 AM -- The Arrival -- Mystery plane lands itself at airport. Could it all just be an illusion? Ummm... maybe...
7:30 AM -- A Quality Of Mercy -- In WWII Philippines brash Lieutenant Dean Stockwell learns to walk a mile in the other guy's army boots. Good performances all around, plus a pre-Spock Leonard Nimoy in a bit part.
8:00 AM -- The Fugitive -- Cinderella story, sci-fi style. Not great; not terrible.
8:30 AM -- The Gift -- Mexicans fear an (ahem) illegal alien. Too bad, cuz he could have really helped you guys... Crappy script, wooden performances. Skip it.
9:00 AM -- Black Leather Jackets -- Bad leather-clad alien (dressed this way to "blend") falls for local girl in this not-quite-Avatar.
9:30 AM -- A Piano In The House -- Enchanted ivories reveal uncomfortable secrets; akin to "What's in the Box" and "A Kind of Camera", and slightly better than either.
10:00 AM -- The Shelter -- "Maple Street" meets the lazy grasshopper. The industrious ant of this tale has built a bomb shelter for his family, and his neighbors scoff -- until there is an emergency... Bloated prose and one-dimensional characters make this a must-miss.
10:30 AM -- A World Of His Own -- Sweet story about the reality of reality features the only time Serling interacts with his characters.
11:00 AM -- A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain -- Here we go again with the be-careful-what-you-wish-for theme. Rich geezer wants to keep up with his greedy vain young wife; comeuppance awaits them both.
11:30 AM -- Mr. Denton On Doomsday -- Touching old west tale about top-gunslinger-turned-town-drunk finding redemption. Fine performances by Dan Duryea, Martin Landau and Doug McClure.
12:00 PM -- I Shot An Arrow Into The Air -- Three astronauts survive a crash on an asteroid (where the atmosphere and gravity are the same as on Earth, but no one notices this). Limited provisions stir bloodthirsty behavior. Yes, Rod, people in crisis are just no darned good.
12:30 PM -- The Little People -- Ego and physical relativity clash in this memorable (though mediocre) episode, which has been lampooned in The Simpsons, South Park, and Futurama. Good performance by Claude Akins.
1:00 PM -- A Kind Of Stopwatch -- Blabbering bore gets comeuppance via magical timepiece. Even The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything was better than this turkey.
1:30 PM -- The 7th Is Made Up Of Phantoms -- Spooked National Guard tank crew gets drafted into Custer's 7th Cavalry. Big whoop.
2:00 PM -- Mr. Dingle, The Strong -- Loud-mouthed salesman pisses away alien gifts on trivial feats. Worth watching for an adorable Burgess Meredith and amusing (and very young) Don Rickles.
2:30 PM -- People Are Alike All Over -- Astronaut Roddy McDowall crashes on populous Mars, and consoles his fears with the thought that Martians (who include the radiant Susan Oliver) and humans must be "alike" ...
3:00 PM -- Stopover In A Quiet Town -- At least it was quiet until this nattering couple woke up in a strange house with no memory of how they got there, and no one to ask where they are, or why the grass is made of papier-mâché. And if they'd shut up for two seconds, we just might care....
3:30 PM -- A Game Of Pool -- Taut two-person drama about winning and losing, and what's really important in the game of life. Fine performances by Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters. Not crazy about the ending; the real (and better) ending was done in the 80s TZ version.
4:00 PM -- Number Twelve Looks Just Like You -- Dystopic utopia where everyone is beautifully identical and lifts their pretty mugs with a glass of Instant Smile. Mediocre script saved by Collin Wilcox's terrific performance.
4:30 PM -- Nick Of Time -- A charming script and low-key performance by pre-Kirk William Shatner (yes, I used "low-key" and "Shatner" in the same sentence) grace this cautionary tale about superstition and self-determination.
5:00 PM -- The Bewitchin' Pool -- Worst. Episode. Ever. Even To Kill a Mockingbird's Oscar-nominated Mary Badham couldn't save this dismal excuse for a story. Spoiled brats escape manipulative divorcing parents by finding their way to SuperGrandma via an enchanted pool. Now, if Grandma dumped the tots in an oven, then we might have a story....
5:30 PM -- The Dummy -- Cliff Robertson as a troubled ventriloquist whose creepy dummy will simply not stay in the box.
6:00 PM -- Little Girl Lost -- Little girl has slipped into another dimension. Can her parents and conveniently present physicist pal rescue her before the portal closes forever? Decent script but bland acting. Tune in for the final 10 minutes for all you need to know.
6:30 PM -- Kick The Can -- Timeless story about rest home residents learning that you are indeed as young as you feel. "Look! Think! Feel! Doesn't that wake some sleeping part of you?!"
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