As I mentioned in Part I, the SyFy channel is showing the whole series -- all 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone -- from start to finish, in order. You can check out their schedule here (I'm also using their notation of Season/Episode -- S#.E#), but note that they list the 80s version of Night of the Meek, which features Richard Mulligan in Art Carney's Santa role, but I would bet that this is a mistake and that they will show the original version.
Last night we got through most of Season One's 36 episodes, and continue on with the first portion of Season Two. This portion contains many notable episodes mixed in with a few lemons.
Some of these episodes have not been aired in the Marathon since I've started doing this blog five years ago. And one has not been aired since it was first broadcast in the 60s.
As always, at the top is a short list including the current Time Top 10, my personal favorites, other noteworthy episodes, and the episodes which have not been aired recently.
So, the categories are:
(1) Episodes on the Time Top 10 List – These are the acknowledged classics – in red.
(2) My Personal Favorite Episodes – These are underrated gems with strong scripts and beautiful performances – in green.
(3) Episodes Worth Watching – These have flawed scripts or execution, but often have compelling performances and/or ideas – in blue.
(4) Episodes That Haven't Been Aired Recently – These may or may not be good, but they are worth watching just because they have been off the air for so long – in purple.
Enjoy – and happy 2016!!
My Favorites – Short List
(Click the time to jump to the episode description.)
7:00 AM – People Are Alike All Over
7:30 AM – Execution
8:00 AM – The Big Tall Wish
10:00 AM – The Chaser
10:30 AM – A Passage for Trumpet
11:00 AM – The After Hours
12:00 PM – The Mighty Casey
12:30 PM – A World Of His Own
1:00 PM – King Nine Will Not Return
1:30 PM – The Man in the Bottle
2:00 PM – Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room
2:30 PM – A Thing About Machines
3:30 PM – Eye Of The Beholder
4:00 PM – Nick Of Time
4:30 PM – The Lateness of the Hour
5:00 PM – The Trouble with Templeton
6:00 PM – Night Of The Meek
6:30 PM – Dust
Full List – With Descriptions
7:00 AM – People Are Alike All Over – S1.E25 | 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" ... A strong script with terrific performances by excellent actors.
7:30 AM – Execution – S1.E26 | A scientist inadvertantly pulls a Wild West criminal from the noose via his time machine. Confusion, brutality, and a typical TZ twist of fate ensues. Good performances by Russell Johnson (later the Professor of Gilligan's Island) and Albert Salmi can't save this weak and contrived script.
8:00 AM – The Big Tall Wish – S1.E27 | A child makes a "big tall wish" that the fighter he idolizes will win in spite of a broken hand. A somewhat cliched tale about the power of belief in magic and miracles that is well written and directed, and features excellent performances by Steven Perry (also known for A Raisin in the Sun) as the child and Hogan's Heroes' Ivan Dixon as the boxer. Also notable is this is one of the few 1960s television shows to feature African American actors in a story that did not involve racial issues.
8:30 AM – A Nice Place To Visit – S1.E28 | Another be-careful-what- you-wish-for morality tale about the true nature of Heaven and Hell. In 1960 it might not have been painfully predictable...
9:00 AM – Nightmare As A Child – S1.E29 | Freaky, annoying brat spooks schoolteacher. Or does the marm have more to fear? Find out, if you can stay awake through this snoozer. Features TZ's second-favorite child actor
9:30 AM – A Stop At Willoughby – S1.E30 | Beleaguered exec finds himself in his childhood hometown. Similar to "Walking Distance" (9:00 PM 12/30) but trades insight for sentiment. Some people really like this one; I can do without it.
10:00 AM – The Chaser – S1.E31 | Another "be careful what you wish for" morality play, featuring the wonderful George Grizzard as an ardent beau to a cold beauty. Unfortunately, Grizzard's considerable talent can't save this turkey. Sigh. Catch him in the vastly superior "In His Image" (12:00 AM 1/2).
10:30 AM – A Passage for Trumpet – S1.E32 | A TZ-style take on It's a Wonderful Life where a down-on-his-luck trumpet player (the always magnificent Jack Klugman) develops a new appreciation for his life. Beautifully written, directed, and acted. And take note of the scene with the ticket girl scene, where Klugman can't see his reflection. How'd they do it? With identical twins! Yes, really!
11:00 AM – Mr. Bevis – S1.E33 | Loser gets all he desires (money, nice apartment, fancy car and chauffer), only to learn he can’t be his true whackadoo self and keep up appearances. Moral: Enjoying who you are is worth more than anything money can buy -- or money itself. A worthy message that deserved stronger delivery.
11:30 AM – The After Hours – S1.E34 | Stunning Anne Francis finds herself wandering the non-existent floors of a creepy department store. (Wait... is that mannequin watching me??)
12:00 PM – The Mighty Casey – S1.E35 | Struggling baseball team gets robot pitcher. One of TZ's (thankfully) few attempts at comedy. A clunky but entertaining exploration of what it means to be human. More adeptly handled in "The Lonely" (10:00 PM 12/30).
12:30 OM – A World Of His Own – S1.E36 | Sweet story about the reality of reality features the only time Serling interacts with his characters.
1:00 PM – King Nine Will Not Return – S2.E1 | WWII B-25 Captain Robert Cummings finds himself stranded in the desert with only the carcass of his King Nine, lost 17 years before. Is it a hallucination? Time travel? Both? The de rigueur twist ending is now a TZ cliché, but still worth watching for a strong script and Cummings' excellent performance.
1:30 PM – The Man in the Bottle – S2.E2 | Yet another be-careful-what-you-wish-for morality play, TZ's favorite trope. In this case a kindhearted couple make some well-meaning but poorly considered requests of a dapper genie, with a final twist that is equal parts amusing and ridiculous. Worth watching for Joseph Ruskin's menacingly munificent genie.
2:00 PM – Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room – S2.E3 | A well scripted and acted character play about courage and cowardice, about how and why we become who we are, and what happens when we are confronted with the suppressed parts of ourselves. A mono-dialogue tour-de-force by Joe Mantell.
2:30 PM – A Thing About Machines – S2.E4 | One of my all-time faves about a guy who beats up on his machines – which, in 1960, included his typewriter, electric razor, TV and car – and they gang up to have their revenge. The dawn of Skynet... ? ("Now, why don’t you get out of here, Finchley!!")
3:00 PM – The Howling Man – S2.E5 | A visitor to a monastery is disturbed to find the monks have a screaming guy locked up. Well, they must have a good reason… A lot of people like this one. I think it’s pretty meh. Features John Carradine as a monk.
3:30 PM – Eye Of The Beholder – S2.E6 | A classic (#9 on the Time list) about the relativity of beauty, the lengths we will go to be beautiful – or to at least conform – and the dangers of conformity. Note: the girl at the end (Donna Douglas, of Beverly Hillbillies) is a different actress than the one under the bandages ( Maxine Stuart), but she speaks in her own voice – doing a very good impression of Stuart!
4:30 PM – The Lateness of the Hour – S2.E8 | Will the real robot please stand up? Another exploration what it means to be human featuring the excellent Inger Stevens (The Hitch-Hiker) and John Hoyt. It is one of the few episodes done on video, which gives it a cheesy soap opera feel (thankfully TZ abandoned this format quickly), but the script isn't bad and the direction works well within the medium.
5:00 PM – The Trouble with Templeton – S2.E9 | Aging theater actor Booth Templeton, skillfully played by Brian Aherne, gets a tongue lashing from an uppity young director (a young Sidney Pollack, who would later direct classics like The Way We Were) driving him out of the theater – and into a 1927 speakeasy filled with his long lost friends and wife, for whose company he has yearned. But was it all as wonderful as he remembered? A touching, beautifully written treatise on why one shouldn't try to go home again.
5:30 PM – A Most Unusual Camera – S2.E10 | Lame-assed episode about three greedy morons undone by a magic camera. Hokey, ridiculous, predictable ending. Skip it.
6:00 PM – Night Of The Meek – S2.E11 | 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. (Note: SyFy's schedule lists this as the remake with Richard Mulligan, but this is most likely an error. As good as that episode was, it doesn't top the original.)
6:30 PM – Dust – S2.E12 | The distraught father of a condemned man falls prey to a peddler's "magic dust." A nicely crafted tale on TZ's favorite theme of magic and the power of belief, with an intriguing comment on the energy required to activate compassion and conscience. Hannah Arendt would have approved.
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