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#35941 - 02/24/10 12:20 AM The Twilight Zone
MatthewJ1 Offline
member


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 529
Loc: Australia
A few weeks ago I went out and splurged and bought all of the original Twilight Zone television series on DVD and have been slowly making my way through them.

I remember when I was a kid I would be told to get to bed, but would wait until everybody had gone to sleep and then I would sneak out of my room and watch the late night episode of The Twilight Zone on the TV.

I liked the old black and white look of the episodes and the fashions, manners and the appearance of the common objects of those times. There was an almost surreal edge to those episodes, via the relationship between the old (not of my world) black and white objects and people of the episodes and the bending and breaking of the timeless reality principle.

The Twilight Zone seemed to be a reflection of the time in which it was made. The West was living under the threat of the Cold War and under the shadow of The Bomb and that vague and yet somehow acute threat seemed to underpin or lurk in the margins and background of many of those episodes. That show could be so claustrophobic at times.

The special effects (when there were any) came across as very simple and you had to use your imagination in many cases to complete the picture and the story. I liked this because I didn’t really want to be spoon fed all of the aspects of the episodes.

Watching the episodes again is a form of reminiscing, but also a chance to enjoy the episodes which I missed or didn’t fully comprehend as a kid.

Issues of time and being out of place were frequent components of those classic episodes and I still enjoy those components and many others.

Serling had a touch of genius about him I think.

Did you like The Twilight Zone? Or was there some other show you watched as a kid which you liked and which meant a great deal to you?

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#35942 - 02/24/10 01:09 AM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: MatthewJ1]
Michael A.Aquino Offline
veteran member


Registered: 09/28/08
Posts: 1247
Loc: San Francisco, CA, USA
During your next visit to Disneyland, be certain to visit the Hollywood Tower Hotel in Disney's California Adventure. Its lobby contains numerous props from the original Twilight Zone, and a reincarnated Rod Serling personally narrates the welcoming video for the gho ... er, I mean guests.
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Michael A. Aquino

[On Ignore: Dan_Dread, 6Satan6Archist6, Caladrius, MindFux]

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#35947 - 02/24/10 11:22 AM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: SkaffenAmtiskaw]
Jake999 Online
senior member


Registered: 11/02/08
Posts: 2174
Twilight Zone was the "must see" TV of its time. Even as young kids, there were people talking about the episodes the night before. We didn't understand the underlying political messages at times, such as when the "aliens" began taking over the city "one neighborhood at a time... one neighborhood at a time," or the diner that was attracting aliens, etc. It was just good, interestingly spooky fun.

Once a year, there's a Twilight Zone marathon on one of the old-time-TV channels, and I'll always be found, sleep deprived, unshaven and munching a snack, watching the same old reruns and finding something new every time.
_________________________
Bury your dead, pick up your weapon and soldier on.


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#35950 - 02/24/10 09:07 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: Jake999]
MatthewJ1 Offline
member


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 529
Loc: Australia
The Monsters are due on Maple Street. I think that may be the episode where the “aliens” begin taking over the whole city neighbourhood by neighbourhood.

That is still one of my favourite episodes and it was the one that really stuck in my mind when I was a youngster watching TZ for the first time. That episode seemed to have so much sub – text running through it.

I also particularly liked an episode from the first series called The Last Flight. That is the episode when a World War One pilot travels forward in time and lands his plane at a contemporary air base. He cannot stay there. He must go back to defend and assist another flyer who is in trouble. I really liked the sight of a tiny plane emerging out of and then disappearing into an enormous sky, and finally of an empty black and white sky and a feeling that the tiny plane or something else may return one of these days.

Many great episodes.

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#35953 - 02/25/10 12:52 AM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: MatthewJ1]
Morgan Moderator Offline
senior member


Registered: 08/29/07
Posts: 2303
Loc: New York City
Sci Fi channel does Twilight Zone marathons around the various holidays. I remember watching them as a kid, and I still like them today.

Yes, Jake I remember that diner with the Aliens. Somehow its kinda nice to think other places are just as fucked up as we are in regards to taking places over. I think among my favorites is when the old man is dying in New Orleans, and tells his family to put on the masks. I don't remember the name of that one.

I think the saddest one is the bank teller who lives when the rest of the world is destroyed. He was in the vault reading when it happened.

Yes, many great episodes.

Morgan
_________________________
Courage Conquering Fear
Fuck em if they can't take a joke
Don't Like What I Say, Kiss My Ass.


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#35955 - 02/25/10 01:57 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: Morgan]
Room 101 Offline
member


Registered: 10/17/09
Posts: 262
Loc: Scotland
"Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page but who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock. But in just a moment Mr. Bemis will enter a world without bank presidents or wives or clocks or anything else. He'll have a world all to himself, without anyone."

Classic Zone
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"Nothing is your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull." - George Orwell (1984)

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#35965 - 02/25/10 06:40 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: MatthewJ1]
Michael A.Aquino Offline
veteran member


Registered: 09/28/08
Posts: 1247
Loc: San Francisco, CA, USA
 Originally Posted By: MatthewJ1
The Monsters are due on Maple Street. I think that may be the episode where the “aliens” begin taking over the whole city neighborhood by neighborhood.

You can see that episode here. It was famous enough to be the finale chapter in the first TZ paperback book collection.
_________________________
Michael A. Aquino

[On Ignore: Dan_Dread, 6Satan6Archist6, Caladrius, MindFux]

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#35966 - 02/25/10 07:31 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: Michael A.Aquino]
Jake999 Online
senior member


Registered: 11/02/08
Posts: 2174
LOL! Believe it or not, it ain't that far from the truth. Where I live now, we get some POWERFUL storms, and power gets knocked out from time to time. Now, I like to be able to read at night, or watch the local TV channel to see if a tornado is heading my way, so I bought a small backup power supply. First time I used it, the power had been off for about a half hour. I turned it on and had lights in my living room. 20 minutes later, someone was knocking on my door asking why I was the only one in the neighborhood with electricity.
_________________________
Bury your dead, pick up your weapon and soldier on.


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#35967 - 02/25/10 08:40 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: Michael A.Aquino]
MatthewJ1 Offline
member


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 529
Loc: Australia
Yes Monsters was one of the great episodes. Thanks for this link Dr. Aquino.

Whatever you do, make sure that you don't look up at the sky if you go out at night for a walk, because you will be in strife if you do.

Are you in league with them damned outsiders?

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#35995 - 02/28/10 09:52 AM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: MatthewJ1]
Dimitri Offline
veteran member


Registered: 07/13/08
Posts: 1357
Good ol' television.
I have always been a fan of psychological/SF films from the 60ies till the 80ies. Twilight zone is one of these series which invites the viewer to think "outside the box" (as in the "time element" about past actions affecting the future), which I quite like and miss in modern society.

Other I liked the episodes "Shelter", "monsters are due on maple street" and "where is everybody". It somehow reflected the time-spirit in which these were being made, and at the same time have this timeless aspect within.

"Eye of the beholder" was something unusual to see. They managed to fuck the mind a bit when watching it for the first time.


I have to admit that I quite like the series dating from the 60ies. Those from the 80ies (to me) miss a certain feeling which is apparant in the first seasons.
If only series of a level alike would be produced...
_________________________
You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

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#36166 - 03/09/10 12:09 AM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: Morgan]
BelialsGal Offline
stranger


Registered: 08/30/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Tulsa, OK
Twilight Zone is a standard watch in our home. The TZ Complete Definitive Collection is worth the money for sure.

Morgan- "Time Enough at Last" is one of my favorite episodes in season one! I was really cheering for the teller when the world ends, but man the irony is depressing.

"The Masks" is the episode you are thinking about that has the Mardi Gras ritual. That was one of the last episodes.

After reading all these posts I'm ready to go watch "Eye of the Beholder"....Doctors with pig faces never gets old.

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#36285 - 03/12/10 09:55 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: MatthewJ1]
Vlad Offline
stranger


Registered: 03/09/10
Posts: 21
Loc: Virginia
I absolutely love The Twilight Zone. I was born well after the original run in the 60's came out, but my father watched the show quite a bit as a kid and thus watched for nostalgia as an adult. Whenever it was on, he would always watch, so it became a big part of my childhood. I remember just how creepy the show seemed. Now that I am older, I can really appreciate it for the dark narratives and moral/philosophical questions it raises.

I prefer the original 60's episodes to the ones made in the 80's, and I was not a fan of the film . There was something about those old black and whites, as MatthewJ1 said, they were really surreal and just..."well out there". I attribute the show to my love of science fiction and horror, it was an important part in shaping my tastes and interests.

They really don't make television like The Twilight Zone anymore and what a shame that they don't.


Edited by Vlad (03/12/10 09:57 PM)

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#36286 - 03/12/10 10:19 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: MatthewJ1]
exadust Offline
pledge


Registered: 03/09/10
Posts: 91
Loc: georgia
The Twilight Zone was alright. Personally I liked Tales from the Darkside! Some of the storylines were just fucking great! I also enjoyed the Outer Limits! Tales from the Crypt had some enjoyable episodes also!
_________________________
Herein you will find truth and fantasy. Each is necessary in order for the other to exsist.

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#36527 - 03/16/10 09:01 AM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: exadust]
111Cal Offline
member


Registered: 12/22/09
Posts: 143
The original classic Twilight Zone is a pure classic that will be around for decades to come. I bought the overpriced DVD boxed set when it came out and even if I have seen an episode 25 times, I still enjoy it on the 26th!

However (like most remakes) the 1980s and 2000s versions are simply pale comparisons. The 1980s version is truly horrible.

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#36549 - 03/16/10 12:52 PM Re: The Twilight Zone [Re: SkaffenAmtiskaw]
BelialsGal Offline
stranger


Registered: 08/30/09
Posts: 40
Loc: Tulsa, OK
In regards to your comparison of "Eye of the Beholder" to "Vault of Horror" and "Tales From the Crypt" comics, I'll just have to take your word for it. I still have yet to read much of either, seeing they are scarce in these parts. I should just man up and shell out the money for the EC Boxed sets I suppose.

Back to the subject at hand, I agree, "Still Valley" is very appropriate for this crowd and it's way fun.

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