twilight zone

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:46 pm

is it just me or is this the best show to have ever been on television?

most holiday weekends sc-fi channel plays a twilight zone marathon and all i can do is sit in front of the tv and watch hour upon hour of this show. the writing is brilliant and i absolutely love the black and white and the acting.

j$ · Post by j$ » Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:53 am

fodroy wrote:is it just me or is this the best show to have ever been on television? ... i absolutely love the black and white and the acting.

Err, I take it we're talking Rod Sterling not Forrest Whittaker here? It's OK. All portmanteau (ok I know it's not portmanteau, the proper word escape) thing suffer from the 'some stories are better than others' problem. I would say (of the 150 or so of them I have seen across the ages) about 5% are brilliant. 15% are good to ok. The rest pretty much suck. I suppose that's not a bad batting average.

Also, the twist nature of its premise makes it a bit annoying once you've seen more than a dozen. In that, you spend your entire time from the moment the theme music ends going 'so what's the twist going to be this week'. Well at least I do.

J$

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:57 am

i really enjoyed the movie... that bit with the creature on the wing of the plane was freaky.
show (both versions i think) was good too, with excellent theme music from the grateful dead in the remake version of the show...
-bill

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 8:16 am

Twilight zone scared the shit out of me when I was like..8 years old. Now, the whole format is too... predicitable. REmember that copy cat show from the late 80's early 90's the outer limits? That was better...old twilight zone was pretty good for it's time though.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:35 am

for me knowing that a twist is coming is what's fun about it. i love trying to figure out what the twist is going to be. most of the time i can't figure it out. it's one of those shows that's just great to watch on a lazy day when you've got absolutely nothing to do except eat lots of food that's covered with nacho cheese. and you have to wear sweatpants too. sweatpants make the twilight zone better than when you're not wearing sweatpants.

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:47 am

I don't like wearing sweatpants when hanging out on the beach though... can be too revealing at the wrong moment.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:40 am

The "predictable" twists in old TZ episodes are predictable in large part because of the Twilight Zone. In the 1950's science fiction was still mostly a fringe genre with lots of space ships and laser guns. Try to think of more than like 3 intelligent science fiction movies made before 1965. And television drama of the day consisted of video taped stage plays and soap operas. Perhaps TZ seems trite and predictable now, but it was positively groundbreaking in its day.

Kamakura · Post by **Kamakura** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:36 pm

Leaf wrote:I don't like wearing sweatpants when hanging out on the beach though.

You watch the Twilight Zone on the beach?

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:52 pm

Kamakura wrote:
Leaf wrote:I don't like wearing sweatpants when hanging out on the beach though.
You watch the Twilight Zone on the beach?

Noooo..... but have you ever got a chubby while wearing sweatpants? Too revealing.

I do wear them at work in the fish plant. I just thought the beach was a better setting for it, rather than having to explain why I'd get a spontaneous chubby in a fish plant....

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:36 pm

fodroy wrote:for me knowing that a twist is coming is what's fun about it. i love trying to figure out what the twist is going to be. most of the time i can't figure it out. it's one of those shows that's just great to watch on a lazy day when you've got absolutely nothing to do except eat lots of food that's covered with nacho cheese. and you have to wear sweatpants too. sweatpants make the twilight zone better than when you're not wearing sweatpants.

Just thinking about a day wearing sweatpants, eating food with nacho cheese on it and watching the Twilight Zone makes me nostalgic for the days when I would wear sweatpants, eat food with nacho cheese on it and watch the Twilight Zone.

And Star Trek. Original Series.

j$ · Post by j$ » Mon Nov 08, 2004 2:02 pm

fodroy wrote:sweatpants make the twilight zone better than when you're not wearing sweatpants.

An image of Dan watching TZ naked from the waist down flits across my fevered mind. Sorry.

j$

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 3:02 pm

dan: flattered or afraid? i don't rightfully know.

j$ · Post by j$ » Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:17 pm

fodroy wrote:dan: flattered or afraid? i don't rightfully know.

Ha! Both. Definitely both!

j$

c hack · Post by **c hack** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:53 pm

I voted kick ass show, b/c while it's not the best show ever (that'd go to Band of Brothers), it's probably in the top 5. Others include 6 Feet Under, Firefly or Buffy (I liked Firefly better, but it didn't have time to mature), Simpsons, Futurama (some of those in the last couple seasons were brilliant), and Cowboy Bebop. Actually, Bebop is probably second.

Anyhoo, I love that TZ shit. Also, Monsters, Tales from the Dark Side, and Amazing Stories. One of the best ones I saw for the first time as I was flipping the channel a couple months ago. This couple was in a diner and they get a fortune from a fortune telling machine. I don't want to give it away, but it makes a great statement about free will vs. fate. And anyone remember one with John Lithgow where he bought a doll? I can't remember what happened after that, except it was cool. I think it was an AS episode.

But what I want to know is, how can I get my hands on those episodes from the 80s? I remember seeing the one where the woman finds a locket that can stop time, and I want to watch it again so bad. I also got a book of some of the screenplays, and I think they've got about an 80% decent batting average. From the one where astronomers discover a supernova that destroyed a solar system and realise it was the star of Bethlehem, to "Eye of Newton" starring George Jefferson as a mathematician, to "Time and Teresa Golowitz," about lost love and 3nd chances after death. Maybe I'm just sentimental from never having gotten the full effect, only the screenplay (I only saw one or two as a kid), but I'm so pissed off that they're releasing the most recent iteration on DVD (that I doubt is even worth renting) and not the 80s version.

Wait, nevermind. I just checked Amazon, and it looks like it's getting released on december 28! I know what I'm getting when I return my Christmas presents!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:46 pm

i voted it's alright...
i think it was a great show specially for it's time... not 'kick' ass... but it's somethin' that i don't mind watchin' every now and then... pretty enjoyable
one of the better sci-fi/spook shows... if not the best... even though it's not really spooky at all... it's interesting

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 12:36 am

i didn't even know they were still making it in the 80's. but i'm referring to the older black and white ones. they may not make some big statement or be philosophical. and they weren't scary as guest stated, but they're so much fun to watch.

Freudian Slip · Post by **Freudian Slip** » Sat Nov 20, 2004 9:08 pm

c hack wrote:I voted kick ass show...
Anyhoo, I love that TZ shit. Also, Monsters, Tales from the Dark Side, and Amazing Stories.

I voted Kick Ass, too. But give me anything Sci Fi, Horror or Comedy (esp. dark comedy) or any varied mix of those three elements, and I'm a happy camper. BTW--(and a bit off topic) but speaking of B&W classics, does anybody remember the name of the old Vincent Price flick in which he played a "ham" Shakespearean actor who murdered his critics? "Pound of Flesh"??? <sigh> I would SO love to see that one again. The "funnel scene" was awesome, unforgettably grostesque.

j$ · Post by j$ » Sun Nov 21, 2004 8:04 am

Freudian Slip wrote:
c hack wrote:I old Vincent Price flick in which he played a "ham" Shakespearean actor who murdered his critics? "Pound of Flesh"??? <sigh> I would SO love to see that one again. The "funnel scene" was awesome, unforgettably grostesque.

"Theatre of Blood."

j$

Freudian Slip · Post by **Freudian Slip** » Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:43 pm

j$ wrote:"Theatre of Blood."j$

Thanks J$

Always loved anything Vincent Price -- even the "bug zapper" commercials...

Eric Y. · Post by **Eric Y.** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:24 am

also "edward scissorhands"

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 11:37 pm

Leaf wrote:...rather than having to explain why I'd get a spontaneous chubby in a fish plant....

...you're not the fish boner, are you?

c hack · Post by **c hack** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:38 am

There are two people whose voices I can remember hearing for the first time: Johnny Cash and Vincent Price.

(though Stan Lee stands out too)

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