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The Twilight Zone project - Ranking episodes (per season) (1 Viewer)

Andy Dufresne

Footballguy
I'm surprised by the number of episodes I haven't seen. I thought I'd watched a lot more of them with my dad when I was younger.
As I'm going through these, it's easy to see why the ones that are considered "classic" are that indeed.
There's a lot more clunkers than I thought there were. And of course, time has made a lot of the "twists" pretty transparent and hackneyed by now. But at the time they were fresh and new.

"Definitely" - it's an episode that I think everyone should see. Whether it's a good plot twist or interesting social commentary or just a nice story.

"Yes" - it's not quite a classic but is still very good and enjoyable.

"Meh" - A lot of TZ episodes are derivative of each other/the same story. Still okay, but only worth one viewing.

"Yuck" - Either it was too "out there" or overacted...or for some other reason I really disliked it. Skippable entirely, IMO

Season 1

Definitely

One For The Angels - An earnest and bittersweet story of a sidewalk salesman that saves his best pitch for last, saving a little girl in the process.

Time Enough At Last - A true classic where a man finally gets his wish to be alone with his books...only to be prevented in accessing them.

Judgment Night - A good "time loop" story where a German U-Boat commander gets his just rewards - for all eternity.

The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street - We have met the enemy and they are us. Great commentary on Cold War hysteria.

A Stop At Willoughby - A man gets his wish to go back to a simpler time.

The After Hours - This one scared the crap out of me as a kid. A lady returns to a department store and finds out where she truly belongs. "Marrrssshhaaa..."

Yes
Where Is Everybody? - The first episode. What would you do if you thought you were suddenly all alone. You'd lose it pretty quickly, that's what.

Mr. Denton On Doomsday - "How dry I am..."

The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine - A has-been actress returns to her glory days by "disappearing" into her old films.

Walking Distance - Similar to "A Stop At Willoughby" but with a slightly different angle.

The Lonely - Serling examines our reluctance to accept technology, then our dependence on it, then our feelings upon losing it.

And When The Sky Was Opened - Three astronauts return from a mission. Or was it two? Or one? None?

The Last Flight - Another interesting time loop story where a WWI pilot, a coward, has a chance at redemption.

Elegy - Another story where astronauts end up in a strange place...this time becoming permanent residents, thanks to a machine just doing its job.

Execution - A surprisingly intense episode where a very bad man from the past is brought forward and a bad man from the present is sent back...but justice cannot be denied.

A Nice Place To Visit - Is getting everything you want all the time a vision of Heaven or Hell?

The Hitch-Hiker - Traveling across country, a girl survives a blown tire only to be stalked by a man looking for a lift? Or is he looking to give her one?

Mirror Image - Dopplegangers take over the lives of a pair of people waiting for a bus. I liked it the more I thought about it. Clever writing.

Nightmare As A Child - A woman has a conversation with a girl who appears seemingly from nowhere but knows things about the woman's past. I liked the kid's performance.

Meh

Escape Clause - Guy becomes immortal, gets bored, kills wife, doesn't want to be immortal anymore. There are many better "unintended consequences" stories.

What You Need - Sidewalk salesman gets out of a situation with a bad man by giving him "what he needs" from his case. Didn't like the performances much.

The Four Of Us Are Dying - Guy develops the ability to look like other people. Runs into the wrong guy. Not much of a payoff for the story.

Third From The Sun - With nuclear war imminent, guys escape with their families to another planet - one very familiar to us. Transparent plot twist even for 1959, I would think.

I Shot An Arrow Into The Air - Three astronauts crash on a desert planet. You really have to stretch belief to think they wouldn't be detected.

The Purple Testament - A Lieutenant can forsee which of his men are going to get killed. It's just kind of a silly episode.

A World Of Difference - A man living his life comes to find that it's just an act and he's an actor. Kind of a mess of a story.

Long Live Walter Jameson - An immortal man is finally done in by one he's wronged in the past. Just...dull.

People Are Alike All Over - ANOTHER astronaut crashes, is saved/captured by human-like aliens, and is made to be an exhibit.

The Big Tall Wish - A washed-up boxer is given one more chance at succes by a kid who really believes in him. A maudlin episode.

The Chaser - A guy uses a love potion to make a woman fall for him. Just another "unintended consequences" episode.

A Passage For Trumpet - A young Jack Klugman plays a down-on-his-luck trumpet player that's saved by another player named...Gabriel. Isn't that clever?

Mr. Bevis - Goofy guy is made into a success by his guardian angel, but success isn't all it's cracked up to be. Be happy with what you have.

A World Of His Own - An author can create reality by speaking into his dictation machine. Drops one wife for another. Kinda sappy and creepy (not spooky) all at once.

Yuck

Perchance To Dream - A guys dream ends up killing him. Just a noisy, macabre mess.

The Fever - A boorish, goody-two-shoes ends up addicted to gambling. Another noisy, macabre mess.

The Mighty Casey - A robot pitcher doesn't have to be dopey.

 
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Season 2

Definitely
The Trouble With Templeton - An aging actor returns to the past he pines for and he finds it doesn't want him there. The past is gone, man. Live now.
Nick Of Time - Shatner! But more importantly, you determine your destiny...not some machine in a restaurant in a backwater town.
Night Of The Meek - A dime store Santa drinks to dull the pain of his surroundings, but when he's given a gift he turns everything around.

Back There - A very good time travel episode. Posits that while we may not be able to go back in time and change big events, perhaps we can affect the small ones?
The Invaders - The silent film performance of the lead actress is a bit over the top, but overall this story of "alien" invasion is one of the best TZ's ever.
The Odyssey Of Flight 33 - A passenger jet bound for New York encounters turbulence that doesn't throw it off course...it throws it off TIME.
A Hundred Years Over The Rim - A pioneer headed west strikes out to get help for his son, only to find himself 100 years in the future. Really good performances.

Shadow Play - A man sentenced to death tries to convince those around him that they're only a figment of his imagination - and if he goes, they go.
Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up - Two police officers follow tracks in the snow leading away from a downed spacecraft and towards a diner. At least one of the patrons doesn't belong.
The Obsolete Man - The totalitarian State liquidates people without purpose, such as librarians as books lead to thought. But the thinking man goes room 101 on the government man who condemned him.


Eye Of The Beholder - What is beauty? Apparently in some worlds it's looking like a pig.
 


Yes
The Man In The Bottle - One of the better examples of "careful what you wish for". I liked the performances here. They felt genuine.
Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room - A lightweight "heavy" in league with the mob finds the personality to break free.
A Most Unusual Camera - Two dimwits (later four) stumble on a camera that can predict the future and results are predictable yet entertaining.

The Whole Truth - A used car huckster loses his "talent" for selling. A funny little episode. But of all people...Nikita Krushchev?
Twenty Two - As she recuperates in the hospital, a lady has recurring nightmares of a nurse telling her there's "room for one more" in the morgue. Invitation or warning?

The Prime Mover - A loser gambler finds out his buddy (see what I did there?) can move objects with his mind and decides to make a quick buck. His friend saves him by rigging the game in his own way.
Long Distance Call - A doting (obsessed) grandmother remains connected to her grandson even in death. But it's the pleas of the father that save him. Another creepy episode.
The Rip Van Winkle Caper - Four gold thieves expect to wake up rich 100 years in the future. But technology and greed have their way with them.
The Silence - A curmudgeon bets a blowhard he can't shut up for an entire year...leading to a horrific ending for one of them. - Yes


 


Meh
King Nine Will Not Return - The captain of King Nine bomber dodges death but guilt gets him in the end. Pretty contrived plot.
A Thing About Machines - Pretty silly story of a luddite whose appliances attack him. Dumb except for him being chased by his car, which reminded me of "Christine".
Dust - A young man is about to pay the price for his mistake, but his father's belief in the magic dust sold to him by the town shyster leads to different results.
A Penny For Your Thoughts - A lucky coin toss makes a mid-level banker clarivoyant. And he proceeds to do nothing with it other than to get a date and blackmail his boss.
Static - Crotchety old guy listens to an old radio instead of watching TV and pines for the old days...and gets them. It would have been better if he was a melancholy old guy.
The Mind And The Matter - Given a "how to" book on mind power, he uses it to change the world to what he thinks is his liking. - Meh
 
Yuck
The Howling Man - A wanderer releases the devil from his monastery prison. Good thinking, guy.
The Lateness Of The Hour - Guy creates robots for servants...and a daughter. Mmmkay. Too much ranting and screaming.
Mr. Dingle, The Strong - Don Rickles smacks around Burgess Meredith...and then the two headed, robot Martian shows up to give him super strength. But the weird part doesn't happen until the Venusian kids with grown up voices show up.
 
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Season 3

Definitely

The Shelter - An apparent impending nuclear strike pits a man vs. his neighbors who want him to "share" his bomb shelter they just recently derided him for building.

It's a Good Life - A monster, in the form of a 6 year old boy, holds a small town hostage; dispensing them to the "cornfield" if they make him angry.
Death's Head Revisited - A Nazi returns to Dachau where he's confronted by those upon whom he visited so much misery and death.
The Midnight Sun - The earth's orbit has changed and it's getting hotter by the day. - Definitely

Five Characters In Search Of An Exit - Five very different persons, devoid of knowledge of their own backgrounds, are trapped in a featureless cone. One character is determined to get out.
To Serve Man - Beware Kanamits bearing gifts. IT'S A COOKBOOK!


The Trade-Ins - An elderly couple visits a business that offers replacement bodies for sale, but they only have enough money for one. 

The Dummy - A hollowed out ventriloquist battles his dummy who may or may not actually be alive. 


 
Yes
The Passerby - A melancholy episode shows that war has no winners and that, in the end, death comes for us all.
A Game Of Pool - A pool shark wants his chance at beating the best. Unfortunately The Best is long dead. But then fate sets up a game.
The Mirror - A revolutionary is newly installed at the head of the government and a magic mirror reveals to him the traitors in his midst. But then megalomaniacs don't need magic mirrors for that do they?
The Jungle - An executive involved in building a dam in tribal Africa seems plagued by a curse during his late walk home from the office
Once Upon A Time - A sour#### who hates the conditions in 1890 is transported to 1962 and meets a man who'd rather be from 1890. They both end up pining for their own time.

Nothing In The Dark - An old woman, terrified of death, saves a dying policeman on her doorstep. He, in kind, helps her overcome her fear.
One More Pallbearer - A wealthy man builds a bomb shelter and offers three people from his past - three that he believes wronged him - shelter from nuclear holocaust but only if they ask for forgiveness.
The Hunt - A man dies while on a coon hunt but doesn't realize it at first. Once he gets to the afterlife, his trusty hound helps him get to the right place.
Kick The Can - An old man tries to convince his friend that they can be young again if they would only PLAY.
The Changing Of The Guard - A professor is forced into retirement and decides to end it all. He's reminded of the impact he truly made. - Yes
The Fugitive - Using his powers of transformation, Ben, the elderly friend of young Jenny, tries to avoid apprehension by some mysterious men. - Yes

Little Girl Lost - A couple loses their daughter (and family dog) to a different dimension. They enlist their physicist friend to get her back. - Yes

Person or Persons Unknown - A man wakes up and finds that nobody knows who he is. And then things get worse. - Yes

The Little People - Two astronauts find a civilization of ant sized people and one lets his god complex run wild - to predictable results. - Yes


Young Man's Fancy - A newly married woman tries to pry her husband away from the memories of his domineering and doting mother. 
 
Meh
Two - Post apocalyptic survivors (Charles Bronson and Bewitched's Elizabeth Montgomery/Samantha) from opposite sides of the conflict that ended it all learn that there are no more sides to take.

The Arrival - A plane lands itself and the man charged with solving the mystery of "how" finds that his own past both clouds and perpetuates the mystery. The Grave - After the townsfolk gun down the outlaw, the man they hired to track him down is dared to visit his grave in the middle of the night.


A Quality Of Mercy - An overeager American Lieutenant changes his tune when forced to see the conflict through his enemy's eyes.
A Piano In The House - A boor buys a player piano for his trophy wife's birthday, one that gets people to speak the truth.
The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank - A young man rises from the casket at his own funeral, but displays out of character traits once up and about.
Cavender is Coming - Carol Burnett stars as an awkward woman helped out by an angel wanting to earn his wings. - Meh
Hocus Pocus and Frisbee - Habitual liar finds himself recruited based on the strength of his stories against his will by extraterrestrials. He defeats them in an unforseen manner. 

I Sing The Body Electric - A widower brings a robotic grandmother into the house to help raise his three kids. Will they accept her? - Meh

Yuck

Still Valley - A Confederate soldier happens on a witch with a black magic manual that can turn the tide of war by freezing the entire Union army.

Dead Man's Shoes - A bum puts on a murdered mobsters shoes and...becomes possessed by him.
Showdown With Rance McGrew - A milquetoast actor who portrays a strongman sheriff finds himself confronted with the real Jessie James who "suggests" changes to the script.
Little Girl Lost - A little girl gets...lost...in another dimension as her cries for help are voiced by a full grown woman speaking in falsetto.  
Four O'Clock - A mentally unstable man thinks he can identify all the evil people in the world and can punish them for their evil. - Yuck
The Gift - Horrifically stereotyped xenophobic Mexicans kill a visitor from outer space and burn the cure for cancer he'd offered them. 

Season 5[/size[

Definitely

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - A man who is recently recovered from a breakdown insists he sees a gremlin on the airplane's wing. 

Living Doll - The mean stepfather becomes the target of his stepdaughter's doll's disdain. 

Ring-A-Ding Girl - A celebrity returns to her small town roots and tries to get people to attend her event rather than the scheduled annual picnic. 

Number 12 Looks Just Like You - A girl comes of age and is supposed to pick out her new body, which everyone else does, but she refuses. 

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - A Confederate spy is about to be hanged when the rope breaks, allowing him to escape and return home.

The Jeopardy Room - A political refugee is forced into a game of cat-and-mouse with a rather artistic assassin.

Yes

In Praise Of Pip - As a young man lies dying in Vietnam, his ne'er-do-well father wills him back to life by pining for days gone by. 

Steel - A down on his luck manager of a robot boxer has to take his machine's place in the ring in order to get by financially. 

A Kind Of Stopwatch - A loudmouth is given a watch that stops time. It's not a great conversation piece. 

The Last Night of a Jockey - A down on his luck jockey wishes to be big. Be careful what you wish for (again). , but only because I liked Rooney's performance.

A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain - A gold digger is forced to care for her "older" husband after he receives a youth-giving serum. 

You Drive - A man is haunted by his car after killing a boy while driving.  (sort of)

From Agnes With Love - A computer programmer finds that the computer "Agnes" is female not just in name. 

Spur of the Moment  - An engaged woman is terrorized without a reasonable explanation by a woman on horseback.

Queen of the Nile - A reporter discovers the secret behind the apparent eternal youth of a film actress.

The Masks - At Mardi Gras, a wealthy dying man requires his daughter and her family – his would-be heirs – to wear masks that show their true selves.

I Am the Night – Color Me Black - A man is to be hanged at sunrise, but on the appointed day, the sun fails to rise.

Caesar and Me - A struggling ventriloquist's dummy talks him into a life of crime.

The Encounter - A samurai sword sparks a conflict between a World War II veteran and a Japanese-American.

The Brain Center at Whipple's - A factory owner decides to replace his human employees with machines.

Meh

The Long Morrow - A man falls in love with a woman before his long space flight and makes plans to be reunited with her upon return. 

Black Leather Jackets - Three strangers ride into town and are looked at disapprovingly by the townfolk. One of the strangers falls for Shelly Fabares. 

Night Call - An old woman is tormented by strange phone calls. Was a "yes" until the ending. 

What's in the Box - An unhappy couple's newly-repaired television set shows them hurting each other.

Stopover in a Quiet Town - A married couple wakes up after drinking at a party and find themselves in a strange town devoid of life – except for the distant laughter of a child.

Mr. Garrity and the Graves - A stranger brings a dog back from the dead and offers to do the same for those in the town cemetery, making the townsfolk uneasy.

Yuck

The Old Man In The Cave - Post apocalyptic survivors follow the advice of a cave dweller - until newcomers arrive. 

Uncle Simon - A gold digger can't escape her domineering uncle, even when he becomes a robot. 

Probe 7 Over and Out - "Adam" crash lands and finds another castaway named "Eve". Get it? , Yuck

90 Years Without Slumbering - A man believes his life will end when his grandfather clock stops ticking. 

The Self-Improvement Of Salvadore Ross - Just skip it. 

Come Wander with Me  (absolutely terrible) - A professional singer looks for an authentic song in the mountains, where he gets in trouble with the locals.

The Fear - A state trooper and a secluded woman experience strange incidents after the woman reports seeing lights in the sky.

The Bewitchin' Pool - Easily one of the worst 5 episodes, if not THE worst

Two children escape from their bickering parents to a special place by way of their swimming pool.

Sounds and Silences - A man's obsession with loud noises causes his wife to leave him; then all of the sounds in his life go haywire.
 
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Season 4

Yes

The 30 Fathom Grave - A crewman on a US Navy warship is beckoned to return to the shipwrecked site of his WWII submarine shipmates. 

He's Alive - A latter day Nazi wanna be (A young Dennis Hopper) gets help from a familiar historical figure.

In His Image - A man is confused by a murderous impulse and a loss of his memory

Death Ship - Three astronauts land on a planet only to find a copy of their ship - crash landed with their dead bodies inside.

Meh

Valley of the Shadow - A man stumbles on a technologically advanced small town that's loathe to have its secrets shared. 

Mute - A girl raised to be telepathic finds herself orphaned and in the care of a woman who fights to return her to normalcy. 

 
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Going to be doing this along with you AD --

LAST EDITED: 7/8/14

FINISHED: SEASON 1 (6/12/14); SEASON 2 (6/19/14); SEASON 3 (7/7/14)

CURRENTLY ON: SEASON 4 {# of Episode in Series}

Next to watch: VALLEY OF THE SHADOW (Season 4, Episode 3 {105})

5 STARS (True Classics, unforgettable episodes comparable to Andy's "DEFINITELY" Lists)

TIME ENOUGH AT LAST (Season 1, Episode 8) [6/7/14] - Serial bookworm tries to read every moment he can, which is difficult whilst working at his dead end job and under the oppression of his wife while at home. We wonder, what if he had all the time in the world to read without any distractions?

JUDGEMENT NIGHT (Season 1, Episode 10) [6/9/14] - A former naval officer aboard a commuter ship experiences a 'de ja vu' of sorts. "Dazed and confused", he has an unshakeable feeling that they are being followed, but by whom?

AND WHEN THE SKY WAS OPENED (Season 1, Episode 11) [6/9/14] - Three men returned from space on a successful mission, or did they? Who? What?

THE HITCH-HIKER (Season 1, Episode 16) - [6/10/14] Young woman on a road trip keeps encountering the same hitchhiker repeatedly as she makes her trek. Impossible? Or is she going his way?

ELEGY (Season 1, Episode 20) - A trio of earth space travelers are marooned on a wayward asteroid that is filled with humans devoid of life, frozen in time under the watch of a lone taker

MIRROR IMAGE (Season 1, Episode 21) [6/11/14] - Woman in bus station is convinced her mirror image is coming to take over her life

THE MONSTERS ARE DUE ON MAPLE STREET (Season 1 Episode 22) [6/11/14] - Surburban neighborhood turns neighbors on each other after a freak event cuts electricity of nearly every home/machine on the street

THE AFTER-HOURS (Season 1, Episode 34) [6/12/14] - A woman purchases an item at a department store on a floor which doesnt exist, and discovers who she really is after she is mistakenly locked in the department store after closing

THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER (Season 2, Episode 6, {42}) [6/14/14] - A recovering plastic surgery patient is yet again in a hospital, as she waits to see if the doctors have succeeded in making her appearance more conforming and socially acceptable to a world that she is desperate to look a part of

NICK OF TIME (Season 2, Episode 7, {43}) [6/14/14] - A young, happy couple stuck in a small town have lunch at a diner and encounter a cheap, napkin holder fortune teller machine that seems to know an awful lot about their lives and future.

A MOST UNUSUAL CAMERA (Season 2, Episode 10 {46}) [6/16/14] - A husband-wife petty thieving team come across a camera retrieved from another unsuccessful heist that can take pictures of future events moments before it actually happens

BACK THERE (Season 2, Episode 13 {49}) [6/16/14] - An affluent, young man discusses the prospect of time travel at a country club with fellow members and whether or not you can prevent tragedies from happening, discussions become reality whenever he walks out of the club to discover he's gone back in time hours before Lincoln's assassination

THE INVADERS (Season 2, Episode 15 {51}) [6/17/14]- An elderly woman who lives in a rustic cabin without any amenities is visited by unexpected alien intruders

THE ODYSSEY OF FLIGHT 33 (Season 2, Episode 18 {54}) [6/18/14] - A commercial airliner headed to NY from London breaks the sound barrier and travels through the vacuum of time in the process

LONG DISTANCE CALL (Season 2, Episode 22 {58}) [6/18/14] - A young boy receives a toy telephone from his dying grandmother, and after she passes he begins to have "pretend" conversations with her, or are they something much more real?

A HUNDRED YARDS OVER THE RIM (Season 2, Episode 23 {59}) [6/18/14] - A man desperately in search of water for his dying son goes over a sandy rim in the desert and finds himself 100 years into the future

THE RIP VAN WINKLE CAPER (Season 2, Episode 24 {60}) [6/18/14] - A scientist masterminds a plan to remain in suspended animation for 100 years after he and a group of thieves to conduct a heist of gold cargo straight from Fort Knox
THE SILENCE (Season 2, Episode 25 {61}) [6/18/14] - An annoyed old man proposes a bet to a talkative, brash young man that if he does not speak over the course of a year then he will receive $500,000, will there be any strings attached at the conclusion of the bet?

SHADOW PLAY (Season 2, Episode 26 {62}) [6/18/14] - A man convicted of murder tries to convince those about to execute him that the world all around them is just his recurring nightmare

WILL THE REAL MARTIAN PLEASE STAND UP? (Season 2, Episode 28 {64}) [6/19/14] - A pair of police officers come across an UFO and are marooned in a rural diner with a bus full of patrons, and they must identify who among them is not of this earth, but a space creature.

THE OBSOLETE MAN (Season 2, Episode 29 {65}) [6/19/14] - A librarian is deemed "obsolete" and is sentenced to death by the government in a society that books no longer exist, but is he the only obsolete man?

THE SHELTER (Season 3, Episode 3 {68}) [6/19/14] - A neighborhood is hosting a friendly birthday party for an affable (neighbor) doctor until the party is broken up by the threat of nuclear war, and the doctor is the only one with a shelter. Will he discover if they are friends of his after all?

THE MIRROR (Season 3, Episode 6 {71}) [6/23/14] - A South American revolutionary overthrows a dictatorship government and ousts its former leader, in the process, he discovers a magic mirror which displays his assassins before they appear

IT'S A GOOD LIFE (Season 3, Episode 8 {73}) [6/23/14] - A small 6 yr old boy with supernatural, God-like abilities can change the world to his own image, and in the process, terrorize the small community that remains in the world, as he sees fit

DEATHS-HEAD REVISITED (Season 3, Episode 9 {74}) [6/23/14] - Former Captain of the SS revisits the ruins of the Dachau concentration camp to relive the memories of his time as its commandant during World War II, only to find out that there are inmates still there, waiting for him

5 CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT (Season 3, Episode 14 {79}) [6/24/14] - 5 individuals: a clown, an army major, a hobo, a ballet dancer, and a bag piper, awake to find themselves secluded in a room with no recollection of who they are, as well as a variety of 'what', 'where', 'when', 'why' and 'how's' left to answer as they try to plot a daring escape

NOTHING IN THE DARK (Season 3, Episode 16 {81}) [6/26/14] - A paranoid and elderly woman, locked in her home, is desperately afraid of the outside world because is convinced "Mr. Death" is trying to find her and come in her home. She is forced into unlocking her door when an officer is shot outside of her home and was dying on her front doorstep.

A PIANO IN THE HOUSE (Season 3, Episode 22 {87}) - An theatre critic purchases a player piano from an antique shop for his wife's birthday and he discovers that it when he plays certain tunes on the piano, it can alter the moods of people around him and bring forth their inner most secrets

TO SERVE MAN (Season 3, Episode 24 {89}) [6/27/14] - An alien species visits earth promising to assist humans and help solve all of their problems. When they end all of the pain, suffering, hunger and war on Earth; and also offer the chance to visit the alien's home planet, many humans jump on the chance in order serve mankind favorably there. The only question: is something like this rare? or well done?

THE LITTLE PEOPLE (Season 3, Episode 28 {93}) [6/30/14] - A captain and his reporting officer crash land in the valley of a distant planet, when one of them discovers that there are microscopic inhabitants currently on the planet nearby the crash site. When the ship is repaired he elects stays behind, using force, as he has grandeur visions of becoming a tyrannical, self-made Messiah. How long will he rule them before he is usurped, and by whom?

THE DUMMY (Season 3, Episode 33 {98}) [7/7/14] - A talented-but-troubled ventriloquist with many demons is convinced that his puppet is coming to life when the dummy begins to tell jokes without his aide.

4 STARS (Really great, not quite a "CLASSIC", but above the run of the mill episode -- comparable to Andy's "YES" lists)

MR. DENTON ON DOOMSDAY (Season 1, Episode 3) [6/6/14] - Former Gunslinger/Town drunk in old western town meets Fate and turns his life around, until he has to prove himself again.

THE SIXTEEN-MILLIMETER SHRINE (Season 1, Episode 4) [6/7/14] - Former starlet finds herself longing to be a movie star again, lives vicariously through her films and wishes to go back to movie life instead of the rigors of aging

WALKING DISTANCE (Season 1, Episode 5) [6/7/14] - Successful business man stops at a gas station to get his car fixed, notices his hometown is a short jaunt away, goes back to see that nothing has changed since the day he left.

ESCAPE CLAUSE (Season 1, Episode 6) [6/7/14] - Hypochondriac makes a deal with the devil to live forever/be invincible, but at what costs?

WHAT YOU NEED (Season 1, Episode 12) [6/9/14] - An old peddler with the ability to peer into the future of his clients to satisfy their immediate needs meets his match in a dangerous man who has endless needs that turn into demands

THE LAST FLIGHT (Season 1, Episode 18) [6/10/14] - A WWI pilot somehow time travels and lands in a 1960s air base, was he sent there for a reason? Or does he have unfinished business?

THE PURPLE TESTAMENT (Season 1, Episode 19) [6/10/14] - A soldier is granted the ability to foresee death on the faces of future victims, is it a gift or a curse?

LONG LIVE WALTER JAMESON (Season 1, Episode 24) [6/11/14] - History professor seems to know everything there is to know about the Civil War and history itself, and is so enthralling its almost as though he lived during that time and is speaking from his own personal account

PEOPLE ARE ALIKE ALL OVER (Season 1, Episode 25) [6/11/14] - Scientist crash lands on Mars hoping to study the intelligent life that inhabit there, the question is, are the inhabitants more interested in him?

EXECUTION (Season 1, Episode 26) [6/11/14] - Criminal from late 1800s is sentenced to death when he is transported in time to present day NYC. Is he in hell, or is he on a quick detour?

A NICE PLACE TO VISIT (Season 1, Episode 28) [6/11/14] - A jewel thief gets killed during a failed heist and is sent to heaven? Aided by his guide, he soon realizes that having everything that he wants isnt quite what he yearned for and is becoming, in fact, torture.

A STOP AT WILLOUGHBY (Season 1, Episode 30) [6/12/14] - Salesman desperately tired of the rigors of his job/life finds solace in a dream while asleep on the train, longing for living in a simpler time in the fictitious town of Willoughby

THE MAN IN THE BOTTLE (Season 2, Episode 2, {38}) [6/14/14] - A man and wife running a struggling antique shop come across a magical bottle which could help solve all of their problems, or create new ones

THE HOWLING MAN (Season 2, Episode 5, {41}) [6/14/14] - A tourist seeks refuge and shelter from a huge storm in a monastery full of religious folk, upon exploring the bowels of the castle the tourist follows a howling type noise and finds a most curious captive

THE LATENESS OF THE HOUR (Season 2, Episode 8, {44}) [6/14/14] - A sensitive daughter of a creative genius, is distraught over her parents' reliance on her father's five seemingly perfect robot servants, complete with programmed memories and personalities.
TWENTY TWO (Season 2, Episode 17 {53}) [6/18/14] - A stripper professional dancer is hospitalized after being gravely fatigued and keeps having dreams of a recurring scenario where she is being admitted to a morgue

THE MIND AND THE MATTER (Season 2, Episode 27 {63}) [6/18/14] - A business man tired of being stuck in the rat race of life receives a gift from a clumsy colleague of a one-of-a-kind book that allows him to make the world around him as he wishes, so long as he imagines it. But is it everything he was imagined it would be, or does it get old quick?

TWO (Season 3, Episode 1 {66}) [6/19/14] - A man and a woman come across each other in a deserted, post-apocalyptic city and try to survive. The catch? They are on opposing sides of the war

THE PASSERSBY (Season 3, Episode 4 {69}) [6/21/14] - A civil war soldier stops by a house of a southern belle widow for a drink of water, along a road of which many wounded are traversing, and also one that both may soon be traveling

A GAME OF POOL (Season 3, Episode 5 {70}) [6/23/14] - A regular, lonely pool shark wishes he can challenge legendary billiard player to a game of pool to prove that he is the best. When the legend magically appears, the stakes of the game are for "Life or Death" and the beleaguered pool shark may have not known what was truly at stake

THE GRAVE (Season 3, Episode 7 {72}) [6/23/14] - A bounty hunter is challenged to visit the grave of an outlaw who died swearing vengeance against him

ONE MORE PALLBEARER (Season 3, Episode 17 {82}) [6/26/14] - An eccentric tycoon invites 3 individuals, a priest, a school teacher and a former army sergeant, each of whom has humiliated him in the past, into his bomb shelter in a illustrious rouse of imminent world destruction in order to try and force them to make an apology that he desperately yearns for, what happens when the rouse isnt what its planned to be at all?

FOUR O'CLOCK (Season 3, Episode 29 {94}) [6/30/14] - A madman obsessively observes and maintains records of people he believes to be "evil" or harmful to society via round-the-clock phone calls, letters or anything else in his power to defame and harass those people demanding their immediate firing, and at 4:00PM his grand plan will go into motion against those people. What he doesnt realize is that when you point at someone, you have 3 fingers pointing back at you

THE TRADE-INS (Season 3, Episode 31 {96}) [7/6/14] - An elderly couple, realize they haven't much longer to live, so they decide to visit a medical center specializing in a new technology: body swapping

THE THIRTY-FATHOM GRAVE (Season 4, Episode 2 {104}) [7/8/14] - A U.S. Navy destroyer is on a routine patrol when sonar picks up the sound of metallic clanging beneath the waves from a sunken submarine; while it intrigues most of the crew, it drives one Captain particularly mad, and he begins fallen sailors from that sub and is becoming drawn to the wreckage. Are they coming to get him, is he supposed to be there too??

3 STARS (Average episode, Not great but not Bad - run of the mill -- Not a "YES" by Andy's Standards, but not a "MEH")

WHERE IS EVERYBODY? (Season 1, Episode 1) [6/5/14] - A man wakes up with no knowledge of who he is feels like he is being watched in an abandoned ghost town

ONE FOR THE ANGELS (Season 1, Episode 2) [6/5/14] - A true "feel-good" story of a street salesman whose time has come up, not before he gives the pitch of his life for someone elses,

PERCHANCE TO DREAM (Season 1, Episode 9) [6/9/14] - A panicked man enters a therapists office, insistent that he is going to die by a vixen if and when he falls asleep, can he stay awake?

THE FOUR OF US ARE DYING (Season 1, Episode 13) [6/9/14] - A man who can change identities seamlessly gets lost within himself and runs out of a bad situation and walks right into one he never saw coming

THIRD FROM THE SUN (Season 1, Episode 14) [6/9/14]- A pilot and a scientist plan to take their families and escape to a new planet via space ship due to hysteria their world is soon coming to an end

THE FEVER (Season 1, Episode 17) [6/10/14] - A penny pinching, grumpy old man and his wife win a trip to Vegas, and the old man catches a fever, and the only prescription is more coins!

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE (Season 1, Episode 23) [6/11/14] - Man shows up at work as normal to find out he's actually an actor on a movie set. He finds out that the life he's been living has been a movie all along

NIGHTMARE AS A CHILD (Season 1, Episode 29) [6/12/14] - A woman's subconscious in the form of herself as a child to help solve the mystery of her mother's death, and prevents her from having the same fate

THE CHASER (Season 1, Episode 31) [6/12/14] - A young man is desperately in love with a woman who does not feel the same way, desperate enough to make a deal he will soon regret

A WORLD OF HIS OWN (Season 1, Episode 36) [6/12/14] - A playwright has the uncanny ability to create characters/living beings that come alive by simply speaking into his dictation machine, how many people in his life has he created?

NERVOUS MAN IN A FOUR-DOLLAR ROOM (Season 2, Episode 3, {39}) [6/14/14] - An unsuccessful, insecure conman is given an ultimatum by his boss to kill an old man or be killed himself, before his deadline he looks in the mirror and sees a side to himself that he hasnt seen in quite a long time.

THE TROUBLE WITH TEMPLETON (Season 2, Episode 9, {45}) [6/14/14] - An aging broadway actor reluctant about doing another show gains self confidence by traveling in the past where he finds himself in a play with many characters of his past relationships, including his late wife

THE NIGHT OF THE MEEK (Season 2, Episode 11 {47}) [6/16/14] - A drunk department store Santa gets fired from his job, stumbles across a magical burlap bag of trash-turned-gifts and becomes the actual Kris Kringle to give gifts to those in need.

DUST (Season 2, Episode 12 {48}) [6/16/14] - The father of a man condemned to death makes a deal with a sleazy peddler to purchase "magic" dust that'll help save his son from being hanged

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS (Season 2, Episode 16 {52}) [6/18/14] - A man is granted the ability to hear people's thoughts by landing a penny on its edge, and he is sure surprised by the thoughts people think!

THE PRIME MOVER (Season 2, Episode 21 {57}) [6/18/14] - A small-time gambler discovers that his partner has telekinetic powers and plans to exploit them in Las Vegas to become very wealthy

THE MIDNIGHT SUN (Season 3, Episode 10 {75}) [6/23/14] - The earth's orbit has been altered and is coming perilously closer to the sun, an artist and her neighbor are the only inhabitants in their apartment complex, everyone else has either moved north where it is cooler or perished from the extremely high temperatures, or so it seems.

ONCE UPON A TIME (Season 3, Episode 13 {78}) [6/24/14] - Set in the 1890's, a clumsy, old janitor discovers time travel via a time helmet of the scientist of which he maintains. He fast forwards himself to 1960 and upon arrival, damages the helmet, and needs to get it fixed with the aide of an 1890's historian.

A QUALITY OF MERCY (Season 3, Episode 15 {80}) [6/26/14] - A young gung-ho American in World War II orders his war-weary soldiers to make a near-suicidal attack on a group of sick and wounded Japanese soldiers holed up in a cave, however when he is given the opposition's perspective 3 years earlier in the war he has second thoughts

DEAD MAN'S SHOES (Season 3, Episode 18 {83}) [6/26/14] - A homeless man comes across a dead mobster in an alley with decorative shoes, and decides he wants them. When he puts them on, he begins to act differently, kind of like the gent who wore them last. And he's pissed!

THE HUNT (Season 3, Episode 19 {84}) [6/27/14] - An old man and his faithful pup go on a late night coon hunt, and find out that they're both have died. But do all dogs go to heaven? Or do they go to a different one?

KICK THE CAN (Season 3, Episode 21 {86}) [6/27/14] - An elderly man, marooned in a retirement home, discovers the fountain of youth in the form of a children's game

THE LAST RITES OF JEFF MYRTLEBANK (Season 3, Episode 23 {88}) - A dead man wakes up at his own funeral after being declared dead for 3 days, and he even though he looks the same, he doesn't seem quite like the man who was first put into that coffin.

THE FUGITIVE (Season 3, Episode 25 {90}) [6/29/14] - A magical shapeshifting man, on the run from another land, befriends a handicapped little girl of his apartment complex; when he finds out that two men from his homeland are tracking him down he has to be on the move yet again

LITTLE GIRL LOST (Season 3, Episode 26 {91}) [6/29/14] - A little girl gets trapped into an alternate dimension when she accidentally falls out of bed and into a portal to the other world; her parents and their friend attempt to locate and retrieve her.

PERSON OR PERSONS UNKNOWN (Season 3, Episode 27 {92}) [6/30/14] - A man wakes up from a nasty hangover and quickly finds out no one, including his wife, remembers who he is, and all evidence of his identity has disappeared. The question is, does he know he even know himself?

HOCUS POCUS AND FRISBY (Season 3, Episode 30 {95}) [7/5/14] - An old man, full of tall tales and the biggest pathological liar of "been-there-done-that" 's there is, finds himself aboard an alien exploration vessel, as they seek the most knowledgeable human, and they believe his lies! But is Frisby telling the truth, or has he cried wolf too many times?

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD (Season 3, Episode 37 {102}) [7/7/14] - A very tenured professor is forced into retirement, and because he feels he has accomplished nothing in his career, he ultimately contemplates taking his own life until he is mysteriously visited by some of his former students that make him realize the impact he has made over the years.

IN HIS IMAGE (Season 4, Episode 1 {103}) [7/8/14] - A seemingly normal man, takes his girlfriend to his hometown to visit family and discovers he remembers almost nothing about his supposed hometown, all the while experiencing headaches that induce him to commit heinous acts of violence

2 STARS (Below Average episode, not captivating or interesting -- comparable to Andy's "MEH" lists)

THE LONELY (Season 1, Episode 7) [6/7/14] - Man sentenced to solitary imprisonment on a wayward asteroid gets an unexpected companion

I SHOT AN ARROW INTO THE SKY (Season 1, Episode 15) [6/10/14] - Flight crew on the maiden voyage of a brand new experimental spaceship land in an all-too-familiar asteroid type planet, the survivors of the crew search for a way to stay alive; and for one, at any and all costs
A PASSAGE FOR TRUMPET (Season 1, Episode 32) [6/12/14] - A drunk musician tired of life has to step in front of a truck to realize that he doesn't really want to die yet

KING NINE WILL NOT RETURN (Season 2, Episode 1, {37}) [6/13/14] - A pilot finds himself stranded, alone except for the wreckage and the mystery of what happened to his crew, all of whom have disappeared

A THING ABOUT MACHINES (Season 2, Episode 4, {40}) [6/14/14] - A pretentious and sophisticated man has great disdain for machines of all kinds and treats them poorly, and as a result they no longer want him around

THE WHOLE TRUTH (Season 2, Episode 14 {50}) [6/17/14] - A sleazy used car salesman buys a haunted car from an old man that forces curses him to tell the truth

MR. DINGLE, THE STRONG (Season 2, Episode 19 {55}) [6/18/14] - A perennial whimp gets infused with the strength of 300 men by conjoined martian twin scientists

THE ARRIVAL (Season 3, Episode 2 {67}) [6/19/14] - Three men investigate a plane that arrives without a single person onboard – and each sees it differently

THE JUNGLE (Season 3, Episode 12 {77}) - [6/24/14] A contractor, recently returned from Africa, is part of a team constructing a dam which in the process will displace its residents. In retaliation, local witch doctors have threatened to use "black magic" against anyone associated with the project

YOUNG MAN'S FANCY (Season 3, Episode 34 {99}) [7/7/14] - A newlywed couple stop by the groom's recently deceased mother's home in order to prepare it to be sold before leaving for a honeymoon, but when the groom begins to reminisce of memories in the house, those memories appear to be coming to life including the mother-in-law,much to the dismay of his wife, who wishes to have the groom all to herself

1 STAR (Terrible episode, little or no redeeming qualities to the episode, comparable to Andy's "YUCK" lists)

THE BIG TALL WISH (Season 1, Episode 27) [6/11/14] - A rundown boxer befriends a little boy who makes a big wish that he wins a fight by what seems like some sort of miracle

MR. BEVIS (Season 1, Episode 33) [6/12/14] - A zany, unsuccessful, but wildly popular man has a guardian angel help turn around his life and make him quite successful, but he must sacrifice his personality in order to do so

THE MIGHTY CASEY (Season 1, Episode 35) [6/12/14] - A manager desperate to field a winning signs a robot pitcher who throws an unhittable fastball, but when the robot starts to feel human emotion from an artificial heart it refuses to strike out any opposing players for fear of hurting their feelings

STATIC (Season 2, Episode 20 {56}) [6/18/14] - A grumpy old man, sick and tired of television, hauls his old radio console out from the basement and begins listening to a radio station that hasnt been around in quite some time

STILL VALLEY (Season 3, Episode 11 {76} [6/23/14] - A confederate soldier attempts to spy on a union roaming party that has taken residence in a small town in the Virginia valley, upon his arrival, he notices the soldiers appear to be frozen in place under some sort of trance by an old man in town who practices witchcraft

SHOWDOWN WITH RANCE MCGREW (Season 3, Episode 20 {85}) [6/27/14] - A phony, television cowboy finds himself pitted against the real, actual Jesse James, and he and the other cowboys are upset that actors nowadays are not portraying historical cowboys good enough

THE GIFT (Season 3, Episode 32 {97}) [7/6/14] - A humanoid alien has just crash-landed outside a mountain village just across the Texas-Mexico border. He has killed a police officer and was wounded by another. Does he truly come in peace, or does he have an ulterior motive?

I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC (Season 3, Episode 35 {100}) [7/7/14] - A family, tired of mean old nannys, makes the perfect robot "grandma" and not everyone is happy about it

CAVENDER IS COMING (Season 3, Episode 36 {101}) [7/7/14] - A goofy, down-on-her-luck woman has a myriad of problems, she's unemployed, behind on her rent and other little things, so she gets help from Cavender, her guardian angel, who has been tasked to make this woman happier in twenty-four hours to earn his wings, but what if the Angel has problems of his own that he must conquer!

 
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Would have Nick of Time in "Definitely" category, but can understand "Yes"

Where are you at? Are you going chronologically?

 
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Rankings are from Best to Worst Episode of the Season.

OVERALL RANKINGS (A cumulative ranking of EVERY episode)

1. (COMING SOON!)

SEASON 1

1 TIME ENOUGH AT LAST
2 THE AFTER-HOURS
3 THE MONSTERS ARE DUE ON MAPLE STREET

4 THE HITCH-HIKER
5 JUDGEMENT NIGHT
6 ELEGY
7 MIRROR IMAGE
8 AND WHEN THE SKY WAS OPENED
9 EXECUTION
10 WALKING DISTANCE
11 WHAT YOU NEED
12 ESCAPE CLAUSE
13 PEOPLE ARE ALIKE ALL OVER
14 THE LAST FLIGHT
15 LONG LIVE WALTER JAMESON
16 THE PURPLE TESTAMENT
17 A STOP AT WILLOUGHBY
18 A NICE PLACE TO VISIT
19 MR. DENTON ON DOOMSDAY
20 THE SIXTEEN-MILLIMETER SHRINE
21 PERCHANCE TO DREAM
22 WHERE IS EVERYBODY?
23 THE FOUR OF US ARE DYING
24 NIGHTMARE AS A CHILD
25 THE CHASER
26 A WORLD OF HIS OWN
27 A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
28 THIRD FROM THE SUN
29 THE FEVER
30 ONE FOR THE ANGELS
31 THE LONELY
32 I SHOT AN ARROW INTO THE SKY
33 A PASSAGE FOR TRUMPET
34 MR. BEVIS
35 THE MIGHTY CASEY
36 THE BIG TALL WISH

SEASON 2

1 THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
2 THE OBSOLETE MAN
3 THE INVADERS
4 THE RIP VAN WINKLE CAPER
5 THE ODYSSEY OF FLIGHT 33
6 NICK OF TIME
7 WILL THE REAL MARTIAN PLEASE STAND UP?
8 THE SILENCE
9 SHADOW PLAY
10 A HUNDRED YARDS OVER THE RIM
11 BACK THERE
12 A MOST UNUSUAL CAMERA
13 LONG DISTANCE CALL
14 THE MAN IN THE BOTTLE
15 THE LATENESS OF THE HOUR
16 TWENTY TWO
17 THE MIND AND THE MATTER
18 THE HOWLING MAN
19 NERVOUS MAN IN A FOUR-DOLLAR ROOM
20 THE PRIME MOVER
21 THE NIGHT OF THE MEEK
22 DUST
23 A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
24 THE TROUBLE WITH TEMPLETON
25 KING NINE WILL NOT RETURN
26 THE WHOLE TRUTH
27 A THING ABOUT MACHINES
28 MR. DINGLE, THE STRONG
29 STATIC

SEASON 3

1 TO SERVE MAN
2 IT'S A GOOD LIFE
3 THE DUMMY
4 DEATHS-HEAD REVISITED
5 5 CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT
6 THE LITTLE PEOPLE
7 A PIANO IN THE HOUSE
8 THE MIRROR
9 NOTHING IN THE DARK
10 THE SHELTER
11 ONE MORE PALLBEARER
12 THE GRAVE
13 A GAME OF POOL
14 THE PASSERSBY
15 THE LAST RITES OF JEFF MYRTLEBANK
16 FOUR O'CLOCK
17 TWO
18 THE TRADE-INS
19 DEAD MAN'S SHOES
20 THE MIDNIGHT SUN
21 ONCE UPON A TIME
22 A QUALITY OF MERCY
23 LITTLE GIRL LOST
24 PERSON OR PERSONS UNKNOWN
25 HOCUS POCUS AND FRISBY
26 KICK THE CAN
27 THE HUNT
28 THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD
29 THE FUGITIVE
30 THE JUNGLE
31 YOUNG MAN'S FANCY
32 THE ARRIVAL
33 STILL VALLEY
34 THE GIFT
35 I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC
36 SHOWDOWN WITH RANCE MCGREW
37 CAVENDER IS COMING

SEASON 4 [in Progress, Next to watch: VALLEY OF THE SHADOW (Season 4, Episode 3 {105})]

1. THE THIRTY-FATHOM GRAVE

2. IN HIS IMAGE

 
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The Howling Man is awesome. Totally missed the mark on that one.
What could you possibly consider awesome about that episode?
Where to start? The creepy atmosphere, great set design, distorted and tilted camera shots, and the special effects where the devil is walking down the hallway and slowly changes form. The episode is very creepy and scared the crap out of me as a kid. It's also on many top 10 lists so you're very much in the minority by classifying it as "Yuck".

 
:blackdot:

Twilight Zone was on the Sci-Fi channel for like 12 hours a day when I was a kid, but it seems like it was always the same four or five episodes over and over.

 
would be a pretty good episode if in Andy's world there were only 4 seasons.

What happens when someone steps into a world where there are only four seasons of a five season show. Step into Andy's world. Step into the Twilight Zone.

 
Where are you at? Are you going chronologically?
Yes, I'm going at them in order. Next up is "A Most Unusual Camera".

The Howling Man is awesome. Totally missed the mark on that one.
What could you possibly consider awesome about that episode?
Where to start? The creepy atmosphere, great set design, distorted and tilted camera shots, and the special effects where the devil is walking down the hallway and slowly changes form. The episode is very creepy and scared the crap out of me as a kid. It's also on many top 10 lists so you're very much in the minority by classifying it as "Yuck".
The bolded part was pretty good. And I can admit that the atmospherics are well done. But the characters are silly. I think they channeled Heston's Moses a bit too much.

Good work so far, but what about Season 5 :confused:
:doh: One two few mouse clicks.

 
The Mighty Casey - A robot pitcher doesn't have to be dopey.
Most of Serling's attempts at humor in the Twilight Zone weren't too successful.

This particular episode has a disturbing history:

According to The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic by Martin Grams, the entire production was originally filmed with Paul Douglas in the manager role. (Douglas previously played a baseball team manager in the 1951 film, Angels in the Outfield.) On Friday, September 11, 1959, the day after the episode finished shooting, Douglas died. Douglas had been, unbeknownst to anyone, suffering from an incipient coronary during the production; his performance was adversely affected, as on film, Douglas appeared mottled and out-of-breath.

Writer and executive producer Rod Serling felt that the circumstances of Douglas' death (he was quite literally dying on camera) cast a pall over what was supposed to be a light-hearted comedic episode, and decided that a re-shoot was necessary. CBS refused to finance any re-shooting, so consequently, virtually the entire production was refilmed at the expense of Rod Serling's Cayuga Productions with Jack Warden in the team manager's role. The other roles were not recast, and as much footage from the original filming was used as possible, including (in the episode's final shot) a scene in which Douglas is seen in the distance, with his back to the camera, as the manager. Original director Alvin Ganzer was not available for the re-shoot, so Robert Parrish was brought to complete shooting; both are credited as directors on the finished episode.
There is actually more to the story about Paul Douglas. Apparently Douglas had a history with alcohol and was down on his luck. Serling offered Douglas the job but only after he got assurances from Douglas' agent that he had stopped drinking.

During the filming of the episode it was clear that Douglas was struggling and the directors assumed it was due to drinking. When Serling was told he called the agent and was extremely upset because he thought the agent had lied to him. That following weekend Douglas died and the true reason for his poor performance was discovered.

Considering the circumstances it is easy to see why the humor that was intended just didn't work.

 
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Some really good viewing in Season 1. I think you did a pretty good job in assigning ratings.

My favorites were: Willoughby, One for the Angels (a real tear-jerker) and Time enough at last (loved the solo acting job).

 
:blackdot:

Twilight Zone was on the Sci-Fi channel for like 12 hours a day when I was a kid, but it seems like it was always the same four or five episodes over and over.
The Sci-Fi channel's broadcasts of The Twilight Zone are edited and some rather poorly. Watch them on Netflix or DVD if you can.

 
:blackdot:

Twilight Zone was on the Sci-Fi channel for like 12 hours a day when I was a kid, but it seems like it was always the same four or five episodes over and over.
They been mixing them up a lot of late. I currently have the DVR set for each one, and I'm up to about 65 different episodes recorded.

 
How come Season 4 has so many fewer episodes?
Because TWZ was picked up too late by CBS for them to shoot a whole season. It is also the only season that has hour long episodes which Rod Serling did not think was suitable for single episodes of this type of show..

 
I'm sure we all have our favorites, but I am amazed that no one has yet mentioned these excellent episodes: "Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" (only episode to have not been written or directed or even produced by Rod Serling or Buck Houghton) "Five Character's In Search of an Exit" (starring a very young Rod Taylor) "The Encounter"(only episode which when it aired in the US, was summarily banned from syndication due to it's racial overtones. Starring Neville Brand and a young Japanese actor who would later become famous on Star Trek, George Takai) And my most favorite episode of all, "Death's Head Revisited". The nightmarish episode of a Nazi commandant returning to Dachau prison years after his rule had ended to gloat over the cells and rooms where he tortured Jews to death. Only to find that all the prisoners had not left. Written by Sterling and directed by Don Medford, it is by far the most moving episode I have ever seen.

The episode ends with Serling's closing monologue: "There is an answer to the doctor's question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth

 
Three more last night:

A Most Unusual Camera - Two dimwits (later four) stumble on a camera that can predict the future and results are predictable yet entertaining. - Yes
Night Of The Meek - A dime store Santa drinks to dull the pain of his surroundings, but when he's given a gift he turns everything around. - Definitely
Dust - A young man is about to pay the price for his mistake, but his father's belief in the magic dust sold to him by the town shyster leads to different results. - Meh
 
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I'm sure we all have our favorites, but I am amazed that no one has yet mentioned these excellent episodes: "Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" (only episode to have not been written or directed or even produced by Rod Serling or Buck Houghton) "Five Character's In Search of an Exit" (starring a very young Rod Taylor) "The Encounter"(only episode which when it aired in the US, was summarily banned from syndication due to it's racial overtones. Starring Neville Brand and a young Japanese actor who would later become famous on Star Trek, George Takai) And my most favorite episode of all, "Death's Head Revisited". The nightmarish episode of a Nazi commandant returning to Dachau prison years after his rule had ended to gloat over the cells and rooms where he tortured Jews to death. Only to find that all the prisoners had not left. Written by Sterling and directed by Don Medford, it is by far the most moving episode I have ever seen.

The episode ends with Serling's closing monologue: "There is an answer to the doctor's question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth
I watched this today (had not seen it before), and it seemed a bit heavy-handed to me. As the descendant of people actually killed by the Germans in the camps, one would think it would have a greater impact than it did, but it just seemed kind of hammy.

 
YES...The Last Flight - Another interesting time loop story where a WWI pilot, a coward, has a chance at redemption.
Nice job overall in S1.

Here's one i have in my Definite bucket.

 
Three more last night:

A Most Unusual Camera - Two dimwits (later four) stumble on a camera that can predict the future and results are predictable yet entertaining. - Yes
Night Of The Meek - A dime store Santa drinks to dull the pain of his surroundings, but when he's given a gift he turns everything around. - Definitely
Dust - A young man is about to pay the price for his mistake, but his father's belief in the magic dust sold to him by the town shyster leads to different results. - Meh
Most unusual camera was a Definitely for me

Night of the Meek was a definitely as well

Dust was a YUCK for me.

(not watching these w/ you yet but going off memory)

 
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I'm sure we all have our favorites, but I am amazed that no one has yet mentioned these excellent episodes: "Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" (only episode to have not been written or directed or even produced by Rod Serling or Buck Houghton) "Five Character's In Search of an Exit" (starring a very young Rod Taylor) "The Encounter"(only episode which when it aired in the US, was summarily banned from syndication due to it's racial overtones. Starring Neville Brand and a young Japanese actor who would later become famous on Star Trek, George Takai) And my most favorite episode of all, "Death's Head Revisited". The nightmarish episode of a Nazi commandant returning to Dachau prison years after his rule had ended to gloat over the cells and rooms where he tortured Jews to death. Only to find that all the prisoners had not left. Written by Sterling and directed by Don Medford, it is by far the most moving episode I have ever seen.

The episode ends with Serling's closing monologue: "There is an answer to the doctor's question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth
5 Characters and Occurence at Owl Creek are quite excellent.

Not sure I remember Death's Head... might want to check that out.

Also, I'll add - "To Serve Man" is one of my all-time favs.

 
"Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" (only episode to have not been written or directed or even produced by Rod Serling or Buck Houghton)
IIRC, Owl Creek Bridge was a foreign-made short film that Serling bought the TV rights to after it had been made and aired it as a TZ episode.

 
Three more last night:

A Most Unusual Camera - Two dimwits (later four) stumble on a camera that can predict the future and results are predictable yet entertaining. - Yes
Night Of The Meek - A dime store Santa drinks to dull the pain of his surroundings, but when he's given a gift he turns everything around. - Definitely
Dust - A young man is about to pay the price for his mistake, but his father's belief in the magic dust sold to him by the town shyster leads to different results. - Meh
Most unusual camera was a Definitely for me

Night of the Meek was a definitely as well

Dust was a YUCK for me.

(not watching these w/ you yet but going off memory)
Dust is precariously close to the Yuck category.

 
TZ is my all time favorite TV show.

I have the first 4 seasons on blu ray and they did a great job restoring them to high qiuality black&white. They also have commentary on many of the episodes.

Andy - I generally agree with your ratings.

My all time favorites are: The Masks, A Stop At Willoughby, The Fever (I think it's funny as hell), Night Of The Meek (sentimental), The Self Improvement of Salvadore Ross, Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (Shatner was awesome in it), Nervous Man In a 4 Dollar Room, The Invaders, and Eye Of The Beholder, which gets my pick as the greatest TV episode ever.

 
Some favs...

Eye of the Beholder-

the most famous episode of the entire series and for good reason.

A Most Unusual Camera-

kinda hooky but love the ending.

Night of the Meek-

great work by Art Carney in this Christmas episode, Twilight Zone style.

Nick of Time-

this and 20,000 feet were penned by Richard Matheson. Taut little ditty about a couple who go to a diner but begin to use a table side fortune telling machine.

A Hundred Yards Over the Rim-

Cliff Robertson carries this episode as a leader of a small wagon group in the mid-1800's. He goes over the hill in search of medicine for his sick son, only to mind out, he is no longer in the mid-1800's.

The Obsolete Man-

Burgess Meredith stars in this one. A tale of dictatorship and State. Still as relevant today as when it aired in 1961.

Five Characters in Search of An Exit-

love everything about this episode. The story is about five characters trapped in a metal cylinder, trying to escape.

The Thirty Fathom Grave-

One of the hour-long episodes...about a naval ship, and one of its occupants hears a persistent metal hammering sound. The person finds the answer but its not as expected.

To Serve Man-

Kinda hard to explain this without giving it away...its about aliens and a cookbook.

Nightmare at 20,000 feet-

Time tale about the fear of flying.

The Masks-

Four people are required to wear masks that are the opposite of their personality as part of will requirement. Only to find out the masks do not come off so easy.

 
I'm sure we all have our favorites, but I am amazed that no one has yet mentioned these excellent episodes: "Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" (only episode to have not been written or directed or even produced by Rod Serling or Buck Houghton) "Five Character's In Search of an Exit" (starring a very young Rod Taylor) "The Encounter"(only episode which when it aired in the US, was summarily banned from syndication due to it's racial overtones. Starring Neville Brand and a young Japanese actor who would later become famous on Star Trek, George Takai) And my most favorite episode of all, "Death's Head Revisited". The nightmarish episode of a Nazi commandant returning to Dachau prison years after his rule had ended to gloat over the cells and rooms where he tortured Jews to death. Only to find that all the prisoners had not left. Written by Sterling and directed by Don Medford, it is by far the most moving episode I have ever seen.

The episode ends with Serling's closing monologue: "There is an answer to the doctor's question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth
5 Characters and Occurence at Owl Creek are quite excellent.

Not sure I remember Death's Head... might want to check that out.

Also, I'll add - "To Serve Man" is one of my all-time favs.
You've seen Death's Head. It is about a SS agent that returns to the concentration camp he ran during WWII and encounters the ghosts of the prisoners he killed.

 
Worst episode - The Bewitching Pool - The one where the two kids travel from their swimming pool to a fantasy land to escape their fighting parents.

Why is this so bad? They had to redub the little girl's lines and instead of getting the original actress, they used the actress who voiced Rocky from Rocky and Bullwinkle. The girl ends up sounding exactly like Rocky and it's hilariously awful.

 
Andy, I decided I am going on this journey with you -- I updated my post at #5 and will keep add my thoughts as I go through like it were my personal journal -- I will wait until I rewatch an episode to pass judgement.

 
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I'm sure we all have our favorites, but I am amazed that no one has yet mentioned these excellent episodes: "Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" (only episode to have not been written or directed or even produced by Rod Serling or Buck Houghton) "Five Character's In Search of an Exit" (starring a very young Rod Taylor) "The Encounter"(only episode which when it aired in the US, was summarily banned from syndication due to it's racial overtones. Starring Neville Brand and a young Japanese actor who would later become famous on Star Trek, George Takai) And my most favorite episode of all, "Death's Head Revisited". The nightmarish episode of a Nazi commandant returning to Dachau prison years after his rule had ended to gloat over the cells and rooms where he tortured Jews to death. Only to find that all the prisoners had not left. Written by Sterling and directed by Don Medford, it is by far the most moving episode I have ever seen.

The episode ends with Serling's closing monologue: "There is an answer to the doctor's question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth
5 Characters and Occurence at Owl Creek are quite excellent.

Not sure I remember Death's Head... might want to check that out.

Also, I'll add - "To Serve Man" is one of my all-time favs.
You've seen Death's Head. It is about a SS agent that returns to the concentration camp he ran during WWII and encounters the ghosts of the prisoners he killed.
I'm sure we've seen it -- it's been so long that I am just going to re-do the entire series

 
Two good ones last night:

Back There - A very good time travel episode. Posits that while we may not be able to go back in time and change big events, perhaps we can affect the small ones? - Definitely

As a side note on this one - the music is really well done, which should be no surprise considering that it was Jerry Goldsmith. But even more interestingly is that the music that plays when Corrigan first stumbles away from the men's club is CLEARLY where James Horner stole the theme for Khan in Star Trek II. Now, Horner always plagiarized himself, but I never knew he took from other people - which is made even stranger by the fact that Horner succeeded Goldsmith in scoring the Star Trek movies. There are other motifs in this episode that are also recognizable.

The Whole Truth - A used car huckster loses his "talent" for selling. A funny little episode. But of all people...Nikita Krushchev? - Yes

The Invaders - The silent film performance of the lead actress is a bit over the top, but overall this story of "alien" invasion is one of the best TZ's ever - Definitely

 
Two good ones last night:

Back There - A very good time travel episode. Posits that while we may not be able to go back in time and change big events, perhaps we can affect the small ones? - Definitely

As a side note on this one - the music is really well done, which should be no surprise considering that it was Jerry Goldsmith. But even more interestingly is that the music that plays when Corrigan first stumbles away from the men's club is CLEARLY where James Horner stole the theme for Khan in Star Trek II. Now, Horner always plagiarized himself, but I never knew he took from other people - which is made even stranger by the fact that Horner succeeded Goldsmith in scoring the Star Trek movies. There are other motifs in this episode that are also recognizable.

The Whole Truth - A used car huckster loses his "talent" for selling. A funny little episode. But of all people...Nikita Krushchev? - Yes

The Invaders - The silent film performance of the lead actress is a bit over the top, but overall this story of "alien" invasion is one of the best TZ's ever - Definitely
That's Agnes Moorehead, she played Endora, Samantha's mother , on Bewitched.

Richard Matheson wrote the story and thought Moorehead was great but was unhappy with the robotic spaceman they used to portray the astronauts.

 

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