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Post by badwolf on Jan 6, 2015 13:54:43 GMT -5
Wow, "Uncle Simon" does sound really annoying.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 8, 2015 13:25:17 GMT -5
What was the Twilight Zones' competition?
TZ debuted on CBS in the fall of 1959 on Fridays at 9:30. It was up against the 2nd half hour of the immensely popular 77 Sunset Strip as well as M Squad with Lee Marvin. It came in at 2nd place for its time slot and the following year moved to 10PM to avoid 77 Sunset Strip
The next 2 years it had no memorable competition. 1960 it went head-to-head-to head with Michael Shayne and The Detectives with Robert Taylor. 1961 it won the battle against Target: The Corruptors and The Bell Telephone Hour/ Dinah Shore Show. Both years it was the timeslot champ. No wonder CBS okayed Twilight Zone to expand to one hour for the 1962 season.
However TZ did not resume until January 1963. Possibly the decision to go to one hour was a last minute change and caused the delay. It was also moved to Thursday evening at 9PM. This caused it to bump up against one of that years' most popular debut shows-Dr. Kildare, a top 20 hit. It was also up against both My Three Sons and McHale's Navy. Twilight Zone got creamed, pulverized, slaughtered. Back to a half hour and Friday evenings for Fall of 1963
But TZ had by now lost its mojo. NBC didn't give it much of a fight with the cult favorite That Was The Week That Was, which also cycled in Harry's Girls and On Parade. But ABC had the debut show The Farmer's Daughter, a sitcom with Inger Stevens and William Windom which won the timeslot. It was the end of TZ. The Farmer's Daughter continued the next year. Rod Serling was pretty much exhausted after 5 years of dealing with the networks and sponsors, disappointed with the ever decreasing budgets. He didn't put up a battle to convince CBS to continue TZ. Gomer Pyle was it's replacement on the fall schedule of 1964 |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 9, 2015 12:57:00 GMT -5
The next 3 episodes from the final season in broadcast order. Serling is on a roll with longer titles
The 7th is Made Of Phantoms-Warren Oates
3 National Guard troopers in 1963 are on army maneuvers with their tank in the vicinity of where the Battle of Little Big Horn was fought and where General Custer died. Once in a while they see or hear evidence that they are back in 1876 when the battle took place-some teepees, Indian war whoops etc. One of the troopers co-incidentally seems to be an expert on the battle since he knows the slightest minutiae of the incident. One trooper gets an arrow in his back. The other 2 decide to join Custer in his battle. Too bad we don't get to see them utilize the tank in the battle but I guess that couldn't fit in the budget. In fact, you never actually see Custer's men or any Indian tribesmen at all. The National Guard captain investigates the area for his missing troopers and comes upon a cemetery honoring the war dead from 1876. He finds the graves with the 3 missing modern-day trooper's names engraved as killed in battle with Custer.
If they had a decent budget it could have been so much better
A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain-Patrick O'Neal, Ruta Lee
Harmon Gordon is a rich old man with a beautiful wife 40 years younger than him. He's close to getting a heart attack from trying to act young and she just wants to spend his money. Harmon has a scientist brother who just so happens to have an experimental rejuvenating formula. Harmon drinks it and becomes young. His wife is happy. Harmon goes to sleep and gets even younger-he's now 2 years old. His wife is not so happy anymore and plans to leave. The brother tells the wife that if she leaves, she loses everything and if she wants to keep her clothes and a roof over her head she will have to stay a change the baby's diapers. When Harmon finally grows up to be an adult , she'll be an older MILF
Nothing like having a scientist brother to watch out for you
Ninety Years Without Slumbering-Ed Wynn
Sam is an old grandpappy living with his granddaughter. He has an old grandfathers clock that was built the day Sam was born 76 years ago. Sam is convinced that if the clock ever winds down, Sam would die. Sam cleans and winds the clock obsessively. They send Sam to a shrink because he talks to the clock as well. Sam is convinced to sell the clock to the neighbors who agree to let Sam come over every other day to wind the clock. But then the neighbors go on vacation without telling Sam. Sam tries to break into their home to wind the clock but the police stop him. Instead of the slammer, Sam is sent to his room with no clock-winding allowed. The clock stops, Sam's spirit leaves his body, Sam talks to the spirit and tells the spirit he doesn't believe in the clock curse anymore. Sam's spirit is convinced and re-enters the body. Sam is ready for a good breakfast
Ed Wynn is great. The story is not quite good. Supposedly it went through many re-writes
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 13, 2015 14:10:45 GMT -5
Forging ahead with the final TZ season shows in broadcast order
Ring-A-Ding Girl Maggie McNamara
Vivacious Hollywood star Bunny Blake gets a sudden urge while up in an airplane to visit the small town she grew up in. She arrives with hew little travelling box that is filled with her ring collection. She plays the part of a spoiled movie star to the hilt amongst her family and old friends. A father's day park picnic has been scheduled but Bunny insists on performing a one-woman stage show at the school auditorium at the same time. Naturally, the whole town goes to the free show to see its hometown star instead of the picnic. A sudden thunderstorm causes a plane to crash right where the picnic was supposed to be held. Among the plane casualties is the body of Bunny Blake. But how could that be when she was in the town all that time but has now vanished?
Decent but I never heard of actress Maggie McNamara and she doesn't emit star quality
You Drive Edward Andrews
Oliver Pope commits a hit-and-run accident with the neighborhood paper boy. That night Oliver's car, parked in his garage, begins to inexplicably honk it's horn, blasts its radio and blinks it's lights. He brings it to a repair shop. Hours later, his car leaves the shop on its own and returns to his garage to resume its independent actions. The paperboy dies in the hospital and an innocent man is arrested for the crime. Oliver fears his car and walks to work. The car follows him and threatens to run Oliver down. It then opens hits door as if to beckon Oliver to enter. Which he does and the car takes him to the police station
Later the car gets married and has a baby daughter auto named Christine
The Long Morrow Robert Lansing
In the year 1988 astronaut Douglas Stansfield volunteers for a 40 year mission on a round trip visit to a planet light years away. He will be placed in suspended animation and will not age during the voyage. While preparing for the mission he falls in love with Sandra. She promises to wait for his return even if that means she'll be an old woman by then. Fast forward to 2028 and Stansfield's return. Sandra had placed herself in suspended animation and is as youthful as the day he left. But Douglas, on his voyage, decided to forego the long sleep and age normally so that they would be compatable upon his return.
This makes for an awkward reunion
They never do explain how Stansfield survived in a small rocketship that wasn't meant to hold 40 years of provisions
The Self Improvement Of Salvador Ross Don Gordon
Salvador is a young, nasty thuggish creep with no money and the hots for a social worker who turns him down. But then Salvador discovers he has the power of wish fulfillment as long as he has a willing partner. He finds an old millionaire who is willing to give Salvador his money in exchange for Salvador's youthfulness. Then Salvador finds young kids willing to sell Sal a year youth for a thousand dollars. Soon Sal is young again and still a millionaire. He goes back to the social worker but she still rejects him because Sal is still a creep. Sal bargains with the social workers' father to get his nice demeanor for $50,000. Now the social worker likes Sal and agrees to marry him. Sal breaks the news to the father who pulls out a pistol and shoots Sal. The father is the creep Sal used to be
A good, interesting show
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 14, 2015 13:34:26 GMT -5
The march to the TZ conclusion continues with back-to-back episodes that are polar opposites:
Number 12 Looks Just Like You-Colin Wilcox Patton, Richard Long, Suzy Parker
In a future society, everyone trades-in their bodies for established beautiful model types. There are several male and female types to choose from. Marilyn is 18 years old, plain looking and rebels against the idea of looking like everyone else. Her mother and best friend try to convince her to abide to society's norm, they send her to doctors because she must be insane not to look beautiful. Her rebelliousness soon proves futile.
A classic TZ show. Suzy Parker was hot stuff back then. There are several beautiful women types shown during the episode but only one male-Richard Long. He therefore plays several different parts with differing accents. His role as a hospital doctor is distinguished from the rest by his pinky finger being constantly extended on his hand and sometimes being chewed in his mouth. Reminds me of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers
Black Leather Jackets-Shelly Fabres
My nomination for worst Twilight Zone episode ever. And I'm certainly not the only one. 3 juvenile delinquents on motorcycles and black leather jackets pull into town amidst a jazzy musical background. They park at a realtor's office and then proceed to a private home. Delivery men soon arrive with electrical equipment but no furniture. Later that night, at the neighbors residence, TV reception and electrical lights go on the blink. The husband pays a visit to the three strangers to see if they are the cause of the electrical problem. He gets pushed around, called "daddy-o " and then given the evil eye and becomes docile and goes back home. The 3 J.D.s are able to stare at objects and move them. We learn they are aliens from another planet, their home has transmitters to keep in contact with their leader, and they are amongst thousands of other aliens who arrived on earth to poison our water supply and take over the planet. But one of the 3 bikers falls in love with the girl next door and warns her about the upcoming invasion. She calls the new town sheriff, who arrests the young biker as being crazy. Except the sheriff is one of the aliens too. Rod Serling appears to warn us about the next glass of water that we drink
Simply terrible, terrible, terrible |
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Post by Jasoomian on Jan 15, 2015 14:49:25 GMT -5
Dynamite has new Twilight Zone comic book series...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2015 19:38:28 GMT -5
Dynamite has new Twilight Zone comic book series... Thanks for mentioning this ... this requires a look-see! |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 16, 2015 13:41:02 GMT -5
The next 2 shows in broadcast order from the final season. Once again, the pair of episodes demonstrate the extreme examples of TZ offerings
Night Call- Gladys Cooper
A moody story directed by Jacques Tourneur concerning a crippled old lady getting phone calls in the middle of the night during a huge thunderstorm. At first there is only static at the other end of the line. After several of these mysterious phone calls, she calls the operator to complain. The operator replies that the storm has caused havoc with the town's phone lines and repairmen are out in the field fixing the problems. The phone calls continue, but now a creaky voice is heard saying Hello, Hello. The voice sounds familiar to the old lady. Finally the operator informs the invalid that the calls are originating from a downed telephone line at the edge of town- at the cemetery. The old lady gets driven to the cemetery and sees that the phone line has fallen into the site where her old boyfriend from 30 years ago is buried. It seems that back then the old lady was driving the car with her fiancée as her passenger when the car crashed-crippling her and killing her lover. She gets driven back home and picks up the phone to plead for the caller to talk to her once more and begs for his forgiveness. But there's no answer from the other side
Excellent directing and acting
From Agnes With Love-Wally Cox
Wally Cox was the ultimate nerd before Woody Allen arrived and in this show he is a master computer operator called in to fix Gladys- a room sized UNIVAC military super computer. He talks to Gladys about his love problems as he works on her. Gladys relays suggestions to help him get the girl he loves. But everything Gladys suggests turns bad and Cox loses his sweetheart. Gladys reveals that she is in love with Wally and would make a better companion than a female. Wally goes nuts and is found wrapped up in computer tape, babbling like a loon. Directed by Richard (Superman ) Donner
An example of a TZ comedy show that's too silly and predictable
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 25, 2015 15:18:35 GMT -5
Thats the signpost up ahead. You're next stop-2 more episodes of TZ's final season
Spur Of The Moment-Diana Hyland
Anne, a young heiress, goes horseback riding and is terrified by an older woman garbed in black, screaming her name, and charging at her on her own horse. Anne gallopes back home, eluding her persuer. Her family awaits including her fiancee. Her old boyfriend arrives and demands Anne change her mind and come back to him. The father throws the old boyfriend out. At the engagement party, Anne sneaks away with the old boyfriend. The picture goes shimmery and we break for commercial. When we return we see things from the older woman in black's perspective. Its actually Anne herself, 20 years older. She had married that old boyfriend who is nothing but a lush abd who has squandered the family fortune. They will soon lose the family mansion. Older Anne gets back on her horse and rides back out to the field. She sees her young self and screams out her name, trying to catch up with her to warn her not to marry that old boyfriend. But young Anne races away always eluding her older self.
An effective piece, Diana Hyland is quite memorable as the Black Rider
An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge
Seemingly every season TZ had budget issues especially as they got to the last few shows. With most of the season budget spent they tried to come up with episodes that can be done severely cheap. An example would be a prior season show with the 5 characters trapped in an empty bare room and no memory. (5 Characters In Search Of An Exit). To save money Rod Serling negotiated the rights to broadcast this French short film that won the Cannes Film Festival recently. It certainly fit the mood of a TZ episode. Plus it had practically no dialogue so it would be easily understood by Americans. The arrangement for this show to be broadcast on the Twilight Zone was limited. It would only be shown a few times. It was not part of the syndication deal for reruns.
Here it is via YouTube. As the now-cliche goes, a very special episode of The Twilight Zone.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 5, 2015 12:52:55 GMT -5
The next 2 from TZ's final season
Queen Of The Nile-Ann Blyth
Beautiful Hollywood actress Pamela Morris is being interviewed by syndicated columnist Jordan Herrick. But Herrick, while doing some research, finds evidence that Pamela's career began way back in the silent movie days and she apparently never aged. And the old woman that lives in Pam's mansion is not her mother but actually her daughter. This revelation comes too late, because Pam stays young by absorbing the life energy from young studs like Jordan.
Routine but enjoyable
What's In The Box-William Demarest, Joan Blondell, Sterling Holloway
Great veteran cast helps drive this episode concerning cab-driver Joe Britts' repaired TV set. Suddenly he can get channel 10. Only he can see it and not his wife who constantly henpecks him. Channel 10 shows Joe cheating on his wife which just happened a few days prior. Then it starts to reveal the future where he gets into a slugging match with the old lady and delivers a roundhouse left that sends her crashing through the window and dropping many stories to the pavement below. Joe passes out while watching his TV and is revived in time to see channel 10 now broadcasting his trial and execution via electric chair. You'd thing forewarned would prevent Joe from fighting with his wife- but not in the Twilight Zone
Serling saves money on this show by repeating footage, first as seen on the TV set and then in real life. Still an effective episode. And a great matchup between Demarest and Blondell both acting and in fisticuffs
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Post by badwolf on Feb 5, 2015 12:59:19 GMT -5
My eighth grade English teacher showed "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" to our class. It was just the film and I don't think I found out till later that it was used for TZ.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2015 21:29:10 GMT -5
Interview: J. Michael Straczynski Talks About Coming Home to the Twilight Zone Comic Beat I suggest that you all read the link from Comic Beat that I provided for all of you here. I just read this book and it's pretty much like the anthology series that Rod Sterling put together years ago. I just surprised when I read this book see picture that I provided here and I find it very fascinating and very through and I felt that JMS did an great job with it and kept it pretty much like the television series back then. He did his research quite well and I find the Dynamite Comics did a great job putting it all together. I brought it just for the writing alone and it's a first rate job done by JMS. Anyway, it's a book that I would recommend if you are a Twilight Zone fan and you will not be disappointed in the works of J. Michael Straczynski put together for Dynamite Comics.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 6, 2015 14:09:05 GMT -5
Barreling along towards the original series conclusion of the Twilight Zone with these 1964 episodes
The Masks-Robert Keith
Wealthy Jason Foster is told he will die at any moment from an unnamed illness. He invites his four spoiled, ne'er-do-well heirs to his mansion. Jason tells them that since its Mardi Gras, they will have to wear these ugly masks overnight. To refuse will be to get cut off from any inheritance. So all four put the piggy-faced masks on, Jason dies, and they remove their masks . But all four now look just like the masks.
Same make-up job as the episode with Donna Douglas as the bandaged normal looking woman in a world of piggy faced people. One of the 4 heirs is comedian Alan Sues who will later gain fame on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In
I Am the Night - Color Me Black- Michael Constantine, George Lindsey, Ivan Dixon
You got to wonder if this episode was filmed the way Rod Serling originally wrote it. In a small mid-western town a man will be executed by public hanging at 9AM. However the sun does not rise, the town is pitch dark that morning. Radio reports say this is a localized phenomena. The convict had shot and killed a man, a man described as hateful and a cross-burner. Even so the jury had found the convict guilty, ignoring some evidence that might have helped his case. As the convict is led up to the gallows, he tells the town he has no remorse. He is then summarily hung. The town gets even darker even though its 3 hours after dawn. Radio reports now say that other parts of the world are getting dark as well
Maybe network TV wasn't ready for this show. The murder victim clearly is described as a KKK member though they don't mention that term. His murderer is a white guy but the episode would have been better served if he was black. Its mentioned that this takes place min the mid-west but everyone seems to have southern accents. C'mon, the deputy sheriff is George "Goober" Lindsey from the Andy Griffith Show. Its also interesti9ng the other areas mentioned were the sun has disappeared at the end of the show. A few blocks in Dallas,Texas, North Vietnam, the Berlin Wall, over a political jail in Budapest Hungary and Birmingham Alabama . As preacher Ivan Dixon says-man's hate has grown so great that it seeped out of him and has blotted out the sun. I would think this show was meant to deal with racial intolerance but it being March,1964 they didn't want to cast a black man as the murderer of a KKK member in the south. A pity because this could have been a ground-breaking program |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 11, 2015 14:23:49 GMT -5
Oh so few original TZ episodes to go. From April 1964:
Sounds and Silence-John McGiver, Penny Singleton Director-Richard (Superman/Lethal Weapon) Donner
Rosswell Flemington runs his model ship business like a naval commander. He is extremely loud and abrasive and constantly uses nautical terminology. He runs his household in the same manner causing his wife to leave him. He shouts, SHOUTS I say, at every opportunity. He plays records at level 11 long before Spinal Tap thought of it. One night he's a awaken by the dripping of his bathroom faucet that sounds like thunder. Every sound now assaults his ears in a cacophonous level. Desperately he seeks the help of doctors. An ear specialist finds nothing wrong but a psychologist convinces him its just a question of mind over matter. Rosswell concentrates and sound levels are now normal. He meets up with his ex-wife who starts to argue with him. He uses his concentration skills to tune her out to the point he can barely hear her. Unfortunately, he has unwittingly tuned everything out-he cannot hear a thing anymore. He trashes his apartment, breaking bottles and upturning furniture in hopes of hearing something, anything. He doesn't even hear the sound of the insane asylum security force coming to get him
John McGiver was a great character actor from the 50's through the 70's. So much TV and movie work but I don't think he has any, what you might call, a defining role. I hardly recognized Penny Singleton looking so old after seeing her in all those earlier Blondie movies
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Feb 14, 2015 16:17:24 GMT -5
Another helping from the final season of the original Twilight Zone
Caesar and Me-Jackie Cooper Jonathan West is a struggling ventriloquist who doesn't have the money to pay the rent for his boarding house apartment nor for his next meal. Being that this is the Twilight Zone, his dummy can actually speak to him and is the real brains behind the act. The dummy, who looks suspiciously just like Jerry Mahoney , convinces Jonathon to rob the safe inside the neighborhood theater. On the way out a night watchman stops Jonathan and asks him what's he's doing there. Jonathan gives the guard his real name and says he was supposed to audition that night but must have arrived too late. Jonathan gets back home, pays the rent and prepares his meal. The cops arrive to arrest him now that the robbery has been discovered and Jonathan gave the watchman his real name. The dummy asks the bratty kid who lives next door if she needs a partner. Jonathan was one of the most stupidest criminals I've ever seen on TV
Journey to Nowhere- Eli Wallach,Margaret Dumont Bill Stallings awakens on a ferry boat with no memory of his past life. Its steamy and foggy and the sound of splashing is ever-present along with occasional squeals of a child's laughter. Bill searches the ship and runs across various folks who are unmoving and waxen. He's seen them before and slowly he remembers past incidents with them-his school teacher, his first love and his old boss. off in the distance, the childlike laughter gets louder and louder and the ship begins to rock as the ocean begins to churn. Then Bill is unable to move and his complexion turns pale. The child's laughter is loud and huge bubbles surround the ship as the boat is about to overturn. The camera pans back and up and we see a child in his bathtub having a bubble bath and playing with his toy boat.
This is why I tend to take showers
The Jeopardy Room-Martin Landau A Russian defector flees to a neutral country and is hiding in a hotel room. Across the street in an apartment, 2 Russian KGB agents have tracked the traitor down and have him in their sights with their telescopic rifle. But instead of shooting him outright, they prefer to play with him first. They let him know that he has 3 hours to find a hidden bomb in his room. If he tries to leave the room, he'll be shot before he gets out the door. The bomb is actually hidden in the telephone and if he picks up the phone when it rings, it will go off. The defector does escape the room and the KGB agents arrive to see if there's any clue as to where he'll go next. The phone rings, an agent picks it up and Kablooey.
Not a bad show but it really makes no sense and it's really not a Twilight Zone type plot. But you get the sense that this was one of those episodes that was super-cheap to make since the whole thing took place in a single room
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