DON'T BOYS LOVE LISTS?
Here's my top 10 favourite episodes of The Twilight Zone. Yeah, I'm talking the ORIGINAL series; nothing else will do. And this list is dedicated to li'l Miss Jenny Penny who not only rescued the complete Twilight Zone DVD box set from limbo at the Hellmouth but also gave me a coupon getting me big bucks off the price. YAY! Also, these episodes are NOT in order of preference but are in chronological order of date of airing. This is simply because I couldn't decide which episode was my absolute favourite. So, get in good singing voice, croon a little "doo doo doo doo" Twilight Zone theme and read on:
Walking Distance -- This is the one starring Gig Young as a stressed executive who goes back to his hometown and meets himself as a boy. Oddly, Rod Serling exhibited disappointment in this episode when asked in the 70's. I don't agree. It's the perfect illustration of why exactly you really CAN'T go home again.
Time Enough at Last -- Of course, this is the old chestnut with Burgess Meredith as a book lover who is the only survivor of a nuclear war. We've all seen it a million times but it STILL remains a classic.
Judgment Night -- This is the one with a squirrelly Nehemiah Persoff stuck on a boat during World War II who is POSITIVE a German U-Boat is going to sink them. The fog, the creepiness of the shipboard setting with blacked out windows and Persoff's frantic panic work for me.
Mirror Image -- this is the one where Vera (Psycho) Miles is stranded in a late night bus station while being menaced by her own doppelganger. The darkened station after midnight is tremendously creepy ... even BEFORE we realize there's an evil twin lurking about.
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street -- this is the one which illustrates all too clearly what the mob mind is capable of when fear overcomes our wits. All too relevant today.
The Hitch-hiker -- This is the one where the tragic Inger Stevens (who died much too young) is driving across country and menaced by an eerie hitchhiker at every turn. The episode was actually adapted from the well-known radio play written by Lucille (Sorry Wrong Number) Fletcher which originally aired on the old time radio show "Suspense" starring Orson Welles in the lead role. The radio show was better but this one's unnerving enough. Inger Stevens' acting is particularly rivetting; you really feel for her as she slowly loses it.
The After Hours -- this is the one where Anne (Forbidden Planet) Francis is locked alone in a department store with all those creepy mannequins. Another faboulously atmospheric set: the darkened store at night. Can't go wrong in the goosebump department.
Nick of Time -- this is the one where the Shat consults a drug store devil's-head fortune telling machine which is all too accurate. I prefer this Shat Twilight Zone over the more ridiculously hammy one with the gremlin on the airplane wing. The Shat tones down his scenery chewing here and it works in the episode's favour.
The Thirty Fathom Grave -- this is the only hour-long episode I chose from the little scene 4th season of hour long shows. This is the one which has a Navy ship encounter a sunken submarine from which eerie ghostly banging can be heard. This is one of the downright scariest Twilight Zones; conjuring up images of rotting, skeletal men banging on the metal walls of their sunken sub on the ocean floor as well as the fear of the Navy guys who have to go investigate the ghostly noises. The perfect TZ episode to watch on Halloween night.
Well, that's it. There are, of course, MANY more fantastic episodes but these have got to be the ones I like the best. Any favourite episodes of yours that I left out??? And now that I've done the Twilight Zone (done it?!?!?! I LIVE IT!!!), perhaps one of these days I'll get around to listing my 10 favourite episodes of Boris Karloff's Thriller or Rod Serling's Night Gallery. I'll tell you one thing: -- I actually DO know what my favourite episodes of THOSE two series are: "Midnight Never Ends" for Night Gallery and "The Hungry Glass" starring the Shat himself for Boris Karloff's Thriller . But that's for ANOTHER day.
Walking Distance -- This is the one starring Gig Young as a stressed executive who goes back to his hometown and meets himself as a boy. Oddly, Rod Serling exhibited disappointment in this episode when asked in the 70's. I don't agree. It's the perfect illustration of why exactly you really CAN'T go home again.
Time Enough at Last -- Of course, this is the old chestnut with Burgess Meredith as a book lover who is the only survivor of a nuclear war. We've all seen it a million times but it STILL remains a classic.
Judgment Night -- This is the one with a squirrelly Nehemiah Persoff stuck on a boat during World War II who is POSITIVE a German U-Boat is going to sink them. The fog, the creepiness of the shipboard setting with blacked out windows and Persoff's frantic panic work for me.
Mirror Image -- this is the one where Vera (Psycho) Miles is stranded in a late night bus station while being menaced by her own doppelganger. The darkened station after midnight is tremendously creepy ... even BEFORE we realize there's an evil twin lurking about.
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street -- this is the one which illustrates all too clearly what the mob mind is capable of when fear overcomes our wits. All too relevant today.
The Hitch-hiker -- This is the one where the tragic Inger Stevens (who died much too young) is driving across country and menaced by an eerie hitchhiker at every turn. The episode was actually adapted from the well-known radio play written by Lucille (Sorry Wrong Number) Fletcher which originally aired on the old time radio show "Suspense" starring Orson Welles in the lead role. The radio show was better but this one's unnerving enough. Inger Stevens' acting is particularly rivetting; you really feel for her as she slowly loses it.
The After Hours -- this is the one where Anne (Forbidden Planet) Francis is locked alone in a department store with all those creepy mannequins. Another faboulously atmospheric set: the darkened store at night. Can't go wrong in the goosebump department.
Nick of Time -- this is the one where the Shat consults a drug store devil's-head fortune telling machine which is all too accurate. I prefer this Shat Twilight Zone over the more ridiculously hammy one with the gremlin on the airplane wing. The Shat tones down his scenery chewing here and it works in the episode's favour.
The Thirty Fathom Grave -- this is the only hour-long episode I chose from the little scene 4th season of hour long shows. This is the one which has a Navy ship encounter a sunken submarine from which eerie ghostly banging can be heard. This is one of the downright scariest Twilight Zones; conjuring up images of rotting, skeletal men banging on the metal walls of their sunken sub on the ocean floor as well as the fear of the Navy guys who have to go investigate the ghostly noises. The perfect TZ episode to watch on Halloween night.
Well, that's it. There are, of course, MANY more fantastic episodes but these have got to be the ones I like the best. Any favourite episodes of yours that I left out??? And now that I've done the Twilight Zone (done it?!?!?! I LIVE IT!!!), perhaps one of these days I'll get around to listing my 10 favourite episodes of Boris Karloff's Thriller or Rod Serling's Night Gallery. I'll tell you one thing: -- I actually DO know what my favourite episodes of THOSE two series are: "Midnight Never Ends" for Night Gallery and "The Hungry Glass" starring the Shat himself for Boris Karloff's Thriller . But that's for ANOTHER day.
7 comments:
These are all great choices, especially 'Maple Street'...however, in defence of the Twilight Zone of the 80's.; seek out the only good episode which was called, "The Once and Future King", it was all about Elvis and time travel and very well done.
Uh oh. Never saw that one.
I actually saw the one pax mentioned and it was good surprisingly.
Better living through classic Twilight Zone episodes. Good post!
i like 'nothing in the dark' with gladys cooper and a very young robert redford.
Ooo, look at you Ms. Henri, going for the beefcake!!!
shocking that i would go after beefcake, eh?
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