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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

50 years later, 'Twilight Zone' bridges time

Arts & Culture Oct. 04, 2009 - 03:00AM JST ( 21 )

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21 Comments

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smartacusOct. 04, 2009 - 07:18AM JST

Great show, way ahead of its time. I have every episode on DVD. Some filmmakers today try to imitate it with twist endings (M Night Shyamalan, for one), but they never quite succeed.
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SpeedOct. 04, 2009 - 07:28AM JST

Used to watch it all the time growing up. Really liked the unexpected twist at the end, which glued you to your seat till the end of the episode.
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johnshiomiOct. 04, 2009 - 09:20AM JST

I grew up watching the Twilight Zone and love them. As a kid, i love them because of it's shocking, weird, strange, amazing stories. As an adult, i can see the deeper morals and life lessons told in them. Although 50 years old, these lessons never get old. It's funny how these mega expensive hollywood movies have such cool special effects and computer graphics but often lack any substance in content. The 50 year old original TZs blow most of them away even though they are in black and white and very little flash. Having a good story is foundational.
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AzraelOct. 04, 2009 - 12:50PM JST

I loved to watch Twilight Zone when I was a kid! It was the series in color. Years later I found the original black and white show hosted by Rod Serling himself and I can't quite decide which one is the best (yet I tend to favor the black and white series now that I have watched them). I hear in the 2000s there was yet one new season, but I have not watched it yet.

Twilight Zone is really and strikingly a dimension of imagination. I love the twist endings, the unexpected and the "atari mae" kind of reflection on the ills of human society at large. I find a not-so-distant similarity between Twilight Zone and the fables of Aesop: the persistent human aspect in all its strength and fragility, what is that makes a person tick and therein lies the fine line between sanity and madness.
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memyselfIOct. 04, 2009 - 01:28PM JST

Great creative story telling
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smithinjapanOct. 04, 2009 - 02:38PM JST

The 80s version was fun, but lacked decent production value and is definitely a product of its time (can't quite watch it these days without laughing at the hairstyles and what not). The original is far better, minus the special affects, of course. In any case, a brilliant idea over all, and full of good stories.
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Pump24Oct. 04, 2009 - 05:32PM JST

Each New Years the Sci Fi channel has a 24 hour TZ marathon...worth watching every minute! Many of the stories still freak me out years later. I agree with John...a great story overshadows any billion dollar special effect. Rod Serling was a genius, years ahead of the pack.
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Pukey2Oct. 04, 2009 - 07:25PM JST

Loved the original series. I hear that the episode which starred George Takei was never shown again because of the sensitive topic.
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SpeedOct. 04, 2009 - 10:59PM JST

Pukey2, what was the episode with Takei about?
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LFRAgainOct. 05, 2009 - 01:12AM JST

Twilight Zone was a great series. I watched it all the time as a kid. It's probably where my fascination with sci-fi started.

Speed,

The Takei episode I think Pukey2's referring to is called "The Encounter."

Details here:

http://tzone.the-croc.com/tzeplist/encount.html
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lincolnmanOct. 05, 2009 - 08:13AM JST

Agree with all - certainly in Top 5 best TV programs of all time. Thoughful little morality plays each week - and who can forget the haunting opening and closing themes by the great Bernard Hermann.
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NoriPfanOct. 05, 2009 - 01:30PM JST

Have long enjoyed Twilight Zone along with a similar series called One Step Beyond. Both were fascinating to the mind as opposed as to trashy new shows that couldn't even match up to their calibre.
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BettingOct. 05, 2009 - 02:46PM JST

Anyone see the movie released in the 80s I think it was? Whenever I get on an airplane I don't look out the window anymore, just in case ...

But the original b&w, that was truly an incredible show!! Really good stuff.
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BrainiacOct. 05, 2009 - 02:59PM JST

Apparently, Leonardo DiCaprio - a big Rod Serling fan - is developing some episodes for a feature-length movie. Not sure if that's a good idea, since modern moviemaking's penchant for special effects and swear words would seem to be at odds with the Twilight Zone's storytelling style.
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kokorocloudOct. 05, 2009 - 03:07PM JST

The original is AMAZING. I am still wanting to have the whole thing on DVD. Almost every episode is just fantastic. This is one of those shows that everyone will always remember.
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TokyoGasOct. 05, 2009 - 07:24PM JST

Amazing show. Some of the opening monologues were pure poetry.
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Klein2Oct. 05, 2009 - 10:15PM JST

Smartacus. Would love to have those DVDs.

Lincolnman. Unfortunately, it is listed as number 26 on TVGuide's list of best shows of all time, beaten by MASH and Friends. haha. I agree that it was great though. Shatner, Takei, was Nimoy in one? Five seasons is pretty amazing when you consider that Star Trek went three seasons and then disappeared. It is not among TVGuide's top 50.

And BETTING, there WAS a remake of Shatner's airplane episode in the movie, wasn't there. I had forgotten about that. I always remember that as the VicMorrow decapitation movie. Pretty sad.

My favorite TZ line: IT'S A COOKBOOK!! Favorite TZ ending: The Penguin breaks his glasses.
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bamboohatOct. 06, 2009 - 09:39AM JST

Twilight zone was a fantastic show. To see how it is still possible to make a fully twilight zone based movie (even in black and white) check out a movie with Christian Bale called "The Mechanic."

It is still possible, if you do it right, hopefully DiCaprio will.

Rod Serling was a genius.
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NoripinheadOct. 06, 2009 - 06:54PM JST

Serling practically coined the phrase "Witness if you will..." You know of course he wrote the screenplay for "Planet of the Apes". Watching the series now is like going back to a more innocent time, a time before JFK, a time before Vietnam, before cell phones...
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Pukey2Oct. 10, 2009 - 01:57PM JST

My favorite TZ line: IT'S A COOKBOOK!! Favorite TZ ending: The Penguin breaks his glasses.

Don't know about the second one, but wasn't the first one from an episode called 'To Serve Man'? I wonder how it was translated into other languages.