The way I remember it, Bemis has lost all hope. Everyone is dead, his world is destroyed. He’s wandering aimlessly. He’s about to shoot himself (the shot I remember), then he sees the library. Salvation! “January, February, March… This year, next year… And the best part… The very best part, is that there’s time now! Time enough at last!”
They really could have ended it there. Serling would say, “Henry Bemis. Bookworm. The world may have ended for humanity, but forHenry Bemis, his world has just begun… in The Twilight Zone.” But nooooo!!! They couldn’t leave it there! They had to stick in the knife and give it a good twist! It’s so… mean! I think the utter heartlessness of the ending is what makes this episode my favourite.
“It’s not fair…it’s not fair!” Poor guy. Wouldn’t that make a great commercial for contact lenses, though? “Don’t make the mistake of wearing breakable glasses like our friend Henry Bemis- Twilight Zone watchers always wear [insert brand here] contact lenses- they’re the brand you’ll want in a post Armageddon world.”
Also, I love “Spur of the Moment.” Absolutely wonderful episode…I adored how it was all in a loop, everything would repeating, no matter how hard the older woman tried to stop it. So sad, too.
I dunno Johnny. As part of SciFi’s montage of scenes they keep showing Burgess Meredith as Bemis, sitting amidst the rubble on the library steps - Sun glancing off his n^th degree coke-bottle glasses and he’s loving it all!
Argh, but I know nothing as SciFi is now showing that Shatner episode with the fortune telling devil.
That was It’s a good life with Billy Mumy (Lost in Space). Uke Ike hasn’t seen it.
That episode was part of the Twilight Zone movie. That remake was less evil and more ‘zany’ with the cartoons. One cool bit of trivia about the remake is Nancy Cartwright (famous as the voice of Bart Simpson) is sucked into a cartoon and chased by an evil beast who devours her (and the boy says Th-th-that’s all folks…). The Simpsons often use TZ eps as the basis of their Halloween episodes. In one of them, Bart and Lisa are sucked into the TV and are chased by that exact same beast…
“A Stop at Willoughby”
“The Invaders”
“It’s a good life”
“The Shelter”
“The Midnight Sun”
“Five Characters in Search of an Exit”
“To Serve Man”
“Miniature”
Twilight Zone was and is still some of the best television out there IMO.
Has anybody seen “Death’s Head Revisited”? I’ve never seen it, and they never show it on the marathons or in the two nightly episodes, but I’m searching for it diligently. I haven’t seen it for sale on a tape or even on Kazaa.
It’s a Holocaust episode, where a former concentration camp soldier is tried over and over (a loop, kind of like Death Ship) by the ghosts of the Jews he torturred and killed.
The other reason I want to see it is that it’s supposedly the source of the dialog sample from the beginning of Anthrax’s “Intro To Reality”:
“We did as we were told.”
“We just heard you offer the apology for all the monsters of our times.”
“Is that correct? ha. aha. ahahahahahahaha!”
(cue guitar and bass)
Of the ones they show regularly (the traditional favorites), the ones I like best are “Time Enough At Last” and “People Are The Same All Over”, “Mr. Denton On Doomsday”, and especially “To Serve Man.” plus a whole bunch more. I recorded the entire marathon last year. But forgot to buy tapes this year.
Of the New Twilight Zone, hosted by Burges Meredith, my favorite is “Examination Day” where kids in an egalitarian society are tested for intelligence at a certain age. Any who are too smart are executed or lobotomized (I only saw it once, on its first run, so I can’t remember).
Yes they do. I saw in during a marathon either last year, or the year before. It might have been during a July 4th marathon, but I’m sure it was within the past two years, and I’m sure it was on the Sci-Fi Channel.
This is one of my favorites too, since it’s very much in line with own feelings about people who actually believe and make life decisions based on astrology or tarot cards, etc.
What I like so much about it is that ending, where Shatner’s character takes control of his own life, and escapes… and then we see the other frightened couple, who let their fates be controlled by a little noddy-headed novelty toy.
Others:
Eye of the Beholder
I Sing the Body Electric
The Midnight Sun
Spur of the Moment
I’ll have to look at the episode guide to find out the names of a couple of others.
I can’t watch “It’s A Good Life.” It creeps me out too much.
Guess I’m the only one who likes the corny stuff. For me it’s “One For the Angels” I thought the end was funny as the guy hesitates a moment, asking which direction they are going, and Mister Death incidates it will be “up”
Miniature was shown yesterday, and I was pretty sure that was the one; but I didn’t see any colourisation at the end. I might have looked away for a moment, but I was looking for it.
I’ve only been talking about Time Enought at Last, since the OP is "what is your favourite episode* and that’s the one. But several others have been mentioned that are virtually my favourites.
In Praise of Pip. I think that’s the earliest Vietnam reference I’ve seen in old shows.
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street. Bradbury. What can you say beyond that?
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge did not go into syndication, and it was not made by Serling & Co., but by Frenchman Robert Enrico.
King Nine Will Not Return harkens back to the disappearance of the Lady Be Good, which was discovered just a year before this episode was broadcast.
A Hundred Yards over the Rim. I like time-travel stories. This was a good one, and it’s not shown often enough.
Phrases from TZ have made it into “everyday use” (Alice Walker reference unintended) with me and my friends. If one of us is trying to entice the other to, say, buy a lottery ticket, we’ll say, “Franklin!” (The Fever); or if one asks for a drink, the other will say “One drink, one bar of gold. That’s the going rate today. Tomorrow it may go up. But today it’s one drink, one bar of gold.” (The Rip Van Winkle Caper).
Guys-- SPOILER TAGS! Especially when talking about a series that relies partly on twist endings. I haven’t read most of the posts because I don’t want to ruin the eps I haven’t see…
But forgot to buy tapes this year. 