# LEAST favorite Twilight Zone episode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811 "2011-07-04T14:41:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/121 "2014-11-25T21:33:12Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/122 "2014-11-26T04:39:33Z")
All of the hour long episodes generally sucked. The Bewitchin’ Pool seems to be the consensus, even if we have different preferences on the other episodes. To the posters saying that the endings are so predictable and cliched, they were TZ classics and the reasons that you have seen them countless times since is because they were copied from the TZ. They were unique when they came out. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/123 "2014-11-26T05:45:59Z")
No mention yet of one of my unfavorites, “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”. It was an interesting concept, and while I used to think the acting was wooden (to put it mildly), I came to the conclusion that it was a side effect of the Transformation. But the production values were far short of TZ’s usual standards, and apparently another side effect of the Transformation was that the people(?) couldn’t notice that their surroundings made ST:TOS’s _Enterprise_ look positively Art Deco. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/124 "2014-11-26T14:05:40Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > No mention yet of one of my unfavorites, “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”. It was an interesting concept, and while I used to think the acting was wooden (to put it mildly), I came to the conclusion that it was a side effect of the Transformation. > > But the production values were far short of TZ’s usual standards, and apparently another side effect of the Transformation was that the people(?) couldn’t notice that their surroundings made ST:TOS’s _Enterprise_ look positively Art Deco. Probably won’t be too much of a surprise, but that may be my favorite episode. Certainly it is in my top five. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/125 "2014-11-26T15:20:27Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Should I be troubled that I honest to gosh know it’s “Time Enough at Last” with Burgess Meredith, without having to give it a moments thought? And yet, this one consistently shows up on “Best TZ epsiode” lists. I never understood why myself. I hate pretty much every bit of it. But “The Bewitchin’ Pool” is still the worst! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/126 "2014-11-26T15:54:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And yet, this one consistently shows up on “Best TZ epsiode” lists. I never understood why myself. I hate pretty much every bit of it. > > But “The Bewitchin’ Pool” is still the worst! I think the ending to “Time Enough at Last” made it very memorable. Sometimes that’s all it takes to end up on the “Best” lists. I don’t particularly care for the one with Buster Keaton, even though I like Buster Keaton’s movies, but it’s memorable-- if asked to come up with a random TZ ep., a lot of people can remember “Oh, there was one with Buster Keaton!” so it makes a lot of “Best” lists as well. I think a lot of the hour-long eps don’t make “best” lists, because they tended not to be as tightly written, and therefore less memorable. Probably the reason the same eps are ending up on “best” and “worst” lists are that they are the ones that are memorable, for whatever reason. The forgettable ones really are the worst ones, but they are forgettable, so, they don’t make lists. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/127 "2014-11-27T03:59:16Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Couldn’t he keep trying on abandoned glasses until he found a pair that worked for him? He couldn’t have been the only guy in the city with thick glasses. Or he could read without them. I wear thick glasses, but I can read without them by holding the book close to my face. “Time Enough at Last” is a poignant little fable, as long as you don’t think about it too deeply. Sanitation, illness, and shelter would be bigger problems for a real-life Mr. Bemis than the loss of his glasses. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/128 "2014-11-27T14:59:56Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The funny thing is is that is one of my favorites because I saw it when I was a kid and to me, that wasn’t a cliche yet so the twist really got me. What was the one with Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson that had the same twist, except they were the only survivors of a futuristic holocaust? Elizabeth had only one line of dialogue: “_Prekrasny_!” (“Nice!” in ungrammatical Russian) when she sees the dress in the shop window (“_Slavnoye_!” or “_Krasivoye_!” would have been better). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/129 "2014-11-27T15:02:42Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Eventually, he might try to find some abandoned glasses, by looting wrecked homes and dead bodies, but it’s not a pleasant prospect, even if it will eventually get him what he wants. How is he going to loot when he’s blind as a bat? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/130 "2014-11-27T15:41:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What was the one with Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson that had the same twist, except they were the only survivors of a futuristic holocaust? > > Elizabeth had only one line of dialogue: “_Prekrasny_!” (“Nice!” in ungrammatical Russian) when she sees the dress in the shop window (“_Slavnoye_!” or “_Krasivoye_!” would have been better). The title of that one was “Two”. I don’t think they were supposed to be Adam and Eve though. I think that was more about US and Soviet relations. They never outright said she was a soviet but as you wrote they made it pretty clear. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/131 "2014-11-27T15:50:56Z")
Totally off topic, I ran those Russian words through Google to “hear” them and the computer souded so bored with Славное (Slavnoye) it was like having a teen in the room with you 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/132 "2014-11-28T05:12:26Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” or something else that’s a parody of Pirandello. Or a portmanteau, sort of, or Pirandello and Sarte. Yeah, that one did suck. Heathens :D. You had to have watched these all when you were age 10-12 and decades ago, when those ‘sting in the tail’ endings really resonated. I long claimed TZ as my favorite serial TV show as a young man…until I went back and watched them as an adult and realized how not-so-awesome so many of them were. Still - Serling was a ground-breaking talent, despite the many clunkers and dusty gems. Also Jerome Bixby’s “It’s a _Good_ life” is just a great little short story :). It works much better on the page than on the screen. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/133 "2014-11-28T07:15:50Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Heathens :D. > > You had to have watched these all when you were age 10-12 and decades ago, when those ‘sting in the tail’ endings really resonated. I long claimed TZ as my favorite serial TV show as a young man…until I went back and watched them as an adult and realized how not-so-awesome so many of them were. Still - Serling was a ground-breaking talent, despite the many clunkers and dusty gems. > > Also Jerome Bixby’s “It’s a _Good_ life” is just a great little short story :). It works much better on the page than on the screen. I liked and still like “It’s a Good Life.” I saw “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” when I was about 13, but thanks to parents determined to make me precocious, I knew about things like Sarte and Pirandello. Yes, I had parents who would drag an eight-year old to a production of _No Exit_. I’d get promised something if I’d sit through it quietly, so I did. But I liked the experience of going to live theater, so it wasn’t so bad, and eventually I developed a taste for even the weirdest stuff. Anyway, some of the episodes were truly original, but some were already derivative, and the toys in the barrel was one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/134 "2014-11-28T14:09:11Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Also Jerome Bixby’s “It’s a _Good_ life” is just a great little short story :). It works much better on the page than on the screen. Many years ago I was in a discount bookstore where they just had dozens of tables of unsorted books for really cheap and I found a short story collection that was every short story that a Twilight Zone episode had been based on. Most were good but this was one of the best. Much more terrifying on the page. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/135 "2014-11-28T14:16:11Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The title of that one was “Two”. I don’t think they were supposed to be Adam and Eve though. I think that was more about US and Soviet relations. They never outright said she was a soviet but as you wrote they made it pretty clear. The ending narration, IIRC, made it clear they were indeed Adam and Eve. Or at least, it was very strongly implied. A parallel implication was that their civilization had preceded ours but destroyed itself. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/136 "2014-11-28T14:19:54Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Totally off topic, I ran those Russian words through Google to “hear” them and the computer souded so bored with Славное (Slavnoye) it was like having a teen in the room with you 😃 I had a Russian girlfriend who was obsessed with shopping for shoes. Every time she found a pair she liked, she’d say “Aren’t these _slavniye_?” The word actually means “glorious” rather than “beautiful.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/137 "2014-11-28T14:46:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The ending narration, IIRC, made it clear they were indeed Adam and Eve. Or at least, it was very strongly implied. A parallel implication was that their civilization had preceded ours but destroyed itself. This was the twist, BTW. Because of the futuristic uniforms and weapons, and because it seemed like it was an American against a Russian, you went through the whole episode thinking it was the aftermath of WWIII between the US and USSR—until the ending narration revealed that it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/138 "2014-11-28T15:03:17Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Many years ago I was in a discount bookstore where they just had dozens of tables of unsorted books for really cheap and I found a short story collection that was every short story that a Twilight Zone episode had been based on. Most were good but this was one of the best. Much more terrifying on the page. That’s a great story. I think the big difference between the short story and the TZ episode is that Anthony in the story must be in some way abnormal looking. It’s mentioned that his first act of disappearing someone is when he zaps away the doctor who tried to kill him when he was born. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/139 "2014-11-28T16:20:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > This was the twist, BTW. Because of the futuristic uniforms and weapons, and because it seemed like it was an American against a Russian, you went through the whole episode thinking it was the aftermath of WWIII between the US and USSR—until the ending narration revealed that it wasn’t. First of all, it’s the _opening_ narration. So, not exactly a “twist.” Second, both interpretations are offered, with the time frame being explicitly _either_ the near future, or the distant past. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811/140 "2014-11-28T16:40:44Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > First of all, it’s the _opening_ narration. So, not exactly a “twist.” > > Second, both interpretations are offered, with the time frame being explicitly _either_ the near future, or the distant past. The \*opening \*narration reveals that they’re Adam and Eve? :dubious: This makes no sense whatsoever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-twilight-zone-episode/587811.md?page=8)