This wasn’t designed as a Twilight Zone episode. It was a theatrical short film that Serling bought the rights to in order to save on budget. The original Bierce story was great in its day, but it’s one of those seminal works that has been copied so much that no one is shocked by it any more.
I remember an editor showing me a story from his slushpile that was an obvious rip-off of the concept. I asked him if it was even possible to write a decent story on the theme, BTW, and he said, “If you do it well.” I took that as a challenge, and the result was very satisfying.
Back on topic: There’s “The Howling Man,” where the main character’s actions are sadly predictable, and finishes with an “Oh, no, not again” ending that barely works on sitcoms, let alone drama.
Yeah, that I knew, but I still had the same reaction to it that I did to many TZ episodes. Maybe if I’d seen/read it way back when but I guess if you read enough rip offs, the original stops feeling so great.
Funny that you should mention that. About ten (?) years ago, someone turned the first Planet of the Apes film into a Twilight Zone episode. He converted it to 4:3 black-and-white, cut it down to under half an hour with commercial breaks at the appropriate points, and added Serling opening/closing narration. It worked amazingly well. I haven’t seen it mentioned in years, but I think some Googling would turn it up.
Buh? Did you not see the ending to that episode? I thought it was one of the most graphic that the show has ever had.
You’re talking about the one where…
[spoiler]He’s walking through the town at night and hears all the jungle sounds, right? Walks in front of the store and hears them, walks down the block and hears them. Finally he runs home.
The ending features him going into his bedroom and seeing a lion on his bed (who has mauled and killed his wife). The lion then jumps toward him (and we have the POV of him, so it’s like the lion is jumping for the camera). Fade out.
How could you think that wasn’t a huge twist?[/spoiler]
To me the worst is the one in which Billy Mumy is an all-powerful, petulant child who can “wish people into the cornfield.” Talk about an exercise in futility. :mad:
A few months ago I watched The Obsolete Man. Although I think some of it was intentional, there was way too much overacting. I couldn’t really enjoy it at all. It was just too silly and ridiculous.
I absolutely LOVE the original Twilight Zone series, and have worn out my copy of The Twilight Zone Companion reading & referencing it so many times.
I will admit that some of the episodes didn’t quite hit their mark. The majority, however, were unique and ground-breaking for their time. That’s the key – FOR THEIR TIME. There was nothing like it & TZ created a lot of what we consider cliches today.
One of my favorites was with Keenan Wynn as a writer who found that he could dictate a character description into his tape recorder & the creations came to life. At Rod Serling’s epilogue he says something like, “of course this is just fantasy.” The writer’s (Wynn’s) response is to chastise Serling, then go to his safe, pull out pieces of tape labeled “Rod Serling” and destroy them. Rod Serling then fades from the shot. META!
These. If I never see “The Bewitching Pool” or Jack Klugman again, I’ll die a happy man.
The only exception would be the one with the three astronauts who see their own bodies on a crashed spacecraft. I’d call Klugman “tolerable” in that one.
Just noticed that Jack Klugman is a zombie. Oh well.
Since this thread was originally started, I’ve bought the complete series and am up to Season 4. So far, the absolute worst one has to be Cavender is Coming, about a bumbling guardian angel. Utterly lame and unfunny, and a complete waste of Carol Burnett.
