New Twilight Zone Episode?

Cafe Society
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SPOILERS AHOY MATE, SOUND THE ALARM!

I loved this show, and watched it every Saturday night. I was hooked from the first episode which starred Bruce Willis in a segment called “Shatterday”, in which a lonely, withdrawn, bitter man finds his life being taken over by a nicer version of himself, ie, the man he used to be.

But what hooked me was the remake of the classic “A Game of Pool”. In the original, [SPOILERS] local pool shark Jack Klugman is dismayed thay, though he is the master of the pool hall he lives in, he can never live up to the legend of the previous master–Jackie Gleason. One day he makes a plea to heaven that he get just one chance to prove himself equal to Gleason. Cut to Gleason, seated in a cloud, being called over a PA. He appears to Klugman, and offers Klugman a chance to play, but Klugman must wager his life. They play straight pool. With the score tied and each needing one ball to win, Gleason misses a difficult shot, leaving Klugman a pocket hanger. Gleason threatens and cajoles, but Klugman sinks the ball easily. This leads to [SPOLERS]
Gleason thanks Klugman for setting him free. He had been trapped playing challengers at his best until someone beat him. The episode ends with a very weary Klugman being called from heaven (or hell?) on the same loudspeaker.

TNTZ episode had a similar setup, including the requirement that the challenger must bet his life for the shot at the game. I don’t remember who played the young challenger, but I think the champ was played by Johnathan Winters doing a passable Gleason impression. Anyway, everything proceeds as in the original, until the young man has what seems only a moderately difficult shot, which he misses. The Champ sinks it and thanks him for the game. The challenger asks when he will die. The Champ tells him he’ll live a normal life, but when he dies, that will be the end. Had he won, he would have taken the Champ’s place, giving him a kind of immortality, and a chance to do what he most loves for eternity.

What I love about this is that the two endings make diametrically opposed points, but both are equally appropriate given the setup, and the remake plays on the expectations of those who’d seen the original.
The Cold Equations: The reason throwing out all of the objects in the ship wouldn’t work is that the ship had been accelerating for a long time with the extra mass, using up all of the reserve fuel.

The Gremlin on the wing episode was “Terror at 20,000 Feet” and it did indeed star William Shatner. George Takai also starred in an episode as a young man who becomes trapped in the attic of a bitter, racist, WW2 veteran, and the two proceed to refight the WW2 Pacific war. It was removed from syndication early on because it was determined that the racist theme might offend some people.

I have six filled VHS tapes of the original from a Twilight Zone Labor Day marathon on the Sci-Fi channel a few years ago.

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Wasn’t that a great episode! The story was written by Harlan Ellison.

NTZ had some stories that were equal to the best episodes of the original series.

You’re mistaken on the episode A Game of Pool. The original had Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters. According to this site, the New Twilight Zone Episode starred Esai Morales and Maury Chaykin. You may be thinking of the movie the Hustler, which had Jackie Gleason.

Eric

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In Twilight Zone: The Movie John Lithgow took on the role of the nervous flyer.

As for The Cold Equations, the Sci-Fi Channel had a full length version of the same story.

I’ll check on the spider episode and post later today.

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I don’t remember seeing The Cold Equations on NTZ, but it was on the Science Fiction Channel a few years ago as an in-house production. That’s the only one I’ve seen on film (shot with an Aaton XTRprod super-16, IIRC) and I was quite excited. The Cold Equations is one of my favourite short stories.

I was disappointed by the ending though. In the story, the reason the woman had to be jettisoned was that they simply didn’t have enough rocket fuel to land with her on board. The reason she was on board was that she just wanted to see her brother. The reason the ship had to get to the surface was simply to deliver medicine for an epidemic that simply was there.

In the filmed version, it was a Big Corporate Conspiracy. IIRC, the Corporation actually caused the epidemic and the poor pilot and girl were victims of the Evil Money People. It was much better as a simple short story. The Conspiracy subplot wrecked it for me.

So was “The Shadow Man” episode on NTZ? Or was it Tales from the Darkside? Or The Outer Limits? Or something else?

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“The Shadow Man” was a Zone show.

The episode with the giant spider was “The Elevator”. It was about a scientist trying to solve world hunger by growing giant “perfect” food animals. As with all Zone tales, something goes horribly awry. One of the victims was the creepy kid who gets turned into a vampire in Fright Night.

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As others have already said, it was indeed John Lithgow in the movie and William Shatner in the old TV series. In one episode of “Third Rock from the Sun,” a reference is made to this. Lithgow (Professor Solomon) meets Shatner (the Big Giant Head) at the airport. Shatner mentions seeing something on the wing of the plane. Lithgow replies, “The same thing happened to me!”

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That’s happened to me also, I guess the board ate something that didn’t sit well. :slight_smile:

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I haven’t seen any adaption. But I’ve read the original. I hate it.
SPOILERS APLENTY
The problem is explained in the first few pages. I kept waiting for someone to solve the problem. They don’t even try. The pilot doesn’t eject equipment(I kept thinking of the radio. After you contact the colonists and they know what general area you’ll land in, why not ejct the radio?). They don’t remove furniture. No last minute solution pops up. After all my wondering on how they would solve the problem and save the girl, they don’t. No one has any ideas. The girl dies.
I’ll reread it but-
What’s in the supply closet? If they have pressure suits, how much weight would be gained by depressurizing the cabin?

etc

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I was watching the anniversary show for CBS’s Television City when they showed an intro clip for a Zone episode. The episode was set in the '30s and centered around some high-end radio set. I’d love to know what happened in that episode. Anyone? Bueller?

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Y’know the episode about the kid with all the psychic powers.
“It’s good that you did that. It’s very good”

My memory might be faulty. But the original story by Jerome Bixby contains a detail I don’t remember seeing in the episode.

NON-SPOILER

  Every says ''It's a good thing." all the time not just to avoid angering Anthony, but to avoid seeming unhappy. Anthony wants people to be happy. One woman was too sad over the death of her husband. So, Anthony brought him back-as a lurching,rotting corpse. Anthony isn't evil. Like any little kid, there are things he doesn't understand (I don't think  he's clear on just what death is), but he wants to make people happy. Since this usually makes thing much worse, everyone tries to be happy all the time.

So, Anthony is a monster. But, not on purpose.
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Can someone explain the plot of “Examination Day” (the episode referenced in the OP) for me? I don’t understand the relationship between the boy getting the computer, and him scoring high enough to get killed on his exams.

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From this site:

[quote]
I read this very interesting story called Examination Day by Henry Slesar. let me get you think about this quote before i tell you this story. “it’s just a sort of government intelligence test they give children at age of 12.” Are you curious yet well let me tell you. It starts off at breakfast in an apartment. The protagonist name is Richard Jordan but his parents call him Dickie. It’s the day of Dickies b-day and his mother mentions about this government test. So Dickie is curious and he asks his parents about so they tell him it’s a test all boys take when they are twelve. Dickie was not dum you see he get’s good grades in school so it did not bother him much. So it’s his b-day and he has to take a test and after the test his parents tell him they’ll have a party for him. Dickie and his father went to the Government Educational Building and his father signs him in to take the test. His father tells him not to worry all you do is drink a fluid that tastes like peppermint so they will no if you lie or not then you take the test. So they call these boys in by numbers so dickie is called and he goes in. They tell him to drink the fluid and then told him to answers the questions to the microphone when he is ready. So Dickie does that.>…So after the test is taken Dickie’s parents get a call from a woman fron the Gov’t Educational building. So this is what the women tells Dickie’s parents " Your son has completed the Government examination. We regret to inform you that his intelligence quotient has exceeded the Government regulation, according to rule 84.You may specify by telephone wheather you wish his body interred by government or would you prefer a private burial place? The fee is $10 for the Gov’t burial". Isn’t that crazy. Well in this society the boys can’t be over intelligent other wise the are killed. Wow this story remind me of ‘The Lottery’. A very good ending.
posted by jasmine flower at 10/14/2001
The computer may have just been the gift in the teevee show, as opposed to a party. It’s been a long time since I read the story.

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It’s one of 2 things

#1 Like Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, equality is the law. Except that instead of government handicaps(weights for strong people. Masks for attractive people) as in Vonnegut’s story, exceptional people are killed

#2 The government kills anyone who might be inteligent enough to be a threat. Dictators often kill teachers and artists for this reason. I’ve heard(alright I heard it on Earth:Final Conflict) Pol Pot went so far as to order the death of anyone wearing glasses or a pocket watch.

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From this site:

The computer may have just been the gift in the teevee show, as opposed to a party. It’s been a long time since I read the story.

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That would be “Cold Reading”. An aspiring radio actor gets the opportunity to perform with his idol (Dick Shawn), a pompous hack who demands realistic sound effects in his shows. The sound engineer finds an authentic African artifact for the latest production. Shawn rejects it and wishes that all the sounds in his show were real. Turns out the artifact grants the writer his wish. All the sounds ARE real. Unfortuantely, the play takes place in the darkest regions of Africa. When the writer realizes what waits in store for the actors, he quickly re-writes the ending. The studio ends up looking like the jungle where the play takes place.

The writer is unable to stop the announcer from telling the audience the title of next week’s new serial: “Invaders From Mars”.

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Thanks, Mr.!

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Oh, and as an added MST3K bonus, “Cold Reading” was directed by Gus “Sidehackers” Trikonis!

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good afternoon friends,

i’d like to thank all of you for the answer to my shatner/lithgow question.

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One of my favorites of the New Twilight Zones was “Button, Button,” with Brad Davis and a chain-smoking Mare Winningham.

A shady man in black comes to her door and offers her quite a deal. He places a little box in her hands and tells her that if she presses the button inside, someone who she does not know will die. In return, she receives $800,000 tax free.

As TZ was usually about poetic justice, you can guess what happens.

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Mr. Sarcasticus: Man, I loved that one! “Who are you going to give the box to?” Heh heh heh.