# NOT in praise of The Twilight Zone **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [November 20, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-in-praise-of-the-twilight-zone/1025021 "2025-11-20T20:39:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 50
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-in-praise-of-the-twilight-zone/1025021/50 "2025-11-21T04:22:00Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > His next zone, “The Obsolete Man”, where he is a librarian sentenced to die in a dystopian society, still holds some relevance. That one was good, IMHO. > [@Smapti](#): > > If you’re willing to overlook the “atheists all secretly believe in God, by which I specifically mean the Christian God, and refuse to admit it because they’re mad at the world, but will beg for divine aid the instant they find themselves in danger” part. That wasnt in there at all. Sure the Chancellor begs “in the name of god”, but that worked on Woodsworth. > [@Smapti](#): > > Meredith’s crime is believing in God. He traps the inquisitor in a room with a bomb and agrees to free him once he begs God to save him. Nope- > **[The Obsolete Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Obsolete_Man)** > > "The Obsolete Man" is episode 65 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone, starring Burgess Meredith as Romney Wordsworth, the accused, and Fritz Weaver as the Chancellor (and prosecutor). It originally aired on June 2, 1961, on CBS. The story was later adapted for The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas starring Jason Alexander as Wordsworth. > You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future, not a future that will be but one that might be. This is not a n... _In a future [totalitarian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism "Totalitarianism") state, Romney Wordsworth is put on trial for being [obsolete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete "Obsolete"). His professed occupation as a [librarian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librarian "Librarian") is punishable by death, as the [state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity) "State (polity)") has eliminated books. His faith in God is taken as further proof of obsolescence, as the atheist state claims to have proven God does not exist._ His crime is being a librarian, an obsolete occupation. Believing in God was just extra evidence. > [@Coriolanus](#): > > One of my favorites is the Art Carney Christmas episode. He’s a drunk on Christmas Eve, and his bag is full of empty cans or great presents, depending… Good one! > [@Coriolanus](#): > > “Cavender is Coming” (a failed comedic pilot by Rod) are the worst, worst episodes. That one is really weak, I concur, but worst? > [@Atamasama](#): > > The intention of the episode was to demonstrate the **EVIL OF DIVORCE**. Weak, yes, but not the worst. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I was looking through a list of episodes, and I remembered “The Changing of the Guard”, where a retiring Mr Chips-like professor is sad and thinks his entire life’s work is for nothing. Bittersweet, not one of the best, but okay. > [@Smapti](#): > > I mean, I don’t know what they were teaching in science classes in the ‘50s, but even Ray Bradbury and Heinlein assumed Mars would have earthlike gravity and a breathable atmosphere. Bradbury wrote either fantasy or Spec-fic, but IIRC RAH had them wearing breathers. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-in-praise-of-the-twilight-zone/1025021)._