Once Upon a Time. It wasn’t the greatest of stories, but I’m a HUGE Buster Keaton fan, and I just saw this one a few weeks ago. I had no idea it was coming on, and suddenly, Hey! There’s my man Buster!
I also liked the rather clever techniques of making the “old” scenes look like an early silent picture, etc.
These are some great memories. I haven’t seen the original Zone in years.
The newer TZ series had a sequel to this with the same kid (played by the same actor) all grown up.
All day on New Years Eve if you have the Sci-Fi Channel on Cable. 
Lost in Space’s Billy Mumy, who grew up to be quite the hottie. “Danger, Will Robinson,” indeed!
Ye gads, I can’t believe I’m the first to nominate “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street.” Creepy, suspenseful, and all too plausible. Throw in a few references to “terrorists” and you could show it today without a hiccup.
I also love A Most Unusual Camera, if only for Jean Carson’s performance as the peroxided, Brillo-voiced floozy.
I’m a big fan of floozies and doxies and broads–oh, my!
I don’t think anyone has mentioned two of the best: “The Howling Man” and “To Serve Man”. The latter was based on a surprise ending. The first one was just creepy and filmed in an unbalanced way. It started like this:
“I know it’s an incredible story…I, of all people, know this…and you won’t believe me. No, not at first, but I’m going to tell you the whole thing. Then, you’ll believe me because you must. You MUST believe!”
I will never forget the ending.
Both episodes relied on a first person narration. Maybe those episodes just appeal to me.
There were dozens of great ones… but my favorite was probably the most seasonally appropriate: I loved Art Carney as the department store Santa Claus in “Night of the Meek.”
Yep. The annual SciFi channel marathon on New Year’s weekend, Dec 31-Jan 1. There will be ten special uncut episodes per night. I’ve seen every episode at least a dozen times, but I’ll watch them again.
The New TZ did a version of this where the watch is used to stop time just seconds before nuclear missles hit the earth. So the missles are frozen in the sky and everyone is frozen running around in a panic. More hysteria to be sure, but it’s an interesting twist – the watch isn’t broken the woman (I think it was a woman) has the choice of starting time again to end her predicament, but doing so would mean nuclear holocaust and all those people would be dead.
I’ve never seen Bill Mumy as an adult, except when made up as Leneer, the MInbari, in Babylon 5. But I used to live for “Lost in Space” as a child of eleven.
Earlier in the episode, she had used her time-stopping ability to embarrass a couple of individuals going door-to-door asking people to get involved in defusing nuclear tension.
I remember making up an elaborate scenario in my mind where the woman travels all over the United States and uses cranes and other assorted construction machinery to disassemble all of the incoming Russian missiles. Then she starts time again and Russia is obliterated while the United States is OK.
The 80’s version of the Zone will be released in two sets on DVD.
The first one is due next Tuesday!.
That episode is called “It’s a Good Life”. It’s actually based on a short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby. Here is a link to it:
http://www.llywelyn.net/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html
Goofy, but I liked Casey the robot, who pitched for the Hoboken Zephyrs and lost them the pennant.
I loved Jana’s surprise in “The Lateness of the Hour.”
Global Flight 33’s plight always intrigued me.
The you-can’t-change-the-past lesson of “No Time Like the Past,” was great.
And of course the classic "An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge.’
What confuses me about memories of the New 1980s Twilight Zone was that it was part of a line up of Amazing Stories, The New Twilight Zone, The New Alfred Hitchcok Presents (where the intors were a computer generated Hitchcock). So I have problems remembering which was which.
The airplane with the catroon wheels was Amazing Stories, the rich bitch who went to prison and paid the morgue guy to sneak her out in a coffin was Hitchcock… but what about the developmenally delayed guy who could magically look at a photo and then make it materialize saying “Bring”…?
The New Twilight Zone was on CBS (and later syndicated) while the other two were NBC. The story about the boy was called “The Toys of Caliban” and was on the Zone.
I’m a big fan of
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
To Serve Man
The Invaders
Will the Real Martian Please Stand up?
and Midnight Sun
That was Julie Newmar? That explains alot. Her scene was the only part of Of Late I Sometimes Think Of Cliffordsville that I enjoyed. Besides her obvious charms ‘I assume the price for this would be my soul.’
‘Your soul? Oh no. We aquired that some years ago.’
I prefer the version of Nightmare At 20,00 Feet in the Twilight Zone movie. With a bigger budget they had better lighting and camera angles which really make the piece feel frightening and claustrophobic. Instead of Shatner, the passenger is played by Johnathan Lithgow.
Without spoiling The Big Pitch, I love the exchange when Death finaly takes Wynn. Wynn makes toys for the neighborhood children and they all call him uncle.
‘Alright, I’m ready to go. We’re going . . up there right? I made it in?’
‘Yes, you made it in.’
‘On account of the children?’
‘Yes, on account of the children.’
I’d also like to thank everybody for the spoiler boxes. I don’t have cable. Instead of the Twilight Zone or similar delights, the midnight airwaves are filled with infomercials. As much as I love the Twilight Zone, there are many episodes I haven’t seen.
I almost forgot The Obsolete Man. On the surface, it’s a story about how communism is flawed and the Soviets are evil. However, (correct me if I’m wrong here) it’s also Rod’s way of telling McCarthy and his ilk that they are fascists and should go screw themselves.