# Twilight Zone episodes that would make good full length movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229 "2005-07-06T02:05:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/1 "2005-07-06T02:05:55Z")
Is it just me or would _It’s a Good Life_(the one about the young boy being able to do anything he wants by just thinking it) make a really good movie? What other Zone episodes do you think would be adaptable to the big screen in full versions? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/2 "2005-07-06T02:30:32Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > Is it just me or would _It’s a Good Life_(the one about the young boy being able to do anything he wants by just thinking it) make a really good movie? > > What other Zone episodes do you think would be adaptable to the big screen in full versions? Well, a version of “It’s a good life” did make it into the Twilight Zone movie Landis made, but they changed a number of things, including the ending. I’ve always liked “The Oddessy of Flight 33” ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/3 "2005-07-06T02:30:26Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > Is it just me or would _It’s a Good Life_(the one about the young boy being able to do anything he wants by just thinking it) make a really good movie? > > What other Zone episodes do you think would be adaptable to the big screen in full versions? Well, a version of “It’s a good life” did make it into the Twilight Zone movie Landis made, but they changed a number of things, including the ending. I’ve always like “The Oddessy of Flight 33” ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/4 "2005-07-06T02:38:56Z")
My suggestion would be “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/5 "2005-07-06T02:41:46Z")
I always thought of the movie “Needful Things” to be a version of “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/6 "2005-07-06T03:37:42Z")
In one sense of the word, most of the eps could have been saddled with a couple more characters and a couple more subplots to make them into movies, but the OP did say “good” movies. I think the master Richard Matheson could have easily expanded “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet” into a 90-minute telefilm without having to pad it needlessly. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/7 "2005-07-06T12:51:56Z")
I think what made the episode’s work was their economy. The 1/2 teleplays always worked better than the full hour episodes. They were tight story telling that allowed for the right punch of the twist ending. To make any into a movie would require needless padding and more red herrings to make the endings work. I can’t think of a single episode where I thought they needed to add more to make it better. ---
**Author:** ![saramamalana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@saramamalana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saramamalana)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/8 "2005-07-07T01:30:22Z")
Is it fair to say the movie _Child’s Play_ is like an extension of the \*Talking Tina \*episode? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/9 "2005-07-07T02:14:15Z")
The one about the Genie granting wishes to a poor shopkeeper. Add another 5 wishes, and it’s movie length. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/10 "2005-07-07T02:20:34Z")
was there an episode about a guy who’s convicted of a crime and his punishment is that he’s branded on his forehead and the brand makes him essentially excommunicated (talking to him is a crime, etc etc)? it’s the only episode i’ve seen, assuming it’s even twilight zone. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/11 "2005-07-07T03:30:31Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > was there an episode about a guy who’s convicted of a crime and his punishment is that he’s branded on his forehead and the brand makes him essentially excommunicated (talking to him is a crime, etc etc)? > > it’s the only episode i’ve seen, assuming it’s even twilight zone. Yes, it’s a _Zone_ episode but from the 1985 season (I dont remember the title of that episode, though). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/12 "2005-07-07T04:57:49Z")
I think it was called _The Invisible Man_ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twilight-zone-episodes-that-would-make-good-full-length-movies/311229/13 "2005-07-07T11:56:11Z")
_To See The Invisible Man_, based on the short story by Robert Silverberg. Pretty decent ep for the 85 series. Sir Rhosis