# TZ "It's a Good Life"---Why did they change this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2003, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271 "2003-04-08T09:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/1 "2003-04-08T09:55:17Z")
I read the [story](http://www.shadow-witch.com/inanna_cornfield.html) “It’s a Good Life”, by Jerome Bixby before I saw the Twilight Zone episode. Perhaps it’s first-read prejudice, but I like Bixby’s concept of Anthony **thinking** people and objects into the cornfield better than Serling’s perception of his **wishing** them. Not magic, but the power of his mind—I found that much more effective. Then, at the climax of the story, the drunk, bitter guy was transformed into “something like nothing anyone would have believed possible”. How disappointed I was to find out that the show had defined that “something”. So why was “think” changed to “wish”, and indefinable creature changed to…well, see it if you haven’t; it’s still a **good** episode, heh heh. But was it just dumbing down, the way “Philosopher’s Stone” became “Sorcerer’s Stone” and silver slippers became ruby slippers? And has anyone else read the story? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/2 "2003-04-08T12:34:22Z")
I haven’t read the story, but to a six-year-old child “thinking” and “wishing” could be pretty much the same thing. An adult might think, “I wish a 16-ton weight would fall on his head,” he’s not really _wishing_ it to happen. A child will think the same thing, and it really would be a wish. In the case of _It’s a Good Life_, I think that “thinking” something bad happening to someone would show more “maliciousness”. That is, the child would _know_ what he’s doing is wrong. By “wishing” something to happen, I think it’s not malicious. I liked the jack-in-the-box. I thought it was a great image. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/3 "2003-04-08T13:01:12Z")
Yeah, but I thought “thinking” was more effective because it was cold-blooded, whereas “wishing” could be a whim—a child’s whim. The impression I got from both the story and the episode was that whatever Anthony was, he wasn’t **really** a child. I think maliciousness **did** come into it, to an extent. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/4 "2003-04-08T13:10:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, but I thought “thinking” was more effective because it was cold-blooded, whereas “wishing” could be a whim—a child’s whim. Exactly. The TZ episode portrayed him as not mean-spirited. Personally, I find that more frightening than his being some sort of malevolent creature. With a “bad thing” you can often avoid pissing it off. With a child, you’re subject to his whims. I think it’s scarier when you don’t know what not to do. (Although the adults in the ep. seemed to have a fairly good grasp of it. But they were never totally sure.) I read a Ray Bradbury story about a kid who’s sick in bed. He feels that he is slowly becoming something other than himself – I think it was likened to fossilized trees, where the thing _looks_ like a tree, but is really stone. Over time the tree’s structure has been replaced by minerals. The tree no longer exists, but its form does. How does it end? (_Complete_ spoiler below.) The boy’s body is finally taken over. “He” no longer exists. The boy is gone and “something” that looks and sounds and acts exactly like him has taken his place. He says he feels fine and jumps out of bed. He shakes the doctor’s hand. He shakes his parents’ hands. Then he goes outside and some ants merely touch his foot… and _die!_ The little boy smiles. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/5 "2003-04-08T15:31:54Z")
The story’s power was the same as in the TZ episode: Anthony wasn’t evil in either. He was amoral and terrifying, but everything he did was a good thing in his self-centered world. I don’t think anything he did was out of spite or maliciousness; he was either protecting himself or lashing out in unthinking, immature anger. (In the story, he even had some semblance of a conscience – he tried to bring back someone he had killed, but no one appreciated it.) I agree that the story was stronger because Bixby left some of the things to the imagination. One of my favorite lines in the story was one saying how someone blamed themselves for what Anthony did to someone – and not mentioning what he actually did do. There were also several great references to “after what happened to x,” where “what happened” was never explained – which made them more terrifying. But TV is a visual medium and just having the guy vanish would have had no impact. There is no way to portray “something like nothing anyone would ever believe possible” on the screen. Or, rather, no matter how you do it, you needed to show an image. The Jack-in-the-box was as good an image as anything. But it’s _good_ that you brought this up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/6 "2003-04-08T20:52:50Z")
I think, RealityChuck, that one of the things that made Anthony so horrifying in the story was that he had the perceptions of a normal child. The story emphasized he did like some of the townspeople. I also liked the jack in the box idea. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/7 "2003-04-09T04:30:07Z")
Bradbury was my favorite writer when I was a kid. i read a pile of his books when i was 9 or 10. **Johnny** , that story really creeped me out 🙂 [spoiler]"The boy turned quietly. He gave each of his parents a crushing hug. He kissed them both several times. Then without a word he bounded up the steps into the house. In the parlor, before the others entered, he quickly opened the bird cage, thrust his hand in, and petted the yellow canary, _once_. Then he shut the cage door, stood back, and waited."[/spoiler] bbbrrrrrr. It _ **still** _ creeps me out! 🙂 Eric ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/8 "2003-04-09T05:25:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > But TV is a visual medium and just having the guy vanish would have had no impact. There is no way to portray “something like nothing anyone would ever believe possible” on the screen._\* Reaction shots? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/9 "2003-04-09T05:31:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*Reaction shots? \*\* I’m picturing just reaction shots, without showing what they’re reacting to, and I’m not sure how to do it without making it look obvious or dumb. BTW, what happened in the “sequel” to this ep that was on the new Twilight Zone recently? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/10 "2003-04-09T12:21:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Leaper \* > \*\*BTW, what happened in the “sequel” to this ep that was on the new Twilight Zone recently? \*\* Anthony is all grown up now and has a daughter. His mother, Agnes, finds out that her granddaughter has the same powers Anthony has and hopes that the daughter will wish Anthony away. But the plan backfires, and the daughter wishes everyone in Peaksville away. She and her father walk outside and she brings back the world, instead of just Peaksville. ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tz-its-a-good-life-why-did-they-change-this/167271/11 "2003-04-10T07:31:18Z")
Nothing I ever saw on THE TWILIGHT ZONE ever creeped me out as much as the jack-in-the-box in that episode. And that’s saying something. By the way, I do know the reason for changing Dorothy’s Silver Shoes into Ruby Slippers: Technicolor! Silver shoes would have read as boring old white against the Yellow Brick Road. Ruby red was used for contrast.