You are about to enter another dimension. Not only of sight and sound, but of mind.

Olivaw

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call



Created, narrated, and mostly written by this guy:



And starring the likes of The Penguin and Captain Kirk:





With music written by the guys what wrote these tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMhtgxQPIsU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC5AzFc3coo

Yes sir, The Twilight Zone was a show so far ahead of it's time it's stunning to imagine that it even got greenlit, let alone ran for five years. I've always loved it, ever since I first saw it when I was a kid, but I've never had the opportunity to sit down and really get into it, except when SyFy chooses to have their fourth of July marathon

Well as of April 1st it's on Netflix Instant streaming in it's entirety! And so I've been watching it from the very beginning, and I have to tell you, this is some pretty fucked shit for 1959

So far, I've seen a man broker a deal with Death to save his life, killing a small girl in the process before tricking Death into taking him instead, a man who sold his soul to the fucking Devil, a man sentenced to solitary confinement on an asteroid who comes to love a female android before seeing her gunned down in front of him by his jailors when they come to take him home, and a man surviving a nuclear bomb who lives in the wreckage of the city for days before deciding to stick a gun to his head

Some of it is pretty obvious now, with the "twists" of the episodes, if they have one, being so ingrained into our pop culture sensibilities that we know what will happen without having ever seen it before, but it's still shockingly well written stuff, and at the time I'm sure it was goddamn mindblowing

I'm only twelve or so episodes into the first season, and I am very very impressed so far. I am surprised that Rod Serling has not shown up on camera yet at all! No walk ons as of yet, anyway

So let's talk about our favorite Twilight Zone episodes! Or Night Gallery I guess, I've never seen Night Gallery

The_Scarab

You're entering the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location, the kind of place where there might be a monster or some kind of weird mirror. These are just examples. It could also be something much better.

L|ama

Little Girl Lost is one of my favs for obvious reasons

well, obvious if you know both me and the episode so not really obvious

Goatmon

Why should I help you?

You're Hitler.

Olivaw

L|ama wrote: »

Little Girl Lost is one of my favs for obvious reasons

well, obvious if you know both me and the episode so not really obvious

I really like the one about the neighborhood whose power goes out, except for one house

And then everyone thinks that one dude is a commie spy when he doesn't know why his power stayed on

And then the power goes out again, but another dude's lights stay on and everyone flips out

That's one of the most perfect encapsulations of cold war paranoia I've ever seen!

Antimatter

Olivaw wrote: »

L|ama wrote: »

Little Girl Lost is one of my favs for obvious reasons

well, obvious if you know both me and the episode so not really obvious

I really like the one about the neighborhood whose power goes out, except for one house

And then everyone thinks that one dude is a commie spy when he doesn't know why his power stayed on

And then the power goes out again, but another dude's lights stay on and everyone flips out

That's one of the most perfect encapsulations of cold war paranoia I've ever seen!

the monsters are due on maple street!

fuck, I love the twilight zone

the movie was great too

Druhim

Olivaw wrote: »

L|ama wrote: »

Little Girl Lost is one of my favs for obvious reasons

well, obvious if you know both me and the episode so not really obvious

I really like the one about the neighborhood whose power goes out, except for one house

And then everyone thinks that one dude is a commie spy when he doesn't know why his power stayed on

And then the power goes out again, but another dude's lights stay on and everyone flips out

That's one of the most perfect encapsulations of cold war paranoia I've ever seen!

yes, that's a fucking great episode

Antimatter

I really really love Deaths-Head Revisited, and Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?

both of which got comic book adaptations!

Zonugal

To Serve Man is probably my favorite episode. It is the performers reaction combined with the soundtrack at the climax of the episode that sends me goosebumps.

Olivaw

I just saw The Fever, where a dude gets obsessed with gambling despite being all moral and self-righteous at the beginning, and hears a slot machine calling his name with a really neat/funny effect that makes it sound like clinking coins

He ends up plummeting out a window and dying!

Sure is an upbeat show

Antimatter

oh fuck me, I just remembered The Obsolete Man

god, this show is so great

naporeon

My two favorite episodes are probably "Time Enough at Last" and "A Nice Place to Visit".

Great goddamned series all around, though.

"That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was all the time I needed...! That's not fair!"

Antimatter

Talky Tina still freaks the living hell out of me

Aneurhythmia

Olivaw wrote: »

[strike]There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call[/strike]

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear.

Antimatter

love you annie

outer limits also rules

The Geek

Aneurhythmia wrote: »

Olivaw wrote: »

[strike]There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear.[/strike]

You are entering the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location. The kind of place where there might be a monster, or some kind of weird mirror. These are just examples; it could also be something much better. Prepare to enter: The Scary Door.

Macro9

Love me some Twilight Zone.

One of the best TV shows ever.

Druhim

Another Serling show that isn't as well known but started out strong was Night Gallery. Unfortunately Serling chose to turn down control of the show and later found many of his script submissions butchered or outright ignored so it understandably lost viewers.

Macro9

One of the best things in Alan Wake was Night Springs.

It was obviously influenced by these shows.

Olivaw

Druhim wrote: »

Another Serling show that isn't as well known but started out strong was Night Gallery. Unfortunately Serling chose to turn down control of the show and later found many of his script submissions butchered or outright ignored so it understandably lost viewers.

For all the episodes I've seen of Twilight Zone, I've never seen a single episode of Night Gallery

I guess people don't remember it as fondly

Druhim

well yeah, that's pretty much what I said

Olivaw

Druhim wrote: »

well yeah, that's pretty much what I said

Well you'd think it would still get aired somewhere, is my point

It's not like SyFy cares much about quality, they still air the goddamn Night Stalker reboot

Druhim

Well yeah, but the thing is people at least remember Night Stalker. Hardly anyone even in my age group remembers Night Gallery. And if people don't remember it, there's little reason for them to air it again because it won't draw in viewers.

Olivaw

I would argue that more people remember Night Gallery than remember Kolchak: the Night Stalker

Hell I would argue most people don't even know what Night Stalker is

At least the Simpsons did a parody of Night Gallery. I think Kolchak is one of the few things they haven't referenced yet

Druhim

That's a fair point. Maybe the syndication rights are just too expensive for them to think it's worth it.

Squall

i think i watched all the way thru the 3rd season

i need to get going on the 4th, it's easily one of my favorite shows

Squall

also re: the OP: syfy usually runs a new years marathon in addition to the independence day one, doesn't it?

Olivaw

Squall wrote: »

also re: the OP: syfy usually runs a new years marathon in addition to the independence day one, doesn't it?

Yes I believe so!

I just remembered the 4th of July one more because SyFy chose not to do it last year and everyone was pretty mad about it, because they chose to show Greatest American Hero instead

Squall

i liked the new years one better just because i didn't feel like a useless piece of shit if i sat in the house for six hours watching it while it was miserable outside

Aneurhythmia

I love a lot of the classic pulp short anthologies and even a bunch of the bad 80s ones. I've never seen this one, but the title is absolutely killing me:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoa_Presents:_One_Step_Beyond

cadmunky

man, i loved TZ and night gallery. i gotta find that ep that still springs up in my subconscience every now and then. at least i think it was on night gallery. long time ago man.

and rod is my inspiration for being a life-long smoker.

Olivaw

Aneurhythmia wrote: »

I love a lot of the classic pulp short anthologies and even a bunch of the bad 80s ones. I've never seen this one, but the title is absolutely killing me:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoa_Presents:_One_Step_Beyond

I know this one! This is the one my mom always tells me scared the shit out of her when she was a kid

It got to the point where my uncle (who loved all those old spooky anthology shows) would just start humming the opening theme music and she'd get upset

We got the DVD and watched it recently and while I can't speak for the entirety of the show, it didn't seem very good in comparison to Twilight Zone or Outer Limits

But it did have a pretty haunting theme!

Macro9

Olivaw wrote: »

Druhim wrote: »

Another Serling show that isn't as well known but started out strong was Night Gallery. Unfortunately Serling chose to turn down control of the show and later found many of his script submissions butchered or outright ignored so it understandably lost viewers.

For all the episodes I've seen of Twilight Zone, I've never seen a single episode of Night Gallery

I guess people don't remember it as fondly

I am pretty sure that Hulu has most if not all of Night Gallery's episodes.

Olivaw

Oh my god

The episode I am watching right now is literally "Yesterday's Enterprise"

It's uncanny

This has to be my favorite episode so far

Jimothy

"To Serve Man" freaked me out so much. Didn't help that I was watching it alone in a darkened room at 1:30 AM.

Olivaw

I had the ending to that episode spoiled for me through cultural osmosis

But it's still real good regardless!

Antimatter

Olivaw wrote: »

I had the ending to that episode spoiled for me through cultural osmosis

But it's still real good regardless!

I'd read the actual short story it was based on in some anthology before seeing the episode, but yeah, cultural osmosis is a bitch

Godfather

My favorite episodes are The Obsolete Man, The Midnight Sun and especially The Hitchhiker

BugBoy

Antimatter wrote: »

Olivaw wrote: »

I had the ending to that episode spoiled for me through cultural osmosis

But it's still real good regardless!

I'd read the actual short story it was based on in some anthology before seeing the episode, but yeah, cultural osmosis is a bitch

I wonder if there's anyone that doesn't know the ending to Eye of The Beholder or Time Enough at Last

Butler For Life #1

The bandages come off and it's a cookbook

Jimothy

What's the name of the one with the fake squirrel? That's a fun episode.