Episode 4 - The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine

Episode 4 - The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine
Original Airdate: October 23, 1959



Plot: A movie actress, twenty-five years past her prime, can't let go of the past and spends each day rewatching her old films. Her agent attempts to get her work, but she's too vain to accept anything except a leading role. Finally she wishes so hard to be back on the silver screen that she is transported into a new film - one where she and her costars remain ageless forever.

I was surprised to see a female lead in a show made in the 50's. I became less surprised as I found out that she wasn't a strong character, but a half-crazed shrew. The episode is reminiscent of Sunset Boulevard and probably inspired by it. In an odd coincidence, just today I typed up a story that had similar elements: a former star dealing with being out of the limelight. I'm fairly certain I've never seen this episode.
For an episode that expounds on the dangers of dwelling on the past and not living in the moment, the conclusion is a complete 180: you can live in the past, and you can be young forever. Perhaps it's not the moral I thought we were going to get, but it did send us off with a beautiful musical score and a smile.



An effect I enjoyed (and who knows if this was intentional) was the contrast between the darkness of the viewing room and well-lit other locations. Time almost stops in a movie theatre; as you're transported to a different time and place it's like you cease to exist. And no one can see the finer indications of age in the dark: sagging skin, wrinkles. But in the light, time marches on. It's no surprise, then, that our leading lady rarely leaves her projection room.

Episode 3 – Mr. Denton on Doomsday

Episode 3 – Mr. Denton on Doomsday
Original Airdate: October 16, 1959



Plot: A drunken, washed-up gunslinger rediscovers his self respect after a few seemingly lucky shots bring him notoriety once more. This works against him though, as he is challenged to a shootout and fears reentering the life of violence he once knew. He takes a magic potion that ensures him perfect aim, only to find out that his challenger has taken the same potion.


A fairly entertaining episode, but not what I expected. Mr. Denton is initially an alcoholic, so I thought this would be an anti-drinking story, but Denton sobers up quickly. I was left wondering in which direction this would go. There was the mysterious traveling merchant, Henry Fate... what was he planning? Eventually we see that Fate intends to give Denton his life back, while taking away his quick draw abilities so his existence can be a peaceful one. In the process a young gunslinger is also robbed (or freed, rather) of his shooting hand, and thus his life is saved. This, in some twisted way, exonerates Denton of the guilt of killing a minor in a shootout, the very event that lead him to begin drinking in the first place. The moral we're left with, I think, is that... violence is bad.
Well, what it lacks in psychological significance, it makes up for in memorable visuals and performances. Dan Duryea makes a believable reluctant gunslinger as well as a drunk, though the latter trait washes off of his countenance perhaps a little too swiftly. Also look for a young Martin Landau as a bully and a jerk.



Definitely fun to watch, though the underlying message becomes overshadowed by our curiosity at the nature of the supernatural elements of the story. Coming hot off the heels of episode two, I was disappointed to see, once more, both a mobile salesman as well as a personified idea (Fate) – this time in the same character. This could probably have been remedied by swapping this episode with another, but since this idea-person plays the role of aid instead of antagonist, I'll let it slide. Still, Henry "Fate" is just a little on-the-nose. How about a different name, like Justice or Lesson? Just an idea... fifty years too late.

Episode 2 - One for the Angels

Episode 2 - One for the Angels
Original Airdate: October 9, 1959



Plot: A sidewalk salesman of trinkets tries to avoid a personified death, but in doing so endangers the life of a little girl. In order to save her life, he must keep Death too enthralled in a sales pitch to claim the girl's life.



It sounds like a weak plot because it is. There's always that episode of a show that is always on when you try to catch the show on TV, and for The Twilight Zone, this is the one for me. The plot is ridiculous: are we supposed to see "pitchman" as a noble profession? I've never liked salespeople, and I think it's a testament to the failings of capitalism that we have people to convince us to buy things we don't need or at least want of our own accord.
The performances leave a lot to be desired. The salesman never seems alarmed by anything. "Oh, there's a strange man in my house. How do you do sir?" A lot of the actors on The Twilight Zone were established personalities; the actor in question is Ed Wynn, who even had his own show in the ten years before and went on to appear in Mary Poppins. Granted, the script isn't much to work with, but he's not even believable as a salesman. He's just monotone, disconnected, and awkward-sounding.
I can't blame the Death character too much for his performance. Death in this episode is a thin man in a suit who alternates between being absolutely immovable and a total pushover. What we have is a personification of an idea without any of the trappings of a person. Finally he is defeated because he can't resist a good deal on a tie. It's a miracle that anyone has to die when Death's on the job.



Perhaps the one saving grace of the episode is the scene in which the salesman is trying to avoid Death while leaving his apartment. He'll lock Death in one room just to find him magically in the next. It's a simple effect, but the movements of the camera make Death pop onscreen at that critical moment, and the whimsical score gives it a Looney Toons feel.
Altogether rather poor showing for The Twilight Zone's second airing, and something of a disappointment. Chin up, though, it's mostly uphill from here.

Episode 1 – Where is Everybody?

Season One

Episode 1 – Where is Everybody?
Original Airdate: October 2, 1959



Plot: An amnesiac wanders through a deserted town, trying to piece together who he is and where everyone has gone. He grows increasingly paranoid and eventually breaks down – at which point Air Force officials pull the plug on what is revealed to be an experiment in isolation in preparation for manned exploration of the moon.


"Where is Everybody?" was actually the third script Rod Serling wrote as a pilot for The Twilight Zone. The first, "The Time Element," was made into an episode of Desilu Playhouse. The second, a story about a future society that euthanizes its senior citizens, was deemed too depressing to sell a show to sponsors. Immediately after it was turned down, Serling wrote "Where is Everybody?" a story that he concocted while walking around an empty cityscape on a studio back lot. Reportedly, Serling grew to dislike the episode as the years went on; he cited the protagonist's running monologue as unrealistic and thought the ending was too straightforward. When the episode was shown before sponsors, Serling was not the narrator. A fill-in was selected while the studio decided who to cast. Orson Welles was considered, but demanded too much money. Eventually (thankfully), Serling was chosen.

The pilot's title card was also quite different. It looked like this:


Instead of the classic that was shown on television:



I think this was the perfect episode to premiere television's most beloved series. I have "The Time Element," and I'll get around to reviewing that too, but "Where is Everybody?" is far and away the superior script. It leaves so much to the imagination that it could possibly be any sort of science fiction story. You can't help but run the scenarios through your head: was the town evacuated for some reason? Were the townspeople abducted by aliens? Did everyone die of disease, causing the survivors to bury them before packing up to leave? And then there are the little hints that someone is operating behind the scenes: a warm pot of coffee left on the stove, a burning cigar. You constantly feel that the protagonist is one step behind some shadowy figure, and he slowly starts to feel that he's being watched. Had The Twilight Zone begun with an alien story or a time travel story, the audience would have expected more of the same the next week. Because there are so many possible scenarios until the matter is resolved at the end, the possibilities for where the show could go next were endless.

Prologue

What better way to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of one of the world's most influential televisions shows than by reexamining it in the original viewing order? I'd always planned to go back and watch it from beginning to end; it seemed like the only way to be sure that I'd seen every episode. The Twilight Zone was one of the first non-cartoon, non-sitcom shows that ever drew me in. The stories were so fresh to me – I hadn't yet realized how many times it had been referenced, paid homage to, and blatantly ripped off. It was a subtle blend of science fiction conventions and morality tales, a show that could spark your imagination while making observations on the human condition.

Each week I'll post a short synopsis of the episode as well as a little editorial on what I personally took away from it. I'll be reading along with Marc Scott Zicree's The Twilight Zone Companion in order to better understand themes that might be lost on today's audience – specifics about political situations, for instance. In addition I'll be compiling a database for the unfortunate schmucks like myself who laid out hundreds of dollars on the original DVD releases. The "Definitive Edition" DVDs are supposed to have better picture quality and tons of extras. The first sets have menus that take ages to load, almost no extras, and the episodes aren't in any particular order. My database, when completed, will direct you to which episode is on which disc. No longer will I have to dig through 45 discs to find a specific episode.

As I go along I'll have various other related posts to make as well. So many talented individuals helped bring The Twilight Zone to fruition. There are creators to highlight, actors to single out, adapted stories to compare to their televised versions, and countless related topics to explore. So break out your DVDs, click over to Hulu, set your DVR, and let's watch some Twilight Zone! Please leave your thoughts, comments, and memories before you go.