About the original TZ series quality and Adam West

I hate in the ep Stopover In A Quiet Town when they are panning to Rod Serling you can see the studio background showing the house Bob and Millie Frazier are in is really a studio. They pan in a similar way in the ep about the old lady getting the strange phonecalls, too. Other than the eps are usually great (unless they're sappy like Kick The Can).About Adam West (Batman). Yes he was never on the original TZ and what a pity! He was perfect for the TZ. In one ep Caesar and Me, Stafford Repp (later Chief O'Hara on Batman with Adam West) was in it. There is a character in Caesar and Me named Jonathon WEST! Also the name in the title Caesar, a Dummy (like Caesar Romero who played the Joker on Batman!) and this Caesar tells jokes! Was the writer of Caesar and Me psychic? I believe so! If there are alternate universes I feel there Adam West was on The Twiight Zone!

A chilling metaphor for Ebay

Episode 73, "It's a Good Life," features Billy Mumy as a mind-reading six year old who can instantly disfigure or kill any person around him who doesn't think "happy thoughts." The episode drips with claustrophobic tension as the people of Peaksville, Ohio tiptoe through their daily activities striving to maintain a happy facade despite their terror. In the Peaksville known as Ebay buyers and sellers too try to think "happy thoughts." These happy thoughts make their way into the site as positive feedback drenched in hyperbole: "A+++++,! Super Mega Ultra Awesome! BEST BUYER ON EBAY!!!!!" But this positive feedback only obscures the fear of receiving potentially crippling retaliatory negative feedback. The fear of negative feedback is so strong that it spans Ebay: positive feedback is exaggerated, sellers bend over backwards to appease even unreasonable customers, buyers deliberate painstakingly before giving negative feedback for poorly described or never-received items. In many ways, Ebay's culture of happy thoughts seems to be ideal for a marketplace. But this classic Twilight Zone episode raises the question: does it matter whether positive attributes are derived from fear or the truth of one's character?

[See The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror II for a satire of this episode.]

An Excellently Conceived Volume

THE PRIME MOVER from the Second season aired on March 24, 1961 and was written by Charles Beaumont and is an episode that deserves repeated viewing. Dane Clark and Buddy Ebsen operate a small diner. When Clark discovers that Ebsen has telekinetic powers he drags him off to Vegas to make a killing at the casinos. This is a good-natured episode as opposed to THE FEVER on the allure and pitfalls of gambling. What really makes this episode so repeatedly viewable are the performances of Dane Clark and Buddy Ebsen. It's like water and oil. Clark is the "fly by the seat of your pants - happy go lucky guy" who will try anything for a dime. Ebsen stands for reason and patients. Ultimately we learn to use the tools we are given with a sense of responsibility tempered with passion. This is an excellently conceived and delivered episode. IT'S A GOOD LIFE from the Third season aired on November 3, 1961. It was written by Rod Serling and is one of the most famous episodes of the series. Serling's introduction, which leads up to Billy Mumy's wide-eyed stare into the camera, is an indelible and disturbing image. The jack-in-the-box scene is also unforgettable and equally disturbing. Even Serling's dialogue is so memorable and conjures up images of fear. Just the mention of "the cornfield" sends chills down the back. Anyone who has seen this episodes knows what I am referring to. Anyone who has not must see it! The excellent cast includes John Larch, Cloris Leachman, Tom Hatcher and we must not forget Billy Mumy. Director Jim Sheldon really captured the fear and terror of the captive inhabitants of this rural community. NICK OF TIME from the Second season aired on November 18, 1960 and was written by Richard Matheson. Traveling newlyweds William Shatner and Patricia Breslin stop in a luncheonette while their car is being repaired. While in a booth an ever-confident Shatner puts a coin into a fortune-telling machine adorned with the bobbling head of a smiling plastic devil. Each question and answer begins to make Shatner question his fate to the point that he becomes unraveled about his future. Thematically this is similar to THE FEVER where just one more coin in the machine may give you solace. This is a fascinating episode that bears repeated viewing just to observe the ease at which one can be drawn in. However, the denouement makes the morality of the story clear. THE MIND AND THE MATTER directed by Buzz Kulik from the Second season aired on May 12, 1961 and was written by Rod Serling. Clerk, Shelly Berman eliminates people from the face of the earth by using the power of thought that he mastered from a book given to him. He soon repopulates the planet with people who look exactly like him with disconcerting results. Though lighthearted in nature this episode attempts to reveal life as others view each of us. Be careful of what you wish for. Volume 9 is a good well-balanced representation of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.