Following Some Tough Acts

"The Twilight Zone" was always my favorite TV show. In its' 30 minute time slot were some of the best drama, spine-tingling suspense, and morality plays ever seen on television. It is always exciting to find an episode or two that I missed in my youth and there are some in "Collection Three". However, I came away with a sense that this collection is a bit weighted down with many lesser episodes. There's no need to list all those although the one hour episode "He's Alive" is about as good an example as any of what I refer to as "lesser". First of all, this selection was stretched too far for the hour-long format. Secondly, the ending was no surprize to most people. Thirdly, the efforts at irony fell far too short of the mark. The one redeeming feature was Rod Serling's closing comments. I hate to say it (since it sounds sacrilegious) but I was actually bored during "He's Alive".

Now to the good stuff; "A Most Unusual Camera" is a memorable look at how greed can ruin even a "sure thing". "Elegy" reminds our space program to know where you're going. "Mirror Image" explores the possibility of meeting your double. "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" stars Ed Wynn as a man who thinks he knows his fate and prepares to meet it. "A World of Difference" asks what we would do if we suddenly discovered everything around us was merely part of a script. "Ring a Ding Girl" tells us you CAN go home again (and just in time)! "From Agnes With Love" stars Wally Cox and shows us how true love finds him.

My favorite two episodes in the collections are "The Thirty Fathom Grave" and "Night Call". "The Thirty Fathom Grave" is an hour-long episode that fills the whole time with an intriguing mystery that gave me goose bumps at the end even though I had seen it years before and knew how it would end. I experienced the same goose bumps watching "Night Call" about an elderly invalid who starts getting mysterious phone calls one dark and stormy night. Those two episodes and the others mentioned gave me a lot of entertainment. However, I think that the folks that put out these collections could have done a better balancing act. I kept thinking that I'd seen about all of the best episodes after the first two collections. Collection Three made me wonder if I wasn't right. Oh well, time to take a peak at "The Twilight Zone-Collection Four".

Wait to order until after June 28th 2005

After The Twilight Zone Season 3 The Definitive Edition is released (6/28/05)on 6 disks (takes less shelf space)with some bonus features that this does not have, the price for the Collection will fall to the floor. I'll wait until it hits the Lower $40's to Upper $30's prior to ordering. Check the price then and remember to check the New/Used prices as they will probably fall before Amazon's does.

Twilight Zone - One Of My Favorite Shows

If you buy one of these TZ Box Sets, you might as well buy the other four. Each set has nine volumes (sans the documentary Rod Serling - Submitted For Your Approval). My favorite episodes deal with Time Travel (No Time Like The Past, Back There, Walking Distance, Static, The Seventh Is Made Up Of Phantoms), Old Age (Kick The Can, Nothing In The Dark, The Trade-Ins, One For The Angels), The Civil War (The Passerby, An Occurrance At Owl Creek Bridge, Still Valley), and Paranoia (The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, The Shelter, 4:00). My other favorites are the four by Jack Klugman (A Passage For Trumpet, A Game Of Pool, In Praise Of Pip, Death Ship) and Burgess Meredith (Time Enough At Last, Mr Dingle Mr Strong, The Obsolete Man, Printer's Devil). If you are new to the show, watch these episodes first. They are the creme de la creme of the show.

The series is excellent. However, it's deliberate attempts at humor are often misfires (The Whole Truth, The Bewitching Pool, I Dream Of Genie). The episode A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain is the "Spock's Brain" on the series, meaning it's the worst. The ending is bad; what were they thinking??? No wonder it didn't make the syndication package.

The Sound Quality varies from each DVD. Some have two channel mono while others have HIFI mono. Closed Captioned doesn't work for any of the DVD's. There's usually only 3 or 4 episodes per DVD, unlike other Box Sets that fit 8 per DVD, thus lowering the price. This is a minor beef, because the show is worth the money.

You will also notice that 3 episodes (Where Is Everybody, The Encounter, The Eye Of The Beholder) appear twice if you buy all five. Again, a minor beef since The Encounter is the only one of the three to be exactly the same on both separate DVD's.

These Box Sets are now a bargain compared to when each volume is sold separately. I never tire of watching the episodes and reading the notes. I also recommend Rod Serling's Submitted For Your Approval. It gives insight to Rod Serling and his creation as told by friends, relatives and co-workers.