After a very strong season of episodes, I am afraid that season 1 ended with a couple of clunkers for me.

Spoilers

“The Mighty Casey”

A terrible baseball team from New Jersey holds try outs and they wind up with a new pitcher. Casey is a left handed master who was as dominant as he could be. There was only one problem.

Casey was a robot.

When the league found out about the truth, they insisted that Casey was suspended. However, Casey’s creator, Dr. Stillman, said he could give Casey a heart, thus making him human. The surgery was a success, meaning that Casey could continue to pitch. Unfortunately, Casey’s new heart turned him into a pitcher who could not get anyone out.

Jack Warden played manager “Mouth” McGarry.

I found this episode to be my least favorite episode of the season so far. It was a silly premise and the execution was worse yet. When Casey was pitching, they added stupid sound effects to his fastball, slowball and curve ball. The whole episode was just a joke and was a huge step down from anything that I had seen before.

“A World of his Own”

I had always thought that I had seen my share of the episodes of The Twilight Zone, but as I have watched the first season, I did not recognize or was familiar with any of them. That is, until this episode. I remembered parts of this episode as I was watching it so this is the first of the Twilight Zone episodes that I had seen before. It would have been decades ago though.

This was also not a favorite of mine, though better than the baseball one I just watched.

Gregory was a writer who had the power to bring to life characters that he created. All he had to do was speak into his tape recorder and the characters would come to life.

This led to a conflict with his wife Victoria, who came upon Gregory snuggling up with a blonde woman (called Mary). When Gregory explained that she was just a creation of his, Victoria was ready to have him committed.

Gregory could take the tape, cut it out with his scissors and toss it into the fire, which caused the person to disappear.

The end of the episode did help save it a bit. Victoria was shown to be a creation as well and she, not believing it, tossed her own tape into the fire. She disappeared. That was fairly obvious as it was happening. The best part was when Rod Serling appeared in the room to narrate the events and Gregory tossed his tape into the fire too, cause Rod to disappear. That was the best part of the episode.

“Leaving Mr. Gregory West—still shy, quiet, very happy… and apparently in complete control of The Twilight Zone.”

This ends the first season of The Twilight Zone. The Daily Zone will be continuing into the second season soon.

June 10, 2023- numbers 32, 33, 34

Spoilers

“A Passage for Trumpet”

Jack Klugman stars in the thirty-second episode of The Twilight Zone and he carries the episode on his back. Klugman is very strong here, delivering several monologues and playing off other actors that can not or will not respond to him.

“Joey Crown, musician with an odd, intense face, whose life is a quest for impossible things like flowers in concrete or like trying to pluck a note of music out of the air and put it under glass to treasure. Joey Crown, musician with an odd, intense face, who, in a moment, will try to leave the Earth and discover the middle ground – the place we call The Twilight Zone.”

Joey Crown is a depressed trumpet player with an alcohol problem. Life was getting him so down that he decided to commit suicide by stepping in front of a speeding truck. That was when things got weird.

Joey found himself walking around the area, but unable to interact with anyone. Everyone he came across reacted as if they could not see Joey. Joey made the reasonable assumption that he was dead… that he was a ghost.

However, he comes across a man playing the trumpet that lets him know that is not the case. In fact, he says that Joey was in a limbo state and he could choose to go back or remain in the land of shadows. Joey goes back and things get much better.

Klugman was the reason to enjoy this episode. Joey did not seem to mind being in limbo so his choice to return to a world where he tried to leave by suicide did not make much sense. Still, the acting was strong and the message of stick with life is a good one.

“Mr. Bevis”

…with Butthead nowhere to be seen.

This was a second episode in a row that depended on the lead performance of the actor. This was Orson Bean and his semi-comedic role as Mr. James B.W. Bevis was excellent stuck into an episode that was strange and that had a message that did not feel very well done.

“In the parlance of the twentieth century, this is an oddball. His name is James B. W. Bevis, and his tastes lean toward stuffed animals, zither music, professional football, Charles Dickens, moose heads, carnivals, dogs, children, and young ladies. Mr. Bevis is accident prone, a little vague, a little discombooberated [sic], with a life that possesses all the security of a floating crap game. But this can be said of our Mr. Bevis: without him, without his warmth, without his kindness, the world would be a considerably poorer place, albeit perhaps a little saner.”

Loved the word ‘discombooberated.’

Mr. Bevis is a carefree, kind-hearted, fun-spirited man who could not hold a job because of his idiosyncrasies. We see him go through a day where he loses his job, has his car ruined and ends up in a bar getting drunk.

He is approached by his guardian angel, J. Hardy Hempstead, who has been guardian angelling Mr. Bevis’s family for years.

He told Mr. Bevis that he could redo the day and everything would turn out differently, but he would have to change the way he lived. No more funny suits, no more weird car, no more sliding down the bannister, no more playing on the street with the kids.

When he went through this day with the new way of acting, Mr. Bevis realized that he did not want to have a life where he could not do those things, even if it meant he would not be successful.

So I guess the message is that it is best to be yourself, but get used to failing if you do. The only way to success is by being something you are not, suppressing your true nature. That does not seem like a very positive message.

This was clearly inspired by “It’s A Wonderful Life” but it fails to reach that level of entertainment. Orson Bean does everything he can with what he is given and nearly pulls it off. Unfortunately a disappointing message and a lackluster story derailed this performance.

“The After Hours”

This is probably the most frightening episode of The Twilight Zone to date. There were some really anxiety creating shots as poor Marshal White struggled to remember what was going on.

“Express elevator to the ninth floor of a department store, carrying Miss Marsha White on a most prosaic, ordinary, run-of-the-mill errand.

Miss Marsha White on the ninth floor, specialties department, looking for a gold thimble. The odds are that she’ll find it—but there are even better odds that she’ll find something else, because this isn’t just a department store. This happens to be The Twilight Zone.”

I immediately spotted that there was no 9th floor on the elevator that Marsha White got on and I knew something was going on. What happened from here on out was weird.

Marsha White was here to buy a gold thimble for her mother (which at the end is strange considering the twist). After purchasing the thimble, she realized that it was scratched and dented and tried to return it, but the manager told her there was no 9th floor in the store.

This started Marsha’s psychological problems, afraid of what she saw… especially when she saw the woman who sold her the thimble… as a mannequin.

The twist at the end I did see coming, but that did not make everything around it less creepy. The strong performance by Anne Francis made up for any problems that might have been in the episode and the twist, the fact that Marsha was a mannequin too, was creative and probably very effective for the time.

June 9, 2023-number 31

Spoilers

“The Chaser”

Strange when you think about it, this whole episode happened because someone needed to use the phone.

“Mr. Roger Shackelforth. Age: youthful twenties. Occupation: being in love. Not just in love, but madly, passionately, illogically, miserably, all-consumingly in love – with a young woman named Leila, who has a vague recollection of his face and even less than a passing interest. In a moment, you’ll see a switch, because Mr. Roger Shackelforth, the young gentleman so much in love, will take a short, but very meaningful journey into the Twilight Zone.”

Roger Shackleforth was desperately in love with Leila. She couldn’t be bothered. Roger was in the phone booth, trying to get Lelia to answer. To get him out of the booth, a man offered him the card of a man whom would be able to fix everything for him. That would make the man desperate to make a phone call the inciting incident. Weird writing.

The man whose card was given to Roger was for a man named “A. Daemon,” a professor who was reading and working in what appeared to be a library. The professor tried to get Roger to buy “glove cleaner” but eventually offered him a love potion to help with his troubles. He warned Roger that this potion would make Leila fall hopelessly in love with Roger, and she would dote over him forever.

Roger went to see Leila and immediately gave her the potion in some champagne and, sure enough, she became breathlessly taken with him.

They would marry and she would do everything for him, constantly gazing upon him, back rubs, anything for him. And he was becoming tired of the mindless obsession.

He tried to return to the professor and he purchased the “glove cleaner” to “take care” of the problem. However, Roger could not bring himself to give Leila that potion and he committed to live his life in this way.

I was not a fan of this episode. Leila was quite annoying, but Roger’s use of the love potion is the same as forcing someone to do something that they did not want to do. The idea that he would then murder her to get away from her is a horrible thought.

June 8, 2023- number 30

“A Stop at Willoughby”

This was Rod Serling’s favorite episode from the first season of The Twilight Zone, and I can definitely see why.

An ad exec Gart Williams was struggling at his job, getting more stressed and anxious over everything.

“This is Gart Williams, age thirty-eight, a man protected by a suit of armor all held together by one bolt. Just a moment ago, someone removed the bolt, and Mr. Williams’ protection fell away from him, and left him a naked target. He’s been cannonaded this afternoon by all the enemies of his life. His insecurity has shelled him, his sensitivity has straddled him with humiliation, his deep-rooted disquiet about his own worth has zeroed in on him, landed on target, and blown him apart. Mr. Gart Williams, ad agency exec, who in just a moment, will move into the Twilight Zone—in a desperate search for survival“

While heading home on a train after a particularly problematic day, Mr. Williams fell asleep and dreamed of a long ago town called Willoughby. A town where everything was peaceful and tranquil, Boys went fishing. Carriages were pulled by horses. Everything seemed to go slower.

Mr. Williams could not get Willoughby out of his mind and, a second time he had the dream on the train, he nearly got off, only to be awakened by the jolt of the train.

His wife had little empathy for him. His boss kept on his back to “PUSH, PUSH, PUSH.” Everything was flying past him. He made the decision to get off the train the next time he dreamed of Willoughby.

And that is exactly what he did. Everything seemed to be peaceful and lovely.

However, this is The Twilight Zone so we were going to get a twist. It seemed that, in reality, Gart Williams, when he thought the train was stopped at Willoughby, in reality, jumped off the moving train, killing himself.

The mortuary company of Willoughby and Son picked up the body.

Great ending to this episode. I expected something magical to happen. Kind of like the Apple TV + series Schmigadoon. Instead, we get a sudden switch to tragedy and we take a sharp turn to the dark. Or is Mr. Williams still there in Willoughby, happy as he could be?

Wonderful episode.

“Willoughby? Maybe it’s wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man’s mind, or maybe it’s the last stop in the vast design of things—or perhaps, for a man like Mr. Gart Williams, who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it’s a place around the bend where he could jump off. Willoughby? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity, and is a part of The Twilight Zone.”

June 8, 2023

Spoilers

“The Big Tall Wish”

“In this corner of the universe, a prizefighter named Bolie Jackson, 183 pounds and an hour and a half away from a comeback at St. Nick’s Arena. Mr. Bolie Jackson, who, by the standards of his profession is an aging, over-the-hill relic of what was, and who now sees a reflection of a man who has left too many pieces of his youth in too many stadiums for too many years before too many screaming people. Mr. Bolie Jackson, who might do well to look for some gentle magic in the hard-surfaced glass that stares back at him.”

Aging boxer Bolie Jackson looked to get his career back on track against some younger fighters. He was encouraged by a young boy who lives in the same building as he did. They were close and the boy told Bolie that he would wish for him to be able to win.

Things looked badly for Bolie, as he lay on the mat, staring up at the lights, the ref counting to 10. However, the little boy’s wish made everything right, flipping the script.

And all Bolie had to do was believe in magic.

Similar to some ideas found in Peter Pan, magic required that Bolie believed in it, but he couldn’t do it. This sent everything back to the way it was supposed to be.

This was a straight-forward episode that told a basic story. However, the all-black cast was anything but basic at the time of broadcast.

“A Nice Place to Visit”

“Rocky” Valentine was a thief. During a robbery, he wound up in a shoot out with the police and was shot. He awakes with a man who called himself Pip standing over him. Pip insisted that he was there to help him do anything he wanted, and gave him $700 dollars from his pocket.

Pip took Rocky to a hotel room, helped him win at gambling and brought him some beautiful women. Rocky realized that he had been shot to death by the cops and he guessed that he was in heaven and Pip was a guardian angel.

After awhile of never losing at gambling or never failing with the women, Rocky became bored and pressed Pip to find out how he could change things up. Rocky even said that he did not want to be in heaven any longer and wanted to go to the other place. Pip laughed and told Rocky that he was not in heaven, but was already in the other place.

Be careful what you wish for because you might get it feels like the moral of this story.

“A scared, angry little man who never got a break. Now he has everything he’s ever wanted – And he’s going to have to live with it for eternity – In The Twilight Zone.”

I found Rocky extremely annoying and he was difficult to watch. I figured the twist very early as if was obvious that Rocky wasn’t going to heaven. Heck, even Rocky wondered how he was in heaven.

Pip was definitely the highlight of the episode, but I found myself more irritated with the character and even the ironic ending did not rewcue that for me.

“Nightmare as a Child”

So this was the best of the three I watched for this post. I loved the psychological aspect of this episode.

“Month of November, hot chocolate, and a small cameo of a child’s face, imperfect only in its solemnity. And these are the improbable ingredients to a human emotion, an emotion, say, like—fear. But in a moment this woman, Helen Foley, will realize fear. She will understand what are the properties of terror. A little girl will lead her by the hand and walk with her into a nightmare”

When Helen met Markie, things felt odd. Little did we know that Markie was just a figment of her imagination. Something there to help Helen Foley remember the traumatic event of her mother’s murder.

Everything was triggered when she had seen the killer (off screen) by her school where she worked. This led to Markie and those memories returning.

Mr. Seldon, who was the killer, came by her apartment to see what she was remembering. He knew that she was the loose end, the person who witnessed his murder.

I really liked the fact that they did not make something supernatural or magical about this. Instead, they played the little girl as a psychological symptom.

Mr. Seldon did fall into the villain who just explains his plans trope. The audience did not have to have it laid out as such. At least, I figured that he was the killer. I could have had a better wrap up of the episode, but overall, this was decent.

June 8, 2023- number 25 & 26

Spoilers

“People Are Alike All Over”

Roddy McDowell is on the way to Mars and what he finds is unexpected.

“You’re looking at a specie [sic] of flimsy little two-legged animal with extremely small heads, whose name is Man. Warren Marcusson, age thirty-five. Samuel A. Conrad, age thirty-one. They’re taking a highway into space, Man unshackling himself and sending his tiny, groping fingers up into the unknown. Their destination is Mars, and in just a moment we’ll land there with them“

Honestly, I have been a fan of every episode of The Twilight Zone so far. Even the ones that were near the bottom of the list had parts that I really enjoyed. That streak is over now. “People Are Alike All Over” is easily my least favorite episode of The Daily Zone so far.

It was just so random. The Martians that appeared before Roddy McDowell were so ridiculous that it was impossible to believe that they were actually Martians. There was nothing that made this feel interesting at all.

That is not to say that Roddy McDowell is a problem. I have always found his work to be great and he does what he can here. It just feels like a slight episode without a lot of worthwhile ideas.

Humans in cages on display will be used better in future moments. From my limited research, it seems as if this episode has its supporters and that it has been an inspiration to many. I am happy for them. I am not one of them.

“Execution”

The second episode in a row that I did not like very much.

I found this premise intriguing. I did not expect to start with an attempted hanging and the set up was solid. When outlaw and killer Joe Caswell disappeared from the noose, I was certainly enthralled.

However, with his arrival in the future, I lost most of that early excitement.

I’m not sure if the sudden appearance of the Professor from Gilligan’s Island (with nary a coconut to be seen) affected my thoughts on what was happening.

Caswell ran around the future with a gun, attacked a juke box and shot up a TV.

Then, at the end, the story stopped being about Caswell and became the story of another guy, a thief named Paul Johnson. Johnson ends up killing Caswell in a fight and somehow gets himself stuck in the time machine and is sent back to take Caswell’s place in the noose.

While I do like the ending, I do not like how the character of Paul Johnson just appears from nowhere and becomes the center of the story in the final few minutes. I did not find it satisfying.

“This is November 1880, the aftermath of a necktie party. The victim’s name—Paul Johnson, a minor-league criminal and the taker of another human life. No comment on his death save this: justice can span years. Retribution is not subject to a calendar. Tonight’s case in point in The Twilight Zone.“

June 7, 2023-numbers 23-24

Spoilers

“A World of Difference”

Lights. Camera. Action.

At least, in the Twilight Zone.

“You’re looking at a tableau of reality, things of substance, of physical material: a desk, a window, a light. These things exist and have dimension. Now this is Arthur Curtis, age thirty-six, who also is real. He has flesh and blood, muscle and mind. But in just a moment we will see how thin a line separates that which we assume to be real with that manufactured inside of a mind.”

Another winner of an episode as we peek behind the camera of a man’s life. Is he Arthur Curtis? Or instead is he actor Gerald Raigan?

This episode shows a man having a nervous breakdown, believing that he is, in truth, the character that he is playing in a movie. Or does that character really need a vacation from work because he has had some delusion. I do like the even balance the show gives us. Although it does feel as if Gerry is the true personality, there is enough uncertainty to warrant debate.

The episode featured David White, most well known as Larry Tate from Bewitched as Gerry’s agent/friend.

“Long Live Walter Jameson”

Walter Jameson is old. Really old.

He has fallen in love with a younger woman. However, her father has discovered the truth of Walter’s age. Walter was old enough to have been friends with Plato.

The idea of immortality is revisited here, and the idea that it would not make a person happy is brought back once again. We saw how things could go bad in the episode, “The Escape Clause” and here it takes a slightly different path, but reaches the same conclusion. That death is what makes life so valuable.

The ending of the episode was very well done as we see Walter, shot by a former wife, died slowly, but aging rapidly as he died. He wound up a pile of dust on the floor after we had seen him age from the man that we knew. It was a neat effect.

“Last stop on a long journey, as yet another human being returns to the vast nothingness that is the beginning and into the dust that is always the end.“

June 5, 2023

Spoilers

“The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”

I loved this episode.

“The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” was excellent from beginning to almost end. There was no much in this episode, clearly taking shots at the McCarthy hearing and how people were seeing Communists all over the place.

“Maple Street, U.S.A., late summer. A tree-lined little world of front porch gliders, barbecues, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and the flash of light, it will be precisely 6:43 P.M. on Maple Street.“

“This is Maple Street on a late Saturday afternoon. Maple Street in the last calm and reflective moment –before the monsters came“

Something flew over Maple Street. The people who lived on this street thought it might have been a meteor. However, everything stopped working. No lights. No cars. No machinery of any kind. Nothing would start or turn on.

Why? No one was sure and they were nervous. When an imaginative child brought up an idea of the ‘meteor’ was in actuality a space ship and that the child had read a story about how monsters from outer space would infiltrate a community to set up for the landing.

The people dismissed the idea at first, but it got inside their minds and the paranoia of the situation started to rot their attitudes. They began blaming individuals on being guilty, with no evidence and even less reality.

It devolves into violence as one of the people is shot because they thought it was a monster coming out of the darkness.

The accidental death did not calm the tensions. In fact, it only triggered the people into chaos. I loved how this episode showed how human beings can react to rumors and innuendo, becoming mob-like.

Now, I am not sure I loved the very end of the episode where we see that this whole situation was being manipulated by aliens from a space ship, what had actually flown over the street. I would have preferred to have left that reveal a mystery. I don’t think that was necessary.

However, that did not take away from how much I loved this episode. It may be my current favorite episode of the series.

“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices… to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill… and suspicion can destroy… and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own—for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone“