Best episodes

[gpoehlein]

OK, we've been discussing hot SF and Trek chicks in other threads, so I thought I'd toss this one out there - what are your favorite episodes from "anthology" style TV series such as Twilight Zone, both original and revisit, Amazing Stories, and other similar shows?

I'll start with my favorite Twilight Zone revisit episodes:

I really liked the TZ version of Harlan Ellison's "Palladin of the Lost Hour" starring Danny Kaye. It was really true to the original story and very touching.

My second fav was the version of Zelazny's "Last Defender of Camelot" - that one starred Richard Kiley as Lancelot and Jenny Agutter as Morganna LeFey. Again, very faithful to the short story.

My last, and arguably my all time favorite was the TZ version of Joe Haldeman's "I of Newton" starring Sherman Hemsley and Ron Glass (as the devil, no less! :D ). That one is incredibly fun and I really loved the little touches like the saying's on the devil's tee shirt changing every so often (loved the one that said "Hell is a City Much Like Newark!" :chuckle:

Greg

[dlazarus6660]

OK, we've been discussing hot SF and Trek chicks in other threads, so I thought I'd toss this one out there - what are your favorite episodes from "anthology" style TV series such as Twilight Zone, both original and revisit, Amazing Stories, and other similar shows?

I'll start with my favorite Twilight Zone revisit episodes:

I really liked the TZ version of Harlan Ellison's "Palladin of the Lost Hour" starring Danny Kaye. It was really true to the original story and very touching.

My second fav was the version of Zelazny's "Last Defender of Camelot" - that one starred Richard Kiley as Lancelot and Jenny Agutter as Morganna LeFey. Again, very faithful to the short story.

My last, and arguably my all time favorite was the TZ version of Joe Haldeman's "I of Newton" starring Sherman Hemsley and Ron Glass (as the devil, no less! :D ). That one is incredibly fun and I really loved the little touches like the saying's on the devil's tee shirt changing every so often (loved the one that said "Hell is a City Much Like Newark!" :chuckle:

Greg

This is a test. Do not ajust your television set.

So what did he tell the Devil to do?

This was one of my favorites too!

[dlazarus6660]

Otherworld, remember that one? Only eight episodes of thirteen aired.

My favorite was "Rock and Roll Suicide".

[Mark II]

My favorite Twilight Zone episode was "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." It's been 48 years since I saw it but I still remember most of it. It starred an unknown (at the time) actor named William Shatner. I wish that someone would rebroadcast this series. I watched it regularly when it was on the air but I have forgotten the majority of the episodes that I saw.

I really don't remember much from "The Outer Limits" which was the other show of this type that I watched. I just remember little bits of the premier episode.

I am not aware of any other anthology shows like these. I believe that TOL was the last of the anthology-type series. After the mid-sixties, television dropped these more complex, theatrical productions in favor of cheap one-joke sitcoms.

[luke strawwalker]

Otherworld, remember that one? Only eight episodes of thirteen aired.

My favorite was "Rock and Roll Suicide".

I LOVED "Otherworld"... is it available in DVD??

Later! OL JR :)

[luke strawwalker]

My favorite Twilight Zone episode was "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." It's been 48 years since I saw it but I still remember most of it. It starred an unknown (at the time) actor named William Shatner. I wish that someone would rebroadcast this series. I watched it regularly when it was on the air but I have forgotten the majority of the episodes that I saw.

I really don't remember much from "The Outer Limits" which was the other show of this type that I watched. I just remember little bits of the premier episode.

I am not aware of any other anthology shows like these. I believe that TOL was the last of the anthology-type series. After the mid-sixties, television dropped these more complex, theatrical productions in favor of cheap one-joke sitcoms.

Well, there was the NEW Twilight Zone and Outer Limits in the 80's...

My fave episode was the one where the woman finds a box buried in her backyard with a VERY old necklace in it, which she cleans up and starts wearing... she's a frazzled housewife, just wanting a little peace and quiet... during a particularly stressful encounter with everyone shouting at once and bugging her, she loses it and yells "shut up!" and everyone simply is frozen in time, except her... so she gets to enjoy some quiet downtime for awhile, then says "start talking" and everyone resumes their normal lives... She finds her peace and quiet disrupted by a couple activists at her doorstep, bugging her to sign a disarmament petition, and after trying to politely excuse herself from the pushy activists, who won't take no for an answer, she yells at them to 'shut up' and they freeze; she drags them off her stoop and lays them out side by side on the sidewalk, and goes back in the house and locks the door, and mutters "start talking" and the two activists wake up wondering how they ended up flat on their backs on the sidewalk. Later she and her husband are watching TV with the kids, and the emergency broadcast system comes on-- a nuclear attack is underway and their home city will soon be destroyed, and her panic stricken husband and kids are terrified that they're about to die... she screams at the TV to "shut up!" and everything freezes-- husband, kids, TV announcer, everything... she wanders outside and finds EVERYONE and EVERYTHING is frozen in time... as she wanders along the street, she sees someone peering balefully up into the sky, and she turns to see what they're looking at... it's a Soviet missile, streaking in over the city, about to detonate.

Now what does she do?? The end...

Later! OL JR :)

[jadebox]

... as she wanders along the street, she sees someone peering balefully up into the sky, and she turns to see what they're looking at... it's a Soviet missile, streaking in over the city, about to detonate.

Now what does she do?? The end...


I remember that. It bugged me that she saw a missile instead of a warhead. :-)

That was the second half of the first episode of "The New Twilight Zone." The first half was called "Shatterday" and starred Bruce Willis. "Shatterday" is a great, moving story that would have fit well into the original series. In the story, a man runs into himself and ... well .. I can't say much more without ruining it for those that might see it.

My favorite original Twilight Zone episodes are pretty much the ones starring Jack Klugman and the ones starring Burgess Meridith. Each of them starred in four episodes - more than any other actors. And the episodes they starred in are pretty much the best ones.

I'm a big fan of anthology shows - especially good ones like The Twilight Zone. I think that's part of the reason I like sci-fi shows like Star Trek. The Star Trek shows are very much like anthologies in that the locations and characters are different in each episode. One episode might be very emotional, the next funny, and the one after that dramatic.


-- Roger

[Mark II]

I didn't know that The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits had been brought back.

Now I remember why I don't remember much of The Outer Limits. I was 9 years old at the time, and my sister and I were so frightened by the premier episode that my parents forbade us to ever watch the show again. By the time that we were a little older, it was off the air.

[gpoehlein]

I didn't know that The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits had been brought back.

Now I remember why I don't remember much of The Outer Limits. I was 9 years old at the time, and my sister and I were so frightened by the premier episode that my parents forbade us to ever watch the show again. By the time that we were a little older, it was off the air.

Oh yeah - I forgot about the New Outer Limits - best episode of that one for me was "I, Robot" starring Leonard Nimoy as the attorney representing the robot Adam Link who was charged with murder. Based on a short story by Eando Binder, not anything by Isaac Asimov who later used the title for his first collection of Positronic Robot short stories.

Greg

[luke strawwalker]

I remember that. It bugged me that she saw a missile instead of a warhead. :-)

I'm a big fan of anthology shows - especially good ones like The Twilight Zone. I think that's part of the reason I like sci-fi shows like Star Trek. The Star Trek shows are very much like anthologies in that the locations and characters are different in each episode. One episode might be very emotional, the next funny, and the one after that dramatic.


-- Roger

Yeah... well, dramatic license ya know... if they'd shown the person looking up into the sky at an warhead encased in a fireball on re-entry, the audience would have gone "hey, a shooting star-- so what" and not got it. A big green missile with fire coming out the back and a big red Soviet star blazed on the side of it sorta made the point... "Oh crap!"... :chuckle:

Yeah, you make good points... too bad they don't make good TV like that anymore... :)

OL JR :)

[luke strawwalker]

Oh yeah - I forgot about the New Outer Limits - best episode of that one for me was "I, Robot" starring Leonard Nimoy as the attorney representing the robot Adam Link who was charged with murder. Based on a short story by Eando Binder, not anything by Isaac Asimov who later used the title for his first collection of Positronic Robot short stories.

Greg

They're showing them on SyFy... I watched part of one the other day...

Kim Catrall starred in it as the wife of the head of a genetics company-- their young son died in an accident, and the husband clones the boy, and talks her into allowing his scientists to implant the clone for her to carry and give birth to... that was about all I saw-- had to go do stuff...

I've seen some of them... one of them involved a scientist who was developing nanobots... he gets injured or sick or something (can't recall) and decides to inject the nanobots into himself to cure himself... the nanobots cure him alright, but soon end up making "improvements" that he doesn't want... like someone beats him up or something, and the nanobots repair the damage, but they also install nematophores in his skin, stinging cells like a jellyfish has, to prevent people from grabbing him and beating him up... he can communicate with the nanobots via computer, but they refuse to obey him and keep making changes, gradually turning him into a monster, somewhat like "the Fly"... he ends up killing himself and the nanobots in the end...

There were several other good ones that I've seen...

Later! OL JR :)

[evil ed]

Amazing Stories:
"The Mission" A B-17 ball gunner is trapped and his plane doesn't have a working landing gear. Just happens to be a cartoonist......

Night Gallery:
"The Doll of Death" and "The Caterpillar" (#*%$$ Earwigs!)

and

Twilight Zone:
"To Serve Man"
(Gustatus Similis Pullus........... :D )

[Pem Tech]

Not only are these my favorite, they are also some of my earliest childhood memories.

The original Twilight Zone:
To Serve Man
Little Girl Lost
Time Enough at Last
Third From the Sun
King Nine Will Not Return
Howling Man
The Obsolete Man
Five Characters In Search of an Exit

[Mark II]

I have read through most of the episode synopses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Twilight_Zone_episodes) for the original Twilight Zone (click on the individual episode titles in the list) and many of them do ring a bell now. I vaguely remember seeing them. Probably a big part of the reason why I don't recall more details (or even remembered that I remembered them) was because at the ages I was when they aired (6-10) I didn't have such a great attention span for TV episodes that had more talking than action.

Some other television shows from that era that I know I saw but have very little recollection of now are 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, The Many Loves of Dobey Gillis, Route 66 and Bat Masterson. Most of them were, like the TZ, shows that my older brother (9 years older than me) watched. I happened to see them because he had therm on.

[jadebox]

77 Sunset Strip

What was the name of that guy that starred in 77 Sunset Strip? No ... the other guy.

:-)

-- Roger Smith

[Mark II]

What was the name of that guy that starred in 77 Sunset Strip? No ... the other guy.

:-)

-- Roger SmithI never knew you had another career in your past!


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Roger_Smith_actor.JPG

[Mark II]

Roger, we need to do lunch sometime. Have your people call my people.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979872/fullcredits#cast

[luke strawwalker]

I liked the episode from the original Twilight Zone, "Stopover in a Quiet Town". Nancy Malone was VERY hot in that episode... she had some NICE legs!

The episode was written by Earl Hamner of "The Waltons"... :eek:

Very creative twist at the end...:)

Later! OL JR :)

[jadebox]

The episode was written by Earl Hamner of "The Waltons"... :eek:

Hamner also wrote the "Jess-Belle" episode. Though it wasn't one of the "best" episodes, it starred James Best. :-)

Until a couple of years ago, James Best lived not far from me. I didn't know him, but I did get him to autograph a photo from the Twilight Zone episode.

-- Roger

[Doug Sams]

Hamner also wrote the "Jess-Belle" episode. Though it wasn't one of the "best" episodes, it starred James Best. :-)

Until a couple of years ago, James Best lived not far from me. I didn't know him, but I did get him to autograph a photo from the Twilight Zone episode.I liked him best as Jim Lindsey on Andy Griffith. Couldn't stand him as Roscoe P Coltrain. But I've seen him in enough stuff to see that he is truly talented.

Doug

.

[jadebox]

I liked him best as Jim Lindsey on Andy Griffith. Couldn't stand him as Roscoe P Coltrain. But I've seen him in enough stuff to see that he is truly talented.

The "Guitar Player" episodes .... Didja know that Best is the cousin of a couple of guys named Phil and Don Everly?

A friend of mine was house-hunting a few years ago. One house he visited was filled with movie memoribilia, included a signed poster of Jimmy Stewart. In one room was a wall covered with Sheriffs hats, shirts, and badges from all over the country. That's when my friend figured out that he was looking at James Best's house.

I think Best moved from Florida to North Carolina after that.

-- Roger

[Doug Sams]

The "Guitar Player" episodes .... Didja know that Best is the cousin of a couple of guys named Phil and Don Everly?

A friend of mine was house-hunting a few years ago. One house he visited was filled with movie memoribilia, included a signed poster of Jimmy Stewart. In one room was a wall covered with Sheriffs hats, shirts, and badges from all over the country. That's when my friend figured out that he was looking at James Best's house.

I think Best moved from Florida to North Carolina after that.

-- RogerAfter seeing your post, I looked him up on Wikipedia and saw he was born in western Kentucky, where the Everlys are from, so it's certainly believeable they're cousins. And is mentioned in the article.

It also mentioned he lived in NC. What I didn't realize was his age - he's 85 now! I woulda guessed maybe 75.

Doug

.