![]() This wasn’t Dante’s first kick at the can with Twilight Zone he also directed the It’s a Good Life segment in 1983’s Twilight Zone: The Movie. Sure, you might see the ending to The Shadow Man stalking up Broadway, but it’s still a twist worthy of the best Serling grim morality tales. The whole endeavour is wonderfully realized, under the assured direction of genre darling Joe Dante. Every night he slinks out the window to do his nefarious deeds, but don’t worry: he promises Danny, “I’ll never harm the person, under whose bed I live”. The atmosphere is perfectly spooky in this one, as the Shadow Man slides up with oily menace from under young Danny Hayes’ bed, complete with raspy breathing and a laboured whisper. The whole show rides on his final line, and he executes it with perfect ominousness. Pitch-perfect in his role, though, is Basil Hoffman as the mysterious Mr. Brad Davis as Arthur Lewis is a milquetoast who stutters incessantly, and Mare Winningham gives such a sneering performance as his wife Norma, you’d be forgiven for thinking that she mistakenly believed they were still in rehearsals when the camera was rolling. No, the reason why this one lingers in the mind is due mostly because of the entirely weird performances of the two leads. If they push it, someone they don’t know will die, and they get $200,000, tax-free. It is such an off-kilter production, but not in the way it is shot or the script, which is a pretty straight-forward scenario, written by Richard Matheson, where a poor couple is given a box with a button on top. Whenever I used to think back to the 80’s Twilight Zone, this episode would invariably be the first to come to mind. So, submitted for your approval: 20 of the best episodes from the other Zones.įor the #20 to #11 episode rankings, click here. The 2002 series didn’t have as good a pedigree… but it did have Forest Whitaker delivering the opening and closing narrations, digitally inserted into the scenes. It also drew in a lot of directing talent, from the likes of Wes Craven, William Friedkin, Tommy Lee Wallace, John Milius, Martha Coolidge, Atom Egoyan and more. Michael Straczynski, George Clayton Johnson and others. Writers for the show included George R.R. No less than Harlan Ellison was involved as creative consultant, wanting the new Twilight Zone to be writer-driven like the original. It was created during a resurgence of anthology TV shows, such as Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, and a redo of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Such was the cultural impact of the show (Serling introducing episodes in a dark suit, cigarette firmly planted between his fingers, the spooky theme music, the trademark TZ twist ending), that it has been revisited twice with separate revival series: one that ran for two seasons on CBS starting in 1985 and then in syndication for a further year, and another on UPN that ran for one season starting in 2002.īoth series have their ups and downs, but the 1985 run is the stronger of the two. Still, his work will always be appreciated and his legacy will live on forever.Everyone knows that Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone television series, running five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964, was the greatest television show ever created. As a creative genius, there was still so much else left for Serling to give when he died at the young age of 50 on July 28, 1975. ![]() Additionally, he would create and host the horror anthology series Night Gallery which would similarly develop a cult following of its own. Also serving as the host in the intro and outro of each episode, Serling's appearances are just as amazing as the stories themselves. Serling would go on to create The Twilight Zone with its first episode premiering on CBS in 1959. ![]() "I don't want to have to compromise all the time, which in essence is what a television writer does if he wants to put on controversial themes," Serling would explain in an interview with Mike Wallace, detailing his plans to start his own television series so he wouldn't be betrodden to these kinds of limitations. Early into his career in entertainment, Serling would clash with television producers and sponsors and quickly grew frustrated with the way his scripts would have things like political statements and ethnic identities removed. Rodman Edward Serling was born on Christmas day in 1924.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |