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The Twilight Zone at 60

It's weird; back in the 70s people spoke of the show as though it were "ancient". But even at the release of, say, "Star Wars", "Twilight Zone" was only 18.
 
The're a line in the universe between black & white and colour.

My wife didn't understand why the I Dream of Jeannie Pilot was grayscale, last night.

It's like the TV was bullying her.
 
Best. Show. Ever.

This and The Outer Limits and of course TOS put new wrinkles into the smooth surface of my pre-teen brain. After seeing these great, thought provoking shows I would no longer settle for shows that were only about cops, lawyers or doctors. These shows asked tough moral questions hidden inside of an hour of entertainment.

Unfortunately whenever they have tried to resurrect this show it has been disappointing. While I did find Jordan Peele's take on the TTZ good and entertaining it is "less" than the originals. The final episode was pretty cool though.
 
Redfern said:
It's weird; back in the 70s people spoke of the show as though it were "ancient". But even at the release of, say, "Star Wars", "Twilight Zone" was only 18.
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Lots of social upheaval and changes from 1959 to the 1970s, and this is evident in many aspects of pop culture.

Kor
 
Timeless classic. Even my 12 year old son enjoys the original.
 
Looking forward to when I have time to crack open the complete series Blu-ray box set sitting on the shelf in the “cave”. At this rate, I expect the 65th anniversary will be happening.
 
TZ was a milestone in television writing that is unlikely to ever be matched even in this golden age of TV.
 
DarthPipes said:
I would agree with that, although I think that the 1985 Twilight Zone is a lot better than its reputation.
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I thought it was pretty well-regarded; if anything, the general opinion I've heard of it is higher than my own. Although I felt the syndicated "third season" (using the same opening credits and generally treated as a continuation, but from a completely different production team with J. Michael Straczynski as the showrunner) was better than the CBS version.
 
While there were some good episodes in Season 3 of the 80s Twilight Zone, I wasn't crazy about it. I thought the quality of the episodes went down for the most part and I don't think the new location shooting worked as well.
 
Every series has its stinkers and its gems. But the gems from TZ:TOS were SO good that the stinkers have faded from memory. It is worth comparing to the later series almost as a control case. I think that broadcast TV, as a medium, has become just blander. The highs aren't as high or as frequent, the lows aren't as low (because nobody takes chances), but the overall average is lower. (I agree that the '80 series is worth a second look. There were a handful of episodes that were absolutely stellar and many that were just pretty darned good. Yeah, there were some stinkers but these days you can do a little research, find out in advance what the stinkers were and just avoid them.)
 
I like the original, but the 80's version is far and away my favorite iteration of TZ.

That said, I hope the Jordan Peele version gets better. I am definitely not enjoying it yet. WAY too preachy.
 
Original TZ definitely has some stinkers but I find I can often find things to like about them.

Agreed on Jordan Peele's version. I had high hopes for that series and it was probably my biggest entertainment disappointment this year.
 
DarthPipes said:
Agreed on Jordan Peele's version. I had high hopes for that series and it was probably my biggest entertainment disappointment this year.
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That episode with the kid becoming President was definitely the worst of the lot. It's obvious who they were commenting on, but at least have the ep make some kind of SENSE. That one didn't.

And the magic space rocks making men go crazy?
Not only that, but it turns out that the magic space rocks WEREN'T making men go crazy, they were just using them as an excuse?
I just about rolled my eyes into the next STATE when that came on. :rolleyes:
 
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E-DUB said:
I think that broadcast TV, as a medium, has become just blander. The highs aren't as high or as frequent, the lows aren't as low (because nobody takes chances), but the overall average is lower.
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I think that at its best, modern TV is a lot richer and more sophisticated than in the past, because it's built on the shoulders of previous giants. But of course there's a lot of mediocre and dumb stuff too. The thing is, there's always been the same ratio of good stuff, mediocre stuff, and bad stuff -- but the mediocre stuff from the past gets forgotten, while the mediocre stuff from the present is right in front of us. Which creates the illusion that modern stuff has a higher ratio of mediocrity.

Every generation going back millennia has claimed that today's art or literature or theater or whatever was a pale imitation of the greatness of the past. If it were true, then human culture would've completely degenerated long before now. It's just an illusion resulting from the fact that we only remember the outstanding parts from the past instead of the average parts.
 
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