tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post89378840631938364..comments2015-01-19T07:44:04.414-08:00Comments on The Nostalgic Attic: The Twilight Zone - Season One: 'Where is Everybody?' and 'One for the Angels'JP Mulvanettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05381363705787780363noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-2028425234969474592014-06-22T13:10:26.993-07:002014-06-22T13:10:26.993-07:00John I should have said Night Stalker TV movie, wh...John I should have said <b><i>Night Stalker</i></b> TV movie, which MGM put out waaay back in 2004 on a <a href="http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/n-s/nightstalkerstrangler7273.htm" rel="nofollow">double-bill</a> with a further Kolchak film called <b><i>The Night Strangler</i></b>. Well worth tracking down !Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10502948357255970132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-14158989376549981462014-06-22T12:55:22.694-07:002014-06-22T12:55:22.694-07:00Yeah Wes, it was a fantastic role call of talent o...Yeah Wes, it was a fantastic role call of talent on the re-booted series, it is airing on the Horror Channel at the moment, if you are interested in catching up on it. I have the boxset so will definitely get to it at a later date!<br /><br />I know that the re-booted Outer Limits in the 90's was quite sexed up, there was plenty of sex and boobs in it (needless to say, I loved it when it was airing, though I can imagine it won't hold up very well. I have the original series on DVD too. I always liked it, but I don't think it worked quite as well as Twilight Zone - for me it was a lot to do with the longer running time, which I always found troublesome, even for TZ when they changed up the format.<br /><br />There was a The Night Stalker movie??JP Mulvanettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05381363705787780363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-22784169077903279452014-06-22T11:20:50.932-07:002014-06-22T11:20:50.932-07:00I really only got to grips with the original serie...I really only got to grips with the original series about five years ago - but I did watch the 80's series back in the day, and like Craig (and maybe a lot of people), I have a montage of memories in my head of nameless episodes - like the guy who steps into a diner for a hamburger and walks out into the Vietnam war, or some shopping mall mannequins which come to life during the night. The 80's series has dated quite badly (and looks atrocious) but still is very watchable, and it's fun to see names like Wes Craven, Joe Dante, John Millius, William Friedkin, Tommy Lee Wallace, Curtis Harrington. But I digress... The original series is still hugely impressive for the kind of ideas it was working with, and seen in context with other shows of that era - <i>Rawhide, Bonanza, The Untouchables</i>, it seems completely mind-blowing - I can't think of anything comparable to it during those early seasons, save for <i>Alfred Hitchcock Presents</i>... I know it was on TG4 over here, but I never caught any of 2002 series - was this one sexed up or am I thinking of the revived <i>Outer Limits</i> ? I seem to remember one of these shows had moments of sex and nudity ( รก la <i>The Hitchhiker</i> series). By the way I've never seen a single episode of <i>The Outer Limits</i> and I've always heard good things about it. Y'know what, all this talk has put me in the mood for <b><i>The Night Stalker</i></b> movie...Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10502948357255970132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-28086764152010689322014-06-22T04:42:35.113-07:002014-06-22T04:42:35.113-07:00Craig, it's definitely a show you can dip in a...Craig, it's definitely a show you can dip in and out of, and not be too worried on what you are missing, though if you can get into Season One on BLu Ray, no doubt you will want to pick the rest up!<br /><br />Don't get me wrong - I really like the re-boot from the 80's, but there was still plenty of 'misses', but sure wasn't there plenty of those in the original show too? Same goes for classic Star Trek, there are plenty of duds in there. None of these shows are flawless, it's the nature of the beast when it comes to portmanteau style shows or films...<br /><br />I would love to hear about your experiences on that production!!<br />JP Mulvanettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05381363705787780363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-51854468140144739992014-06-22T04:38:19.498-07:002014-06-22T04:38:19.498-07:00Thanks Wes, hopefully we can go on an epic trawl t...Thanks Wes, hopefully we can go on an epic trawl through The Twilight Zone here! Spoilers in comments are fine with me, but thanks for marking them. I'd hate to have something ruined on me, even on a show as old as this.<br /><br />I got the impression the journey to the moon was going to have to be carried out alone - there isn't really any explanation given in the episode - but I got the feeling we are lead by the nose through that point, as the general explains that he pilot would need to be in isolation for over 400 hours. it doesn't seem to factor in radio, either, but hey, I can forgive a pre-60's sci-fi such oversights! That's a good observation on I am Legend, I guess I'm so familiar with the trope of 'deserted town' that it didn't even spring to mind. The mannequin moment is great, you get a real jolt from it too. I don't remember that scene being in the book, either! Good call on the speech, too, you have a fine eye for detail! No doubt Kennedy was watching the show, it had a slow start but it became pretty big! It was essentially the Lost of the time... I won't get into 'The lonely' now, but yep - it was a theme he would get back to quite a few times...<br /><br />I loved One for the Angels, though it definitely doesn't seem to get as much love as I give it. It really does hinge on those performances, and as you said, the climax is beautifully handled with Lou giving the ultimate pitch - Murray's reaction is brilliant! I actually found the quotes from Dickens in the previous episode slightly out of place - they definitely would have played quite well here, though perhaps it would have been a little too close to Dickens for comfort then! <br />JP Mulvanettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05381363705787780363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-28589550852031568622014-06-21T20:50:20.505-07:002014-06-21T20:50:20.505-07:00How I do love this show - and like you - I had rea...How I do love this show - and like you - I had read about it and heard about it long before I got to see it. I had to visit my brother who was in college two hours away to finally see one. It was the one (again, too lazy to look up anything) where the guy has suddenly and arbitrarily decided to do something devastating to every evil person on Earth at 4 o'clock and spends the bulk of the episode calling those he deems evil to let them know it's coming. Not a great episode to be sure - but I still enjoyed it. I have in the years since caught up with probably half of the episodes. I have recently added the first season on Blu-Ray to the video vault. I think I might have found the 80's version a little more palatable than you did - I thought it was a worthy follow up to Serling's classic show. (I did not feel the same about the early 2000's reboot with Forest Whitaker. It was crap.) I also worked on a real honest to goodness Twilight Zone production...doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo indeed!Craig Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06037542638067599437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8738025286483185751.post-70193570470777746992014-06-21T14:04:36.883-07:002014-06-21T14:04:36.883-07:00I'm delighted with this post John because this...I'm delighted with this post John because this plugs me right back into The Twilight Zone. I've watched the first two episodes in preparation for reading this excellent post so my Season 1 DVD is parked up next to the TV, with more eps. to follow in the next few days... Well now.... how do we work this ? You've skillfully laid out the plots of both episodes <i>without</i> adding any spoilers - so I'll add a disclaimer for the uninitiated, that <b>this comment contains spoilers</b><br /><br /><b>**** SPOILERS ! ****</b><br /><br /><b><i>Where is Everybody?</i></b><br />Not the best episode as you say but a fine introduction to the show's shifting perception of what is real and unreal, as well as the big existentialist questions the series would deal with throughout its run. I thought the twist in this one was pretty effective - although it does come with one large caveat - and I might have missed this point during the denouement - but couldn't the space agency solve the isolation problem by simply providing a companion for the Pilot ? Regardless of my nit-picking I really enjoyed this episode - I was wondering if Richard Matheson had written <i>I Am Legend</i> before this episode and of course he had - by at least 5 years, so the book must have loomed large in Serling's mind when he penned the teleplay. I thought it was interesting though when the Pilot spoke to the mannequin which anticipates the 2007 film of <b><i>I Am Legend</i></b> (I don't remember such a scene in the book?). Another thing the show anticipated was Kennedy's famous "<i>We choose to go to the Moon</i>" speech from September 1962, when the Pilot signs off at the end of the episode with the line <i>We'll be up there in a little while</i>. I dunno if JFK was watching The Twilight Zone in 1959 (why not?) but it would be nice to think so. Very good physical performance by Earl Holliman as the Pilot and that moment where he smashes into the mirror is just a fantastic magic moment ! Incidentally, Serling would revisit the theme of isolation with better results with Episode 7 episode "<i>The Lonely</i>"<br /><br /><b><i>One for the Angels</i></b><br />I think this might be called an early classic - I love the fact that the business of death is run as a highly organised and efficient bureau and Murray Hamilton really is wonderful as the slightly overworked clerk trying to meet his targets and deadlines. John that's interesting that you picked up on a <i>A Christmas Carol</i> angle and what's more, the Pilot from <i>Where is Everybody?</i> actually quotes a few lines from Dickens - I think it would have been more appropriate if Lou Bookman had recited the same lines on first seeing the Mr. Death. This is another fantastic bit of Serling writing and Bookman's pitch that "<i>opens up the skies</i>" really is a fantastic piece of writing - I can't remember the exact line, but Bookman's blarney about the birds bringing the silk halfway across the world in their bills was priceless ! Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10502948357255970132noreply@blogger.com