In a time on television when suburbia was idealized in popular shows such as "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Make Room for Daddy," Serling offered a mixture of fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror — and the show's trademark macabre or unexpected twist.
Serling had already earned acclaim for his television writing ("Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Patterns,") but found himself fighting CBS to get "The Twilight Zone" on the air. Serling would have repeated conflicts with network censors throughout his career.
My favorite episode is "The Shelter." What is yours?
Link via Alphecca | Image: CBS
UPDATE 10/2/09: Via GeekDad, free episodes online from CBS.
2nd UPDATE 10/2/09: io9 presents 6 Important Life Lessons from The Twilight Zone
I particularly remember the one where the veteran FAA investigator suddenly sees a WW2 plane land, and he and some airport staff can't figure out why it has no crew, and after a bit he realizes it doesn't actually exist and that he never actually talked to those staff (who did otherwise exist), and it turns out that ------- the plane was the one crash whose cause he had never been able to determine, so many years ago.
Classic Twilighty Zoneness.
Oh there's also the one where the writer's wife complains about his other recently appearing 'woman friend', so he shows his wife how he really just created the friend (with the power of his mind/magic tape recorder/etc/etc) and even destroys the new friend to satisfy his wife, but still the wife wants a divorce, so he destroys her as well.. she was fun for a while.. and hey he could always recreate her 'from scratch' if he wanted
I rarely find episodes of The Twilight Zone comforting, but if you want provocation, TZ has it.. and really surely more things happen after an episode is over, I'm sure everyone gets free cake and dances joyously around for eternity
But I think I always remember "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"
From that day I look my neighbours and really, I dont think aliens need to do anything, nust watch
"Heaven, Mr. Valentine? Whatever gave you the idea that you were in Heaven? This is the other place!!"
Spooky, creepy and with a twist at the end. Classic Zone. There are also some from the '80's version that are classics.
From the not-so-old series: Button, Button.
Watch the show to see why...
Exhibit "A" on how vulnerable people are to being manipulated into destructive behavior.
"Eye of the Beholder" is great too. Maybe a bit over the top, but I still remember seeing it for the first time and being truly surprised at, well, the surprise! Plus, any episode featuring characters with silly animal heads can't be all bad.
The Night of the Meek
I Sing the Body Electric
The Passersby
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
The Changing of the Guard
Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
I couldn't even do this. Couldn't bring myself to not have one of the above in my personal "Top 5." And if I think about this any longer, I'd have to revise it. . .
I also like this one episode, I don't know the title, but two or three men are on a mission in space and they crash on what they believe in an alien planet. One man goes off to explore and is found weak and dying. Before he dies he makes a mark in the sand. The other man/men desperately tries to figure out what it means and it's not until the very end that we, the audience, find out the drawing was of a telephone pole the first man had found. Turns out it was earth the whole time.
"Kick the Can"...if you haven't seen it, you will love it. It still makes me cry!
"The Odyssey Of Flight 33"(A plane goes back in time)
"Little girl Lost" (Girl is lost in another dimention.)
"The grave"(man chases Pinto Sykes, faces dare)
"Back there" (Man goes back in time to assasination)
"A stop at willougby" (Another back in time)
"The Hitch-Hiker" (woman chased by man)
And many more...
And don't forget--One step Beyond although not Rod Serling