The Twilight Zone

Small Screen Specials, Series and Direct-To-Video
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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by EricJ » June 11th, 2019, 5:38 pm

Daniel wrote:
April 8th, 2019, 3:45 pm
Because of the new reboot, SyFy aired an all day marathon this past Saturday! It was nice surprise. They gave the usual common ones like the Hitchhiker, It's Good Life etc. I just wish the quality on SyFy was better. It totally feels like the eppys are sped up which makes them feel fake. Very distracting. In a way, they all kinda look like those "video" episodes. Ick.
That's probably because they ARE sped up--It's one of the tools cable uses on reruns, from back when shows had fewer commercials in the 50's/60's, and ran four to six minutes longer. That way, they don't have to chop as many scenes.
And that's assuming they even run the end credits, unlike the current Nick/TVLand shows, that try to program "binge-blocks" by cutting right from a rerun's end-freeze to the opening credits of the next one, without even a commercial in between.

(...So, why is anyone still watching classic reruns on cable??) :(

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » June 12th, 2019, 7:04 pm

EricJ wrote:
June 11th, 2019, 5:38 pm
That's probably because they ARE sped up--
Not exactly. Whenever there's no dialogue that's when SyFy speeds up scenes. It's very noticeable because you see people moving freakishly fast. And when they don't speed up, they get creative and trim a scene. One example that comes to mind is "The Howling Man". At the end when the devil would walk behind the pillars to gradually reveal his true self, that all now happens in the span of one pillar. Sloppy and pointless! Takes away from the moment. Probably one of the most iconic scenes ever...

SyFy does something else to their masters, like "smooths" them. That's what I was initially remarking on. I watch Twilight on MeTV and the difference is night and day. They also don't seem to cut as much or at all.

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by EricJ » June 14th, 2019, 7:08 pm

Daniel wrote:
June 12th, 2019, 7:04 pm
And when they don't speed up, they get creative and trim a scene. One example that comes to mind is "The Howling Man". At the end when the devil would walk behind the pillars to gradually reveal his true self, that all now happens in the span of one pillar. Sloppy and pointless! Takes away from the moment. Probably one of the most iconic scenes ever...
Or when Donald Pleasance in "Changing of the Guard" recites a poem:
"I shall now read a passage from 'A Shropshire Lad': 'Oh, tis true, tis true.'"
(Er, how inspiring.)

Moral: Buy disks. 8)

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by ShyViolet » June 15th, 2019, 5:29 am

Daniel wrote:
June 12th, 2019, 7:04 pm
EricJ wrote:
June 11th, 2019, 5:38 pm
That's probably because they ARE sped up--
Not exactly. One example that comes to mind is "The Howling Man". At the end when the devil would walk behind the pillars to gradually reveal his true self, that all now happens in the span of one pillar. Sloppy and pointless! Takes away from the moment. Probably one of the most iconic scenes ever...
Oh my GOD, you have got to be kidding me! :shock: :( Do cuts like that happen a lot?? Why not just reveal who he really is right at the beginning?? Ugh.

That’s almost as bad as having “The Dummy” (the ventriloquist one) end with no build-up at all, no slow reveal of what actually happened, just an immediate close-up of the “switch” right after the announcer says: “Jerry and Willie!” Half of that amazing ending IS the buildup! As it is with The Howling Man, and so many other wonderful eps. God I hope this isn’t how future generations will be exposed to Twilight Zone... :(
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » June 15th, 2019, 1:41 pm

I would say it varies. Most of the time it happens during filler, other times it can more crucial. Take for example one of my other favorites; "The Midnight Sun". They cut the scene near the end where Mrs. Bronson collapses from heat stroke and dies. Such a small scene, but one that carries a lot of impact.

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by ShyViolet » June 15th, 2019, 3:31 pm

Yeah, Midnight Sun is one of my favorites too. It still frightens me, not just because the acting is so good but that there’s such an atmosphere of dread throughout the whole ep that keeps building and building. (Plus the idea of “no more darkness” is just so freaky. :shock:)

That’s really dumb of them to take out Mrs. Bronson’s death. (“Don’t paint the sun anymore!”) It basically seals the reality of humanity’s impending extinction, since one of the two main characters is actually gone and now Norma’s all alone. :( Just another important part of the story’s building sense of dread and fear.

It’s so ridiculous to butcher these incredibly well-made and still very relevant classics. (And quite disrespectful to Rod Serling’s memory. :( )
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » June 17th, 2019, 2:50 pm

Yep, well put all-around!

All this talk reminds me, a few years back they actually released a graphic novel for the "The Midnight Sun". It's pretty cool. It's one of a series nine novels that were adapted from episodes. They used the original scripts by Rod himself and were authorized by his wife Carol to boot! I've only had the chance to read Midnight. (Fittingly so!) It's more or less like the episode, with a few additional details included that weren't filmed for budgetary reasons or time constraints. In a way, it makes it feel slightly more epic. Color doesn't really add much though. The adaptation really seemed to capture the essence of the episode. It held my interest!

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by ShyViolet » June 17th, 2019, 3:18 pm

Thanks Dan! :)


Wow, I didn’t even know those existed! Very cool, thanks for the head’s up! :)


Btw, kind of random: I wasn’t always a HUGE fan of Spielberg’s segment in the 1983 TZ movie, (“Kick the Can,”) but it’s definitely grown on me. I know some critics thought it was much too sappy, but if you think about it, the end is actually almost tragic since the one guy who was the most cynical and lonely person in the home missed his opportunity to go back to childhood, right when HE REALLY WANTED TO! Pretty depressing if you think about it. :cry: (Also, just the fact that it’s the guy from The Shining who helps the home’s residents become children again is quite creepy if you think about it.)

The interesting thing is that originally that wasn’t even the one Spielberg was going to direct. He very much wanted to do “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, where unseen aliens trick a small group of families (using strange sounds and blinking lights) who have been neighbors for years into murdering each other out of paranoia that each family wants to destroy them. It would have been very interesting to see Spielberg take on this really dark material (also you can’t help but wonder how his critics would have reacted.)
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » June 17th, 2019, 4:00 pm

And you call yourself a Zone geek. ;)

Actually, without seeking the novel, you could listen to the Radio drama. It gives an idea of what the book adds: (it's not a clip, but it's very hard to acquire episodes and the original sites are non-existent I think their fair-game to link)



Tooty! ;)

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by ShyViolet » June 17th, 2019, 5:52 pm

Wow, Daniel I think I actually called myself that in 2006! :shock: That’s really sweet that you remember. :).


Thanks, i’ll check that out!
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » June 18th, 2019, 2:00 pm

ShyViolet wrote:
June 17th, 2019, 3:18 pm
I wasn’t always a HUGE fan of Spielberg’s segment in the 1983 TZ movie, (“Kick the Can,”) but it’s definitely grown on me.
It's been ages since I've seen the movie. Though I do vividly remember "Kick the Can". I liked it. Probably my second favorite segment. It differed enough to be its own thing. Same for the "It's a Good Life" segment, (though probably more) which is my favorite. New Anthony didn't seem as sinister and at the end it perhaps shows he could be capable of remorse and bettering himself. There's also some clever parts. Like when it shows the black and white Bimbo cartoon on a TV and it's actually a mirror reflecting it! Not to mention how it relates to Helen. Lots of neat nuggets.

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by ShyViolet » June 18th, 2019, 2:23 pm

Yeah, I love that one as well (directed by Joe Dante, who also did Gremlins lol!) and even now I still get scared from it, even just watching short clips. (The monster rabbit one...! :shock: )

New Anthony didn't seem as sinister and at the end it perhaps shows he could be capable of remorse and bettering himself.
The interesting thing about that is that the original script had a COMPLETELY different ending; basically after all the chaos/destruction Anthony causes, the entire “house” bursts into flames and they all die. (Seriously.). That was the ending Dante wanted and the only reason he went with the “nice” one was because the studio thought the original was just too dark and would upset audiences (especially children since I assume it was rated PG; this was only a year before Temple of Doom came out which led to the “PG-13” rating being created).

I don’t know, I liked the sweet ending as a kid, but there always something kinda fake about it to me. I don’t know if footage for the scary one exists, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it if it ever becomes available.
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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by EricJ » June 18th, 2019, 3:27 pm

ShyViolet wrote:
June 17th, 2019, 3:18 pm
The interesting thing is that originally that wasn’t even the one Spielberg was going to direct. He very much wanted to do “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”, where (thanks for SPOILER).
It would have been very interesting to see Spielberg take on this really dark material (also you can’t help but wonder how his critics would have reacted.)
As noted, the 00's UPN series tried to turn the episode into a "GWBush-era terrorist-fear" metaphor rather than a McCarthyist-fear one, which took away from Serling's creepily smooth metaphor and turned it too Woke.

And although Dan Aykroyd & Albert Brooks at the beginning of TZ:tM basically singlehandedly created the Rerun Renaissance of the mid-80's (Nick at Nite channel, and the rise of cable wouldn't happen until '84-'85), am I alone in thinking that poor, picked-on John Landis was the only one who caught the ORIGINAL gritty, eerie, moralistic tone of the TV series?
At least in some of Vic Morrow's speeches at the bar (if it's Serling, there's a corner bar), and then the edgy on-the-run scenes in WWII, before tragedy ended up scrambling the story editing. As for George Miller's way-out version of "Nightmare at 20K Feet", what does that whole segment even mean?? :?

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » June 18th, 2019, 4:30 pm

EricJ's quote edit wrote:(thanks for SPOILER).
A 59 year old episode. Really? How trivial.

Nick @ Nite was never a channel, it has only ever been a programming block.

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Re: The Twilight Zone

Post by Daniel » July 1st, 2019, 8:15 pm

For the second year in a row... no 4th of July marathon. Dangit! :( Decades is airing their own but I don't have that channel. Yes, yes, I know I can buy the disCs... easier said than done! A tad pricey and just when I was finally going to get it they announce a Blu! It's on my wishlist, where it will probably remain. Other stuff always seems to take priority. That, and well I only have a few dozen episodes I really love...

There's just something special about it airing on network telly and knowing other people are watching it. It's tradition! Or was... even though I always get exhausted watching. 'Tis the principle! ;)

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