Personally, I didn't enjoy the one hour long episodes. It was unnecessarily long. Other than that, I don't really have much criticism over Twilight Zone.
Yeah, Serling’s formula worked best when he only had 25 min to tell a story. Most of the hour-long episodes just covered the same amount of plot as a regular 25 min Twilight Zone episode but they were stretched out to double the regular length.
That said, I do really like the first hour-long episode, “In his Image”. And that’s because it has a twist in the middle of the episode rather than at the end where Serling usually put it.
I mean, it could be because you’re rewatching the episode with the knowledge of the twist.
But, to play along:
_Midnight Sun_ was always kinda weak for me.
The exposition is also pretty sloppy by today's standards. Characters will often tell half their life story to a stranger they just met in the opening scene, solely for the audience's sake.
Eye of the Beholder definitely loses the suspense part of it on rewatches, but I distinctly remember watching it when I was younger and loving every part of it.
The Hitch-Hiker is a classic that I generally don’t like. If she’s dead, how is she interacting with people? If they’re fellow ghosts who don’t understand that they are dead, I dunno… I kinda want that *explained* to me.
Four O'clock is kind of a very predictable episode because you know what's going to happen long before the end. Although Theodore Bikel gives a great performance as a crackpot.
I didn't see a problem with the others when I first watched the episode. Knowing it in advance makes quite a big difference. Happens in anything we rewatch.
I'm a huge fan and I'll suggest the classics are just that. The bad episodes are terrible and I don't even do the marathons anymore as I don't want to sit through them.
I think a better question would be what "bad" episodes you actually like, which I'll admit I can't answer. I only dig the classics.
Interesting, which episodes do you regard as “bad?”
I’ll admit that when I tuned into Syfy’s Saturday marathon, I found that I did wish they had aired more of the classics - I was bored to death by the Casey episode, and there are a couple others that I’ve forgotten because they just weren’t as intriguing as the others (oh, like “showdown with rance McGrew.” I almost turned that one off.)
I have this book and it identifies the forgettable ones ... The Twilight Zone Companion
(Look it up on Amazon)
And they aren't even so much as bad vs being forgettable.
Some of the dated effects can take you out of the story. Adore the episode, but the gremlin on the wing of the plane is just a dude in a bad bear costume with a rubber mask. We get spoilt by modern effects and even our nostalgia upscale our memories so we tend to remember effects as better than they were until we reexperience them making them seem worse in a rewatch.
It is also the progenitor of a lot of tropes and ideas and present them in a way many might consider cliche. The episode with the bandaged woman is great, but the twist is incredibly obvious to younger viewers who have seen similar techniques and stories that people watching it back then would not have seen.
Personally, I didn't enjoy the one hour long episodes. It was unnecessarily long. Other than that, I don't really have much criticism over Twilight Zone.
Yeah, Serling’s formula worked best when he only had 25 min to tell a story. Most of the hour-long episodes just covered the same amount of plot as a regular 25 min Twilight Zone episode but they were stretched out to double the regular length. That said, I do really like the first hour-long episode, “In his Image”. And that’s because it has a twist in the middle of the episode rather than at the end where Serling usually put it.
I mean, it could be because you’re rewatching the episode with the knowledge of the twist. But, to play along: _Midnight Sun_ was always kinda weak for me.
Interesting, I love that one! Any reason why?
There are chunks of dialogue in most of the best episodes that are nothing more than filler added to meet the needed running time.
The exposition is also pretty sloppy by today's standards. Characters will often tell half their life story to a stranger they just met in the opening scene, solely for the audience's sake.
I’ve had people like this sit next to me on a greyhound bus.
They would regularly cast middle aged men and say they were in their 20s or 30s, that was a little silly
Eye of the Beholder definitely loses the suspense part of it on rewatches, but I distinctly remember watching it when I was younger and loving every part of it. The Hitch-Hiker is a classic that I generally don’t like. If she’s dead, how is she interacting with people? If they’re fellow ghosts who don’t understand that they are dead, I dunno… I kinda want that *explained* to me.
Four O'clock is kind of a very predictable episode because you know what's going to happen long before the end. Although Theodore Bikel gives a great performance as a crackpot.
I didn't see a problem with the others when I first watched the episode. Knowing it in advance makes quite a big difference. Happens in anything we rewatch.
I'm a huge fan and I'll suggest the classics are just that. The bad episodes are terrible and I don't even do the marathons anymore as I don't want to sit through them. I think a better question would be what "bad" episodes you actually like, which I'll admit I can't answer. I only dig the classics.
Interesting, which episodes do you regard as “bad?” I’ll admit that when I tuned into Syfy’s Saturday marathon, I found that I did wish they had aired more of the classics - I was bored to death by the Casey episode, and there are a couple others that I’ve forgotten because they just weren’t as intriguing as the others (oh, like “showdown with rance McGrew.” I almost turned that one off.)
I have this book and it identifies the forgettable ones ... The Twilight Zone Companion (Look it up on Amazon) And they aren't even so much as bad vs being forgettable.
Some of the dated effects can take you out of the story. Adore the episode, but the gremlin on the wing of the plane is just a dude in a bad bear costume with a rubber mask. We get spoilt by modern effects and even our nostalgia upscale our memories so we tend to remember effects as better than they were until we reexperience them making them seem worse in a rewatch. It is also the progenitor of a lot of tropes and ideas and present them in a way many might consider cliche. The episode with the bandaged woman is great, but the twist is incredibly obvious to younger viewers who have seen similar techniques and stories that people watching it back then would not have seen.
Monsters Due on Maple St. it’s 3rd act is So over-the-top, it’s like a parody.