The Twilight Zone (1959)

Watchseries; How much do we really know about our next door neighbors? The pleasant facade they masquerade around becomes a stilted and decorative shield for them when their prevailing circumstances are totally cop aesthetic. What happens though, when adversity besieges, and the obligatory veneer is stripped away? The affable camaraderie of your friendly neighborhood kindred spirit, (otherwise known as your neighbor) becomes abruptly, and instantaneously obviated with these circumstances, and now, your neighbor is now a vulgar,venomous, vile, gut-wrenching, self-absorbed- for- survival- mode, monstrous parasite! This episode "The Shelter" is unequivocally,one of the best "Twilight Zone" segments out of the entire series! While it is compared to "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street", I felt that "The Shelter" was a great deal more compelling. The intensity of the characters' excoriation was extremely gripping with the episode. As opposed to "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" where the people extracted a little too much exaggerated paranoia. The cast was very well put together, including Jack Albertson and Larry Gates. (Gates played a doctor, and was down in the basement in the "Twilight Zone's" "The Shelter", just like he was in the movie "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" ). "The Shelter" possesses a vitriolic contempt with which these threatened individuals harbored! This enmity is far more of a lethal arsenal than any defense weapon around. How much do we hate? What exactly is it that we are thoroughly willing to do just to stay alive? The desperation, the prejudice, the primal fears, and the scruple less non cooperation we capitulate to at the first sign of terror, becomes a grim scenario that is truly alarming!! This "Twilight Zone" segment "The Shelter" purveys an incredibly desperate acrimony which basically admonishes the entire human race. This false alarm for apocalyptic calamity with this "Twilight Zone" segment has encapsulated an aggregate character assassination for all of these New York suburban misanthropes who became victimized by this precariously macabre situation. You might want to look in the mirror and attempt to reaffirm the distinction between man and beast after watching this "Twilight Zone" episode. I did, and, quite frankly, such a situation that "The Shelter" brought before me, has made it very difficult for me to distinguish any comfortable dichotomy between human beings, and a bloodthirsty wolf pack!! This wry little epigram definitely put me in an frightfully horrid mood, particularly on a philosophical level! Rod Serling hones in on the rudimentary instincts of man, which are for better, or, for worse, Serling accomplishes this parody in a very successful manner too! What is the most significant aspect to Rod Serling's works is the esoteric element to them that transcends the importance of television ratings and popularity! This intriguing quality is one whereby the paradigms in which Rod Serling manifests were stunningly pertinent to the thought patterns of modern twentieth century America! I do not mean that these ideas were remotely similar to Eisenhower era conceptions, I mean that Serling pinpoints many U.S. cold war ideologies with an utterly succinct and identifiable accuracy! Rod Serling had attained such a creative stranglehold on television entertainment with "Twilight Zone" that it almost seemed as though programming approval from CBS President, William

How much do we really know about our next door neighbors? The pleasant facade they masquerade around becomes a stilted and decorative shield for them when their prevailing circumstances are totally cop aesthetic. What happens though, when adversity besieges, and the obligatory veneer is stripped away? The affable camaraderie of your friendly neighborhood kindred spirit, (otherwise known as your neighbor) becomes abruptly, and instantaneously obviated with these circumstances, and now, your neighbor is now a vulgar,venomous, vile, gut-wrenching, self-absorbed- for- survival- mode, monstrous parasite! This episode "The Shelter" is unequivocally,one of the best "Twilight Zone" segments out of the entire series! While it is compared to "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street", I felt that "The Shelter" was a great deal more compelling. The intensity of the characters' excoriation was extremely gripping with the episode. As opposed to "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" where the people extracted a little too much exaggerated paranoia. The cast was very well put together, including Jack Albertson and Larry Gates. (Gates played a doctor, and was down in the basement in the "Twilight Zone's" "The Shelter", just like he was in the movie "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" ). "The Shelter" possesses a vitriolic contempt with which these threatened individuals harbored! This enmity is far more of a lethal arsenal than any defense weapon around. How much do we hate? What exactly is it that we are thoroughly willing to do just to stay alive? The desperation, the prejudice, the primal fears, and the scruple less non cooperation we capitulate to at the first sign of terror, becomes a grim scenario that is truly alarming!! This "Twilight Zone" segment "The Shelter" purveys an incredibly desperate acrimony which basically admonishes the entire human race. This false alarm for apocalyptic calamity with this "Twilight Zone" segment has encapsulated an aggregate character assassination for all of these New York suburban misanthropes who became victimized by this precariously macabre situation. You might want to look in the mirror and attempt to reaffirm the distinction between man and beast after watching this "Twilight Zone" episode. I did, and, quite frankly, such a situation that "The Shelter" brought before me, has made it very difficult for me to distinguish any comfortable dichotomy between human beings, and a bloodthirsty wolf pack!! This wry little epigram definitely put me in an frightfully horrid mood, particularly on a philosophical level! Rod Serling hones in on the rudimentary instincts of man, which are for better, or, for worse, Serling accomplishes this parody in a very successful manner too! What is the most significant aspect to Rod Serling's works is the esoteric element to them that transcends the importance of television ratings and popularity! This intriguing quality is one whereby the paradigms in which Rod Serling manifests were stunningly pertinent to the thought patterns of modern twentieth century America! I do not mean that these ideas were remotely similar to Eisenhower era conceptions, I mean that Serling pinpoints many U.S. cold war ideologies with an utterly succinct and identifiable accuracy! Rod Serling had attained such a creative stranglehold on television entertainment with "Twilight Zone" that it almost seemed as though programming approval from CBS President, William

The Twilight Zone watchseries. Imagine you are an unsuspecting daughter of prominent New England wealth, and suddenly you are upended by a malignant premonition!! This woman is an enigmatic phantom who has been disillusioned by consequences, she winds up resorting to dipsomanical forms of entertainment, this means that her only form of emotional consolation comes from a bottle of cognac, apathy is suffocating her, and she is afflicted by her own personal failure!! The abrupt revelation that mendacity is your stilted panacea, and reality is her bitter cynicism, necessitates a formidable trepidation which you are unable to cope with!! This is a dreadfully candid scenario with definable features!! You are unfamiliar with this nightmarish figure, but she has an acute resemblance to you, she is warning you about yourself, and you have become terrified!!

This Twilight Zone episode deals with devastating disappointments which emanated from personal neglect and wanton selfishness!! You (Ann Henderson) were mirrored by the fallen angel of darkness, otherwise known as you at age 43!! You were suppose to marry Mr Right, and as a result of your adolescent instinct being one of your downfalls, you wound up marrying your childhood sweetheart, he was definitely Mr Wrong!! ..The only constant in your life is alcohol, and your stupors of disenchantment result in blaming your father for everything, hence, you are stalemated by non-productiveness, and you have become misanthropic by default.. These irrational logic patterns of yours are indicative of a banal, run of the mill, alcoholic's proverbial cop out!! Your father's estate has been run into ruin, and your prevailing domestic enmity is a crippling force to your very existence!! At the ripe old age of 18, your desolate future accosted you, and you had no way of fighting back...You were victimized by a lethargic attrition, disheveled by circumstances, and though you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, your incredible lack of discipline and discriminating judgment has caused you to be permanently bankrupt!! Bottom line, you had a dual with adversity and adversity won!! Everything in your life has gone wrong, and now you are isolated and despondent!! This comprises the callous vilification of your miserably pathetic plight...Without question!! It is definitely time for you to reap what you've sown!!

This was my favorite Twilight Zone episode of all time!! It depicts the realistic tragedy of deteriorating wealth decimating an entire family!! Rod Serling illustrates how lives can easily be destroyed by making the wrong decisions!! Films like "Dracula" and "Wolfman" are indeed supernatural sensationalism, and the real horror story which receives the certificate of authenticity is Ann Henderson's life!! Yes, the monster that will destroy you is your future!! While Ann owned a racing horse on the verge of bank foreclosure, by no means, may she ride off into the sunset!! This episode has a very poignant and compelling dialog which addresses the upheaval of pecuniary dissemination!! The trend of domestic disaster in this case is resoundingly irreversible!! In 1964, television's perception of the well to do insinuated that they were omnipotent.. The reality of affluence is that once it is passed down to the heirs (Otherwise known as the overgrown adolescents) it is reduced to nothing in record time!! The Twilight Zone segment "Spur of the Moment" does a tremendous job of displaying such an unfortunately realistic situation!! It was made during the last season of th

Whatever incantation, whatever form, whatever decade, this show has managed to intrigue and defy logic with its use of imaginary story lines and ideas, mixing a palate of intrigue and genius to allow the common viewer to become engrossed in the weirdest television has to offer. While the original series was cheesy at some points, this show was always different, always something to look forward to in regards to the eeriness it created. Rod Serling helped usher in a generation of paranoia and science fiction thanks to this groundbreaking show, and I'm thankful for this. I could only imagine what the world would be like if all we had were terrible dramas and average sitcoms filling the airwaves. This show will rank as one of the best in my book, no matter what people say.

It is completely impossible to narrow down the best episodes of this classic TV series...everything about it (writing, acting, production values) is leaps and bounds above anything around today! That being said, since the Christmas season is approaching, Serling made two holiday episodes that are worth taking the time to watch all over again: "The Night of the Meek" with Art Carney and (my personal favorite) "The Changing of the Guard" with Donald Pleasance. Both are timeless classics, and show a very sentimental side to the Twilight Zone...Every year at the holiday season I like to sit back and take these episodes in; they get better and better with each repeated viewing! Merry Christmas & Enjoy!

Just recently, I finished a kick of re-watching all 156 episodes of the original Twilight Zone series. If I were to average out all my individual episode rankings, that number would probably fall between 7-8 stars. Yet, when looked at as a whole rather than the sum of its parts, The Twilight Zone is 10/10 all the way.

When TZ is hitting on all cylinders, it is easily one of the greatest anthology pieces ever produced. The lion's share of the credit here goes to show creator and writer Rod Serling, who is truly one of the most inspired individuals to ever put pen to paper in screenplay format. The deeper themes about society or humanity are just as relevant now (if not sometimes more so!) than they were upon original airing.

It absolutely astounds me that this show premiered in 1959. That was ten years before the moon landing! I can't imagine what my grandparents would have thought about a show like this, dealing with space travels, aliens, and all manner of oddities hardly a decade removed from the Second World War and firmly in the Cold War.

Like I said, the best TZ episodes are treasures that will be enjoyed and studied for decades to come. Does the show have its share of clunkers? Of course. But only a true handful of episodes are truly bad. The others largely depend on personal sci-fi tastes or the time-period in which they are viewed.

About the only reason I would even consider dropping this from a perfect ranking is the fourth season of the show, which produced hour-long episodes. Those efforts aren't bad, per se, but are simply padded with dialogue to fill time rather than written for a longer runtime, for the most part.

When taking the long view, however, The Twilight Zone firmly resides in my top-five television programs of all-time. Despite premiering well before it could fully be appreciated, having to deal with the inane TV standards and practices of the era, and being constantly underfunded, Serling managed to keep everything afloat and write some of the best multi-genre material ever seen on the small screen. Whether comedy, mystery, horror, sci-fi, human drama, or any other genre is your game, you'll likely find something to enjoy in the breadth of The Twilight Zone.

I would assume that everyone knows "The Twilight Zone"'s theme song, and recognizes Rod Serling's monotone explanations of how the given character has just crossed over into the Twilight Zone. I'm not sure which episode is my favorite. There's "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet", in which William Shatner sees a monster tearing at an airplane wing, and there's also "Time Enough at Last", where Burgess Meredith plays a bookworm who gets enough time to read as much as he wants...or does he? Or, it might be another episode. But no matter. "The Twilight Zone" never ceases to impress me. Even the 1983 movie was pretty interesting, not something that many movies based on TV shows accomplish. You should try to see the show.