Favorite Episodes: The Twilight Zone

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

17 minutes ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

Then there's "The Star", an Arthur C. Clarke story about space explorers finding a star that went nova at about the time the Magi would have seen the star that led them to Jesus. One of the explorers is a Catholic Priest, and when he discovers the system was inhabited it triggers a true crisis of faith -- what sort of God would destroy one people to make his will known to another? Although the writers attempted to tack on an upbeat ending, irt failed and I failed to see how an upbeat ending was even imaginable.

 

I remember being very upset when I saw that episode precisely because the original story does not have an upbeat ending. I don't know why they felt the need to do that. 

[Badger]

13 minutes ago, Logan.1179 said:

 

I remember being very upset when I saw that episode precisely because the original story does not have an upbeat ending. I don't know why they felt the need to do that. 

I could see one path to make a kind of almost bittersweet ending.

 

It was that star's "Armageddon", perhaps in the past, Jesus had been born on their planet, and preached and died.

 

But, one day, our sun would be destroyed in Revelations, and it would be the"star of Bethlehem" for another civilization.

[Hermit]

5 minutes ago, Badger said:

I could see one path to make a kind of almost bittersweet ending.

 

It was that star's "Armageddon", perhaps in the past, Jesus had been born on their planet, and preached and died.

 

But, one day, our sun would be destroyed in Revelations, and it would be the"star of Bethlehem" for another civilization.

 

That's a lot better than a UFO with angelic light around it going "Omelet, Eggs, you know how it is"

 

 

[Badger]

I haven't seen too many 80s episodes, ones I have, I found to be inferior to the original  (a high bar, to be fair, but because I just couldnt)

Just now, Badger said:

I haven't seen too many 80s episodes, ones I have, I found to be inferior to the original  (a high bar, to be fair, but because I just couldnt)

Anyway, it was just how I would have done it, all cyclical and all

[Michael Hopcroft]

Has anyone seen the current Twilight Zone series on CBS All Access? I don't know how popular that service is here, and I don't subscribe to it.

[death tribble]

What is the position on shows that did not last that long ?

Such as Land of the Giants, Lost in Space and Time Tunnel ?

And what about Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ?

[Tjack]

49 minutes ago, death tribble said:

What is the position on shows that did not last that long ?

Such as Land of the Giants, Lost in Space and Time Tunnel ?

And what about Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ?

   
   I think the only problem is even in the age of streaming/binging/downloading/whatever that not as many people have seen some of those shows recently enough to discuss them.  Due to the others not being syndicated in my area the only one of those I watched regularly was Lost in Space. I’ve seen a couple of the others at conventions and such, but not enough to have favorites.

[Sundog]

I would say that Land of the Giants had a lot of possibilities that weren't realized in the original show.Of all of them, it's the one I would have most liked a modern reboot of.

 

[Starlord]

Lost In Space reboot is going into 3rd and final season on Netflix.  It's pretty good.

[Tjack]

1 hour ago, Sundog said:

I would say that Land of the Giants had a lot of possibilities that weren't realized in the original show.Of all of them, it's the one I would have most liked a modern reboot of.

 

    I kind of remember that the giants world had a Nazi/Communist style repressive govt.  And there were a couple of Will Robinson & Dr. Smith type characters .

  What possibilities wold you focus on if you were the showrunner?  (That’s show business speak for GM.)

[Sundog]

2 hours ago, Tjack said:

    I kind of remember that the giants world had a Nazi/Communist style repressive govt.  And there were a couple of Will Robinson & Dr. Smith type characters .

  What possibilities wold you focus on if you were the showrunner?  (That’s show business speak for GM.)

Actually, that repressive/authoritarian government aspect would be one of the aspects I would emphasize. I'd probably do a complete rewrite on the characters - while the captain and first officer of the Spindrift (great name, keep that!) were OK, as was the stewardess, but the kid and skeevy guy and the scientist were ciphers. Have the first couple of episodes focus on the crew of the Spindrift simply surviving and avoiding Giant attention, gradually introduce the story of the authoritarian government, their use of the "little people" as a scapegoat/object of hatred, and the resistance to that government. Have the stranded Terrans trying to form contacts they can trust while avoiding government, all with the hope of one day repairing Spindrift and going home.

I would also emphasize both the Terran tech advantage and their usefulness for repairing and doing micro-work the Giants simply can't. I'd reduce the Giants to a 1950s level of technology, while giving the Spindrift crew the advantage of day-after-tomorrow modern tech.