Any of you watch “The Twilight Zone” marathon this past weekend? You know, the one that started at 6 a.m. New Year’s Eve and ran until 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning?
Sure you did. You watched every single episode, all 156 in the original show’s run from 1958 until 1964, right? So you probably should go to sleep now because you can only do so much meth before it becomes a problem.
Shawn RyanWhile “Twilight Zone” sometimes seems a bit old-fashioned and cheesy these days (production values weren’t always high), its influence has resonated for decades. The themes it addressed – nuclear apocalypse, sinister governments, nostalgia, man vs. machine, fear of change – are true even today.
And in the 52 years since it’s been off, some “Twilight Zone” episodes have become ingrained in the public conscious. Most remember “To Serve Humans” (yum yum), “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” with a young William Shatner who has a serious fear of flying and the ultimate bratty kid story of “It’s a Good Life.”
There also are “Time Enough at Last,” which makes the case that you must do what you love before it’s too late, and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” a takedown of McCarthyism at the time and still a sharp morality play about the irrational fears of mankind and how they direct our emotions. I won’t make any connections from that to the most recent elections but… wait, I guess I just did.
Since many of us are intimately familiar with those episodes, however, the obscure ones can be even more entertaining.
On the surface, for instance, “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” examines society’s never-ending need to make beauty an integral piece of self-worth, but underneath it’s also about government control, both physically and mentally. “Little Girl Lost” seems like an obvious influence on “Poltergeist.” “The Hitch-Hiker,” made in 1960, may be a template for the now-seminal horror film “Carnival of Souls” from 1962.
But there also is sexism and racism in some episodes. “The Encounter,” with a young George Takei (Lt. Sulu on “Star Trek”), uses racist stereotypes and language; “A World of His Own” presents women as interchangeable pawns in a man’s game. While those are unfortunate and gross, “The Twilight Zone” was a part of its time, and such sins may be slightly more forgivable when taken in that context.
But those are glitches in what otherwise is a supremely clever, thoughtful and entertaining show. So next year, settle in for a binge watch of “The Twilight Zone.” But don’t say up for three straight days. That’s what DVRs are for.
Contact Shawn Ryan at sryan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327.