Thursday, January 01, 2009

New Years Marathon: "Two"

Bleary eyed, yeah. Still in our pj's, yeah. But at least Nat's place is somewhat quiet for the first time since, well, Thanksgiving. Sorry to see the holidays go. Sorry to see this greed-farce known as the BCS Bowls play out. But at least there's the Twilight Zone Marathon on SciFi.
I just saw my favorite episode. Mrs. Nat's is "To Serve Man." Mine is "Two." Weird I'd pick the love story, eh? But I'm a complicated person. Check out part I of the episode. It won an Emmy. Check out a very young Elizabeth "Bewitched" Montgomery and Charles Bronson! Infuse yourself with great storytelling, unlike the garbage on TV now. Oh yeah go ahead and say "Lost" or "The Shield" are hallmarks of our age, but come on--they ain't that good, and storytelling's been supplanted by marketing. This stuff, however--it's art. Designed to captivate, not sell. Learn something, fanboys & girls. Learn it well...


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was Samantha?!

Lisa said...

I would call you a geek but I watched a little of this marathon last night. This was GREAT television. It involves too much creativity and too much thought so we'd never see that now (EXCEPT on my shows: Battlestar Galactica and Mad Men!). I'm watching one of the live episodes about Christmas as I clean up after brunch!

Anonymous said...

I am thoroughly enjoying the Twilight Zone marathon. I am enjoying Mr. Nat too!

Pebbles Flintstone said...

I'm watching one now with William Shatner. He looks YOUNG! It's not the one with the airplane goblin, however.

Amenta said...

Enjoyed your comments during the interview on your sidebar. I am looking forward to the day when literature rises again.

Peace.

Knute Rife said...

What's amazing is how Serling just kept cranking them out.

Christopher Chambers said...

Serling was an amazing guy. One of the most prolific artists of the 20th century for sure. Writes now are just feeding off him.

Anonymous said...

My favorite episode is "The Living Doll." Telly Savalas vs. evil toy doll. Guess who wins.

Robert M said...

What truly made these classics is that the cast were so often solo or duos. I am always thinking Mickey Rooney as a "Big Man"

Dark Moon said...

Rod Serling was an unsung Genius. A true modern Poe who seemed to fuse philisophical musings with compassionate quirkiness.

I also watched several hours of the Marathon into this morning. I liked the one with Shatner and the Gremlin on the wing of the plane. The woman who thought she was hideous in a world of twisted faces. The blackout on Maple Street. The man with the Glasses and the world imploded and the Astronauts who thought they crashed on a deserted planet.
There are so many great episodes and although I appreciate the weird dystopian quirkiness of shows like Profit, X Files and Millennium, Twilight truly is a treasured classic.

Dr. Tracey Salisbury said...

me and Mrs. Nat T. share the same favorite episode. I am a sucker for the one episode with black folks - You got to believe in the magic, Bolie!

Anonymous said...

SoCal 82 Tiger Says:

Professor: TZ proves once again that there is not enough bombastically loud musical/audio tracks, outrageous pyrotechnic explosions, and over the top CGI effects in the world that can replace a great story, written by talented writers, and performed by REAL actors (and actresses) who can actually act.

Kristopher Militant Mosby said...

An amazing man, INDEED!

My favorite episode is "I Am the Night—Color Me Black"

"A sickness known as hate; not a virus, not a microbe, not a germ, but a sickness nonetheless. Highly contagious, deadly in its effects. Don't look for it in the Twilight Zone. Look for it in a mirror. Look for it before the light goes out altogether."

Has anyone read Sterling's Emmitt Till script or know where I can preview/find/download a copy?

Anonymous said...

There was a reading of the play last year. I hope the script is at least published, so the public can read it. I would like to see it on the small screen, but I don't feel the networks would do a good job with it.

http://ithaca-blog.blogspot.com/2008/03/rod-serling-celebration-at-ithaca.html

Christopher Chambers said...

Not too many folks these days know or care about him. The light has gone out, particularly among a lot of younger people.