Category: Twilight Zone
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Philosophy from the Twilight Zone: “The Lonely”
Substack latest. With a tip of the sweat-stained hat to Elliot Crozat and Brian Bosse for stimulating discussion.
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The Obsolete Man
The Twilight Zone marathon is in progress at the SyFy channel. One of the best episodes of the series which ran from 1959-1964 is The Obsolete Man (1961). Rod Serling's opening narration is eerily prescient and eerily relevant to our present police-state predicament: You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads…
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‘Nuclear’ Thoughts on Dylan’s Birthday
We've gotten used to living under the Sword of Damocles: One of its more famous [invocations] came in 1961 during the Cold War, when President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before the United Nations in which he said that “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the…
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The Twilight Zone from A to Z
A NYRB review of a book I will have to purchase. In fact, after I post this, I will head to Amazon.com to look it up. Your humble correspondent is a Twilight Zone aficionado from way back. The original series ran from 1959-1964.
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No July 4th Twilight Zone Marathon This Year
This is an outrage! The only good thing about it is that I won't have to hear my wife say, "Haven't you seen this episode before?" I've seen 'em all before, countless times. My Twilight Zone category.
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Philosophy From the Twilight Zone: “The Lonely”
Rod Serling's Twilight Zone was an outstanding TV series that ran from 1959-1964. The episode "The Lonely" aired in November, 1959. I have seen it several times, thanks to the semi-annual Sci Fi channel TZ marathons. There is one in progress as I write. One can extract quite a bit of philosophical juice from "The Lonely" as from most…
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Becoming Old and Being Old: A Paradox
Most if not all want to become old, but few if any want to be old. ………………… That's an old thought, not original with me, but I do not know who deserves the attribution. Its literary effect trades on equivocation. In one sense, an old thing is a thing that has been in existence a…
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2016 Twilight Zone New Year’s Marathon
Could there be a better way to end such a surreal year? It starts tomorrow, New Year's Eve, at 6 AM and runs for three and one half days on the SyFy channel. Here is the schedule. Two I won't miss tomorrow morning: 9 am: The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine 9:30am: Escape Clause Here is your chance…
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Independence Day Twilight Zone Marathon Schedule
It starts tomorrow morning. Kelley Vlahos: While it might be difficult to fathom, Independence Day and the 1960s television hit “The Twilight Zone” have become virtually synonymous in the eyes of the show’s multigenerational fandom. [. . .] One could argue, however, that beyond a Fourth of July staple, “The Twilight Zone“ is as red, white…
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Jack Klugman and The Twilight Zone
I almost entitled this post, "Jack Klugman Enters the Twilight Zone," except that this is the vale of twilight. Be that as it may, Jack Klugman, who died yesterday, starred in four Twilight Zone episodes. The news accounts mention that fact but don't say which. "A Passage for Trumpet," "In Praise of Pip," "A Game of Pool," and…
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A Hitchcock-Serling Coincidence
I've been watching old Alfred Hitchcock re-runs from '63 and '64. I must have seen some of these as a kid, but I've forgotten them all. On the night of 10 August I saw "The Magic Shop." What struck me was how similar in theme this is to the Twilight Zone episode, "It's a Good…
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Afterlife Again
Yesterday I wrote: The epitaph on Frank Sinatra's tombstone reads, "The best is yet to come." That may well be, but it won't be booze and broads, glitz and glamour, and the satisfaction of worldly ambitions that were frustrated this side of the grave. So the believer must sincerely ask himself: would I really want…
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December Twilight Zone Schedule
Here. Marathon starts New Year's Eve morning and runs for two days. My eyes glued to the set, my wife invariably asks, "Haven't you seen that episode before?" She doesn't get it. I've seen 'em all numerous times each. Hell, I've been watching 'em since 1959 when the series first aired. But the best are…
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Liberal Dreckmeisters and Their Decadent Drivel
How is that for a polemical title? The first decades of televison were comparatively wholesome compared to what came later. An example of outstanding TV was Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, which ran from 1959-1964. Comparing a series like TZ with trash like The Sopranos, one sees the extent of the decline. Serling knew how to entertain…
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Rod Serling Rules: Twilight Time Again
The semi-annual Twilight Zone marathon is under way at the Sci Fi channel and will continue through New Year's Day and into the wee hours of January 2nd. Here is your chance to view some of the episodes you may have missed. The best of them are phenomenally good and bristling with philosophical content. I have just…