Tag Archives: Rod Serling

Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (Shades of Guilt)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Perry Lang

You know, it’s kind of funny that Jordan Peele is gonna be doing a new Twilight Zone series considering todays episode is like a really crappy version of Get Out made by SEEMINGLY well-meaning white people who didn’t know what the heck they were doing. Yes, this is gonna be less of a modern classic or even a genuinely good piece of early 2000s fluff; rather, we’re dealing with one of the more dated episodes in the series that fall somewhere between hilariously misguided and utterly cringe worthy. Strap in folks, because things are about to get uncomfortable!

The episode begins with exceeding average white dude Matt McGreevey (Vincent Ventresca) driving home from work in the pouring rain… on the emptiest street imaginable… when all of a sudden a black man (Hill Harper) starts banging on his window begging for help. Matt IMMEDIATELY locks the door and guns the engine to get away from the guy, and in his rear view mirror he sees a bunch of racist (and murderous) assholes beat the dude to death while he just keeps on driving! Oh, but he didn’t get away as clean as he thought, because Forest Whitaker saw his ass drive off like a Jabroni, and I’m sure he’s got a REAL sweet ironic fate waiting for him… IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!

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“I’m sure there’s a side to this that I’m not seeing. It’s best not to get involved…” “THEY’RE GONNA KILL ME!!” “That could be metaphorical…” “IT’S NOT!!”

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Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (Evergreen)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Allen Kroeker

We’re back with another episode of Night Gallery.  Wait… that doesn’t sound right.  Oh well!  Now this episode we have right here, while being the sixth produced, was ACTUALLY the first one to air on television as opposed to the one hour pilot that got cut in half and pushed back.  Did this end up being the best episode for them to have started with, or was this just a mediocre filler episode that inexplicably got to be the first one out the door?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with the perfect middle class white family who are ironically called The Winslows (two parents and two daughters) as they drive up to the gates of the community they just moved into!  Right away it’s clear that something is up at Evergreen Estates considering how creepily friendly the gate man is, and the icy stare he gives to the older Winslow daughter (Amber Tamblyn) whose ambivalence towards everything is crystal clear.

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“I don’t play by society’s rules!  I shop at Hot Topic!”

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Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (Dream Lover)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Peter o’ Fallon

We’re back with another episode of Extreme Twilight Zone!  After seeing Katherine Heigl kill Baby Hitler, what else is there!?  Where can this series possibly go after that!?  Well we’re gonna find out as we’ve barely even started on this series and there are a whole lot of episodes left, including this one about a tortured artist who brings dream girl to Life… which is the premise of Ruby Sparks only done about a decade earlier.  Anyway, let’s get started!!

The episode follows Graphic Novel writer Andrew Lomax (Adrian Pasdar) who is living the nightmare of all writers; having no fucking clue what to write.  How could this be though!?  He has a plaque on his wall confirming that his last book, Sleepless City, was a New York Times best seller for sixteen consecutive weeks!  Clearly this bout of writer’s block must be the machinations of… THE TWILIGHT ZONE.  While in the middle of a pity party for himself, he starts to see a hot woman wrapped in nothing but a towel (mirroring a pinup drawing he just did) who is eagerly awaiting his tender embrace!  Too bad it’s all a dream!  OR IS IT!?

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Either way, I’m pretty sure A-ha is gonna sue someone.

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Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (Cradle of Darkness)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Jean de Segonzac

When I decided to start recapping this series, there were a few episodes that I knew were going to be VERY interesting to talk about as the show really did go into some strange territory and had some surprisingly big stars who were very taking these roles very early in their careers.  This episode right here?  This might just be the crown jewel of the series, at least from the episodes I can recall.  This has Katherine Heigl (yes, THAT Katherine Heigl) going back in time to kill Baby Hitler.  Yeah.  Can this episode manage to be even HALF as interesting as that premise promises?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins IN THE FUTURE where Special Agent Katherine Heigl is, for some reason, the ONLY person they can send back in time (something to do with genetics) and has just finished making peace with her family as we’re going by Terminator rules here which means she can only go BACK in time, but not forward… unless anyone besides me saw Terminator Genisys in which they mess with that rule, but I’m still willing to pretend that movie doesn’t exist if everyone else is.

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“It’s too bad this is one way travel.  Now we have to send someone ELSE to deal with Donald Trump.”

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Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (One Night at Mercy)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Peter O’Fallon

We’re back with another episode of Story Time with Forest Whitaker!  Now the last episode we looked at was a pretty boring example of this show barely even trying and merely going through the motions, but I hear that a lot of people really like this episode so maybe the show has already figured out what it wants to do and is now heading in the right direction.  Are the people right and is this one of the better episodes of the series, or is this just another disappointment from a show that probably has no right to exist in the first place?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with a whole bunch of SUPER SURGERY where there’s blood splatter, sawn open rib cages, and some bad ass doctor sticking his hand inside some dude’s chest cavity!  SWEET!  I don’t know what the fuck he’s trying to do (something to do with the aorta), but whatever it is it ends up saving the poor bastard on the table.  Oh I’m sorry, did I say table?  They aren’t actually in an operating theater; they’re in the fucking emergency room with the guy on a gurney!  Television execs being cheap or the hospital has budget cuts?  YOU DECIDE!!

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“Can you grab me a bottle of hand sanitizer?”     “WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING!  JUST GRAB IT YOURSELF!”     “The supplies are right behind you.  All you have to do is turn around and grab me a bottle.”     “WHY IS THERE HAND SANITIZER IN THE OPERATING ROOM!?”     “You can keep calling it that all you want, but that won’t make it any less false.”

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Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (Night Route)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Jean de Segonzac

We’re back with another episode of The Forest Whitaker Monologues!  Now that we’ve made it through the pilot, it’s time for this series to start in earnest!  Is this going to be one of the good episodes, or will this be one of the FUN episodes?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with a woman named Melina Kroner (Ione Skye) walking her dog at night when she’s nearly hit by a car.  Presumably this event will NOT go unnoticed by THE TWILIGHT ZONE and sure enough she’s immediately sidled up to by a creepy ass bus whose driver (Art Kitching from Supernatural) is practically begging her to step aboard.  The dog seems to want to get on, but she just holds the leash firm and turns away from it.  When she looks back… the bus is GONE!  So she’s dead, right?  That’s the twist.  I’m putting my money down RIGHT NOW that that is gonna be the twist.

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“Night Bus to Mundo Fine!  Night Bus to the end!!”

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Super Recaps: The Twilight Zone (The Lineman)

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The Twilight Zone and all the images you see in this recap are owned by Warner Bros Television and based on the series created by Rod Serling

Episode directed by Jonathan Frakes

Welcome back to our look at the 2002 Twilight Zone reboot!  Now the show’s air dates and production dates are completely different, but we’re gonna go with the latter which means this first episode (the pilot) didn’t actually air until six weeks into the series run; something that makes it even MORE confusing when you find out that this is the ONLY episode of the series that is one hour long story instead of two episodes put together.  As confusing as that must have been to whoever was watching this series as it aired (someone SURELY had to have been doing so, right?), this can sometimes happen.  You needn’t look any further than The Menagerie from the original Star Trek series which was the original pilot but then later retrofitted into a two parter in the series proper.  So what do we have to look forward to from the first episode of this series?  Well it has Jeremy Piven in it from before he was on Entourage but since that’s a show I’ve never seen, my reference pool for the guy is basically Smokin’ Aces and The Good: Live Hard Sell hard.  Not only is he in this episode, but he’s the STAR and it’s all about him developing the power to read minds!  Neato!  So does this episode prove that the series was worth bring back a second time, or is it all too clear right from the beginning that we’re on a ship that’s sinking fast?  Let’s find out!!

The episode begins with our hero Tyler (Jeremy Piven) and his two work buddies, Buddy and Shannon (seriously, his best friend is named Buddy, I guess so we don’t get confused), who are at the site of a recently downed telephone line.  Tyler has a crush on Shannon but he doesn’t have any confidence in himself and uses being poor as an excuse to not ask her out.  I guess telecom repair people don’t get paid a lot, but then again this is the guy who buys scratcher tickets hoping to win it big, so maybe his idea of success is a bit on the unrealistic side.  Not only that, but the person he’s pining over seems like an irresponsible jerk considering she goads the guy into going to the top of the line to fix it mere moments after the storm ended.  Gee… I wonder if anything is gonna go wrong…

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“I hate Mondays!!”     “It’s actually Tuesday.”     “WHY ARE YOU CORRECTING HIM!?  CALL AN AMBULANCE!!”

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