MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > episodes everyone loves that you don't

episodes everyone loves that you don't

posted 10 years ago by ilovetvmovies
130 replies | jump to latest

let me start of by saying I love TZ I bought the box set last year and fell in love straight away. however there has been one episode that everyone else seem to love that I cant enjoy.

walking distance
I tried oh god did I try to get into this but it's just not going to happen. first I don't care about martin he's a sook "oh I have a high paying job in new York my life stinks" boo frigging who, then we are meant to feel bad for him because his mum and dad don't recognise him of course they have no idea who he is. he's a middle aged man who walked back into the past THEY HAVE NEVER MET YOU!! and then the idiot cripples himself on the merry go round and for what so at the end of the episode he could learn not to grow up to fast to hold on to the good times. look I'm sorry but all the praise it's gets it's beyond me this episode taught us something we already knew ENJOY LIFE well thanks for that but walking distance is not a good example IMO

[–] gargantuaboy 10 years ago

I love this episode but there is one thing I never quite understand. When Martin sees his parents all of a sudden ALIVE, he is TAKEN BACK and confused like he of course should be, but but then he walks to the house next door and sees a guy washing his car and sees that the car is very old and has a rumble seat, he is just BLOWN AWAY by this. He's just seen his dead parents ALIVE and he seems a little taken back but he's just STUNNED at a rumble seat.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Qanqor 10 years ago

Really? I always liked Stopwatch. I find McNulty to be an amusing character, I love the premise of the watch, and I find his ultimate fate to be creepy and sad (if appropropriately ironic and somewhat deserved).

[–] jdc1-1 10 years ago

Kick the Can was an episode included in the full length movie.
I thought it sentimental but rather dull. Walking Distance was poignant and sentimental but was a much much better episode.

All 3 stories from the movie were losers for me.
In Praise of Pip or the one with Jack Klugman who missed a chance to be with his now soldier kid was also somewhat touching, but also was a lousy choice for the full length movie. Vic Morrow died filming it.

The William Shatner episode on the plane is a classic, but seems somewhat kind of goofy to me now. As a kid, it was scary tho.

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[–] so_fetch-1 10 years ago

I didn't like it either.

And they would have gotten away with it too, if not for me meddling with the kids.

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[–] SilentNightDeadlyNight2807 10 years ago

To serve man was so boring and predictable, even the first time i saw it i knew what was going to happen. There are a lot of really good episodes, but this isn't one of them.

"I don't set a fancy table, but the kitchen's awful homey."

[–] doug65oh 9 years ago

I actually just finished watching “To Serve Man” for the first time a bit earlier. It’s an entertaining episode right enough but… I’ve seen the punchline “It’s a cookbook!” time and time again over the past several years. Ordinarily spoilers don’t bother me much, since as the old saying goes, “Getting there is half the fun.” I might have reacted differently to it had I seen it 30 years ago.

At times I’ve noticed there are lessons scattered hither and yon throughout The Twilight Zone, so I find myself asking the same question folks used to ask Robert Frost about his poetry: “Well, yes…but what did you have behind it?” In the case of “To Serve Man” there doesn’t seem to be a lesson in it. 

And that's okay. There are a few episodes I enjoy just because they're so outright silly - "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?" being a prime example.

[–] Qanqor 9 years ago

Actually, there's an important lesson behind "To Serve Man". But to fully understand it, you have to pair the episode with another: "The Gift".

In both episodes, an alien comes to earth bearing gifts. In "To Serve Man", the humans foolishly trust the alien. In "The Gift", the humans foolishly *don't* trust the alien.

So do you see the lesson?

It is just this: you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. :)

[–] doug65oh 9 years ago

 Well, I'm watching the series in order and haven't gotten to "The Gift" just yet, although I don't have far to go...7 or 8 episodes I think. As I said though, I think "To Serve Man" might have had more impact on me if I were unaware of the punchline - which nowadays is virtually impossible.

[–] Qanqor 9 years ago

Yeah, that's always a problem. It's also the reason I think that some people complain about certain episodes "dragging". For instance, "The Invaders" or "Eye of the Beholder". I think people forget that they drag a *whole* lot less when you don't know what the ending is going to be and aren't just sitting there waiting for them to get to it.

[–] doug65oh 9 years ago

I enjoyed both of those you mention – despite suspecting almost right away in the case of “Beholder” that something was up. It’s hard not to the way that one develops. 

Generally speaking I'm still amazed at the sheer quality of the series.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Jennie_Portrait 8 years ago

Qanqor

Excellent pairing. you should post it on this thread. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052520/board/thread/259032624

I think the idea of the The Gift is compelling. It reminds me a little of a classic Outer Limits episode The Zanti Misfits.
___________________________________
Never say never...

[–] daughterofolaf 10 years ago

The one where everyone has a pig face. It's not bad but for whatever reason it doesn't blow my skirt up the way it does everyone else's.

Dick, I am VERY disappointed.

[–] Tristan_Booth 9 years ago

"Five Characters in Search of An Exit." I've never understood why so many people are so crazy about this one. I do like the ending, however.

As for "It's A Good Life," I thought it was worth seeing the first time or two, but now I'm just tired of it. I like Billy Mumy, but I seldom have the patience to watch that character anymore.

Finally, I like "#12" much better than "Eye of the Beholder" simply because the latter is so slow. Again, I like the ending (especially the Walter Smith character), but it takes forever to get there.

[–] dini0519 9 years ago

I agree. Number 12 is the better of the two!
Dini

[–] elizdv 9 years ago

I agree. I didn't realize it was a favorite of others. It is average to me and I got rather annoyed when he was getting upset because his parents did not recognize him when they had no reason to and he should have realized this. I am in my 40's but, as someone else in this thread pointed out, some people look to the past with nostalgia and others not so much. I guess I don't and so the episode does not resonate with me.