Unofficial pilot (Time Element) was actually better than every regular TZ ep - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Best Man · 08-09-2014, 11:18 PM

It is not easy for me to admit that but the TZ (which I have one million fond memories of watching)was really inferior programming to the William Bendix vehicle-ep The Time Element (shown as a Desilu Playhouse in the late 50's). The production values and the clicking of the performances was greater than anything on the Rod Serling- executive produced production. Amazing but all true!

Zoneboy · 08-09-2014, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

It is not easy for me to admit that but the TZ (which I have one million fond memories of watching)was really inferior programming to the William Bendix vehicle-ep The Time Element (shown as a Desilu Playhouse in the late 50's). The production values and the clicking of the performances was greater than anything on the Rod Serling- executive produced production. Amazing but all true!

Better than some?, yes. Better than all?, no.

biffbronson · 08-10-2014, 12:18 AM

It's too bad that CBS was so tight-fisted with the budget -- it's remarkable that the TZ producers did as well as they did, considering the constraints. And they were resourceful -- like their use of the Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge film to be able to avoid going over budget.

Best Man · 08-10-2014, 10:29 PM

Indeed it was better than all TZ eps ever made. The TTE production values were the best ever seen in any Serling project till the day Serling died. The TTE leads could not be beat either. The actual official pilot (WIE) also had better production values than any regular produced TZ ep but was inferior to the Time Element as well.

Best Man · 08-10-2014, 10:51 PM

Usually pilots are better than the weekly series they spawn. More work goes into them. But I doubt this was the case this was technically and in every way just another ep of Desilu Playhouse. So I guess the DP was better than the TZ.

Zoneboy · 08-11-2014, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

Indeed it was better than all TZ eps ever made. The TTE production values were the best ever seen in any Serling project till the day Serling died. The TTE leads could not be beat either. The actual official pilot (WIE) also had better production values than any regular produced TZ ep but was inferior to the Time Element as well.

You're entitled to your opinion but it doesn't make you right and you'll have a hard time finding many people that will agree with you.

Zoneboy · 08-11-2014, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

Usually pilots are better than the weekly series they spawn. More work goes into them.

Please provide a few examples.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 04:50 AM

For one thing the sets om TTE look better than the TZ sets.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 04:52 AM

Flying Misfits was the pilot to Baa Baa Black Sheep and it was much more expensive than any regular ep of the Robert Conrad action show. Longer than most of them too.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 05:15 AM

Fact is the sets at Universal (where 'Where is Everybody' was shot) were much, much better in every way than the cheaper looking ones at MGM (where the regular TZ eps were generally filmed). Two great looking TZ eps stand out and one is a first season ep about the astronauts who land on the asteroid and don't its you know what. The other is the hour-long about the ship at sea and the sub below the water's surface that is making the creepy noise. These two eps (especially the latter) I believe were largely filmed away from MGM's cheap sets and they are all the better for it.

The pilot to The Untouchables (which also was a Desilu Playhouse) was way better looking than any regular Untouchables ep. Let's face it that DP (filmed at the old RKO stidios) was classier looking than MGM sets and even non-DP Desilu productions too (as the Untouchables series was made by Desilu as well but was worse looking than the (unofficial?) DP pilot to it).

Back to Universal. It was like the biggest studio in the world so its backlot and indoor sets had more greater, finer looking work done to them than MGM's cheaper looking sets --this added immensely to the quality of the official TZ pilot.

Zoneboy · 08-18-2014, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

Fact is the sets at Universal (where 'Where is Everybody' was shot) were much, much better in every way than the cheaper looking ones at MGM (where the regular TZ eps were generally filmed). Two great looking TZ eps stand out and one is a first season ep about the astronauts who land on the asteroid and don't its you know what. The other is the hour-long about the ship at sea and the sub below the water's surface that is making the creepy noise. These two eps (especially the latter) I believe were largely filmed away from MGM's cheap sets and they are all the better for it.

The pilot to The Untouchables (which also was a Desilu Playhouse) was way better looking than any regular Untouchables ep. Let's face it that DP (filmed at the old RKO stidios) was classier looking than MGM sets and even non-DP Desilu productions too (as the Untouchables series was made by Desilu as well but was worse looking than the (unofficial?) DP pilot to it).

Back to Universal. It was like the biggest studio in the world so its backlot and indoor sets had more greater, finer looking work done to them than MGM's cheaper looking sets --this added immensely to the quality of the official TZ pilot.

You try to give me a convincing argument yet you don't even know the names of the episodes you're using for examples.

Also, the quality of an episode in regards to looks doesn't necessarily make it better. Fine acting has a lot to do with it as well. "The Time Element" had some great acting as did a lot of "The Twilight Zone" episodes but again to say it was better than all of the 156 TZ episodes is ridiculous and I don't know of any die-hard TZ fans that will agree with you.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 12:02 PM

'The Thirty Fathom Grave' was the ship ep and 'I Shot into the Air' was the astronaut ep. That is your last beef that made any sense and I killed by giving ep names.
The sets are the best and extremely importanyt in most shows and as they were on TTE and WIE and help a show an awful lot. The 1977 comedy Soap either won or was nominated for an emmy for something like the best set design and was brilliant looking visually (and that was just a shot on videotape comedy). One of the best TZ eps that could do battle with TTE acting-wise was 'On Thursday we leave for home' starring James Whitmore that his (Whitmore's) acting was so great but his performance was the only one that was hands down brilliant in that --everyone just good to very. Oh there was very good performances on TZ (Sebastian Cabot's in 'A Nice to Visit')but rarely great, great ones. DP may have better direction as well. Yes, the TZ was a bit of a failure compared to its greater, unofficial pilot.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 12:08 PM

Universal (for WIE) was listed I think in Guinness book as having the biggest studios in the whole world. This helped the mostly one man show of an official pilot for TZ an awful, awful lot. It was for sure to have been much worse if 'Mike Ferris' had walked through the same overly-used worse looking lot-street set we saw in 'A Stop at Willoughby' and many other TZ eps. By 1958-64 MGM may have been undergoing a very bad financial crisis which left their studios old and cheaper looking. Universal by that time may have been doing fine. Imagine how much better so many of the TZ eps would have been if they used the backlot from WIE.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 12:23 PM

One of the best visual looking eps of the TZ was 'The Parallel' about the astronaut who landed on another planet that looked a lot like Earth. They really made it look quite a bit like he was really in a NASA made spaceship and all but this ep suffered too from MGM cheap backlot-itis. I would swear his house set exterior was bad and used in other TZ eps.

Best Man · 08-18-2014, 12:39 PM

There was a 1924b Buster Keaton (later of TZ) film called The Navigator and it was set aboard a beautiful ship at sea. At the end Keaton and his girlfriend get rescued from savages by a passing submarine. Once down in the sub the set looks real, real cheap looking. It is fairly obvious that probably most of the film's budget was spent on the ship most of the action took place on and the sub's set was a makeshift, last minute concoction--it was probably a really low budget movie and the "sub" was a give away. Ruined the movie. Sets are everything.

08-09-2014, 11:18 PM	#1
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	Unofficial pilot (Time Element) was actually better than every regular TZ ep It is not easy for me to admit that but the TZ (which I have one million fond memories of watching)was really inferior programming to the William Bendix vehicle-ep The Time Element (shown as a Desilu Playhouse in the late 50's). The production values and the clicking of the performances was greater than anything on the Rod Serling- executive produced production. Amazing but all true!

08-10-2014, 12:18 AM	#3
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,502	It's too bad that CBS was so tight-fisted with the budget -- it's remarkable that the TZ producers did as well as they did, considering the constraints. And they were resourceful -- like their use of the Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge film to be able to avoid going over budget.
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08-10-2014, 10:29 PM	#4
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	Indeed it was better than all TZ eps ever made. The TTE production values were the best ever seen in any Serling project till the day Serling died. The TTE leads could not be beat either. The actual official pilot (WIE) also had better production values than any regular produced TZ ep but was inferior to the Time Element as well.

08-10-2014, 10:51 PM	#5
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	Usually pilots are better than the weekly series they spawn. More work goes into them. But I doubt this was the case this was technically and in every way just another ep of Desilu Playhouse. So I guess the DP was better than the TZ.

08-18-2014, 04:50 AM	#8
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	For one thing the sets om TTE look better than the TZ sets.

08-18-2014, 04:52 AM	#9
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	Flying Misfits was the pilot to Baa Baa Black Sheep and it was much more expensive than any regular ep of the Robert Conrad action show. Longer than most of them too.

08-18-2014, 05:15 AM	#10
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	Fact is the sets at Universal (where 'Where is Everybody' was shot) were much, much better in every way than the cheaper looking ones at MGM (where the regular TZ eps were generally filmed). Two great looking TZ eps stand out and one is a first season ep about the astronauts who land on the asteroid and don't its you know what. The other is the hour-long about the ship at sea and the sub below the water's surface that is making the creepy noise. These two eps (especially the latter) I believe were largely filmed away from MGM's cheap sets and they are all the better for it. The pilot to The Untouchables (which also was a Desilu Playhouse) was way better looking than any regular Untouchables ep. Let's face it that DP (filmed at the old RKO stidios) was classier looking than MGM sets and even non-DP Desilu productions too (as the Untouchables series was made by Desilu as well but was worse looking than the (unofficial?) DP pilot to it). Back to Universal. It was like the biggest studio in the world so its backlot and indoor sets had more greater, finer looking work done to them than MGM's cheaper looking sets --this added immensely to the quality of the official TZ pilot.

08-18-2014, 12:02 PM	#12
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	'The Thirty Fathom Grave' was the ship ep and 'I Shot into the Air' was the astronaut ep. That is your last beef that made any sense and I killed by giving ep names. The sets are the best and extremely importanyt in most shows and as they were on TTE and WIE and help a show an awful lot. The 1977 comedy Soap either won or was nominated for an emmy for something like the best set design and was brilliant looking visually (and that was just a shot on videotape comedy). One of the best TZ eps that could do battle with TTE acting-wise was 'On Thursday we leave for home' starring James Whitmore that his (Whitmore's) acting was so great but his performance was the only one that was hands down brilliant in that --everyone just good to very. Oh there was very good performances on TZ (Sebastian Cabot's in 'A Nice to Visit')but rarely great, great ones. DP may have better direction as well. Yes, the TZ was a bit of a failure compared to its greater, unofficial pilot.

08-18-2014, 12:08 PM	#13
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	Universal (for WIE) was listed I think in Guinness book as having the biggest studios in the whole world. This helped the mostly one man show of an official pilot for TZ an awful, awful lot. It was for sure to have been much worse if 'Mike Ferris' had walked through the same overly-used worse looking lot-street set we saw in 'A Stop at Willoughby' and many other TZ eps. By 1958-64 MGM may have been undergoing a very bad financial crisis which left their studios old and cheaper looking. Universal by that time may have been doing fine. Imagine how much better so many of the TZ eps would have been if they used the backlot from WIE.

08-18-2014, 12:23 PM	#14
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	One of the best visual looking eps of the TZ was 'The Parallel' about the astronaut who landed on another planet that looked a lot like Earth. They really made it look quite a bit like he was really in a NASA made spaceship and all but this ep suffered too from MGM cheap backlot-itis. I would swear his house set exterior was bad and used in other TZ eps.

08-18-2014, 12:39 PM	#15
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	There was a 1924b Buster Keaton (later of TZ) film called The Navigator and it was set aboard a beautiful ship at sea. At the end Keaton and his girlfriend get rescued from savages by a passing submarine. Once down in the sub the set looks real, real cheap looking. It is fairly obvious that probably most of the film's budget was spent on the ship most of the action took place on and the sub's set was a makeshift, last minute concoction--it was probably a really low budget movie and the "sub" was a give away. Ruined the movie. Sets are everything.