Hit or miss? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

DarleneIllyria · 10-26-2002, 08:13 PM

I've been trying to think up ways to stir up interest in the board. I was wondering what everybody thought of each episode. This is the post where we can play critic. We can list two episodes each day and everybody could post what they liked or hated about the episodes.

If some people are interested, we could do this post. Even if 3 or 4 only want to participate, that would be fine. I won't post any episodes now, but does anybody think this would be a good idea?

Sean Snow · 10-26-2002, 11:08 PM

I think it's a great idea! I know I would certainly join in on the discussions for the episodes I've seen.

DarleneIllyria · 10-27-2002, 09:41 PM

How about these 2 episodes?

A Stop at Willoughby- (Season 1)Plot: A Stop at Willoughby- Harried by his high-pressure job, an executive falls asleep on a train and wakes at a mysterious stop called Willoughby. Hit- I have to say this is one incredible episode. Actually, I think it was the very first episode of TZ that I watched. I love the ending. When I watched this one for the first time, I did not expect that ending. It just blew me away how this episode was crafted. Out of a 5 star rating, I would seriously have to give this one a 5.

Jess-Belle (Season 4) Plot: Jess-Belle Thrilleresque occult yarn about a woman (Anne Francis) who sells her soul to the Devil to recapture the love of a former suitor (James Best). Hit- Season 4 is pretty weak to me. I don't have many favorites from the 4th season, but I do love this one. It was nice seeing Anne Francis and James Best back. One thing I find hilarious about this episode was the wedding ring. Billy Ben gave it to the blonde girl then he took it away from her and gave it to Jess- Belle. Then when Jess-Belle supposedly dies, Billy Ben picks it up off the ground and later on he gives it back to the blonde. Out of a 5 star rating, I would give this one a 5 too.

Someone else can jump in now and choose 2 episodes for us to rate

tdr · 10-28-2002, 06:22 AM

A Stop at Willoughby- (Season 1) -- It has been a long time since I have seen this ep, but unlike most TZ eps, I do remember it well, and I read the script from a fan site recently. It's a good idea for an ep, but it doesn't really extend the imagination very much. It's so obvious the protagonist has such a deep longing for a simpler time and place that his subconscious creates it for him in his continuing fantasy dream. And actually getting off is his challenge, with the recent conflicts he has faced. So we know perhaps too well that he is leaving his life of too much pressure, but we just don't know exactly where he is really going.

Jess-Belle-- I don't know this one at all.

DarleneIllyria · 10-30-2002, 01:17 AM

*If you missed the chance to review the first two episodes, you can still give your review on the first episodes.*

The Fever- (Season 1)- Plot: The Fever- A gambling- hating man named Franklin Gibbs (Everett Sloane) battles a Las Vegas slot machine with a malevolent mind of its own. Hit- I like this episode too. It had a really good storyline and good actors in it. I also love the music they have for this episode. It's another one of my top favorites.

Little Girl Lost- (Season 3)- Plot: Little Girl Lost- A couple can hear their daughter's desperate cries, yet she is nowhere to be found-she's fallen through an invisible "hole" in her wall, and is lost in the fourth dimension. Miss- I'm not really fond of this episode for one reason. The actors playing the parents kind of over acted in the parts. Don't get me wrong, the story was very interesting. I guess I shouldn't give this episode a 'Miss' rating. I guess it classifies as borderline

tdr · 10-30-2002, 03:47 AM

"Little Girl Lost" -- I definitely agree that the actors who played the parents overacted; especially the mother. The subject itself, though, is 'borderline' (both a pun and a non-pun here) in that it does approach what some papers written by theoretical physicists speculate on... a 4th physical dimension orthogonal to each of the 3 we live in, and an accident of nature makes it in some way accessible. But there is no way to portray such a thing on television, which is 2 dimensions short. So what is shown is something like a hallucination from a crazy dope trip; not 4-dimensional, just a place inaccessible by normal means. We can overlook the unlikelihood of the girl rolling under her bed and through this "opening," and of the couple's friend, who happens to be a physicist who was actually willing to come over and investigate this in the middle of the night [he would think it was a joke by the dad or the little girl paying hide-n-seek]. The ep is simply a good idea and thought experiement which is very difficult to portray without contrivances and impossible sets. On 1 to 5-- if we must choose whole numbers-- I say 3.

DarleneIllyria · 11-02-2002, 03:15 AM

The Dummy (Season 3) .Plot: The Dummy- A cut-rate ventriloquist starts believing that his dummy actually has a mind- and a will- of its own. Hit- I love this episode. The ending is so awesome. It was nice seeing Frank Sutton in this episode (Boy he sure looked different with the hair) and Cliff Robertson as the lead. Some people might think the ending was expected, but I still love the episode. The way they moved the camera around in the last scene made the suspense come to a head. You knew something happened, but what? Then the camera gets in the front and you see the dummy is now man and the man is now the dummy. Awesome

The Bewitchin Pool (Season 5) Plot: The Bewitchin Pool- The last show is about two neglected children who escape their constantly bickering parents by diving into their swimming pool and emerging in a mysterious, but loving, world. Miss- I hate this one. I've always hated it. I have so many reasons why I dislike this episode. It didn't even seem like a Twilight Zone episode to me. I think I discussed why I didn't like the episode before in another post, but I guess I'll speak it here too. As I've already mentioned, it didn't seem like a TZ episode to me. The accents annoyed me. The filler part is pretty weird. The parents tell the kids they are getting a divorce twice. Look at this episode the next time it comes on Scifi. The episode starts out with the parents telling the kids they are separating and the kids run and jump in the pool. They find the happy land and decide to come back. The parents tell them again that they are getting a divorce. It's the same exact words they used the first time. Was it supposed to mean that no time passes when the kids are in happy land? The episode just confuses me a bit with the whole separation bit

DarleneIllyria · 11-05-2002, 02:33 AM

Ring-A-Ding Girl- (Season 5)- .Plot: Ring-A-Ding Girl- Movie star Bunny Blake (Maggie McNamara) saves her home town from tragedy by heeding a weird ring of hers that predicts the future. Miss- I don't really like this one either. The story line was okay, but the actors just didn't really bring it to life for me. Most of the episodes of TZ had wonderful actors that really made the episodes come alive, but the actors in this episode didn't do that. Out of 5 stars, I'd have to give it 1 1/2

People Are Alike All Over- (Season 1)Plot- People Are Alike All Over- An astronaut (Roddy McDowell) is pleased to find that people on Mars act just like people at home. Hit- I like this one. The ending was kind of scary, but yet funny at the same time. I know, I'm weird. lol- Anyway, the episode had an excellent ending. Out of 5 stars, I'd give it a 5

DarleneIllyria · 11-08-2002, 09:08 PM

bump for any that want to catch up on reviews

DarleneIllyria · 11-10-2002, 01:28 AM

Aw man! I've been doing this the wrong way. Some of you guys that want to post reviews might not know the proper titles of some of the episodes. You might recognize a plot, but not just the title. Argh! I can't believe I didn't think of that to start with. Look, I can edit my reviews and put a little plot description in a different color. Remember, you can go back and post reviews about any one of em. If you want to catch up on the first two reviews or whatever, you can do that. Again, I'm so sorry guys. Glad I caught the error while we were still on page 1.

DarleneIllyria · 11-11-2002, 12:20 AM

Walking Distance- (Season 1)Plot: Walking Distance- Gig Young's acting and a magnificent score by Bernard Hermann highlight this episode. Harried advertising agent Martin Sloane visits his home town and slips 30 years into his childhood. Hit- This is a wonderful episode. Everything about it just makes it so enjoyable to watch. The actors and everybody involved made it what it was today. Rod wrote this episode, and I'm starting to wonder a bit about the whole episode. The weird thing is it kind of parallels Rod's life. I've read a few biographies about Rod and the shows like E! THS that I've seen about him, it kind of sounds like Rod was kind of depressed in his later years. TZ really brought him all of this fame, but I kind of get the feeling that he was sliding downwards after TZ was canceled. The whole Night Gallery experience wasn't what he was expecting and he started lending his name to beer products and other things. If you've read any of the biographies about RS and read about the embarassing experience he had at one award show, you'll see what I mean. I'm pretty sure that Rod kind of wanted to go back to his TZ days and relive it all over again, because he wasn't going to get a chance at anything bigger than TZ. Let me get back to the episode, I would give the episode 5 stars.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (Season 5)-Plot: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet- A newly-recovered patient (William Shatner) on an airplane flying home peers out the window and sees a bestial creature on the wing, tampering with one of the engines. Naturally, nobody believes his story. Awesome episode. The plot, the actors were excellent. I have one small little nitpick about this episode. The closeup of the monster when Shatner's character sees it face to face went pretty good. However, the far off scenes kind of made the creature look like a gigantic teddy bear or something. Anybody feel the same way? I'm sure some have heard me complain about the 80s TZ movie that they did. Most of the episodes they chose to do kind of sucked. They did include Nightmare in the set, and they had John Ligthow (sp?) doing William Shatner's part. I like both actors, but I do feel the monster they had in the 80s movie was scarier than the monster they had in the series. Other than that small nitpick, the episode was fantastic. 5 stars

Arfies · 11-11-2002, 08:06 PM

Oo! I have some suggestions: (I'm marking the definite hits that I don't think have already been done)

"The Purple Testament"
"A Penny For Your Thoughts" -Hit!
"The Invaders"
"Two"-Hit!
"I Sing the Body Electric"

(note the cast

)

DarleneIllyria · 11-11-2002, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Arfies
Oo! I have some suggestions: (I'm marking the definite hits that I don't think have already been done)

"The Purple Testament"
"A Penny For Your Thoughts" -Hit!
"The Invaders"
"Two"-Hit!
"I Sing the Body Electric"

(note the cast )

lol- All Bewitched cast members. May I say, Liz looks so different with dark brown hair. I recognized her still, but she still looks pretty different.

Arfies · 11-11-2002, 11:17 PM

I know, she does! I think that this was in the era of her dyed-brown-hair phase when she was married to Gig Young. Besides, she looks more (presumably) Russian that way. And it worked- this episode illustrates tensions that exist even today- still proving that maybe, just maybe if we try, we CAN all get along in the end.

But that's not the only time Liz was a brunette in the Twilight Zone- did you see the clip I posted under the "Couples" topic?

DarleneIllyria · 11-12-2002, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Arfies
I know, she does! I think that this was in the era of her dyed-brown-hair phase when she was married to Gig Young. Besides, she looks more (presumably) Russian that way. And it worked- this episode illustrates tensions that exist even today- still proving that maybe, just maybe if we try, we CAN all get along in the end.

But that's not the only time Liz was a brunette in the Twilight Zone- did you see the clip I posted under the "Couples" topic?

Yes, that episode does show that if we do try hard enough- we can all get along. It's a great ep.

10-26-2002, 08:13 PM	#1
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	Hit or miss? I've been trying to think up ways to stir up interest in the board. I was wondering what everybody thought of each episode. This is the post where we can play critic. We can list two episodes each day and everybody could post what they liked or hated about the episodes. If some people are interested, we could do this post. Even if 3 or 4 only want to participate, that would be fine. I won't post any episodes now, but does anybody think this would be a good idea?

10-27-2002, 09:41 PM	#3
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	How about these 2 episodes? A Stop at Willoughby- (Season 1)Plot: A Stop at Willoughby- Harried by his high-pressure job, an executive falls asleep on a train and wakes at a mysterious stop called Willoughby. Hit- I have to say this is one incredible episode. Actually, I think it was the very first episode of TZ that I watched. I love the ending. When I watched this one for the first time, I did not expect that ending. It just blew me away how this episode was crafted. Out of a 5 star rating, I would seriously have to give this one a 5. Jess-Belle (Season 4) Plot: Jess-Belle Thrilleresque occult yarn about a woman (Anne Francis) who sells her soul to the Devil to recapture the love of a former suitor (James Best). Hit- Season 4 is pretty weak to me. I don't have many favorites from the 4th season, but I do love this one. It was nice seeing Anne Francis and James Best back. One thing I find hilarious about this episode was the wedding ring. Billy Ben gave it to the blonde girl then he took it away from her and gave it to Jess- Belle. Then when Jess-Belle supposedly dies, Billy Ben picks it up off the ground and later on he gives it back to the blonde. Out of a 5 star rating, I would give this one a 5 too. Someone else can jump in now and choose 2 episodes for us to rate
	Last edited by DarleneIllyria; 11-10-2002 at 01:32 AM.

10-30-2002, 01:17 AM	#5
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	Two more episodes If you missed the chance to review the first two episodes, you can still give your review on the first episodes. The Fever- (Season 1)- Plot: The Fever- A gambling- hating man named Franklin Gibbs (Everett Sloane) battles a Las Vegas slot machine with a malevolent mind of its own. Hit- I like this episode too. It had a really good storyline and good actors in it. I also love the music they have for this episode. It's another one of my top favorites. Little Girl Lost- (Season 3)- Plot: Little Girl Lost- A couple can hear their daughter's desperate cries, yet she is nowhere to be found-she's fallen through an invisible "hole" in her wall, and is lost in the fourth dimension. Miss- I'm not really fond of this episode for one reason. The actors playing the parents kind of over acted in the parts. Don't get me wrong, the story was very interesting. I guess I shouldn't give this episode a 'Miss' rating. I guess it classifies as borderline
	Last edited by DarleneIllyria; 11-10-2002 at 01:37 AM.

11-02-2002, 03:15 AM	#7
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	The Dummy (Season 3) .Plot: The Dummy- A cut-rate ventriloquist starts believing that his dummy actually has a mind- and a will- of its own. Hit- I love this episode. The ending is so awesome. It was nice seeing Frank Sutton in this episode (Boy he sure looked different with the hair) and Cliff Robertson as the lead. Some people might think the ending was expected, but I still love the episode. The way they moved the camera around in the last scene made the suspense come to a head. You knew something happened, but what? Then the camera gets in the front and you see the dummy is now man and the man is now the dummy. Awesome The Bewitchin Pool (Season 5) Plot: The Bewitchin Pool- The last show is about two neglected children who escape their constantly bickering parents by diving into their swimming pool and emerging in a mysterious, but loving, world. Miss- I hate this one. I've always hated it. I have so many reasons why I dislike this episode. It didn't even seem like a Twilight Zone episode to me. I think I discussed why I didn't like the episode before in another post, but I guess I'll speak it here too. As I've already mentioned, it didn't seem like a TZ episode to me. The accents annoyed me. The filler part is pretty weird. The parents tell the kids they are getting a divorce twice. Look at this episode the next time it comes on Scifi. The episode starts out with the parents telling the kids they are separating and the kids run and jump in the pool. They find the happy land and decide to come back. The parents tell them again that they are getting a divorce. It's the same exact words they used the first time. Was it supposed to mean that no time passes when the kids are in happy land? The episode just confuses me a bit with the whole separation bit
	Last edited by DarleneIllyria; 11-10-2002 at 01:42 AM.

11-05-2002, 02:33 AM	#8
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	Ring-A-Ding Girl- (Season 5)- .Plot: Ring-A-Ding Girl- Movie star Bunny Blake (Maggie McNamara) saves her home town from tragedy by heeding a weird ring of hers that predicts the future. Miss- I don't really like this one either. The story line was okay, but the actors just didn't really bring it to life for me. Most of the episodes of TZ had wonderful actors that really made the episodes come alive, but the actors in this episode didn't do that. Out of 5 stars, I'd have to give it 1 1/2 People Are Alike All Over- (Season 1)Plot- People Are Alike All Over- An astronaut (Roddy McDowell) is pleased to find that people on Mars act just like people at home. Hit- I like this one. The ending was kind of scary, but yet funny at the same time. I know, I'm weird. lol- Anyway, the episode had an excellent ending. Out of 5 stars, I'd give it a 5
	Last edited by DarleneIllyria; 11-10-2002 at 01:46 AM.

10-26-2002, 11:08 PM	#2
Sean Snow moo Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,408	I think it's a great idea! I know I would certainly join in on the discussions for the episodes I've seen.

10-28-2002, 06:22 AM	#4
tdr Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 23, 2001 Posts: 1,454	A Stop at Willoughby- (Season 1) -- It has been a long time since I have seen this ep, but unlike most TZ eps, I do remember it well, and I read the script from a fan site recently. It's a good idea for an ep, but it doesn't really extend the imagination very much. It's so obvious the protagonist has such a deep longing for a simpler time and place that his subconscious creates it for him in his continuing fantasy dream. And actually getting off is his challenge, with the recent conflicts he has faced. So we know perhaps too well that he is leaving his life of too much pressure, but we just don't know exactly where he is really going. Jess-Belle-- I don't know this one at all.

10-30-2002, 03:47 AM	#6
tdr Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 23, 2001 Posts: 1,454	"Little Girl Lost" -- I definitely agree that the actors who played the parents overacted; especially the mother. The subject itself, though, is 'borderline' (both a pun and a non-pun here) in that it does approach what some papers written by theoretical physicists speculate on... a 4th physical dimension orthogonal to each of the 3 we live in, and an accident of nature makes it in some way accessible. But there is no way to portray such a thing on television, which is 2 dimensions short. So what is shown is something like a hallucination from a crazy dope trip; not 4-dimensional, just a place inaccessible by normal means. We can overlook the unlikelihood of the girl rolling under her bed and through this "opening," and of the couple's friend, who happens to be a physicist who was actually willing to come over and investigate this in the middle of the night [he would think it was a joke by the dad or the little girl paying hide-n-seek]. The ep is simply a good idea and thought experiement which is very difficult to portray without contrivances and impossible sets. On 1 to 5-- if we must choose whole numbers-- I say 3.

11-08-2002, 09:08 PM	#9
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	bump for any that want to catch up on reviews

11-10-2002, 01:28 AM	#10
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	Aw man! I've been doing this the wrong way. Some of you guys that want to post reviews might not know the proper titles of some of the episodes. You might recognize a plot, but not just the title. Argh! I can't believe I didn't think of that to start with. Look, I can edit my reviews and put a little plot description in a different color. Remember, you can go back and post reviews about any one of em. If you want to catch up on the first two reviews or whatever, you can do that. Again, I'm so sorry guys. Glad I caught the error while we were still on page 1.

11-11-2002, 12:20 AM	#11
DarleneIllyria Gone Forum Star Join Date: Oct 15, 2000 Posts: 19,086	Walking Distance- (Season 1)Plot: Walking Distance- Gig Young's acting and a magnificent score by Bernard Hermann highlight this episode. Harried advertising agent Martin Sloane visits his home town and slips 30 years into his childhood. Hit- This is a wonderful episode. Everything about it just makes it so enjoyable to watch. The actors and everybody involved made it what it was today. Rod wrote this episode, and I'm starting to wonder a bit about the whole episode. The weird thing is it kind of parallels Rod's life. I've read a few biographies about Rod and the shows like E! THS that I've seen about him, it kind of sounds like Rod was kind of depressed in his later years. TZ really brought him all of this fame, but I kind of get the feeling that he was sliding downwards after TZ was canceled. The whole Night Gallery experience wasn't what he was expecting and he started lending his name to beer products and other things. If you've read any of the biographies about RS and read about the embarassing experience he had at one award show, you'll see what I mean. I'm pretty sure that Rod kind of wanted to go back to his TZ days and relive it all over again, because he wasn't going to get a chance at anything bigger than TZ. Let me get back to the episode, I would give the episode 5 stars. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (Season 5)-Plot: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet- A newly-recovered patient (William Shatner) on an airplane flying home peers out the window and sees a bestial creature on the wing, tampering with one of the engines. Naturally, nobody believes his story. Awesome episode. The plot, the actors were excellent. I have one small little nitpick about this episode. The closeup of the monster when Shatner's character sees it face to face went pretty good. However, the far off scenes kind of made the creature look like a gigantic teddy bear or something. Anybody feel the same way? I'm sure some have heard me complain about the 80s TZ movie that they did. Most of the episodes they chose to do kind of sucked. They did include Nightmare in the set, and they had John Ligthow (sp?) doing William Shatner's part. I like both actors, but I do feel the monster they had in the 80s movie was scarier than the monster they had in the series. Other than that small nitpick, the episode was fantastic. 5 stars

11-11-2002, 08:06 PM	#12
Arfies Memberific Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: There beneath the blue suburban skies, in summer, meanwhile back.... Posts: 481	Oo! I have some suggestions: (I'm marking the definite hits that I don't think have already been done) "The Purple Testament" "A Penny For Your Thoughts" -Hit! "The Invaders" "Two"-Hit! "I Sing the Body Electric" (note the cast )

11-11-2002, 11:17 PM	#14
Arfies Memberific Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: There beneath the blue suburban skies, in summer, meanwhile back.... Posts: 481	I know, she does! I think that this was in the era of her dyed-brown-hair phase when she was married to Gig Young. Besides, she looks more (presumably) Russian that way. And it worked- this episode illustrates tensions that exist even today- still proving that maybe, just maybe if we try, we CAN all get along in the end. But that's not the only time Liz was a brunette in the Twilight Zone- did you see the clip I posted under the "Couples" topic?