One for the Angels
Episode 2 – October 9, 1959
An old street hawker who's time is up convinces Death to give him just a little bit more time so he can give the pitch of his life and feel he’s done something worthwhile with his time.
The Man in the Bottle
Episode 38 – October 7, 1960
Sick and tired of struggling to just get by in your mediocre life, a genie in a bottle gives you four wishes (that’s right, I said four – not three) and you’d think that all your troubles are finally over…
The Arrival
Episode 67 – September 22, 1961
When a plane arrives at an airport minus the crew and passengers, the investigator called in to try solve the puzzle could be trying to solve the greatest mystery of his career.
In Praise of Pip
Episode 121 – September 27, 1963
A small time bookie quickly realises that he has wasted his life when he hears that his neglected son is dying in Vietnam during the war.
Where will your mind take you when you're in the Twilight Zone? If "The Arrival" and "In Praise of Pip" are anything to go by, then it'll take you on a journey deep inside itself for a look at what might have been. "In Praise of Pip" is the standout here, with a great performance from Jack Klugman which pulls all the right strings to wring the most out of his character and carry the story. Strange thing is that in an earlier episode (but on a later volume 18) his acting as the captain of a spaceship seems vastly inferior for the comparison and highlights the unsuitability of Klugman to the role, so it’s great to see his performance on this dvd.
Something I realized while watching this dvd concerns how The Twilight Zone compares to television today. The majority of TZ episodes were around 25 minutes long and could probably be roughly classified as the equivalent of drama television we view today. Thing is, virtually all modern drama is 1 hour long (or roughly 42 minutes without the ads). Placing TZ side-by-side with it's modern equivalents, and I think we can see that we really haven't come very far in television programming since then (probably going backwards, some might say). TZ had to be economical with it's characterisation and still contain a hidden attack on the immmorality and flawed nature of man, while today's drama is filled with directionless witty banter, endless sexual innuendo and blatant desperate attempts at shock value, to pad out the time till the next unfulfilling episode comes our way. The Twilight Zone may have had as many weak episodes as it did strong ones, but at least most were more memorable and got the stories over and done with in the time it takes modern television to mention the first "c" word for the evening.
'nuff said.
(Part reprint from review for Volume 13 due to similarities)
Watching material filmed for television ranging back as far as 1959, I can’t find too much to complain about. The relative standard of this dvds fullframe B/W image to the previous volumes is generally the same. The quality is fairly consistent between the episodes with generally good greys and blacks. Look hard enough and you’ll notice some aliasing and shimmering, but you’ll probably smack your head on the tele in doing so and regret even looking for it. Just enjoy the shows, will ya? They look great for their age and shouldn't disappoint fans of the show.
(Reprinted from review for Volume 13 due to similarities)
Presented in DD1.0 mono, the audio is fine as long as you keep in mind how old these shows are and that they were made for television. Although there is a persistent background hiss and some distortion in the louder segments throughout most of the shows, the dialogue remains perfectly clear and understandable at all times, if only a bit flat sounding at times.
For me this dvd works because of the strength of the popular episode "In Praise of Pip". People only familiar with Jack Klugman as the slob in the old Odd Couple television series will find that he was capable of more than just swilling beer and dropping cigar butts for a laugh. Although not the strongest Twilight Zone volume available, it is still a worthy addition for collectors and a renter for casual followers.
