The third season of the Twilight Zone on Blu-ray arrived at my doorstep. A six-year-old redheaded boy delivered it. He had a fierce look and told me that it was real good and that if I didn’t say so that he’d send me to the cornfield.
Luckily I didn’t have anything to worry about since this set keeps up the fine batting average of the sets. He also left a book called “To Serve Man.” Wonder what that could be?
Twilight Zone roars on as Rod Serling continues to bring you those spine-tingling stories that sometimes contain a twist. Season three aired from 1961 to 1962 and contained 37 episodes. This season sees some classics of the show appear (Game of Pool, To Serve Man, It’s a Good Life, Kick the Can, Little Girl Lost, etc.) as well as some that are moving (Deaths-head Revisited, The Trade-ins).
There are a few that don’t really rise to greatness, but I’d wager that even middling Twilight Zone beats Jersey Shore any day.
Disc one:
Two: Two lone survivors (Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson) of a nuclear holocaust must start the world anew – a difficult task since they are from opposing sides of the war. Old: isolated score by Van Cleave and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by author/historians Scott Skelton and Jim Benson and radio drama starring Don Johnson.
The Arrival: A plane lands safely, but all of its passengers, pilots, and crew are missing. When a veteran FAA investigator (Harold J. Stone) is called upon to solve the mystery, his past provides the answer. Old: sponsor billboards. New: isolated music score and radio drama starring Blair Underwood.
The Shelter: When a nuclear attack seems eminent, several suburban friends and neighbors are reduced to selfish, conniving animals in a fight over one family’s bomb shelter. Old: sponsor billboards. New: isolated musical score and radio drama starring Ernie Hudson.
The Passerby: On the road from the Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier (James Gregory) stops at a house. He and the owner, a wife (Joanne Linville) awaiting the return of her husband, discover a dreaded secret about those who pass. Old: isolated score by Fred Steiner, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Morgan Brittany.
A Game of Pool: Jesse (Jack Klugman) is a brilliant pool player whose dream is a showdown with the deceased legend Fats Brown (Jonathan Winters). His dream is made true thanks to the Twilight Zone, but the stakes are his life. Old: commentary by Jonathan Winters, Winters reading alternative ending (SD, 3 minutes), Marc Scott Zicree (Twilgith Zone Companion author) interview with Buzz Kulik and Buck Houghton (1978), clip of 1989 remake (SD, 2 minutes), and sponsor billboards. New: commentary with Zicree and George Clayton Johnson and isolated score.
The Mirror: After a poor, but ambitious Central American farm worker (Peter Falk made up as Fidel Castro) overthrows his country’s tyrannical leader, he discovers that he may be his own worst enemy. Old: sponsor billboards. New: isolated music score and radio drama starring Tony Plana.
The Grave: Before he died, a notorious desperado put a curse on hired-gun Conny Miller (Lee Marvin) who was tracking him. If Miller ever sets foot on his grave then he will kill him – a threat the dead man may actually carry out. Old: isolated score and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by author/historian Gary Gerani, commentary by author/historian Martin Grams, Jr., and radio drama starring Michael Rooker.
Disc two:
It’s a Good Life: He knows your every thought, can feel your every emotion and can eliminate all you hold dear. Who is he? A six-year-old boy (Bill Mumy) from Peaksville, Ohio. Old: commentary by Mumy, isolated score, and sponsor billboard. New: commentary by comic writer Marv Wolfman and Zicree. The old set had a clip from the remake but it’s missing here, rights issues I’d wager.
Deaths-head Revisited: A former Nazi SS captain (Oscar Beregi) returns to the ruins of a concentration camp to relive the good old days – until his long-dead victims appear to deliver overdue justice. Old: Zicree interview with Buck Houghton (1978), isolated score, sponsor billboards and radio drama starring H.M. Wynant. New: commentary with author Neil Gaiman and Zicree.
Midnight Sun: The Earth’s orbit has suddenly changed and a young woman (Lois Nettleton) is now in a world that is heating up as the world grows closer and closer to the sun. Old: commentary by Nettleton, isolated score by Van Cleave, and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by Gerani.
Still Valley: A Confederate soldier (Gary Merrill) gets the chance to win the Civil War for the South, but to do that he must swear allegiance to a very dubious ally. Old: isolated score by Wilbur Hatch, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Adam West.
The Jungle: Returning from a trip to Africa, Alan Richards (John Dehner) scoffs at the voodoo curse that was placed upon him, but soon discovers that something is pursuing him through the urban jungle known as New York. Old: sponsor billboards. New: commentary by writer (Logan’s Run) William F. Nolan, writer John Tomerlin, and Zicree, commentary from Scott Skelton and Jim Benson, isolated score, and radio drama starring Ed Begley, Jr.
Once Upon a Time: A janitor (Buster Keaton) thinks things are bad in 1890 until he slips on the time traveling helmet of his employer and finds 1962 much worse. Old: isolated score by William Lava (played by Ray Turner) and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by Martin Grams, Jr.
Five Characters in Search of an Exit: A clown (Murray Matheson), a hobo (Kelton Garwood), a ballet dancer (Susan Harrison), a bagpipe player (Clark Allen), and an Army major (William Windom) are trapped in an enormous cylinder and in search of an exit, but none can remember how they got there. Old: commentary by Windom, Zicree interview with director Lamont Johnson (1978), isolated score, and sponsor billboard. New: radio drama starring Jason Alexander.
Disc three:
A Quality of Mercy: A soldier (Dean Stockwell) gets a new perspective on warn when he is forced to experience it from the enemy’s point of view. Old: commentary from actor Leonard Nimoy, isolated score, and sponsor billboard.
Nothing in the Dark: An isolated old woman (Gladys Cooper) has fought with death a thousand times and has always won, but now she finds herself afraid to let a wounded policeman (Robert Redford) in her door because he may be Mr. Death. Old: Zicree interview with writers Lamont Johnson and George Clayton Johnson (1978), isolated score, and sponsor billboard. New: commentary with Johnson and Zicree.
One More Pallbearer: Eccentric millionaire Paul Radin (Joseph Wiseman) offers the use of his bomb shelter to those that wronged him, but the price may be too high. Old: sponsor billboards and radio drama starring Chelcie Ross. New: isolated score.
Dead Man’s Shoes: A vagrant (Warren Stevens) steps into a murdered gangsters expensive shoes and is taken over by the dead man’s ghost that is seeking revenge. Old: clip from 1985 remake (SD, 2 minutes), isolated score, and sponsor billboards. New: radio drama starring Bill Smitrovich.
The Hunt: An old hillbilly (Arthur Hunnicut) and his faithful hound dog find themselves walking on eternity road, but the entrance to heaven doesn’t allow dogs so he has to consider his entry. Old: Zicree interview with writer Earl Hamner (1978), isolated score by Robert Drasnin, and sponsor billboard. New: commentary with Hamner and Zicree.
Showdown with Rance McGrew: TV cowboy star McGrew (Larry Blyden) finds himself in a real old west saloon where Jesse James (Arch Johnson) challenges him to a showdown over television’s negative depiction of outlaws. Old: commentary with actor Robert Cornwaithe, isolated score, and sponsor billboards.
Kick the Can: Has an old man (Ernest Truex) at Sunnyvale Rest Home discovered the secret to remaining young? After playing a simple child’s game he and other residents are rewarded with rejuvenating powers. Old: isolated score and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by George Clayton Johnson and Zicree and radio drama starring Shelley Berman and Stan Freberg.
A Piano in the House: Cynical critic Fitzgerald Fortune (Barry Morse) uses a magical player piano to disclose his party guest’s hidden selves. Old: Zicree interview with Buck Houghton and Earl Hamner (1978), isolated score, and sponsor billboard. New: commentary with Scott Skelton and Jim Benson and radio drama starring Michael York.
Disc four:
The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank: Ever since he came back to life at his own funeral, Jeff (James Best) hasn’t been the same and the townspeople are suspicious of his resurrection. Old: isolated score by Tommy Morgan and sponsor billboards.
To Serve Man: Aliens arrive on earth with a lofty goal – To Serve Man. They leave behind a book in their language and that lofty goal is the title. They seem to be coming through on it, but a translator (Lloyd Bochner) is about to learn the truth. Old: Zicree interview with Richard L. Bare (1978) and sponsor billboards. New: commentary with Zicree and writer/producer (Fringe, Battlestar Galactica) Jeff Vlaming, isolated score, and radio drama starring Blair Underwood.
The Fugitive: Old Ben (J. Pat O’Malley) is a fugitive with a heart of gold who will risk it all to help out a crippled girl (Susan Gordon), but his origins may be more interstellar than terrestrial. Old: isolated score and sponsor billboards.
Little Girl Lost: A six-year-old girl vanishes and can only be heard. Her distraught parents call in a physicist friend (Charles Aidman) realizes she has fallen into the fourth dimension and the hole she fell through is closing. Old: isolated score by Bernard Herrmann and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by writer (Children of Men, Iron Man) Mark Fergus and Zicree.
Person or Persons Unknown: David Gurney (Richard Long) awakens to find that no one knows who he is, even though he remembers his former life and everyone in it. Old: isolated score and sponsor billboard.
The Little People: Two astronauts (Joe Maross and Claude Akins) land on a planet to repair their spaceship. One of them finds the tiny inhabitants and fancies himself a god. Old: Zicree interview with Buck Houghton (1978), isolated score, and sponsor billboard.
Four O’clock: Fanatic Oliver Crangle (Theodore Bikel) has determined that at 4pm he will eliminate all the evil people of the world by shrinking them. Old: isolated score, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Stan Freberg.
Hocus-pocus and Frisby: loudmouthed Frisby (Andy Devine) gets the attention of some visitors from the stars not knowing that he isn’t the most honest of tale tellers. Old: isolated score by Tom Morgan and sponsor billboards.
Disc five:
The Trade-ins: an elderly couple (Joseph Schildkraut and Alma Platt) visit a corporation that can transplant their minds into youthful bodies, but the transfer comes at a cost that only one can pay. Old: isolated score and sponsor billboards. New: interview with actor Edson Stroll (SD, 7 minutes) and radio drama starring H.M. Wynant and Peggy Webber.
The Gift: A stranger from the stars (Geoffrey Horne) comes bearing gifts but a village’s fear keeps them from seeing that. Old: isolated score by Laurindo Almeida and sponsor billboards.
The Dummy: a ventriloquist (Cliff Robertson) is convinced that his dummy is alive and evil. He tries to retool his act with his other dummy but the evil one doesn’t like playing second banana. Old: commentary with Robertson, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Bruno Kirby. New: isolated score.
Young Man’s Fancy: a newlywed couple (Alex Nicol and Phyllis Thaxter) returns to his family home to put it up for sale, but his late mother’s presence is still in the house. Old: isolated score by Nathan Scott and sponsor billboards.
I Sing the Body Electric: Anne (Veronica Cartwright) must learn that her new grandmother can be kind and caring – even if she is a robot. Old: Zicree interview with Buck Houghton (1978) and isolated score by Van Cleave. New: commentary by Zicree.
Cavender is Coming: Agnes Grep (Carol Burnett) is unlucky enough that a guardian angel named Cavender (Jesse White) to set matters straight for her or he doesn’t earn his wings. Old: isolated score and clip from the Gary Moore Show (SD, 9 minutes). New: laugh track that originally aired on the episode and commentary from Martin Grams, Jr.
The Changing of the Guard: Professor Fowler (Donald Pleasance) is forced to retire after fifty years of teaching. He feels that his life has been worthless until some ghostly visitors convince him otherwise. Old: isolated score and sponsor billboards. New: commentary with Len Wein and Zicree and radio drama starring Orson Bean.
Disc five also has a clip of the Serling hosted Liars Club (SD, 21 minute), a clip from Tell it to Groucho featuring Serling (SD, 15 minutes), The Famous Writers School promo (SD, 4 minutes), and part three of the audio interview with cinematographer George T. Clemens (47 minutes).
The Famous Writers was on the old season three DVD set, but Liars Club and Tell it to Groucho were on earlier season DVD sets but find there way onto this Blu-ray. Missing are some Sci-Fi (when they spelled their name right) Channel promos, Night Gallery promos, stills, and a comic, but those may turn up on the upcoming Blu-ray sets as Liars Club and Groucho did on this one.
The Twilight Zone is a classic television program and Image has lavished it with restored picture and audio as well as new and vintage special features. They must be doing something right since their books show a profit this quarter and I’d wager that they may want to thank Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone.
Visit the DVD database for more information.
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