The Twilight Zone [TV Series]: Season 01 (1985)

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Synopsis of The Twilight Zone [TV Series]: Season 01

Revived by CBS in a new, full-color, hour-per-week format, the classic fantasy/sci-fi anthology The Twilight Zone gets off to a terrific start with its first episode, which contains two short playlets, both directed by horror flick specialist Wes Craven: "Shatterday," written by the series' creative consultant, Harlan Ellison, and "A Little Peace and Quiet," a chilling doomsday piece in the tradition of Rod Serling's original Twilight Zone. Several later episodes would feature three playlets per show, including such marvelous vignettes as "Wordplay," in which an ad executive awakens to find out that everyone in the world is speaking what sounds like gibberish to him; and "Nightcrawlers," wherein the patrons of a lonely diner experience firsthand the horrible dreams of a Vietnam veteran. Among the longer playlets are "Teacher's Aide," or: how a teacher learns to handle her unruly class with the help of a friendly gargoyle; "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium," the story of a warehouse containing literally every lost item in human history; "The Misfortune Cookie," in which an arrogant food critic gets his comeuppance from a Chinese restaurateur; and "Her Pilgrim Soul," the saga of a misplaced and very confused time traveler. Although the series tended to avoid repeating episodes seen on the original Twilight Zone, there are two noteworthy exceptions. "Dead Woman's Shoes" is a gender-switch remake of the 1962 episode "Dead Man's Shoes," while "A Night of the Meek" is an updated revision of the 1960 Yuletide offering of the same name. Halfway through season one, Harlan Ellison left in high dudgeon, complaining about interference from the CBS standards and practices people. Fortunately, The Twilight Zone was still able to attract such top-rank talents as writers Stephen King and Ray Bradbury, and directors Joe Dante and Gerd Oswald -- not to mention such A-list performers as Bruce Willis, Robert Klein, Lorna Luft, Elliott Gould, Adrienne Barbeau, Helen Mirren, Jeffrey Tambor, Piper Laurie, Richard Mulligan, Sherman Hemsley, Mare Winningham, and Richard Kiley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Complete Cast of The Twilight Zone [TV Series]: Season 01

Producer(s):

Harvey Frand

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