TWILIGHT ZONE V28(DVD)FULL FRAME/ENGLISH/MONO DVD

The Twilight Zone: Season 05
Part of Series:
The Twilight Zone [TV Series] [1959-1964]
"You're traveling to another dimension...a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind...a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop: The Twilight Zone." Originally telecast on CBS from October 2, 1959, to September 18, 1964 (not counting a brief spate of network reruns in the summer of 1965), The Twilight Zone was one of the foremost filmed dramatic anthologies on TV and one of a precious few that specialized in fantasy and science fiction. Created by Rod Serling, whose previous TV writing credits included such classic live dramas as Patterns and Requiem for a Heavyweight, the series specialized in concise, economical playlets dealing with the offbeat andsupernatural, many of them with surprising and ironic climactic twists. Many of the individual episodes have stood the test of time as indisputable classics, among them "Eye of the Beholder," "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," "The Invaders," "It's a Good Life," "To Serve Man," "The Invaders," and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Rod Serling served as the series' host and narrator, and also wrote most of the dramas. Other noteworthy contributors included Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and, on one memorable occasion (the episode "I Sing the Body Electric"), Ray Bradbury. A veritable constellation of guest stars brought the stories to life; among those making multiple appearances were Burgess Meredith, Jack Klugman, William Shatner, Martin Landau, Anne Francis, Bill Mumy, Ed Wynn, and Lee Marvin, while many more showed up for memorable single performances including Charles Bronson, Elizabeth Montgomery, Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, James Coburn, Mickey Rooney, and Dennis Hopper. The series' famous theme music (heard from the second season onward) was composed by Marius Constant with unforgettable incidental music provided by the likes of Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith. Although the series' title has become a household word and many of its episodes are acknowledged masterpieces, Twilight Zone was never a huge ratings attraction during its network run. Indeed, after only three seasons, CBS decided to yank the show. It was saved at the last minute and brought back as a mid-season replacement, expanded from 30 to 60 minutes per week in the process. For its fifth and final season, Twilight Zone returned to its familiar half-hour format, still playing to appreciative but comparatively small audiences. It was not until the series went into off-network reruns that Twilight Zone truly built its fan following, which has increased many times over in the ensuing years. Twilight Zone was revived twice with new, full-color episodes, first as a CBS (and later syndicated) weekly in 1985, then on UPN in 2002. Rod Serling was not involved with these revivals, having passed away in 1975; the 1985 version had no host, though its narrators included Charles Aidman and Robin Ward, but the 2002 version was hosted by Forest Whitaker. In addition, a theatrical feature, Twilight Zone: The Movie, was released in 1983. ~ All Movie Guide

Includes Seasons:
The Twilight Zone: Season 02
Although The Twilight Zone suffered from anemic ratings and a certain degree of sponsor dissatisfaction during its first season on CBS, the network could not ignore the prestige value of a series created and largely written by Rod Serling -- nor could it ignore the millions of loyal fans who demanded that the series return for a second season...which, of course, it did. Due to budget cutbacks, only 29 episodes were produced for season two; six of these were economically shot on videotape, an experiment that proved esthetically unsatisfying and was not repeated. Even so, the six taped installments yielded at least one imperishable classic: The Christmas Fantasy "Night of the Meek" starring Art Carney as a drunken department-store Santa who experiences quite an epiphany on Christmas Eve. Twilight Zone's second season saw the introduction of the series' now-immortal "dee-dee-dee-doo, dee-dee-dee-doo" theme music composed by Marius Constant. Also, host Rod Serling began making on-camera appearances as he introduced the various playlets. A number of guest stars from season one make return appearances for season two, among them Burgess Meredith (seen twice this season), Inger Stevens, Dick York, Russell Johnson, and Fritz Weaver. Others make their first (but definitely not last!) Zone appearances during this season, including William Shatner, Bill Mumy, Jonathan Harris, and Cliff Robertson. And finally, a handful of celebrated performers show up for their only Twilight Zone gigs, notably Shelley Berman, Richard Haydn, Jack Carson, and Bob Cummings. Of the season's 29 episodes, at least three can be designated as imperishable classics: "The Howling Man," a grim gothic tale of demonic deception; "The Eye of the Beholder," in which a young woman designated as "hideously ugly" by a totalitarian government undergoes a grueling session of plastic surgery; and "The Invaders," starring Agnes Moorehead as a terrified farm woman who single-handedly fends off an army of tiny extraterrestrials. ~ All Movie Guide

The Twilight Zone: Season 04
Canceled by CBS at the end of its third season, the weekly, half-hour fantasy anthology The Twilight Zone was at the last minute revived for a fourth year on the air, though it would not return to CBS' prime time manifest until after a four-month hiatus. Also, the series was expanded from 30 to 60 minutes per week for season four in keeping with an industry-wide trend for hour-long programs (the better to attract more sponsors). Unfortunately, the added length did more harm than good for Twilight Zone, with several episodes that would have played just fine in the 30-minute format seeming attenuated and strained when expanded to twice that length. Wisely, when the series returned for its fifth season, Twilight Zone's original half-hour format was restored. Despite the above-mentioned artistic and esthetic problems inherent in the 60-minute Zone, a handful of the fourth-season installments can be ranked among the series' better efforts. These include "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville," a comic episode starring Julie Newmar as a curvaceous female Satan; "Jess-Belle," featuring Anne Francis as a mountain girl who will go to any lengths to win back her sweetheart (this episode is distinguished by an original ballad, which is heard at the finale in place of host Rod Serling's traditional narration); "Printer's Devil," in which Burgess Meredith makes his only villainous Twilight Zone appearance; "Death Ship," a Pirandellian nightmare starring another frequent Zone guest star, Jack Klugman; and "The Bard," a wild spoof of TV commercialism co-starring a young Burt Reynolds as a Marlon Brando wannabe. One of the best hour-long Twilight Zones is "Miniature," a bittersweet fantasy starring Robert Duvall. Due to a legal entanglement, this episode was long absent from the series' syndicated package but was reissued in the mid-1980s in a semi-colorized version. ~ All Movie Guide

The Twilight Zone: Season 05
Although CBS' decision to rescue Rod Serling's classic fantasy anthology The Twilight Zone from cancelation and bring the series back for a fourth season in January of 1963 enabled the property to be renewed in the fall of that year, everybody realized that expanding the half-hour series to a weekly sixty minutes was a mistake. Thus, Twilight Zone showed up for its fifth and final season in its familiar 30-minute format, much to the relief of its fans. Rod Serling of course is back for season five as both host/narrator and frequent scriptwriter; also making return appearances this season are such past Twilight Zone guest stars as Jack Klugman, Lee Marvin, Ed Wynn, Bill Mumy, Martin Landau, and William Shatner, the latter starring in what is regarded as the fifth season's best and most terrifying episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (more popularly known as "The Thing on the Wing"). Not all of the series' episodes during its terminal season are on the same leval as "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet;" in fact, there are arguably more misses than hits in the series' final 36 installments. That said, one cannot deny the excellence of such fifth-season efforts as "The Last Night of a Jockey," a solo tour de force for star Mickey Rooney; "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You," featuring both Richard Long and Suzy Parker in multiple roles; "From Agnes-With Love," a comic episode in which Wally Cox is tormented by an amorous computer; and "The Masks," directed by former Twilight Zone leading lady Ida Lupino, wherein four greedy relatives get their just desserts from their disillusioned wealthy benefactors. Until very recently, four of Twilight Zone's fifth-season episodes were withheld from the series' syndication package. Both "A Short Drink From a Certain Founain" and "Sounds and Silences" were removed for legal reasons, while "The Encounter" was withdrawn because of its (unintended) overtones of racism. The fourth "missing" Twilight Zone episode was "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," which was not actually filmed for the series but instead was adapted from an award-winning French short subject directed by Robert Enrico. (Both the edited Zone version and the original uncut short subject are currently available on the public-domain market.) ~ All Movie Guide

Includes Episodes:
The Twilight Zone: The Whole Truth
Jack Carson stars as Harvey Hunnicutt, a fast-talking used car salesman to whom The Truth is a total stranger. Hunnicutt's prevaricating nature undergoes a terrifying about-face when a spooky old man (George Chandler sells Harvey a dilapidated Model A Ford -- one which compels its owner to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The punchline of this episode will be amusing only to those who lived through the darkest days of the Cold War (though a passing reference to "Jack Kennedy" has been excised from most existing prints). Future Laugh-In regular Arte Johnson appears as Hunnicutt's long-suffering assistant. One of six Twilight Zone episodes shot on videotape, "The Whole Truth" was written by Rod Serling and was initially telecast on January 20, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Twilight Zone: Mute
Scripted by Richard Matheson from his own short story, this episode stars 13-year-old Ann Jillian as the title character, a nonverbal young girl named Ilse Nielsen. Apparently the sole survivor of a fire, Ilse is unofficially adopted by Harry and Cora Wheeler (Frank Overton and Barbara Baxley), who cannot understand why such an intelligent child lacks the power of speech. What the viewer knows, but the Wheelers don't, is that Ilsa is telepathic, raised by telepathic parents -- and her special powers may cause her more harm than good. This 60-minute Twilight Zone episode was first seen on January 31, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Twilight Zone: Queen of the Nile
Clearly inspired by the then-current publicity blitz surrounding the Elizabeth Taylor film version of Cleopatra, this Twilight Zone episode was credited to scriptwriter Charles Beaumont, even though Jerry Sohl did the actual writing. Ann Blyth stars as Pamela Morris, a seemingly ageless movie queen. Determined to find out why Pamela is as beautiful as she was during the silent-film era, journalist Jordan Herrick (Lee Herrick) shows up at the actress' home for an interview. He ends up getting the story of his life -- which turns out to be a significant shorter life than that enjoyed by Pamela Morris. "Queen of the Nile" first aired March 6, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Rod Serling as Host

Crew n/a

The Twilight Zone: Season 05
(not reviewed)
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: 5.1: 5 full-range channels. Includes 3 for the front speakers, 2 surround channels for rear speakers, & 1 low-frequency effects (LFE) channel to carry deep bass effects 1: PCM mono Additional Features: Special "Inside The Twilight Zone" section, written by Marc Scott Zicree, author of the bestseller "The Twilight Zone Companion," includes biographical information on Rod Serling, history of "The Twilight Zone," reviews of each episode, cast information, and a season-by-season commentary Digitally remastered episodes Animated menus MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 100 min Part of Series: The Twilight Zone   DVD Chapters: Side #1 0. Episodes 0. The Whole Truth 1. The Whole Truth [14:23] 2. Caught Telling The Truth [9:48] 3. End Credits [:55] 0. Mute 1. Mute [14:23] 2. Shattered Hopes [9:48] 3. Going Slightly Mad? [:55] 4. The Gift of Love [:02] 0. Queen Of The Nile 1. Queen of the Nile [12:57] 2. Trapped In The Spider's Web [11:35] 3. End Credits [:39]