Which classic TV show's introduction includes the line "...and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge"?
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #5 in its list of the 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.
What are your thoughts on this subject?
46 Comments
Todd Van Dell
Rod Serling, I feel, was very much a man well before his time.
He was a brilliant writer AND storyteller, and what always made the original Twilight Zone so amazing was that it was, essentially, a weekly half hour morality play.
So often characters in each weekly episode seemed to be something they were not.
Or, we are led to believe they are one thing, when, in the end, there is nearly always that Rod Serling/Twilight Zone twist, and "they" turn out to be something not quite expected.
We had a question recently about the episode with Burgess Meredith, who plays a lonely man named Howard who hates his job, and isn't fond of people, either, and would much rather read his mountain of books.
But he nearly gets fired from his job for reading at work, and he tended to be a bit belligerent to everyone else, because all he really wanted to do was read and be left alone so he could.
As a veteran reader for most of my life, with my own slightly overwhelming collection of books (I believe it's my 5th collection...lost the others over the years for various reasons), I have occasionally wanted to just take all my books and live in the middle of nowhere and just read.
Let the world do that which it wants; I'd be happy if it was just me and my books.
Sometimes I think about what that might be like.
To just kinda drop off the grid, and live in a tent or my van with my books and just read.
But, it was that episode of the Twilight Zone that made me rethink the idea (well, that, and liking electricity and a bathroom and a fridge and running water...all the conveniences of home...never a huge fan of camping or that survivalist mind set).
Because let's be honest: Howard was not really a nice person.
He didn't get along with people, nor did he try.
Me? I usually try to get along with people.
Granted, there are one or two commenters here who tend to get under my skin sometimes.
But I try mostly to be kind and get along with people.
Not so with Howard.
So...when that apocalypse destroyed most of the planet?
Howard got his wish and everyone else on the planet was wiped out.
Everyone except him, and his beloved books.
But right at the end, came the Twilight Zone twist: somehow Howard dropped his only pair of glasses...and then he accidentally stepped on them and broke them.
If you are a reader who is nearsighted, as I am, I usually take my glasses off when I read, even though I do have prescription reading glasses.
So, for me, breaking my reading glasses would not be a huge bummer.
I could still read and write without them.
I'm writing this with them off right now.
But Howard was far sighted.
That was the first twist.
That meant he needed his glasses to read and see things close up.
He could see far just fine.
But.
Hard to read when you need glasses to see up close.
Like...reading a book.
But the episode had a two-fold morality tale: obviously that was Howard's only pair of glasses, so he might have been wise to have had a few back up pairs, just in case an apocalypse did happen, and just in case he broke his main pair.
The other, more important morality play?
Be careful what you wish for.
You might just get your wish.
And the twist was, you might not be happy you got your wish.
It might not turn out how you want it to turn out.
Because Howard was suddenly all alone in the world, just himself, and his books.
Just like he always wished he could be.
So finally everyone would leave him alone.
Except, with only one pair of broken glasses, he could not read any of his hundreds of books anymore.
As Morpheus tells Neo in the first Matrix movie:
"Fate, it would seem, is not without a sense of irony."
And no one knew that better than Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone.
11
Nov 11, 2019 3:33AM
Margherita Rizza McGlinchey
Todd Van Dell, I remember that episode very well.
0
Apr 15, 2023 7:52PM
Helga U. Williams
Loved Rod Serling's great show. The introduction's melody was always so dramatic and mysterious sounding.
👍
3
Feb 1, 2023 11:16PM
flanderschristy
I got this right. I remember watching The Twilight Zone as a child. The music at the beginning of the show gave me the creeps. Rod Sterling's voice was creepy & soothing at the same time. His commentary made the show. Each episode was a life lesson. My favorite episode was the one where this older gentlemen was dying. He insisted that his greedy children be there & wear these horrid looking masks until midnight when he would die. When midnight came, he died, his grown children were joyous as they would inherit a lot of money but...when they removed their masks, their faces had changed to look just like the horrid masks. They got what they wanted which was his money but couldn't leave the house to enjoy it.
My least favorite was about a "Sin Eater". I won't go into the plot but it really gave me the creeps!
4
Jul 28, 2021 11:46AM
Kathleen Chef
Todd Van Dell, I agree about Rod. I watched him from the time I was a little girl. My mom and her friend were talking about famous people they'd like to meet. Then they asked me. I was around 7. I said Rod Serling cause he's brilliant. They both looked at me like I'd just fallen out of the sky. Lol.
1
Jan 14, 2020 12:48PM
jack patti go
Missed this? I picked, The Outer Limits!
1
Nov 13, 2019 12:50AM
Char
Got it
1
Nov 9, 2019 7:39PM
Boni Forte
Got it
1
Nov 2, 2019 10:18PM
Tim Rick
Fun to watch those shows.
1
Nov 1, 2019 6:56AM
susan coleman
I'd rank it #1.
2
Oct 26, 2019 2:16PM
pattichill
Got it!!
2
Oct 19, 2019 12:09PM
Howard Groopman
Saw many of the original episodes, and yet I missed this question.
3
Oct 16, 2019 6:12PM
Richard G Schwartz
Forgot this part of the series.
1
Oct 14, 2019 6:59PM
Linda Pomeroy
I answered correctly, but didn't get the green. You claim I picked the wrong answer. This has happened before. What's the deal?
2
Oct 14, 2019 1:57PM
Diane Lynn Kinsman
Got it wrong
1
Oct 12, 2019 7:40PM
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