Best Twilight Zone Episode of ALL TIME?

[defense]

I was just curious as to what everyone's favorite Twilight Zone episode of all time is. I know it's probably tough to choose "one" but I personally don't have to think hard to pick mine. My favorite of all time was the one with the guy & the stop watch. Where he gets real greedy and wants everything and he finds the stop watch which he can use to stop everyone else in the world and do as he pleases.

Then the stopwatch breaks and he can't make anyone come back to life. He ends up going insane of loneliness or something. I haven't seen it in about 10 years, but what an episode! I have to start my collection of "Twilight Zone" DVD's, since most of the episodes are now on DVD thankfully.

I don't know what it is about the Twilight Zone, but the acting is amazing. Even watching any of them today, I get consumed and feel like i'm right in there with the plot.

[Conquest10]

i haven't seen that one but it sounds good. the only one i can remember is that one with the woman getting plastic surgery. i know all of yall know which one i'm talking about.

[vivisimonvi]

I haven't seen that one I don't think, but it sounds similar to Time Enough At Last. I recall the story of a bank boss, who was only interested in.... yup... time. He only wanted time for himself to read and didn't care much of the outside world. I also remember a stop watch he had that broke, then came a nuclear blast that obliterated the world outside of his private chamber (he was reading during his lunch hour in a vault). That could be the "one" that is my favorite, but probably Alone is better imo (deals with the same general setting).

A brief intro, a man is cast on a solitary asteriod (about a mile in circumference I think???? That would surely defy gravitational laws). Anyways, this was his prison sentence for committing a murder out of defense (50 year sentence). So amongst his lonliness that almost consumes him, he is brought a present from the people who visit him to deliver him supplies to survive. One is a huge crate with what it seems like a living body inside, but actually a robot... (how cheap they used that word back in those times). A female one I might add

The turning point of course is when he's pardoned and he is given a choice to abandon his "love" or going home back to his family. I think this episode may have inspired the movie Artificial Intelligence to some extent.

[defense]

I haven't seen that one I don't think, but it sounds similar to Time Enough At Last. I recall the story of a bank boss, who was only interested in.... yup... time. He only wanted time for himself to read and didn't care much of the outside world. I also remember a stop watch he had that broke, then came a nuclear blast that obliterated the world outside of his private chamber (he was reading during his lunch hour in a vault). That could be the "one" that is my favorite, but probably Alone is better imo (deals with the same general setting).

Humm...you sure that wasn't an "outer limits?" I am thinking I may be vonfusing them, because that "vault" rings a very strong bell. I remember either a twilight zone episode very familiar to that with the "vault" or i'm thinking of something else. I could of swore it was a twilight zone episode though.

[MOVIEGEEK]

There are so many it's hard to pick just one but I guess the episode where the old man saves a sick boy by distracting the grim reaper.The old man hawks his wares from a suitcase and sells the grim reaper everything in it and it turns midnight and the boy lives but the old man dies.

Rod Serling was a genius and way ahead of his time,his stories always had a moral or ethical undertone.
BTW...the vault episode starred Burgess Meridith and it was Twilight Zone.

[tygrus2000]

the scene in Twighlight Zone The movie where John Lithgow confronts the creature on the wing of the plane. Thats my fav. and very well done I thought.

tygrus

[You_Are_Alive]

Ah, I remember that one with the old man and the stopwatch that broke and froze time, it must have been good if I can still remember it after all this time. There was another one but I'm not sure if it was Twilight Zone or Outer limits. Its about a guy who's a real jerk to everyone, even his family. Anyway, he loves fishing with his rude buddies and they go out on a lake and try to catch fish. They have no luck but at the end this guy catchs a baby fish, but does not release it, instead he just swallows it.

When they get to shore, they all pack and are about to leave, then this guy (by himself) finds a stick of gum by the shore, he picks it up and chews it. Guess what happens next, he chews and is snagged by a hook and fishing line and is then mysteriously drawn into the water. Weird and scary, I wonder what lured him in? Does anyone remember this episode?

[Peter H]

i cant remember exactly, but wasnt there an episode where a guy finds a pair of sunglasses and it makes him see aliens disguised as people but knowone beleives him.

[Bob W]

The one I remember the most would be were an Alien prison spaceship lands on earth with the intention of leaving all their criminals stranded on earth. The Aliens looked like spiders with the face of a human, weird.

[NightWing]

Some of those listed here are from the Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone movie { it was Shatener at altitued in the series } but one thing is for sure. The stories were excelent along with greate acting. Back then, they wrote stories with outstanding actors bring them to life.

Yes the "Pitch for the Angles" with Ed Wynn as the side walk peddler is a greate epsode with an outstanding story with a greate cast. His son in reallife also played in a very strange epsode that actualy get revenge on the creator of the Twilight Zone!

Just for all, Scifi.com has the full 5 year guide with descriptons. Enjoy the memories. And on the ninth looks like a blast of 5 hours of epsosed.

http://www.scifi.com/twilightzone/episodes/index.html

PS: Remember about the used car and what it forced the owner to do if they bought it?

[kazzer]

I actually love the pilot episode, were some guy finds himself in a strange town with no one around and not knowing how he got there.

And the one with the talking dummy! Those dummys freak me out big time!

Twilight Zone is classic!...real sci-fi

[NightWing]

Supprising after all this time some of those epsods are still just as fresh and scary as they were back then. Others were fun!

I remembered a interview with him stating he was even scared by some of the stories!

[Bondiablo]

i liked Outer Limits :P

[txpharoah]

The WWI pilot that lands in 1956 was a good one.
And the one where the old-west guy was hung.

Heck, those are all pretty good shows. TZ.

[curryman]

little blue men in time, remember that one?.
they would go around making every minute, creating car crashes and you know when you put your keys somewhere and swear you left them there but they are gone, it's because the little blue men forgot to put them there for that one minute and then remember to put them back the next making you say " there they are!, i could of sworn i looked there earlier.
what a brilliant story

[curryman]

come to think of it i'm gonna go get every episode ever made.
dvdr ofcourse.....who said this was off topic

[Redd]

the scene in Twighlight Zone The movie where John Lithgow confronts the creature on the wing of the plane. Thats my fav. and very well done I thought.

tygrus

That one was originally done with William Shatner. (Capt. James A. Kirk)

My favorite was: To serve Man. A flying sauser lands on earth and the aliens want to serve man and have a book "To Serve Man". Too bad it's a cook book.

[defense]

come to think of it i'm gonna go get every episode ever made.
dvdr ofcourse.....who said this was off topic

Yep, i'm with you on that. Oh, just realized there are new emoticons..lol....too much. All of the episodes mentioned really bring back memories. It really is amazing how great the acting is, and like someone else mentioned, Serling was definitely way before his time.

[housepig]

god, picking just one...

some of the favorites -

"It's a GOOD Life" - little boy with the power to mold reality keeps adults in line through intimidation, lest they be wished away to the cornfield...

"Eye of the Beholder" - woman wondering if her plastic surgery worked, talking about how much of an ugly, deformed outcast she is, the bandages come off, and she's gorgeous - in a society of pig-faced people....

"The Obsolete Man" - individuals vs. the state... very timely...

"The Shelter" - what if you had the only bomb shelter on the block - and all your neighbors wanted in?

as well, "To Serve Man" and "Time Enough At Last" are great ones...

- housepig

[LanceSteel]

i cant remember exactly, but wasnt there an episode where a guy finds a pair of sunglasses and it makes him see aliens disguised as people but knowone beleives him.

Thats the movie "They Live!" with Rowdy Roddy Piper as the main character.

[sammie]

"An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge." Takes place during the Civil War. Spy is being hung, but the rope appears to break. Story follows him as he escapes, sees various people ( I remember one is wife or something). Running away,and..... won't give away the end.

Think this was unique in that is was the first TV program with no spoken dialoge or something like that. To tell you how good it was, I never even noticed that until I read that and went back and watched it again.

[110100100]

Wow, you guys listed some pretty good ones. I think one of my favorites was the episode where a guy dies (i think he was a jerk), and goes to what he thinks is heaven because he can have anything he wants, but in time he realizes it is really hell.

[Timoleon]

I haven't seen that one I don't think, but it sounds similar to Time Enough At Last. I recall the story of a bank boss, who was only interested in.... yup... time. He only wanted time for himself to read and didn't care much of the outside world. I also remember a stop watch he had that broke, then came a nuclear blast that obliterated the world outside of his private chamber (he was reading during his lunch hour in a vault). That could be the "one" that is my favorite, but probably Alone is better imo (deals with the same general setting).

Humm...you sure that wasn't an "outer limits?" I am thinking I may be vonfusing them, because that "vault" rings a very strong bell. I remember either a twilight zone episode very familiar to that with the "vault" or i'm thinking of something else. I could of swore it was a twilight zone episode though.

"Time Enough At Last" was a Twilight Zone episode starring Burgess Meredith. After the blast he was happy as a clam because he finally had time to read his books. Alas --- he stepped on and crushed his reading glasses

I myself liked "To Serve Man" --- the precursor to Hannibal Lechter and all his ilk!! Reminds me of the Theodore Sturgeon (?) story about a guy stopped for speeding in a small town, and they end up having him for supper in more ways than one!

[rkr1958]

One of my favoriate episodes is the one about the girl driving crosscountry and the hitchhiker. It starts off by the girl almost getting into a traffic accident. Anyway, she notices a hitchhiker by the side of the road. As she goes on crosscountry she keeps seeing this hitchhiker, who somehow keeps getting in front of here. In the end she stops to call her mother from a phoneboth. Someone else answers and says her mother is too upset to talk because her daughter was killed in a traffic accident. The girl, who is stunned, gets back into the car and sees in her rearview mirror the hitchhiker sitting in her back seat. He asks here is she's ready to pick him up now. It's been a long time since I saw this one and seeing that it originally aired in the 1959-1960 season (I was one at the time) I had to have saw the first time in rerun in the early to mid 60's.

[cuervo]

best episode was one with Agnes Moorhead. She was an old woman living out in the middle of the desert when a spaceship lands on her house. The ship was very, very small, so that she ran around trying to stomp out the spacemen with her broom. In the end...well...i won't spoil the finish

[MOVIEGEEK]

If you want every Twilight Zone episode on DVD they're $399USD+$24S&H
http://www.asseenontv-shoppe.com/twilightzone.htm
$423 isn't bad considering it's for 49 DVD's(156 episodes+commentary/never seen footage).

[az1284xx]

Rod Steiger had a great gift of wrapping over 300 episodes around seven basic themes, Pride (Vanity) is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition, Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation, Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires, Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body, Anger (Wrath) is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury, Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, and Sloth is the avoidance of physical labor or work. Sound familiar, yup . . . the 7 Deadly Sins.

[YMe]

The one that sent me to bed with nightmares:

Billy Mumy (Lennier in B5) in "It's A Good Life" with Cloris Leachman. A malevalent six year-old has the powers of God and terrorizes a town. Also re-created in the movie and once again in the new series on UPN - but Billy Mumy played it best the first time.

[Doggiedaddy]

I always loved TZ the old ones/Rod Serling.
#1) Best ever! Don't remember the name though.
Agnes Moorehead, and the spaceship lands in her attic. All through the episode she is trying to get away from the outer space men. Come to find out the space craft is from good old earth and we were the little guys being kill off throughout the whole damn thing.
Sub note: I do not think a word was spoken in the entire show other than grunts etc.

#2) Ditto on this one already mentioned
Time Enough At Last" was a Twilight Zone episode starring Burgess Meredith. After the blast he was happy as a clam because he finally had time to read his books. Alas --- he stepped on and crushed his reading glasses

#3) Serving Man: People from another planet were helping mankind through out the whole thing. At the end as they being herding on the ship to go to the other planet someone found a book SERVING MAN A cook book. Come to find out mankind was be raised improving the stock and herded like cattle as food for the other planets population.

Pig lady/Plastic surgeons mentioned was a shocker also
Dd

[Doggiedaddy]

best episode was one with Agnes Moorhead. She was an old woman living out in the middle of the desert when a spaceship lands on her house. The ship was very, very small, so that she ran around trying to stomp out the spacemen with her broom. In the end...well...i won't spoil the finish

Sorry cuervo I did not see your post of intrigue before I hit summit! oops