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The Twilight Zone: Season 5
(1963)
The fifth season of The Twilight Zone course-corrected after a fourth-season wrong turn into the hour-long format, but by 1963 the writing was already on the wall for the seminal series. Creator and head writer Rod Serling copped to exhaustion, and tensions ran high amongst producers, writers, and the network (CBS). Despite the turmoil, Season Five produced some strong half-hours, among them "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (one of the series' most famous outings), "In Praise of Pip" and "Living Doll."
A quick look at an episode guide reveals that the season's most memorable offerings were frontloaded. Season premiere "In Praise of Pip"—written by Serling—casts four-time guest star Jack Klugman as an alcoholic bookie weighed down by grief and guilt over his son Pip (three-time guest star Bill Mumy). As Pip lays dying in an Army hospital from wounds sustained fighting in Vietnam, his father stumbles into an amusement park in "the Twilight Zone," finding there Pip as he was at a tender and forgiving age. Father reconnects with son and, in doing so, gets a last chance at redemption. Some of Klugman's most resonant performances came in Twilight Zone episodes like this one, which also boasts striking imagery around its empty amusement park (and climactic hall of mirrors).
Few Twilight Zones are as instantly recognizable as "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," directed by Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie) and penned by the great Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). That's partly the case as it was one of three series episodes selected for inclusion in 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie. The 1963 outing stars William Shatner as Bob Wilson, a salesman taking a flight six months after having a nervous breakdown on an airplane. When Bob catches sight of a gremlin on the wing of the plane, the screws begin to turn: Bob is sure he isn't crazy, but no one—including his wife—will believe him when he warns of impending disaster. Is history repeating itself? If Bob goes into action, will he be saving the day or endangering the passengers? Loveable overactor Shatner proves to be perfect casting (as was John Lithgow in George Miller's 1983 remake) and the episode a wicked delight.
Another well-rembered outing is "Living Doll" (written by Jerry Sohl, but credited to Charles Beaumont). Few talismans are as creepy as the talking doll. Heck, The Twilight Zone's fifth season has two of them (see also ventriloquist episode "Caesar and Me," with Jackie Cooper). "Living Doll" essays the tale of Erich Streator (Telly Savalas) and his misfortune after dissing his stepdaughter's new "Talky Tina" doll. No one who's seen this episode will ever forget the vocal performance of the legendary June Foray, who drips lines like "My name is Talky Tina and I don't think I like you"—but only when Erich is alone, natch.
Other Season Five guest stars include Martin Landau ("The Jeopardy Room"), Mickey Rooney ("The Last Night of a Jockey"), Lee Marvin ("Steel"), and George Takei ("The Encounter"), and top-notch character actors like Ed Wynn ("Ninety Years Without Slumbering"), Wally Cox ("From Agnes—With Love"), Richard Deacon ("The Brain Center at Whipple's"), John Dehner ("Mr. Garrity and the Graves") and John McGiver ("Sounds and Silences"). In a unique departure, The Twilight Zone also absorbed Robert Enrico's excellent, Oscar-winning 1962 French short film "La Rivière du hibou" as Season Five episode "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Ambrose Bierce's classic short-story, on which the episode was based, was no doubt an influence on Serling, given its prototypical twist ending.
Though The Twilight Zone largely fell into tired repetitiveness in its final season, its crafty tales and spectrum of darkness to humor still stood apart from the television pack, and today, they remain well-acted, entertaining mood pieces. To paraphrase Serling, that's the signpost up ahead - you are now exiting The Twilight Zone.
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In keeping with the earlier Image Blu-ray releases, The Twilight Zone: Season 5 looks and sounds terrific for its age, in all thirty-six episodes over five discs. That's due to the use of original elements, with the picture derived from 35mm film. The black-and-white imagery benefits from rock-solid black level, beautiful contrast and sharp detail, yielding more palpable textures than the previous standard-def releases. Sound comes in two flavors: uncompressed PCM mono audio and original mono, both of which sound awfully good; the restored, uncompressed mixes are cleaner, but purists will generally prefer the original mixes.
Bonus features are awe-inspiringly exhaustive, making for a definitive release. Many of them are newly available with the series, including some of the commentaries (one with superstar genre writer Neil Gaiman!) and a recent series of internet radio dramas remaking Twilight Zone episodes with today's best character actors. Also rounded up are pretty much all of the previously available bonus features from earlier Image releases of the series. The featured bonuses include a 1959 The Mike Wallace Interview (21:01) with Serling, Netherlands Sales Pitch (4:33) by Serling, "Excerpt from Rod Serling's Sherwood Oaks Experimental College Lecture" (12:34) about the creation of the series, an "Alfred Hitchcock Promo" (2:15) for The Twilight Zone, and the 1975 "Marc Scott Zicree Audio Interview With George T. Clemens (Part 5)."
Below is a breakdown of the episode-specific bonus features:
"In Praise of Pip": audio commentary by Bill Mumy; audio commentary by Neil Gaiman and Marc Scott Zicree; interview with Bill Mumy; isolated music score by Rene Garriguenc; sponsor billboards for Crest toothpaste and Milk Wave Lilt home permanent.
"Steel": audio commentary by Bill Warren and Marc Scott Zicree; interview with Richard Matheson; isolated score by Van Cleave; sponsor billboards for Pall Mall Famous Cigarettes and the American Tobacco Company; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Louis Gossett, Jr.
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet": audio commentary by Richard Donner and Marc Scott Zicree; interview with Richard Matheson; Rod Serling lecture at Sherwood Oaks College; isolated score; sponsor billboards for Prell Shampoo; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring John Schneider
"A Kind Of A Stopwatch": audio commentary by Martin Grams, Jr.; isolated score by Van Cleave; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Lou Diamond Phillips.
"The Last Night Of A Jockey": audio commentary by Mickey Rooney; sponsor billboards.
"Living Doll": audio commentary by June Foray; audio commentary by George Noory and Marc Scott Zicree; audio commentary by Gary Gerani; interview with June Foray; isolated music score by Bernard Herrmann; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Tim Kazurinsky.
"The Old Man In The Cave": audio commentary by Scott Skelton and Jim Benson; isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Adam Baldwin.
"Uncle Simon": audio commentary by Martin Grams, Jr.; isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Peter Mark Richman and Beverly Garland.
"Probe 7 Over And Out": audio commentary by Ted Post and Marc Scott Zicree; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Louis Gossett, Jr.
"The 7th Is Made Up Of Phantoms": isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Richard Grieco.
"A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain": isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Adam West.
"Ninety Years Without Slumbering": interview with Carolyn Kearney and George Clayton Johnson; interview with George Clayton Johnson; isolated music score by Bernard Herrmann; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Bill Erwin.
"Ring-A-Ding Girl": interview with Earl Hamner, Jr.; audio commentary by Scott Skelton and Jim Benson; sponsor billboards.
"You Drive": interview with Earl Hamner, Jr.; audio commentary by Scott Skelton and Jim Benson; sponsor billboards.
"The Long Morrow": audio commentary by Mariette Hartley; audio commentary by Scott Skelton and Jim Benson; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Kathy Garver.
"The Self-Improvement Of Salvadore Ross": audio commentary by Martin Grams, Jr.; isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Luke Perry.
"Number 12 Looks Just Like You": audio commentary by Marc Scott Zicree; isolated music score; sponsor billboards.
"Black Leather Jackets": interview with Michael Forest and Earl Hamner, Jr.; sponsor billboards.
"Night Call": interview with Richard Matheson; audio commentary by Michael Nankin and Marc Scott Zicree; isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Mariette Hartley.
"From Agnes, With Love": sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Ed Begley, Jr.
"Spur Of The Moment": interview with Richard Matheson; isolated music score by Rene Garriguenc; sponsor billboards.
"An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge": Conversations with Rod Serling (Part 1); isolated music score by Henri Lanoe; sponsor billboards.
"Queen Of The Nile": sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Kate Jackson.
:What's In The Box": sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Mike Starr.
"The Masks": audio commentary by Alan Sues; isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Stan Freberg.
"I Am The Night - Color Me Black": interview with Terry Becker; sponsor billboards.
"Sounds And Silences": Isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Richard Kind.
"Caesar And Me": audio commentary by Robert Butler and Marc Scott Zicree; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Jason Alexander.
"The Jeopardy Room": audio commentary by Martin Landau; audio commentary by Richard Donner and Marc Scott Zicree; sponsor billboards.
"Stopover In A Quiet Town": interview with Nancy Malone and Earl Hamner, Jr.; isolated music score; sponsor billboards.
"The Encounter": audio commentary by George Takei, Robert Butler, and Marc Scott Zicree; isolated music score; sponsor billboards.
"Mr. Garrity And The Graves": audio commentary by Ted Post and Marc Scott Zicree; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Chris MacDonald.
"The Brain Center At Whipple's": sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Stan Freberg.
"Come Wander With Me": isolated music score by Jeff Alexander; sponsor billboards.
"The Fear": audio commentary by Ted Post, Peter Mark Richman, and Marc Scott Zicree; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Jane Seymour and James Keach.
"The Bewitchin' Pool": interview with Earl Hamner, Jr.; audio commentary by Earl Hamner, Jr. and Marc Scott Zicree; isolated music score; sponsor billboards; The Twilight Zone radio drama starring Karen Black.
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