It was not new to me. I had heard about the remake at a science fiction convention in Calgary a few months earlier that just whetted my appetite for more.
Yesterday, a story came across my news feed that some episodes of that version of “The Twilight Zone” from 1985 were not available on streaming services because of their content.
As a journalist, and supporter of freedom of expression, I was offended. More than that, I was saddened that a new generation of viewers won’t get the chance to see some great television – for now.
The “old” Twilight Zone
Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial was always the source of “The Twilight Zone”. The first time I had heard about the show was when Channel 7 was celebrating an anniversary and showing episodes of vintage TV shows at 11 p.m. on weeknights. One night it was “The Twilight Zone”. However, I was home sick from school, sleeping on the couch, so all I did was see a minute or so of the episode before I had to turn out the light. I saw enough to know it was weird, because that was the episode where a driver keeps passing the same hitchhiker.
Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial was always the source of “The Twilight Zone”. The first time I had heard about the show was when Channel 7 was celebrating an anniversary and showing episodes of vintage TV shows at 11 p.m. on weeknights. One night it was “The Twilight Zone”. However, I was home sick from school, sleeping on the couch, so all I did was see a minute or so of the episode before I had to turn out the light. I saw enough to know it was weird, because that was the episode where a driver keeps passing the same hitchhiker.
It was maybe two or three years later when Channel 7 started running marathons of old episodes of “The Twilight Zone”. I was staying at my sister’s place for one of those Saturday afternoons and remember discovering the iconic episode – “To serve man” – about aliens visiting Earth with nefarious intentions.
Over the years, in my junior high years, I would see more episodes – the one where Burgess Meredith is the last man on Earth and can read all the books he wants, until he breaks his glasses. The one where Dick York flips a coin, and it lands on its edge giving him the ability to read minds. The one where Jack Klugman is a pool shark. He gets his shot against a legend played by Jonathan Winters, only to discover he is a ghost and, after defeating him, must answer every challenge for eternity. That one I saw in Brooks when I was visiting my cousins.
There were a few more too.
Sneak preview
In the summer after Grade 10, so 1985, I went to Calgary with my good friends David Perlich and Craig Tanaka to Conversion – a science fiction and fantasy convention. I always describe it as the grandfather of Calgary Expo or Comic Con.
In the summer after Grade 10, so 1985, I went to Calgary with my good friends David Perlich and Craig Tanaka to Conversion – a science fiction and fantasy convention. I always describe it as the grandfather of Calgary Expo or Comic Con.
It was an amazing experience where I met some interesting people; played some role-playing games; saw a real live battle between knights in shining armor; checked out the Huckster’s Room, which was a rudimentary market; took in a short story contest; and much more.
I also saw a panel on a new show that was debuting that Fall – a remake or update of “The Twilight Zone”. That was in the day before re-boots, or re-imagining, so this was a unique event at the time.
I don’t recall the presenters knowing a lot of detail, but they shared what they knew, which was more than the majority of listeners. The big thing was that Philip DeGuere was directing this “Twilight Zone” update. He was best known at the time as the creative force behind the TV detective series “Simon and Simon”.
They also speculated on what was going to be on the show, and whether some classic episodes would be remade.
I left that panel feeling kind of cool, like I was in on a secret, and like I had inside information on the show.
The “new” Twilight Zone
The updated “Twilight Zone” debuted in the Fall of 1985, and I caught a few episodes of it on Channel 7. After that, I started going out with friends more and more, first in sleepovers then hanging out and, eventually, cruising the strip in Lethbridge. By then, I had received a VCR for Christmas and started recording “The Twilight Zone”
The updated “Twilight Zone” debuted in the Fall of 1985, and I caught a few episodes of it on Channel 7. After that, I started going out with friends more and more, first in sleepovers then hanging out and, eventually, cruising the strip in Lethbridge. By then, I had received a VCR for Christmas and started recording “The Twilight Zone”
The show was always an anthology, where each episode was a self-contained story or two. Each story contained a lesson or comment on humanity too.
The first episode I saw was classic. Elliott Gould plays a restaurant critic who gets his comeuppance in part by some magic fortune cookies.
"The Twilight Zone" aired in tandem with an update of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, which I have to say I enjoyed more.
This iteration of “The Twilight Zone” ran for three seasons, from 1985 to 1989, for 65 episodes. The first two seasons were on CBS in the States, with the third produced for syndication. That's why it spans four years.
Parting thoughts
It’s funny. I thought I watched more of the 1985 to 1989 “Twilight Zone”, but when I read the list of episodes on Wikipedia, I only recognized a handful.
It’s funny. I thought I watched more of the 1985 to 1989 “Twilight Zone”, but when I read the list of episodes on Wikipedia, I only recognized a handful.
I must have mixed it up with the original, which I have seen a lot of episodes of. I could have confused it with the latest version, the Jordan Peele “Twilight Zone”, which I did not miss an episode of. Some of the episodes I thought I remembered of "The Twilight Zone" were actually from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” as well.
Still, as I read the list of episodes, it sounds like something I would enjoy more as an adult and get much more out of.
In any event, it turns my stomach that some episodes of this series have been removed from streaming services because of their content.
Then again, “The Twilight Zone” always pushed boundaries, sometimes precisely by making people uncomfortable.
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