DVD Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Season 2 - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 29, 2010, 15:19 GMT

All 29 episodes of the second season of Rod Serling’s classic, groundbreaking series, now presented in pristine high-definition for the first time ever, along with hours of new and exclusive bonus features not available anywhere else! New, Blu-ray exclusive features: Rarely-seen, unofficial Twilight Zone pilot, "The Time Element," starring William Bendix and Martin Balsam. Written by Rod Serling and hosted by Desi Arnaz for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. New 1080p transfer ...more

Prepare to reenter the Zone.  Nah, nah, nah, nah.  Therein you’ll find a few things more familiar.  Sterling steps in front of the camera to narrate, the iconic theme makes its first appearance, and the set is of the same quality, with a few exceptions, as its previous Blu-ray season. 

The first season of the Twilight Zone was a hit, but what have you done for me lately?  There was always curiosity whether the show could keep up the promise that the first season had.  Season two would have changes that would eventually become so iconic that it would somewhat define the show. 

Firstly, Rod Serling would step in front of the camera to host the show.  His tight-lipped delivery style would become immediately recognizable and associated with the groundbreaking show.  The theme song would also change to the familiar one by Marius Constant. 

Season 2 would carry on the high quality writing, but some cost cutting measures popped up as well.  The second season was shorn of seven episodes.  Also six of the shows, Lateness of the Hour, Static, The Whole Truth, Night of the Meek, Twenty-two, and Long Distance Call, were shot on videotape and look awful compared to the ones shot on film. 

They still look pretty dire in comparison (Serling said shooting on videotape was a disaster and I can agree).  It’s still a quality show that features many fine episodes, although Serling seems particularly interested in time travel this season. 

The Twilight Zone episodes are presented in 1080p high definition transfers (1.33:1).  The special features are included in the episode breakdowns.  They’re highlighted as to what is new and what is from the previous DVD release.  Anything in standard definition has SD by it. 

Disc one: King Nine will not Return: WWII Captain James Embry (Robert Cummings) finds himself next to a crashed plane in a vast desert. Where is his crew and why are futuristic planes flying overhead?  Old: 1978 audio interview with director Buzz Kulik, isolated score by Fred Steiner, and sponsor billboards.  New: commentary by author/film and TV historian Martin Grams, Jr.

The Man in the Bottle: A discontented curio shop owner (Luther Adler) thinks he has finally found happiness when a genie in an old bottle grants him four wishes, but be careful what you wish for. Old: isolated music score and sponsor billboards.  New: interview with Joseph Ruskin and radio drama starring Ed Begley, Jr.

Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room: Ordered to commit a murder he doesn’t want to perform, a small time hood (Joe Mantell) nervously looks in the mirror and sees the man that he might have been. Old: Zicree audio interview with director Douglas Heyes (1978), isolated music score by Jerry Goldsmith, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Alec Baldwin. New: commentary by author/film historian Gary Gerani and commentary by authors/historians Scott Skelton and Jim Benson. 

A Thing about Machines: Mr. Bartlett Finchley (Richard Haydn) despises any sort of machine, and he’ll learn a new kind of terror when he learns that the feeling is mutual.  Old: isolated music score and sponsor billboards. New: commentary with Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree and writer Len Wein.

The Howling Man: During a walking trip of Central Europe following WWI, David Ellington (H.M. Wynant) loses his way.  Exhausted, he comes upon a monastery where an insane monk (John Carradine) claims he has captured the Devil himself.  Old: 1978 audio interview with Heyes and sponsor billboards. New: interview with H.M. Wynant (13 minutes, SD), commentary by Gerani, and radio drama starring Fred Willard.

The Eye of the Beholder: Janet’s (Maxine Stuart/Donna Douglas) hideous face has made her an outcast all her life. As she awaits the results of her last chance surgery, she ponders the consequence of failure – to be banished to a village of freaks.  Old: commentary by Donna Douglas, audio interview with Maxine Stuart and Heyes (1978), isolated score by Bernard Herrmann, alternate end titles, rare color photos, and sponsor billboards.

New: commentary by writer/producer Joseph Dougherty and Zicree, commentary by authors/music historians Steven C. Smith and Jon Burlingame, and commentary by Gerani. 

Nick of Time: A superstitious newlywed (William Shatner) becomes obsessed with a penny fortune telling machine, but are his pennies determining his fortune or determining it?  Old: sponsor billboard. New: commentary by writer/producer Matthew Weiner and Zicree and radio drama starring Marshall Allman and Jamie Brown Allman. 

Disc two: The Lateness of the Hour: Dr. Loren (John Hoyt) enjoys the faultless robot services he has invented. His daughter (Inger Stevens) feels imprisoned by them and soon learns how right she is.  Old: original production slate, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Jane Seymour and James Keach.

The Trouble with Templeton: Booth Templeton (Brian Aherne) is an aging actor who longs for the old days when his wife was alive. Miraculously, he is given a sobering past of the past he holds dear. Old: Zicree interview with Buzz Kulik (1978). New: isolated score by Jeff Alexander, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Michael York.

A Most Unusual Camera: Two thieves (Fred Clark and Jean Carson) discover a camera they have stolen takes pictures of the future, but not every photo develops as they expect.  New: isolated score and sponsor billboards.

The Night of the Meek: A forlorn department store Santa (Art Carney) takes to drinking and gets fired.  What he finds in an alley has him finding the Christmas spirit. Old: original production slate and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by Wein and Zicree, commentary by Gerani, and radio drama starring Chris McDonald.

Dust: An unscrupulous peddler (Thomas Gomez) sells a bag of magic dust to the distraught father (Vladimir Sokoloff) of a man about to be hanged claiming that it will spread goodwill to stop the hanging.  Old: Zicree interview with Heyes (1978), isolated score by Jerry Goldsmith, and sponsor billboards.

Back There: Peter Corrigan (Russell Johnson) travels back in time to the time of President Lincoln’s assassination, but can he actually change history?  Old: isolated score by Goldsmith and sponsor billboards. New: radio drama starring Jim Caviezel.

The Whole Truth: Dishonest used car salesman Harvey Hunnicutt (Jack Carson) buys an old Model A, but the spirit of the former owner causes the current owner to only tell the truth.  This is a problem for Harvey’s business unless he finds a sucker to take the car off his hands.  Old: original production slate. New: radio drama starring Henry Rollins.

Disc three: The Invaders: A flying saucer lands on the roof of an insolated house occupied by an impoverished woman (Agnes Moorehead) who soon becomes panic stricken as the invaders stalk her. 

Old: Zicree interview with Heyes (1978), isolated score by Goldsmith, and sponsor billboards. New: commentary by writer/director Michael Nankin and Zicree, commentary by Gerani, commentary by Gerani and Burlingame. 

A Penny for your Thoughts: The lucky flip of a coin gives a mild mannered bank clerk (Dick York) the power to read minds. Old: Zicree interview with writer George Clayton Johnson (1978) and isolated score. New: commentary by Johnson and Zicree. 

Twenty-Two: Liz Powell (Barbara Nichols) is terrified by a recurring nightmare involving the number 22. Her doctor (Jonathan Harris) reassures her that its is just a bad dream, but Liz is soon to learn differently.  Old: isolated score and production slate. New: sponsor billboard.

The Odyssey of Flight 33: Flight 33 picks up a peculiar tailwind and is blown off course… by a million years. Old: Zicree interview with Robert Serling (1978), Rod’s brother, isolated score, and radio drama starring Daniel J. Travanti. New: commentary by Gerani and sponsor billboard.

Mr. Dingle, the Strong: A timid salesman (Burgess Meredith) is given superpowers by a Martian experimenter that he uses to gain publicity.  Old: commentary by Don Rickles and isolated score. New: commentary by Grams, Jr.

Static: Life seems to have passed by a grouchy old man (Dean Jagger), but everything changes when an antique radio starts broadcasting programs from his youth that only he can hear.  Old: Zicree interview with Kulik (1978), isolated score, sponsor billboards, and production slates. New: radio drama starring Stan Freberg.

The Prime Mover: Ace (Dane Clark) discovers that his partner Jimbo (Buddy Ebsen) has telekinetic powers and takes him to Vegas to score big, but can the good luck continue? Old: isolated score and sponsor billboard. New: commentary by Johnson and Zicree and commentary by Grams, Jr.

Long Distance Call: Billy (Bill Mumy) was given a toy telephone by his grandma before she died.  Now that she’s gone he starts to talk to her over the phone and tries to join her.  Old: commentary by Mumy and writer William Idelson and production slate. 

Disc four: A Hundred Yards over the Rim: In 1847 a western settler (Cliff Robertson) sets out to find medicine for his dying son only to stumble into 1961.  Old: commentary by Robertson, Zicree interview with Kulik (1978), sponsor billboard, and radio drama starring Jim Caviezel. New: commentary by Skelton and Benson and isolated score by Fred Steiner.  

The Rip Van Winkle Caper: Four thieves (Oscar Beregi, Jr., Simon Oakland, Lew Gallo, and John Mitchum) steal a shipment of gold bars.  They think they’ll commit the perfect crime by suspending themselves 100 years in hibernation, but crime doesn’t pay.  Old: isolated score and sponsor billboard. New: commentary by Skelton and Benson. 

The Silence: Col. Taylor (Franchot Tone) tires of Jamie’s (Liam Sullivan) incessant jabber and bets him a large sum of money that he can’t keep quiet for an entire year.  That’s a bet that Jamie can’t resist.  Old: sponsor billboard. New: commentary by Zicree and writer Marv Wolfman and radio drama starring Chris McDonald.

Shadow Play: Trapped in a recurring nightmare, a man (Dennis Weaver) tries to persuade those who are sentencing him to death that the whole scenario isn’t real, but will they ever listen? Old: commentary by Weaver, isolated score, and sponsor billboard.

The Mind and the Matter: A book on the power of thought enabled an irritable worker (Shelley Berman) to recreate the world exactly as he wants it, but be careful what you ask for.  Old: commentary by Berman, isolated score, and sponsor billboards.

Will the real Martian please Stand Up?:  State troopers find a crashed spaceship and follow the tracks of the occupant back to a diner, but which passenger awaiting the bus is the Martian? Old: isolated score, sponsor billboards, radio drama starring Richard Kind. New: commentary by Zicree and a commentary by Gerani.

The Obsolete Man: In a future where religion and books are banned, a librarian (Burgess Meredith) is judged obsolete by the Chancellor (Fritz Weaver) and sentenced to death.  Old: isolated score, sponsor billboards, and radio drama starring Jason Alexander. New: commentary by Weiner and Zicree. 

Disc four also contains the Suspense episode “Nightmare at Ground Zero” (29 minutes, SD) writing by Serling, part 2 of the Zicree audio interview with cinematographer George T. Clemens (25 minutes), and a 1978 audio interview with makeup artist William Tuttle (60 minutes). 

Missing from the set is Serling’s script of Twenty-two with Rod’s notes, a Mike Wallace interview, a clip from Tell it to Groucho that featured Serling, a Jack Benny clip, stills, and a comic.  However, that stuff may pop up later but I wondered if copyright issues prevented them from appearing. 

Image Entertainment continues their fine record with the second season of the Twilight Zone.  Fans and non-fans can certainly buy with confidence.  Those episodes that look awful have always looked that way, so don’t worry about that.  Copious amounts of special features only sweeten the deal.  Highly recommended. 

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