A Fine Disc of ZONE Classics and Rarities

Volume 43 in the series of TWILIGHT ZONE DVDs presents two classic episodes and two relative rarities from the series. The first classic is the pilot episode, "Where Is Everybody?" This thirty-minute near-monodrama stars Earl Holliman as a man who inexplicably finds himself in a deserted town. Who the man is and how he came to be in the town appropriately remains a mystery until the episode's final scene. "The Eye of the Beholder," a classic from the ZONE's second season, was quite controversial when first shown. It is the story of a woman, Janet Tyler, who was born with a "deformed" face and is undergoing plastic surgery to make her face look "normal." The episode takes place in a dimly lit hospital, and Janet's face, as well as the faces of the doctors and nurses attending her, is not seen until the episode's last moments - which are some of the most shocking and thrilling in ZONE history.
Both of the classic episodes were written by Rod Serling, as was "A Thing about Machines," a timely (if somewhat silly) story about a man (Richard Hayden) who comes to a bad end due to his fear of technology. Richard Matheson's "A World of His Own," one of the ZONE's few comedies, is a delightful gem starring Keenan Wynn as Gregory West, a mild-mannered playwright who brings his characters to life by describing them into a Dictaphone. In the end, the playwright is granted well-deserved happiness with one of his creations.
The reason I give this generally fine disc four stars only is this: I feel that the presentation of "Where Is Everybody?" is marred by its introductory and ending narrations, which are given by an announcer who is not Serling. Every ZONE fan knows and loves Serling's spoken narrations for the episodes: his famous opening ones ("There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man..."; "You're traveling through another dimension..."; "You unlock this door with the key of imagination...") and his creative closing ones ("Where Is Everybody"'s begins, "Up there, up there in the vastness of space"). The narrations are not the same without Serling's voice - its sound and its memorable, clipped delivery. There were, in fact, two versions of "Where Is Everybody?" It is the first version, which was shown only to the series' prospective sponsors, that is presented here. The man who read the narrations originally was...well, just not Serling. This version also has dialogue in the first scene that was edited for the better-known second version - the one seen by the general viewing public. It is debatable which version of the script is better. But if you want to hear Serling speak his own narrations, I would suggest buying - or at least viewing - the second version of the pilot, available on the DVD "Treasures from THE TWILIGHT ZONE."

"Eye of the Beholder" and "World" are Classics!

This DVD has 2 Excellent episodes.I love "The Eye Of The Beholder" and "A World Of His Own".The other 2 kind of bored me(Yea I know,"Where Is EveryBody?" was the First Episode,and many like it),but it is frankly just Earl Holliman running around talking and whining to himself for 25 min,It is B-O-R-I-N-G.Being the First episode,you'd think they would have CHECKED the continuity when the camera shows Holliman tapping the glass gauge and cracking it in the close ups.Then when the camera pans away,the cracks are magically gone.The fourth episode,"A Thing About Machines",is a snoozerama.Fortunately,The 2 Middle Episodes,"Eye" and "World",make this a Great DVD to own.

Wish they were in order

Got all 43 DVDs (45 if you include the 2 "Treasures"). They are great and ALL 156 episodes are represented. The last reviewer somehow miscounted and thought two were missing. They are not missing. The "Passersby" is on DVD #6 while "Come Wander With Me" is on #41. Its terrific to finally have this great series on DVD, I just wish they appeared in order of release.