Following Some Tough Acts

"The Twilight Zone" was always my favorite TV show. In its' 30 minute time slot were some of the best drama, spine-tingling suspense, and morality plays ever seen on television. It is always exciting to find an episode or two that I missed in my youth and there are some in "Collection Three". However, I came away with a sense that this collection is a bit weighted down with many lesser episodes. There's no need to list all those although the one hour episode "He's Alive" is about as good an example as any of what I refer to as "lesser". First of all, this selection was stretched too far for the hour-long format. Secondly, the ending was no surprize to most people. Thirdly, the efforts at irony fell far too short of the mark. The one redeeming feature was Rod Serling's closing comments. I hate to say it (since it sounds sacrilegious) but I was actually bored during "He's Alive".

Now to the good stuff; "A Most Unusual Camera" is a memorable look at how greed can ruin even a "sure thing". "Elegy" reminds our space program to know where you're going. "Mirror Image" explores the possibility of meeting your double. "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" stars Ed Wynn as a man who thinks he knows his fate and prepares to meet it. "A World of Difference" asks what we would do if we suddenly discovered everything around us was merely part of a script. "Ring a Ding Girl" tells us you CAN go home again (and just in time)! "From Agnes With Love" stars Wally Cox and shows us how true love finds him.

My favorite two episodes in the collections are "The Thirty Fathom Grave" and "Night Call". "The Thirty Fathom Grave" is an hour-long episode that fills the whole time with an intriguing mystery that gave me goose bumps at the end even though I had seen it years before and knew how it would end. I experienced the same goose bumps watching "Night Call" about an elderly invalid who starts getting mysterious phone calls one dark and stormy night. Those two episodes and the others mentioned gave me a lot of entertainment. However, I think that the folks that put out these collections could have done a better balancing act. I kept thinking that I'd seen about all of the best episodes after the first two collections. Collection Three made me wonder if I wasn't right. Oh well, time to take a peak at "The Twilight Zone-Collection Four".

Wait to order until after June 28th 2005

After The Twilight Zone Season 3 The Definitive Edition is released (6/28/05)on 6 disks (takes less shelf space)with some bonus features that this does not have, the price for the Collection will fall to the floor. I'll wait until it hits the Lower $40's to Upper $30's prior to ordering. Check the price then and remember to check the New/Used prices as they will probably fall before Amazon's does.

As excellent as the other Twilight Zone collections

The streak of brilliance that turned depictions of the paranormal to explain man to himself into a true American classic is as evident in this collection as in the others. The excellent DVD reproductions enhance the pleasure of watching it. TZ is uncanny in many ways, including in its ability to focus one minute on the distinctive bond between man and dog, and the next on the danger, ever present then as now, of nuclear annihilation. Seriously consider this item as a gift for those who "have everything" or are hard to buy for. If you like, see also my further comments on TZ collection 1 as they apply here, too.