MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > What was the best comedy episode?

What was the best comedy episode?


Comedy was not TZ's forte but of all the attempts at humor I'd say "A Penny For Your Thoughts" was the most memorable one.

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I like "Once Upon a Time", largely for Buster Keaton's performance.

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For a show that so often bungled its comedy it was nice to have someone on who actually was a master at garnering laughs.

I hope people who catch Mr. Keaton in TZ will seek out some of his earlier fare since it still manages to entertain and amuse nearly one hundred years later.

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I like A Kind Of Stopwatch.

Badly written and edited as it is Mr. Dingle The Strong plays well for what it is.

Here's a favorite that almost no one else likes: The Whole Truth. More specifically, the one about Jack Carson buying a haunted car.

Showdown With Rance McGrew isn't a favorite but if it's on I can watch it with moderate amusement.

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What makes "A Kind of Stopwatch" worthwhile in my eyes is its ending, which is reminiscent of "Time Enough at Last"'s, except possibly even more upsetting and unexpected.

As for "Mr. Dingle" I do like Serling's line in his intro about the bartender's propensity for watering "his drinks like geraniums."


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Yeah. The geraniums watering line is funny. There's actually some decent writing in this one when Dingle is in genius mode. The one on one "real world" stuff isn't credible, with all the put downs and strident bullying. It feels overdone.

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I like "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank." Great episode! I love how the townsfolk reacts to Jeff raising from the dead and their theories as to what happened and why he was acting so weird. So funny. Most of the comedy episodes are among my least favorite but this one works.

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While this episode was submitted for one's amusement it does have some dark undercurrents. Just who exactly is Myrtlebank after being dead for forty eight hours? And if there's something as sinister afoot as the episode's conclusion suggests one has to wonder where that left the townsfolk. Were they in as precarious a position as the denizens of Peaksville.? Did they get sent to Myrtlebank's equivalent of Anthony's Cornfield when they ran afoul of him? Or was Myrtlebank's warning at episode's end of what he could possibly unleash on them should they get on his bad side enough to keep them in line? Subsequently, once word got around of the kind of man Myrtlebank was and people started showing him a deference reserved primarily for kings is it any wonder Myrtlebank one day sired a U.S. Senator?

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"the bard" as for tv episodes, as for twilight zone radio versions i have an extended list of favorites, "a short drink from a certain fountain", "showdown with rance mcgraw", "a thing about machines", "from agnes with love", "four o'clock", "a piano in the house" (which amazingly has a well known line from austin powers repeated as micheal york from that stars), "who am i", most all of bruno kirby's radio appearances, also often on screen angry man playing mike starr shows a real comedic and variety of sides on the radio dramas, i'm pretty confident on that he's the most re occurring actor in twilight zone radio dramas having both leading parts as well as being part of the co cast in other episodes. there might be more tv episodes than "the bard" that i would find funny, but i don't recall them too well since i mostly listen to the radio adaptations, but as it has already been brought up earlier on this board how comedy often doesn't age well, in fact i think it was brought up by you, angularturnip, so let me tell you the modern radio adaptations of these are really appreciated.



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dull in cave only stars are out,
at night like a meteor hit my ground,
in a fashionable dress dropped out of the sky,
to my den of stone in prehistoric times,
your cleavage around the rocks bounced,
on back of brontosaurus rode to crash sight,
travelled on meteorite to your space and time.

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