Season One was the best season
Though 2 and 3 had their moments
shareI believe the workload was just too taxing on Serling.
He probably also lost (some) interest during the last 2 seasons.
Still one of the best TV series of all time... has a spot on my Top 10 for sure.
He scripted 28 of the 36 episodes from Season One! And while a few are wretched -- "Mr. Bevis," "The Might Casey," "The Fever" -- many more are pretty solid while a few are just timeless classics. Not very many writers of the television medium could pull off what Serling achieved in Season One.
He still wrote some stellar stuff in latter seasons but more and more frequently people like Richard Matheson and George Clayton Johnson, who were not as over-taxed on "TZ" as Serling, had to be depended on to pump out the greats.
I actually love "The Fever." I can't believe you would consider that one wretched. You're exactly right on the others you mentioned but not "The Fever."
shareI just can't tolerate Franklin's treatment of his wife. She should stand up for herself.
shareYes, I guess she should. Franklin is like many spouses in TZ that don't treat their wifes/husbands right. "Escape Clause", Time Enough at Last", A Stop at Willoughby" and "What's in the Box" come to mind but I'm sure there are others.
shareI always found "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" to have a painful husband/wife relationship. His wife was long suffering and very patient (forced to live with her mother-in-law as well!).
share"The Incredible World of Horace Ford" is just warped on so many levels! The only good thing about it is we get to see actress Ruth White without the aging makeup and whatnot she'd donned to portray Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose in "To Kill A Mockingbird."
shareDoug,
As always, you added some great trivia. A few years ago, during a lull in the TZ marathon (hey, I think it was during "The Invaders" when I had the sound turned off anyway), I made a list of all the actors who appeared in both the Twilight Zone and To Kill a Mockingbird." (Because, TZ was like the "Law and Order" of its day-- working character actors appeared on it.)
But I didn't have Ruth White on the list.
Here is the new updated list:
Mary Badham
William Windom
Robert Duvall
Frank Overton
Collin Wilcox
Ruth White
Paul Fix
Kim Hamilton
As best I recall, you now have all of the cross-over actors listed, Jennie. I wouldn't have made the Ruth White connection if not for an extra or two included on my Blu-ray set.
I think many television series were like that though - "Peter Gunn" for example. Gavin MacLeod appeared in the pilot episode, and later in the first season J. Pat O'Malley and Ellen Corby also appeared in different episodes. (Even though she was only in her late 40s, Ellen Corby is unmistakable in her role.)
Ellen Corby was one of those character actors who looked and acted "old" even when she was young. Sort of like Beulah Bondi, who was always cast as someone's mother, even when she was practically the same age as the actor who played her son/daughter.
shareIt's funny you should mention Beulah Bondi, Jennie, because she also had an occasional role in "The Waltons."
shareI love her. She is the star of one of my all-time favorite films: "Make Way for Tomorrow." It was a strange movie because it was populated entirely by character actors. I think it was the only starring role in her career. She was 48 and she played a woman of 70. Go figure.
share