Shadow and Substance

Last night, while watching my friend's newly acquired copy of the second season of the Simpsons (highly recommended!) he confided in me that he had never seen an episode of the Twilight Zone. This surprised me. My primary social circle has at some point in their lives given themselves up to the neon claws of television addiction. This is why I can watch something, say a random episode from the second season of the Simpsons which I have not seen in ten years, and recite the dialogue – pauses and grumbles intact – as if I have been diligently studying the script for a soon-coming performance.

Original Pilot Intro

I watched a lot of the Twilight Zone as a kid and teenager. Most of it took place in the form of New Year's Eve marathons, which was the only way I could catch it before we got cable. When I was in high school, the SciFi Channel put it on somewhere around the prime time hours and, having discovered the dark secret to getting Bs without doing any homework, I ate it up every night.

Alternate Intro for Season 1 or 2

I can't say the show ever genuinely scared me. Only two supernatural things scared me as a kid and I guess I was fortunate in that neither the gremlins from the movie Gremlins nor abductions by Greys featured on the show. So I was good. Honestly, the only feeling I had toward it was honest-to-goodness delight and excitement. Every episode was creepy music, cheesy special effects and a genuinely well-written twist ending. I loved the twist endings the most. I guess I could probably see them coming these days, but as a nine-year-old every single one was a chilling surprise: “It's a cookbook?!” “Oh no! His glasses!” “Holy god giant jack-in-the-box!” &c &c.

So, if you have never seen it, go on YouTube and watch some Twilight Zone. escodavi has a few episodes in great quality.

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