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“Why that'll ruin half the crops! You know that, don't you? Half the crops! That's what that... But it's good that you're making it snow, Anthony, it's real good.”
“There’s someone on the wing!”
“It’s … it’s a cookbook!!”
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas.
The greatest anthology series ever produced, the 1959-1964 Rod Serling/Richard Matheson/Earl Hamner "Twilight Zone" season sets, when purchased separately, carry elephantine price tags. Here's how they retail on amazon.com as I type this:
$103.99 The Complete First Season
$89.99 The Complete Second Season
$89.99 The Complete Third Season
$89.99 The Complete Fourth Season
$89.99 The Complete Fifth Season
But they're kinda worth those big dollars, and here's why: These sets are so loaded with commentaries and other extras, they're fun even for the many "Zone" fans who have seen every episode 11 times.
You can find our staggeringly lengthy insanely long rundown of of the season-five set here, but below are just the season-five extras.
Video Extras.
... The highlight of the season-five extras is the superb "Rod Serling: Submitted For Your Approval" (1:26:17), an exceedingly well-reseached 1995 "American Masters" profile that puts Serling's most famous brainchild into a wider career context.
... Learn that Serling was forever traumatized by his wartime experiences as a teen paratrooper, and carried an obsession with death that stemmed also in part from the fact that the men in his family were not long-lived. Learn that Serling endured years of struggle and rejection. Learn that NBC's Kraft Television Theatre mounted a 1955 production of Serling's corporate drama "Patterns" that the New York Times hailed as "one of the high points in the TV medium's evolution."
... Learn that "Zone" emerged out of frustration with the censorious attitudes of network sponsors; Serling discovered that he could make his points on television most effectively when he cloaked them in the fantastic. Learn that Serling's immediate TV followup to "Zone" was not "Night Gallery," but rather 1965's "The Loner," a "thinking man's Western" starring Lloyd Bridges that lasted 26 episodes.
... Learn that though Serling authored perhaps 30 of the 99 teleplays for "Night Gallery," he was frustrated with his lack of control over the project, and said his primary function on that show was "host."
... Highlights From the Museum of Television and Radio (11:24) features a panel with, among others, writers Richard Matheson, Earl Hamner Jr. and George Clayton Johnson, actors Cliff Robertson, Earl Holliman, Billy Mumy and Martin Landau, and widow Carol Serling.
... Conversations With Rod Serling Part One (8:08), attached to "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," is b&w video depicting Serling conversing with six Ithaca College hippies, one of whom appears to firing up a doobie. All are gathered around a coffee table and all wear huge microphones around their necks. Part one deals with the only "Twilight Zone" to win an Oscar, fifth-season episode "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."
... Conversations With Rod Serling Part Two (13:24) is more b&w video depicting Serling conversing with six Ithica College hippies. Part two deals with Serling's hunger to be young again, and how that desire is at the root of so many of his stories. Serling discusses a story he's working on about man trying to readjust to the world after being cryogenically frozen for 18 years, and compares a Chekov story to a similarly themed "Zone" about a yappy guy who bets he can remain silent for a year.
... Alfred Hitchcock Promo (2:15) features the director in a "dead-letter office" touting what I take to be CBS' 1964-65 Friday-night line-up: "Great Adventure" at 8 p.m., "Route 66" at 9 p.m., "Twilight Zone" at 10 p.m. and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" at 10:30 p.m.
... George Clayton Johnson Home Movies (2:15) is perhaps the oddest of the extras, with occasional "Zone" writer Johnson signing some sort of contract as he describes his singularly unremarkable first meeting with Serling.
... Excerpts From Rod Serling's Sherwood Oaks Experimental College Lecture (12:27) is audio played over stills, and one of the most fascinating components of the DVD set. Serling praises the series "Lucas Tanner," which situates this lecture just months before Serling's death. Serling reveals he's working on a pitch for a "Rookies"-era Aaron Spelling (with whom Serling collaborated on the 1969 NBC series "The New People") about a mobster readjusting to the outside world after 40 years in prison. Serling also points out that scripts are often rejected for legitimate reasons that have nothing to do with talent, and that struggling writers should "never throw anything away."
... Season Five Billboards (3:43) are anachronistic network "bumpers" that explain that "'Twilight Zone' has been brought to you by ..." Sponsors featured in these include Pall Mall, Tareyton and Lucky Strikes cigarettes, Lilt hair product, Prell concentrated shampoo and Crest toothpaste.
... Season Five Photo Gallery (4:08) unfurls numerous b&w stills "from the Twilight Zone Museum."
... Video Interview With Bill Mumy (7:19), attached to "In Praise of Pip," has the "Lost in Space" actor discuss the three "Zones" he made as a child actor.
... Video Interview With Richard Matheson (9:23), attached to "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," sees the author/screenwriter reveal that he liked the series version of "20,000" better than George Miller's movie version, though he liked the look of the monster in the movie version better.
... Video Interview With Richard Matheson (3:22), attached to "Steel," sees the author/screenwriter reveal, among other things, that Lee Marvin prepared for his boxing-ring scenes by simulating crowd noises.
... Video Interview With June Foray (11:59), attached to "Living Doll," has the veteran voice actress reveal that she was hired to lend her voice to the malevolent Talking Tina because she had already contributed the voice to Tina's real-life inspiration, Chatty Cathy. "Living Doll," she says, inspired Churck Jones to cast her as Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
... Video Interview With Carolyn Kearney (10:21), attached to "Ninety Years Without Slumbering," has the actress discuss both her experience playing clock-happy Ed Wynn's granddaughter in "Slumbering," and her work on "Time Element," which served as "Twilight Zone's" pilot.
... Video Interview With George Clayton Johnson (19:21), attached to "Ninety Years Without Slumbering," has the writer discuss several of his "Zone" contributions.
... Video Interview With Earl Hamner Jr. (18:59), attached to "Ring-a-Ding Girl," has the writer discuss his 29-year history with Serling and some of the other "Zone" writers, which went all the way back to 1946.
... Video Interview With Earl Hamner Jr. (2:32), attached to "You Drive," has the writer discussing how reading about a hit-and-run accident inspired him to write the episode.
... Video Interview With Michael Forrest (8:06), attached to "Black Leather Jackets," has the actor reminiscing about, among other things, the motorcycle he rode in the episode.
... Video Interview With Richard Matheson (13:24), attached to "Spur of the Moment," has the author/screenwriter reveal, among many other things, that his 2000 novel "Hunger and Thirst" was actually completed in 1950, but sat in a drawer for 50 years because his agent deemed it "unpublishable." Matheson also reveals that he scripted a sequel to "The Incredible Shrinking Man" its producer dubbed "The Fantastic Little Girl," which followed the protagonist's wife as she, too, began to shrink. She and her husband apparently reunite in their basement, and the pair eventually return to their normal sizes once the shrinking stops.
... Video Interview With Terry Becker (5:43), attached to "I am the Night - Color Me Black," has the actor who played the doomed man talk about identifying with the pained character he plays.
... Video Interview With Nancy Malone and Earl Hamner Jr. (9:15), attached to "Stopover in a Quiet Town," has the lead actress remember her heels were uncomfortable and it was plenty hot on the MGM lot that week. Hamner reveals episode was inspired to a backlot visit. He imagined the ending, and simply built in incidences leading up to the ending's big reveal.
... Video Interview With Earl Hamner Jr. (5:57), attached to "The Bewitchin' Pool," has the writer reveal that the series' final episode was inspired by his argumentative California neighbors.
Secondary Audio.
... Optional audio commentaries adorn eight of the 36 season-5 episodes:
... * Billy Mumy on "In Praise of Pip"
... * Rod Serling on "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (via the Sherwood Oaks lecture)
... * Mickey Rooney on "The Last Night of a Jockey"
... * June Foray (and Rocket J. Squirrel!) on "Living Doll"
... * Mariette Hartley on "The Long Morrow"
... * Author Marc Scott Zicree on "Number 12 Looks Just Like You."
... * "Laugh-In" regular Alan Sues on "The Masks"
... * Martin Landau on "The Jeopardy Room"
... Optional isolated scores adorn 10 of the season-5 episodes:
... * "In Praise of Pip" score by Rene Garriguenc
... * "Steel" score by Van Cleave
... * "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" score, composer uncredited
... * "A Kind of Stopwatch" score by Van Cleave
... * "Living Doll" score by Bernard Hermann
... * "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" score by Bernard Hermann
... * "Spur of the Moment" score by Rene Garriguenc
... * "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" score by Henri Lanoe
... * "Come Wander With Me" score by Jeff Alexander
... * "The Bewitchin' Pool" score, composer uncredited
... Radio-drama remakes adorn six of the season-5 episodes:
... * "A Kind of Stopwatch" starring Lou Diamond Phillips
... * "Living Doll" starring Tim Kazurinsky
... * "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms" starring Richard Grieco
... * "The Long Morrow" starring Kathy Garver
... * "Sounds and Silences" starring Richard Kind
... * "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" starring Chris MacDonald
Again, those are only the extras for season five. These do not include the presumably similarly huge number of extras on the sets for seasons one through four.
Still. We're not all Rockefellers. As good as "Twilight Zone" is, and as good as these "Twilight Zone" sets are, $460 for the series is not the kind of money everybody has lying around.
So here's the supercool news. Amazon put all five seasons in a series set for just $224.99!.
$224.99 for five seasons works out to less than $45 per season!
Even now, you can’t get these individual season-sets used for under $50!
Buy this set!
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Little House on the Prairie: The Movies
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Sesame Street: Old School 1969-1974
SNL: Best of Saturday TV Funhouse
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That's My Bush: The Complete Series
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Wings 3.x
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Baywatch Syndicated 2.x
CSI Miami 4.x
The Ghost Whisperer 1.x
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Clifford: Best Of Gift Set
Doctor Who: The Hand of Fear
Doctor Who: The Mark of Rani
Doctor Who 27.x Vol. 1
Doctor Who 27.x Vol. 2
Doctor Who 27.x Vol. 3
Doctor Who 27.x Vol. 4
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The Adventures of Superman: The Complete Series
The Adventures of the Gummi Bears 1.x-3.x
Black Books 2.x
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Columbo 6.x/7.x
CSI 6.x
DuckTales Vol. 2
The Family Guy 5.x
Friends: The Complete Series Collection
The Golden Girls 6.x
Gunsmoke: The Directors Collection
Home Improvement 5.x
Homicide: Life on the Street: The Complete Series
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Northern Exposure 5.x
Quantum Leap 5.x
Reba 4.x
Rescue Rangers Vol. 2
Six Feet Under: The Complete Series
That Girl 2.x
3rd Rock From The Sun 6.x
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Alias 5.x
Alias: The Complete Series
Boston Legal 2.x
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Angel 2.x ($27.99 slimset)
Angel 3.x ($27.99 slimset)
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Angel 5.x ($27.99 slimset)
Bones 1.x
Criminal Minds 1.x <--- NEW!!
Ellen 5.x
Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up 1.x
Joan of Arcadia 2.x
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Thundercats 2.x Vol. 2
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Animaniacs Vol. 1-2
The Dukes of Hazzard 7.x
Mission: Impossible 1.x
Pinky and the Brain Vol. 2
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Full House 5.x
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Hogan's Heroes 5.x
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Selected season-sets containing Herc’s all-time favorite TV!!
$19.99 ER 1.x (26 episodes)
$19.99 The Venture Bros. 1.x (13 Episodes)
$20.99 Moonlighting 1.x/2.x (25 episodes)
$21.57 The Bob Newhart Show 1.x (24 episodes)$21.57 The Mary Tyler Moore Show 1.x (24 episodes)
$21.77 The Tick: The Complete Series (9 Episodes)
$21.99 Soap 1.x (25 episodes)
$22.87 Friends 1.x (24 episodes)
$23.12 The Tick Versus 1.x (12 episodes)
$23.97 Curb Your Enthusiasm 1.x (10 episodes)
$24.99 Rocky & Bullwinkle 1.x (26 episodes)
$27.99 Angel 5.x (22 episodes)
$29.46 Columbo 1.x (nine TV-movies)
$29.77 Wonderfalls: The Complete Series (13 episodes)
$29.88 The Simpsons 2.x (22 episodes)
$29.97 Gilmore Girls 4.x (22 episodes)
$29.97 Veronica Mars 1.x (22 episodes)
$29.99 The Rockford Files 1.x (22 episodes)
$30.99 The Andy Griffith Show 5.x (32 episodes)
$31.95 Twin Peaks 1.x minus pilot (seven episodes)
$31.99 Newsradio 1.x/2.x (29 episodes)
$31.99 Cheers 1.x (23 episodes)
$31.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer 4.x (22 episodes)
$31.99 Taxi 1.x (22 episodes)
$31.99 Hill Street Blues 1.x (17 episodes)
$31.99 South Park 1.x (13 episodes)
$32.47 Seinfeld 3.x (23 episodes)
$32.99 Futurama Vol. 2 (19 episodes)
$33.99 Oz 1.x (eight episodes)
$34.97 The OC 1.x
$35.35 The Wild Wild West (28 episodes)
$35.95 Firefly: The Complete Series
$35.99 Kung Fu 2.x (23 episodes)
$36.99 Undeclared: The Complete Series (17 episodes)
$42.41 Fawlty Towers: The Complete Series (12 episodes)
$43.12 24 1.x (24 episodes)
$44.09 Battlestar Galactica 1.x (13 episodes plus 4-hour mini)
$44.88 Lost 1.x (24 episodes)
$44.99 Northern Exposure 3.x (23 episodes)
$44.99 The West Wing 1.x (22 episodes)
$45.99 Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series (18 episodes)
$47.84 The Sopranos 1.x (13 episodes)
$47.84 The Wire 1.x (13 episodes)
$49.99 Six Feet Under 1.x (13 episodes)
$51.99 Star Trek: The Next Generation 3.x (26 episodes)
$53.99 Murder One 1.x (23 episodes)
$53.99 Once and Again 1.x (22 episodes)
$53.99 SCTV Network 90 Vol. 1 (Nine 90-minute episodes)
$62.59 Deadwood 1.x (13 episodes)
$62.99 The Dick Van Dyke Show 1.x (31 episodes)
$62.99 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 3.x (26 episodes)
$68.47 Carnivale 1.x (12 episodes)
$69.98 Star Trek 2.x (26 episodes)
$71.34 The Larry Sanders Show 1.x (13 episodes)
$71.98 Wiseguy 1.x (24 episodes)
$99.95 Monty Python: The Complete Series (45 episodes)
$103.99 The Twilight Zone 1.x (36 episodes)
$125.99 The Prisoner: The Complete Series (17 episodes)
$224.95 My So-Called Life: The Complete Series (19 episodes)
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