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Ahh yes the 80s revival of The Twilight Zone. I had seen some of the original Twilight Zone episodes but this mid 80s revival was my first good exposure to the series. I watched it every week when it was airing on CBS. Sadly when the show entered syndication for it's third and final season no channel I got carried it. So until MeTV picked it up I hadn't seen any from that final season.
Out of those first 2 seasons there is 3 episodes that stand out for me. The first is based on a Stephen King short story.Titled Gramma and it was part of the first season. During season 1 each episode was 1 hour long. So you would get 2 or 3 stories an episode. Gramma was part of the 18th episode of season 1.It first aired on Valentine's Day 1986. The screenplay was written by the late great Harlan Ellison. Which is a shock since Ellison had already had some very bad experiences working on TV shows. A young boy is left at home alone to take care of his senile gramma. Of course there is something we wouldn't expect with Gramma and the ending of this episode has the classic O'Henry style twist that Twilight Zone is well known for.
The next episode that stands out is titled Profile in Silver. This episode aired in March of 86 as the first half of the 20th episode.It has a history professor who goes back in time to witness the assassination of JFK. JFK's death is prevented. And we see how JFK living causes the future to be horrible.
The third episode is the second part of episode 20. Titled Button Button and based on a Richard Matheson short story with Matheson doing the screen play.Mare Winningham and Brad Davis are a married couple. Who are always having money problems. Then one day a box is delivered to them. It is a plain simple wooden box with a button on the top. The next day a strange man comes and explains to them that if they press the button 2 things will happen. They will be given 200,000 bucks. Plus someone they don't know will die. With money being tight the couple debates over pushing the button. And finally the wife presses it. The next day the strange man returns. Gives them the 200,000. And tells them "Now I will give the box to someone you don't know." Implying that if the next people that get the box press the button Mare and/or Brad will die. If this sounds a familiar that is cause in 2009 Richard Kelly,best known for Donnie Darko,released a movie based on the same short story. This movie is titled The Box.
Now sure this 80s revival of Twilight Zone gets shit on. And it has more crap episodes than the original series did. It might be because I saw this show as a kid and nostalgia is clouding my judgment.It might also be that I have seen every episode of the original run of Twilight Zone many many times. Anyways I love the 80s Twilight Zone. And think the best episodes from it stack up to the best episodes of the original run.
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Ok that's enough rambling from me. If you are interested in seeing this somewhat forgotten show it airs on MeTV Monday through Friday at 11:30pm central. Plus all three seasons have been released on DVD.
Twilight Zone(80s revival) gets a B-.
