Blu-Ray Review: Amazing Release of ‘The Twilight Zone: Season 1’

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CHICAGO – Enter the middle ground between light and shadow with the amazing Blu-ray release of the first season of one of the best television programs of all time — “The Twilight Zone”.

Packed with remarkable special features that are all perfectly shaped around a show that has lost absolutely none of its power despite the decades since its original airing and the myriad of programs that it inspired, “The Twilight Zone: Season 1” is the best TV-on-BD release of the year to date.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Blu-ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

My personal adoration for Rod Serling’s landmark creation is hard to overstate. There was a time when I always had an episode in my DVR from one of its cable airings just in case the mood struck me right or I stumbled upon an episode I actually hadn’t seen. The program helped shape the way I look at science fiction and I believe I could make the case that it’s the most influential in the history of television. One piece of evidence is how remarkably well the writing, acting, and every other element of “The Twilight Zone” has held up. Watch the very first episode on the new Blu-ray, the stunning tale of a man who wakes up in a world where he seems to be the only remaining resident called “Where Is Everybody?,” and try and tell me it couldn’t air on any network in 2010. And then try and think of another 1959 program for which you could say the same.

Devouring the episodes on the first season release of “The Twilight Zone” makes one thing clear that wasn’t necessarily before — this program was firing on all cylinders from the very beginning. Having experienced the show in reruns over the last several decades, it was hard to track which episodes came from which season and there have been many programs that took awhile to find their footing or develop their rhythm. Not this one.

The Twilight Zone: Season 1 was released on Blu-ray on September 14th, 2010
The Twilight Zone: Season 1 was released on Blu-ray on September 14th, 2010
Photo credit: Image Entertainment

The first season alone includes several gems like the remarkable pilot, “One For the Angels,” “The Lonely,” “Time Enough at Last,” “And When the Sky Was Opened,” “The Hitch-Hiker,” and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” “Time” and “Monsters” are easily two of the best “Twilight Zone” episodes of all time. Overall, the first season is probably not the best — there are a few more duds than future years — but the show was still knocking them out of the park on a much-more-consistent basis than most first-year programs.

And they were doing so with a cavalcade of current-and-future stars including Earl Holliman, Martin Landau, Ida Lupino, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Burgess Meredith, Rod Taylor, Roddy McDowall, and Jack Klugman. Each episode is presented in its standard 4:3 full frame format with an HD transfer that’s pitch-perfect for the show, allowing it to look great but not overly or incorrectly polished. Old films and shows sometimes look “wrong” in HD but “The Twilight Zone” just looks perfect.

And the special features will blow your mind. First, there’s a never-before-released unofficial pilot episode from 1958 called “The Time Element.” The episode played as a part of Desi Arnaz’s “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” and was narrated by Mr. Lucille Ball himself. The rarely-seen episode stars Martin Balsam and William Bendix and serves as a fascinating prologue to the series.

After that unearthed gem, clear your schedule for nineteen new audio commentaries featuring “The Twilight Zone Companion” author Marc Scott Zicree, author and film historian Gary Gerani, author and music historian Steven C. Smith, music historians John Morgan and William T. Stromberg, writer/producer David Simkins, writer Mark Fergus, actor William Reynolds, and director Ted Post.

The exclusive-to-Blu-ray material doesn’t end there. It also includes interviews with several of the “Twilight Zone” actors, a “Tales of Tomorrow” episode called “What You Need,” a vintage audio interview with director of photography George T. Clemens, 1977 syndication promos for “A Stop at Willoughby” and “The After Hours,” 18 radio dramas, and 34 isolated music scores.

Just the new special features would be enough to warrant a five-star rating for “The Twilight Zone: Season 1,” but Image has also included the special features previously available on the award-winning standard DVD sets including several more commentaries, vintage audio recollections, Rod Serling audio lectures, Rod Serling promos, the original unaired pilot version of “Where Is Everybody?,” and footage of the Emmy Award wins for the show.

Very few TV-on-Blu-ray sets can honestly be called overwhelming but “The Twilight Zone: Season 1” is breathtaking in its scope and dedication to fans of the show. It is the model that all beloved programs should follow. We can’t wait for “Season 2.”

‘The Twilight Zone: Season 1’ was released by Image Entertainment on September 14th, 2010. It is not rated and runs 930 minutes.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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