3x08 "You Can't Blurry Love"

Is this a podcast about a television series, or a podcast ABOUT a podcast about a television series? Craig takes a deep dive into “Blurryman,” the extremely meta season finale of the 2019 Twilight Zone reboot, then takes a shocking left turn partway through that threatens to change podcasting as we know it forever. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration. Let’s just say this episode is not to be missed.

“Neither Here Nor There (‘Really? Another Revision?’ Revision)” by Twin Loops

"Twilight Zone 2019 (End Title Theme)" composed by Marius Constant, performed by Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts

“Halloween (Main Theme)” composed and performed by John Carpenter, from Halloween: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (copyright 1983 by Varèse Sarabande Records)

Miscellaneous cues from Hangover Square composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann, from Hangover Square: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (copyright 1945 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

“The Sleeper Car” performed by Thievery Corporation, from the EP .38.45 (A Thievery Number) (copyright 1998 by ESL Music)

The Twilight Zone is a trademark of CBS, Inc.

Between Light and Shadow: A Twilight Zone Podcast is a nonprofit podcast. Music clips and dialogue excerpts used herein are the property of their respective copyright owners; we claim no ownership of these materials. Their use is strictly for illustrative purposes and should be considered Fair Use as stated in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. section 107.

TZ Promo: “The Jungle” (12/01/1961)

Season 3, Episode 12 (#77 overall)

Cayuga Production # 4806

“We’ve done nothing wrong. We have nothing to fear, least of all from a bunch of witch doctors five thousand miles away.”

Alan Richards has just returned from Africa, where he is the head engineer on a proposed hydroelectric dam. The project is controversial because the native population, specifically a group of witch doctors, objects to the “wounding of the land” and has placed curses on everyone involved with the project. Richards, being a modern man with modern sensibilities, is unfazed. He discovers a small cache of protective talismans (a severed finger among them) in his superstitious wife’s possession and promptly destroys them. He has sealed both their fates, she believes. He discovers a dead goat outside their door. His long, dark night of the soul begins.

“The Jungle,” written by Charles Beaumont and directed by William Claxton, is an effective exercise in suspense, reminiscent of Jane Randolph’s dread-filled nighttime walk in 1942’s Cat People. Richards finds himself all alone in the city at night, seemingly pursued by --- well, what, exactly? We hear various jungle and animal sounds emanating from various sources (a telephone receiver, a lion statue, tress and bushes), but it’s never really clear if something is actually pursuing him or if he’s just losing his grip on reality. Despite the relative vagueness of the threat, there’s still much suspense to be found, and a few great surprises (the Zulu warrior mannequin in a storefront window is an inspired touch). It’s only at the end of the episode that the curse is proven all too real in an undeniably concrete fashion.

Dehner was last seen in season one’s “The Lonely” as Allenby, rocket pilot and friend to inmate James Corry, and he’ll return to The Twilight Zone in season five’s “Mr. Garrity and the Graves.” Here he’s urbane and sophisticated, befitting the role, and it’s fun to watch his civilized bravado unravel as the voodoo curse (or rather, the fear of it) overtakes him. A solid performance.

Dehner’s friend Chad Cooper is played by Walter Brooke (a prolific TV actor who seems to have appeared in almost every series produced in the 60’s and 70’s; seriously, check out his credits at imdb.com), who is probably best remembered for his immortal “Plastics” line in 1967’s The Graduate. I know him from TV’s The Incredible Hulk, where he had a recurring role as Mark Roberts, roving reporter (and Hulk-obsessed) Jack McGee’s boss. Burke will reappear in season five’s “A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain.”

LITERARY UNDERPINNINGS

Beaumont adapted “The Jungle” from his 1954 short story of the same name. It appeared in 1958's Yonder, a collection of Beaumont short stories, which contains two other Beaumont stories that would become TZ episodes: "The Man Who Made Himself" (season four's "In His Image") and "The Beautiful People" (season five's "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You").

SPFX REDUX

When Richards throws his wife’s talismans into the fireplace, there’s a quick eruption of sparkles and a popping sound, augmented with a musical sting (“Shock Chord VIII-44-C” by Lucien Moraweck). This identical effect, sting and all, was first employed in season one’s “A World of His Own” when Gregory West unmakes his characters-come-to-life by burning the Dictaphone tape he “created” them on.

Poof!

I griped last week about the simplistic plot of “Still Valley,” and it occurs to me that the plot of “The Jungle” is really no more complex. It works, however, as a sustained suspense piece; plus, that payoff at the end just plain rocks (I swear I ain’t lion. Ha, see what I did there?). “The Jungle,” while not a favorite, is absolutely worthwhile.

In two weeks: The Twilight Zone drags me kicking and screaming into the world of vintage silent comedy. Ugh.

Repeat Report: Summer 1961, Part 2

The Twilight Zone's repeat schedule for summer 1961 (post-season 2) was 14 weeks in length, and was composed entirely of repeats from the show's first season. We covered the first half here, and we'll cover the second half here. It appears I missed two fairly obvious Forbidden Planet connections in my initial episode promos, so I'll spotlight 'em here. Oh, and make sure to click on the images to see the full-size HD beauty, thanks to Image Entertainment's stunning blu-ray release.

07/28/1961
"Elegy"
(originally broadcast 02/19/1960)

Forbidden Planet alert! Check out the mega-cool "Pac Man" lights, which were originally part of the film's ancient Krell laboratory... we also saw them previously in "People Are Alike All Over," and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they pop up again in the series' run.

08/04/1961

"Mirror Image"
(originally broadcast 02/26/1960)

Damn you, Vera Miles! I'm still waiting for my autographed 8x10...

08/11/1961

"One for the Angels"
(originally broadcast 10/09/1959)

Forbidden Planet alert! There's Robby the Robot, in wind-up toy form, making his first of three Twilight Zone appearances. Note the rather TZesque eyeball sticker on his dome.

08/18/1961

"The Big Tall Wish"
(originally broadcast 04/08/1960)


08/25/1961
"The Chaser"
(originally broadcast 05/13/1960)

09/01/1961

"Nightmare as a Child"
(originally broadcast 04/29/1960)

09/08/1961

"A World of His Own"
(originally broadcast 07/01/1960)

What can I say? I'm kind of a big deal.

Season 3 commences on 9/15 with a haunting tale of a chance encounter between mortal enemies. We'll witness firsthand that the line between love and hate is quite thin indeed. It's "Two" good to miss.

TZ Promo: "A World of His Own" (7/01/1960)

The Twilight Zone ended its historic first season 50 years ago tonight with “A World of His Own,” a comedic tale in which the creative power of the writer is taken to supernatural extremes. The writer (here a playwright) in question uses a Dictaphone to record his ideas; those ideas, in turn, magically come to life. We never learn if the Dictaphone itself is enchanted, or if the writer himself has extraordinary powers (like little Anthony Fremont of season 3’s “It’s a Good Life”), but either way… well, the whole affair is a writer’s wet dream. Serling himself was famous for writing his scripts verbally using a Dictaphone; it’s a bit surprising, therefore, that this episode WASN’T written by him.


The Twilight Zone’s attempts at comedy are usually failures (“Mr. Bevis,” which we looked at a few weeks ago, is the most glaring example, but there others: “A Most Unusual Camera,” “Cavender is Coming,” and “Once Upon a Time” are all terminally unfunny). Happily, “A World of His Own” manages to beat the odds, likely due to a sharp and clever script by Richard Matheson. Matheson’s original short story, it should be noted, wasn’t a comedy at all: his seminal tale focused on the horror of the writer’s unique talent, not the comic potential. I think the tonal shift was a good idea in this case…. otherwise, we wouldn’t have that delicious ending, which provides us with Serling’s first on-screen appearance and a delightful breaking of the fourth wall as Serling interacts --- for the first and only time in the series --- directly with the characters.


The cast is flawless. Keenan Wynn (son of Ed Wynn, seen previously in “One for the Angels”) is the perfect anchor for the increasingly chaotic proceedings. His Gregory West, “one of America’s most noted playwrights,” is calm and collected, always in control, a veritable master of his own universe, an untouchable playboy with real power on his side. Phyllis Kirk shines as his high-maintenance rich-bitch wife. Mary La Roche, who will appear later in the series in “Living Doll,” essentially plays it straight as West’s secret (well, until about thirty seconds into the episode) lover, soft and feminine, the ideal alternative for the unhappy husband.


And then there’s the elephant. What can I say? It’s a real big-as-life elephant, right there in the goddamned house. It's not an optical effect.


“A World of His Own” is a nice capper on a stunning season, and its final scene suggests an enhanced self-awareness that was certainly ahead of its time in 1960. It still snaps and buzzes, 50 years later.





Next: 12 weeks of summer reruns, then season 2 starts. Wow, imagine only having to wait 3 months before your favorite show started up again. A season these days is usually 16 episodes, tops. The times, they sure have a-changed. My plan is to watch the repeats as they occur, but I probably won’t post entries about each one. Well, maybe I will. Damn it, I dunno. I guess I can decide as I go. I am, after all, the one holding the Dictaphone when it comes to this blog.