A wise person once said: ‘ Only three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and the fact that every couple of decades, a revival of The Twilight Zone will inevitably spring up’. While, of course, that’s not a direct quote from anyone I know, please consider the possibility entailed by that phrase. The one thing greater than our fascination with logic and reason is our fascination for that which defies logic – there will always be a market for mystery and the extraordinary. And while these days we have a more 21st century version of The Twilight Zone – it goes by the name of Black Mirror – revisiting an old classic will never cease to be a bad idea. Thus, let’s take a look at the four iterations of the famous TV show.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
The original, and in my eyes, the very best. Created by the great mind of Rod Serling, the original series spanned over five years, and boggled many minds in an era defined by strange sightings and mass hysteria – UFOs and government conspiracies just to mention a few. If you Google ‘The Twilight Zone best episodes’, most of the entries will be from here.
The Twilight Zone (1985-1989)
The second coming of the Twilight Zone made its way to television after Rod Serling’s death, and more than 25 years after the first series premiered. I must admit that I somehow skipped this one – all three seasons of it. Taking a look at episode ratings, it seems to have fared quite fell in the first season, but then sort of ran out of steam in the third one – also, wow, a 30 episode season, those were the days!
The Twilight Zone (2002-2003)
I very vividly remember watching this one, and being fascinated whenever I heard Forest Whitaker’s voice as the narrator of each and every one of the 44 episodes. As for quality – I remember absolutely loving some of these (for me, nothing will top Night Route), and being less enthusiastic about others. I guess getting a few wrong in a package of 44 is much likelier than the same happening in a pack of 3, right, Black Mirror?
The Twilight Zone (2019-present)
And finally, we’re back to the present. I can’t say much, except that Jordan Peele, the director of Get Out and Us, will take over from Mr Whitaker as the narrator. Also, it’s 2019, so if you expected a lot of episodes, you’ll be sorely disappointed – 10 is the magic number this time around, at least for the first season. Here’s hoping we’ll get some good quality mysteries on our hands in a couple of days – the first two episodes will be released on the 1st of April. No joke, I promise.
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