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Carrying on the TV theme from yesterday, I’ve decided to talk to you today about one of my favourite shows too. I don’t really watch a lot (if any) TV, because anything longer than half an hour makes me want to start poking my eyes out with spoons out of sheer boredom. However, there are a handful of shows that I’ll happily watch over and over again, and The Twilight Zone is one of them.

Everyone’s familiar with the Twilight Zone, right? After all, it’s so entrenched in modern popular culture that we know the basic plotlines for episodes such as ‘Little Girl Lost’, ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet’, and ‘It’s a Good Life’ without having ever seen them. Don’t recognise the titles? Click the links and read the plot outlines, because I promise you you do.

The Twilight Zone is an example of something we don’t really see anymore, the anthology show. Dreamed up by Rod Serling and originally put on air way back in 1959, every week brought a new story and cast. The genre was defined as ‘sci fi’, but the show itself covered much more than the supernatural or stories about spaceships (although plenty of them happened too). The show was a way for Serling to cover the important topics of the day, without actually appearing to. At the time, commercial sponsors had a huge say over what happened in the shows. As he noted once:

"I was not permitted to have my senators discuss any current or pressing problem," he said of his 1957 production The Arena, intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. "To talk of tariff was to align oneself with the Republicans; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats. To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited."

Because of the leeway the sci fi title granted him, he was able to cover topics such as the ‘Communist threat’ (The Monsters are Due on Maple Street), the effects of nuclear war (The Shelter), and even modern day conceptions of beauty (The Eye of the Beholder, which I think everyone in the world should watch). Additionally, The Twilight Zone became one of the first productions to use an almost entirely black cast in ‘The Big Tall Wish’, back in 1960. In fact, this was such a huge deal the show was awarded the Unity Award for Outstanding Contributions for Better Race Relations in 1961.

One of the most interesting things about The Twilight Zone was how it became a snapshot of a moment in history. It reflected a world still smarting from the Second World War, battling for civil rights, and preparing for the first time to enter space. A lot of the American populace’s hopes and fears can be seen in episodes such as The Lonely, Judgement Night, and The Mirror. It’s become a rather fascinating time capsule.

Of course, this means it carries the faults of its time, too. Nearly every woman involved is portrayed as either hysterical or as a nagging housewife, see Liz Powell from Twenty Two or Mrs. Williams from A Stop at Willoughby for the worst examples. Also, some episodes bear the marks of harsh editing or rushed writing, a result of pressure from the networks and sponsors.

Despite this though, most episodes have aged really well. I strongly recommend you go watch some, only because The Twilight Zone is certainly a touchstone in today’s popular culture. You don’t have to watch the episodes in order, so my personal recommendations are The Lonely, The Eye of the Beholder, The After Hours, and Little Girl Lost.