One of the more curious events in the evolution of television over the last 10 or 15 years has been the success rate of anthology series. Or rather, the lack thereof. There was a time when anthology shows were all the rage. At any given time, you could tune in to “The Ray Bradbury Theatre”, “Thriller”, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents…” or the best of the lot, “The Twilight Zone.” Over the years however, these shows became fewer and fewer until they became a thing of the past. A Novelty. There have still been quite a few attempts to revive the genre, but again few ever made it past a 1st season. “Amazing Stories”, “The New Alfred Hitchcock presents” and even a new “Twilight Zone” failed to spark the imagination of viewers. In the case of the shows I just mentioned, all were more than worthy of lengthier runs, but it simply didn’t happen. The only successes I can think of were shows that went the route of cable like “Tales from the Crypt”, “The Hitchhiker” or the new “Outer Limits.”

I’m sure there are a few more, but none come to mind. Back in 2002, UPN tried to revive “The Twilight Zone” once again, and it had all the makings of a winner.

Hosted by actor Forest Whitaker, “The Twilight Zone” ran for an hour each week, generally presenting two stories. It was a great format, and while Whitaker was no Rod Serling, he ably introduced each story. The series, much like its predecessors, was able to pull in an impressive list of actors and the production quality was top-notch. And though they didn’t hit a home run every time, the writers were able to deliver some really terrific, thought provoking stories. So why didn’t the series make it into a 2nd season? I have a theory.

For the most part, television viewers aren’t as bright as they used to be. Of course, this is a generalization and in all likelihood I’m not talking about you. I’m just saying that a large portion of the viewing audience just can’t keep up with characters they meet and learn about in the course of a half hour. They need some stability. Familiar characters, in familiar settings, living through familiar situations means they don’t have to think. It’s kind of like having a short attention span, only worse. It’s more like no attention span.

Going a step further down the road of insulting their intelligence, shows like “The Twilight Zone” are simply too well written. It’s difficult for many of today’s viewers to understand anything that challenges their senses or makes them have to think. If you want proof of this theory, just look at the insane popularity of reality shows. By and large, these shows are as stupid, inane, shallow and vapid as those who participate in them. This brings me to the next part of my speculation, which is that of viewer identification. Stupid, inane, shallow and vapid viewers tend to identify with their television counterparts. It’s difficult to identify with intelligent people in unusual, or sometimes supernatural, situations.

That aside, I like to sing the praises of the 2002 version of “The Twilight Zone.” I had my reservations when I first started watching, since I was always such a huge fan of the original Rod Serling classic. But as I got into the first few episodes, I felt that I was on to something good. Again, not every story was a winner, but even looking back to the original series, there were a few clunkers. I really started getting into the series, then UPN started doing the Fox thing and did a lot of pre-empting, and even occasionally doubled up on episodes, causing me to miss a few. Over the course of the season, thanks to re-runs I was able to catch most of, but not all of the series. Then the news hit… another one bit the dust.

Yes, cancellation reared it ugly head, supposedly due to poor ratings, and “The Twilight Zone” ceased production. I, for one, was disappointed. I thought the new series was very well done and I very much enjoyed the few episodes I was able to catch. As for the talent pool of actors, on any given week you could see the likes of Dylan Walsh, Shannon Elizabeth, Eriq La Salle, Andrew McCarthy, Viveca A. Fox, Jeremy Sisto, amber Tamblyn, and Samantha Mathis. Granted, very few were on the A-list, but most were certainly still very successful.

I have long wanted to own the original series of “The Twilight Zone”, as well as the short-lived 1985 version, on DVD. With any luck that’ll happen later on this year. But for now I’m quite content to have this newest version, thanks to the fine folks at New Line Home Entertainment. They are releasing a 6-disc set, complete with all 43 episodes. Of course saying there are 43 episodes is a little misleading, it would be more accurate to say 43 stories that made up 22 hour long episodes. This isn’t even a nit, just an observation.

Of the episodes I was finally able to catch on DVD, there were numerous standouts. What was unusual about these was the fact that most were throwbacks to episodes of the original series, such as “Cradle of Darkness” which starred Katherine Heigl as a woman given the opportunity to go back in time to kill Hitler, or “Memphis” where Eriq LaSalle goes back in time one day before the assassination of Martin Luther King. Both were similar to the episode “Back There” in which Russell Johnson was given the opportunity to go back and stop John Wilkes Booth before he assassinated Lincoln.

There were also some direct remakes with the episodes, “The Monsters on Maple Street” and “Eye of the Beholder.” Though neither completely captured the imagination the same way the originals did, they still get high marks for effort. “It’s Still a Good Life” was also a fascinating episode as it was a ‘sequel’ to the classic episode, “It’s a Good Life.” The original starred Billy Mumy as a precocious little boy who has the power to will anything to happen. The townspeople, and even his own family are terrified if him. If they don’t think good thoughts, he just might wish them into the cornfield, the connotation of which always sounded grave (no pun intended). This episode of the new series brings back Billy Mumy as the same character all grown up. He now has a daughter or his own and she begins to exhibit the same abilities, much to the dismay of the townsfolk. I was worried the episode would be trite, but it was actually quite good.

The DVD set offers up all the episodes in glorious widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, which looks and sounds great. The only unfortunate thing about the set is that there are no extra features to speak of. Granted, it would be difficult to do with an anthology series to do a behind the scenes featurette, but I would have really enjoyed hearing some of the guest cast do commentaries on their episodes.

Aside from that little nitpick; the set itself is well worth having on hand. This new version of “The Twilight Zone” doesn’t capture the nostalgic feeling of watching the original series, but barring comparison it delivers its own brand of insightful, and thought provoking entertainment.

Episodes:
Disc 1 -
The Lineman
Night Route
One Night at Mercy
Cradle of Darkness
Dream Lover
Evergreen
Shades of Guilt

Disc 2 -
Dead Man’s Eyes
Time Lapse
Harsh Mistress
The Pool Guy
Azoth the Avenger is a Friend of Mine
Upgrade
Chosen

Disc 3 -
To Protect and Serve
Sensuous Cindy
Hunted
Mr. Motivation
Sanctuary
Found and Lost
Future Trade
Last Lap

Disc 4 -
Gabe’s Story
Fair Warning
The Path
Another Life
Rewind
Into the Light
Tagged

Disc 5 -
The Monsters on Maple Street
It’s Still a Good Life
How Much Do You Love Your Kid?
Memphis
The Placebo Effect
Cold Fusion
Burned

Disc 6 -
Sunrise
The Collection
The Pharaoh’s Curse
Eye of the Beholder
Developing
Homecoming
The Executions of Grady Finch

Extras: None
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
Release Date: 9/7/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series - 2002 a B.