The Twilight Zone Diaries, episode 3

Mr. Denton on Doomsday

originally aired: October 16, 1959
written by: Rod Serling
starring: Dan Duryea, Martin Landau

"Portrait of a town drunk named Al Denton. This is a man who has begun his dying early. A long, agonizing route through a maze of bottles. Al Denton, who would probably give an arm or a leg or part of his soul to have another chance. To be able to rise up and shake the dirt from his body and the bad dreams that infest his conciousness. In the parlance of the times, this is a peddler. A rather fancifull looking little man in a black frock coat. And this is the third principle characcter of our story: (close up on gun) its function, perhaps to give Mr. Al Denton his second chance."

classification: western

story: A magic potion enables a washed out gunslinger to face down a young rival but it also puts an end to his career in an ironic twist of fate.

my summary: This one is all right. I am usually bored out of my mind during the western episodes. Al Denton is pathetic and I feel sorry for him; he reminds me of an old-time Jerry Lundegaard. Martin Landau is an interesting element in this one. I might have a few more nice things to say about him if he didn't become such a crabby old codge later in life (referring to the Mission Impossible premier with Kennedy on MTV). Good Ending.

"Mr. Henry Fate, dealer in utensils, pots and pans, lintaments and potions. A fanciful little man in a black frock coat who can help a man in climbing out of a pit or keep a man from falling into one. Because you see fate can work that way in The Twilight Zone."

Sixx's Book

At first I was a little unimpressed by this; after reading The Dirt a few years back not even detailed diaries of Nikki's drug use could compare to the disgusting sexual stuff that went on in that band- (which was easily more disturbing than anything Nikki shot into his arm). But the more I read the more I admired him for writing it. He really must have been lonely even at the height of his fame. People were using him, he didn't have a wife or family, his parents completely failed him, etc., etc. I just feel so bad about all of it, thinking of him as a little kid wondering where his mother was or when she was coming back to him and not knowing anything about his dad. I just want to find that little kid and try to make it better or play with him or just give him a big hug......poor kid.
The best, most positive come-uppance I think is concerning his birthday---at the height of his drug use he wrote that it was his birthday (december sometime) and no one called him or even came by and that he was completely alone with his drugs and nothing else......later after he got sober and had all his kids he came back from being on tour during his birthday to be surprised with handmade birthday cards from his kids.....this is the sort of thing that breaks my heart, in a good way.

I know it's foolish to try to identify with celebrities, but sometimes we forget they were peoples' babies; many of them don't have happy memories of their childhoods. So Nikki, kudos for getting it off your chest and putting it out there for the world to read. You had a hard time--probably the hardest ever, but you picked yourself up and that's awesome. And if it would make any impact at all, I would sing you a thousand songs, bake you a thousand Christmas cookies, give you a thousand hugs, and color you one thousand birthday cards.

The Twilight Zone Diaries, episode 2

One For The Angels

originally aired: October 9, 1959
written by: Rod Serling
starring: Ed Wynn, Murray Hamilton

"Street scene, summer, the present. A man on the sidewalk named Lew Bookman, age: sixtyish, occupation: pitchman. Lew Bookman, a fixture of the summer. A rather minor componant to a hot July. A nondescript commonplace little man whose life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks, but in just a moment, Lew Bookman will have to concern himself with survival. Because, as of 3 o'clock this hot July afternoon, he'll by stalked by Mr. Death."

classification: drama/Mr. Death

story: After tricking Mr. Death out of taking his life, Lew Bookman must deliver the pitch of his life in order to save the life of an innocent neighborhood child.

my summary: A good story, one a family could probably enjoy. Mr. Death stories are always intriguing, this one is subtle and sly. Street scenes and 1950s New York apartments are pretty realistic, July heat seems to be portrayed effectively. My favorite parts were Death introducing himself by wilting the flower and Lew affirming his afterlife, "up there?" "Up there, Mr. Bookman, YOU MADE IT." Walking down the street with Death. Very nice.

"Lewis J. Bookman, age: sixtyish, occupation: pitchman. Formerly a fixture of the summer, formerly a rather minor componant to a hot July but throughout his life a man beloved by the children and therefore a most important man. Couldn't happen, you say? Probably not in most places, but it did happen.....in the Twilight Zone.

Welcome Home Almeida on hold.....

Perez says Fox announced 24 wouldn't be back on until January 2009.
This is very disappointing. My Tony Almeida reunion party will have to wait I guess.....



HOPEFULLY NOT MUCH LONGER!!!!

The Twilight Zone Diaries, episode 1

I WROTE THESE DURING THE SUMMER OF 1999 WHEN I STARTED WORKING AT NORTHWEST AIRLINES. CLEARLY I NEEDED SOMETHING TO DO WITH MY TIME AND WATCHING THE TWILIGHT ZONE SEEMED TO FILL THE MORNING HOURS BEFORE I WENT TO WORK. THESE ARE VERY CHEESY AND PROBABLY SHALLOW BUT I THINK THIS SHOW MORE THAN ANYTHING LED TO ME GOING TO SCHOOL FOR FILM.

Where is Everybody?

originally aired: October 2, 1959
written by: Rod Serling
starring: Earl Holliman, James Gregory

"the place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be our journey..."

**pilot episode**

classification: drama/fantasy

story: An astronaut wanders into a mysteriously empty town. He eventually discovers that he has been in an isolation tank and that the town is just a hallucination. Note: In Serling's own novelization, a further twist was added: after the astronaut is brought back to reality, in his pocket he finds a theater ticket stub which he had unconciously picked up in the town.

my summary: Excellent episode. Probably one of the finest in the series. Creepiest parts were the mannequin of course, just on principle, and dude almost getting locked in the jail cell (by nobody). I feel very sorry for Mr. Air Force; his lonliness saddens me.

"Up there, up there in the vastness of space in the void that is the sky. Up there is an enemy known as isolation. It sits there in the starts waiting, waiting with the patience of eons. Forever waiting, in the Twilight Zone."

Memories of our first betamax VCR tapes

The first two videos my father brought home were CHRISTINE and THE BLUES BROTHERS. I was ten years old, my brother would have been six during the summer of 1986. We had no idea what either of the two films were about but we were excited to finally have a VCR nontheless. We had seen many films by then, mostly on cable or satellite, and out of those, most were horror films like Pscyho, Pscycho 2, and Friday the Thirteenth (the final chapter, or so we thought then). When Dewey popped in Christine we were excited and scared because he told us it would be a film about a car that KILLS PEOPLE!!!!

Wow.
I remember feeling a bit moved by many of the music selections in Christine, none of which would have been popular or current for the time (the film was released in 1983 and I believe to have taken place in the here and now): Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Ritchie Valens; along with some stuff that would have been current then, like Thorogood and The Rolling Stones. Really, has any other song been as well placed in a film as "Bad to the Bone?" That song alone was probably enough to win my father's approval, despite the fact that it's a scary Stephen King adaptation that was actually picked up by a cool director.....

My brother and I watched this film (along with the other one) at least once a day every day that summer. It would be a long time before quoting films in social settings would be cool but we seriously could have started at the beginning and performed it to the end if anyone would have posed such a challenge. Our favorite parts all had to do with the car. Killing Moochie and the close up on the tire squeal when Christine floors a good smoke show and starts chasing him, rebuilding herself while Arnie stands in front of her, watching, and the fire-y blaze that chases after Buddy Reperton down the highway after completely crashing into the gas pumps and his camaro (SOME SHIT HEAD IS FOLLOWING ME!!). We also really got into the character of Darnell, that guy definitely had the best lines of the film, which, if I remember correctly, stayed pretty true to King's novel. It would be a few years before I tackled THAT.


The Blues Brothers we loved mostly for the car chases but I think we actually (secretly) enjoyed the music in that as well. My mother HATED us watching that, probably because she hated the movie herself, but really, what's so bad about your elementary aged children getting a few curses in while absorbing ACTUAL music history? Aretha Franklin? Cab Calloway? Ray Charles? John Lee Hooker? I knew who all those people were way before anyone else my age. Double for my brother. I see that film as a cheesy exercise in music that probably shaped a lot of my tastes that would follow down the line. Plus, those car chases were ACTUAL DEMOLITION IN ACTION. You just don't see that anymore, not that we knew it at the time. I love it. Favorite scene, hands down though, is the bit with the penguin.
YOU GOTTA GO UP THERE AND VISIT THE PENGUIN.
NO....FUCKING.....WAY.

Bella.....

Can I say again how much I love this whole business?