I’m going to be brief today, something that I rarely am. I’ve planned a massive retrospective of The Twilight Zone’s first season in honor of the show’s Fiftieth (yes, Fiftieth) Anniversary, which occurs on October 2nd. However, I didn’t want to throw it out before October 2nd, and as that day falls on a Friday, I wouldn’t be able to post on that exact date. Oh, and I haven’t finished the essay yet either, which is about the best excuse there is. So I’ve ended up with a topic hole for today. And that’s why I’m rambling about what you’re not reading about.

To compensate, I’m offering you a pre-Twilight Zone warm-up: links to reviews that I’ve done for various first season episodes. I spent a good part of the summer going over the the program’s first season and getting to grips with how it developed, and I’ll share those collected observations next week after the show has had time to blow out its candles. For right now, here’s the minutiae on selected episodes. Bring an extra pair of prescription glasses.

#1 “Where Is Everybody?”
#5 “Walking Distance”
#8 “Time Enough at Last”
#11 “And When the Sky Was Opened”
#13 “The Four of Us Are Dying”
#16 “The Hitch-Hiker”
#18 “The Last Flight”
#22 “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” (my favorite of the season)
#24 “Long Live Walter Jameson”
#27 “The Big Tall Wish”
#29 “Nightmare as a Child”
#30 “A Stop at Willoughby”
#34 “The After Hours”
#36 “A World of His Own”