A New Twilight Zone? Maybe — And I Have a Few Requests
The current landscape of television, with numerous platforms, shows where all the episodes can be released at once to create what are essentially eleven-hour movies, and the full reimagining of what a “season” entails, has made the anthology show a viable format once again. Naturally, this means we’re due for a revival of the most famous anthology program in the medium’s history: The Twilight Zone. A.k.a. “One of the Best TV Shows Ever.”
As of this week, it indeed looks like we’re on the way to a TZ revival, based on this news from The Hollywood Reporter. And it’s not just from anyone pulled randomly out of the PGA and DGA listings. It’s from Jordan Peele, whose directorial debut this earlier year, the smash horror hit Get Out, is just covered with Serling-esque fingerprints.
This is still tentative, and The Hollywood Reporter mentions it’s unclear if this is a series order or only an announcement of development for CBS’s All Access service. Jordan Peele’s production company, Monkeypaw, is behind the new show, with Marco Ramirez (Sons of Anarchy, Daredevil) assigned as head writer and showrunner. CBS so far hasn’t made an official comment on either Peele or Ramirez’s involvement, which tells me the deal is still in the process of getting hammered out. It could all evaporate, as a 2012 revival attempt with Bryan Singer did. But the timing on this — and the involvement of Jordan Peele — makes it sound like it may turn into reality. Or what passes for reality in a land of shadow and substance, things and ideas…
Many of my contemporaries believed that one of the most amazing comic book series ever was Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, which ran from 1989 through 1996 – formative teenage years for me and my peers – originally by DC Comics and (from issue #47) under their Vertigo imprint. Now it looks like The Sandman has been re-optioned for consideration as a television series. Though the series creator isn’t associated with the show, there’s still reason to be hopeful.