The Big Picture
- The original 1959-1964 run of The Twilight Zone captured a unique magic that subsequent revivals and adaptations failed to replicate.
- The 1985-1989 revival of The Twilight Zone is considered the closest in spirit to the original, with a talented roster of creators and a lively atmosphere.
- The early 2000s reboot of The Twilight Zone missed the mark, featuring episodes that feel dated, and Jordan Peele’s Paramount+ attempt struggled as well.
No matter how many times they try to reboot it, The Twilight Zone will never work as well as it did in the original 1959 to 1964 run. There was a magic captured in those five seasons that just has never been matched by any of the three revivals (nor the feature-length film, for that matter). But why is that? What is it about Rod Serling‘s original series that makes it so singular? Since his iteration was canceled, filmmakers have attempted to bring us back to his eerie land of sight, sound, and mind. Aside from a few strong episodes here and there, basically, all of these shows have failed at what they’ve set out to do. That said, despite their abundance of struggles, these shows do get it right every now and then, but never easily. You’d think that rebooting an anthology science fiction and horror TV show wouldn’t be that hard, but working in Serling is a taller order than you might expect.
‘The Twilight Zone’ Was a Perfect Blend of Creative Forces
There’s no other way to explain why these other shows have failed. The Twilight Zone is a lightning-in-a-bottle-miracle. You had the right showrunner and screenwriter steering the ship, the right composer (this show would be nothing without Bernard Herrmann), the best guest stars, the perfect time period that is ripe for many different angles in social commentary, and the beautiful simplicity of black and white film stock. The Twilight Zone doesn’t just work because of effective, new science fiction and horror stories every week, but rather it works because it came when it did, and was worked on by the right people at the right time. Since then, each reboot and revival has had an enticing hand working on these individual shows, but we’re yet to have another series where every moving part was occupied by the perfect person to fill those shoes. Even Serling himself had a tough time capturing the same feeling in his middling follow-up series, Night Gallery. Be it the ’80s, ’00s, or late 2010s, it doesn’t matter which one you pick — each of these shows falls prey to the clichés of their times, and immediately becomes dated in doing so.
‘The Twilight Zone’s 1985 – 1989 Revival Has Aged the Best
The first revival of The Twilight Zone came in the form of a show that from 1985 to 1989. No matter what you might think about this or any of the subsequent attempts, the ’80s series feels as though it’s aged the best. It was an interesting time for a new Twilight Zone show, given other Serling-inspired horror anthologies like Tales from the Darkside and Tales from the Crypt were currently airing. This one came hot off the heels of the feature-length movie adaptation from Steven Spielberg, George Miller, Joe Dante, and John Landis. Like that movie, this series also attracted the attention of loads of creative talent across the film and TV industries. Why wouldn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to work on The Twilight Zone? Wes Craven, William Friedkin, Richard Matheson, George R.R. Martin, cult film giant Robert Downey (yes, father of Robert Downey Jr.), and even The Grateful Dead were all involved in this show in one way or another. This reboot was a party!
It might just be because this series was the closest in time to the original, but there’s also a chance that this series has held up as well as it does because of the talent involved. Of course, any series with loads of great talent working on it will likely be good, but this is supposed to be The Twilight Zone! You can’t just have great minds behind the scenes, you have to have the right people that will capture the essence of the original show. Well, given the massive moment that horror filmmakers were having during this decade, you’d have a good shot at betting on this batch.
This reboot attempts to inject a bit more style into the world than Serling’s simple and unassuming original series had, an attempt to liven things up and possibly steer this new series in a bit more of a “genre” direction. All that does is age the series like milk, though. That said, when there are effects, they’re top-notch, and loads of great science fiction and horror stories are penned for the ’85-’89 run. For chills, check out the Helen Mirren-starring “Dead Woman’s Shoes,” for a bit of mind-blowing fun, tune in for Craven’s “Shatterday,” and fire up “Button, Button” for a dose of old school Twilight Zone goodness. The ’80s revival might not quite live all the way up to Serling’s original show, but it’s the closest that anyone has gotten so far.
The 2000s Reboot of ‘The Twilight Zone’ Is a Complete Creative Misfire
Then, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, you have the 2000s revival, which completely missed the mark. The show only lasted one season, but a long one at that: 43 episodes! As soon as this show begins, we are overpowered by an industrial rock version of the classic theme, all while being barraged with a random slew of images that feel more at home on a PlayStation 2. Straight out of the gate, you can tell that this show has no business affiliating itself with The Twilight Zone. From there, we are met with episodes that are fascinated by computers (that’s the early 2000s for you), terrorism, and sex. This is in a clear attempt to go back to the cutting-edge, topical approach that Serling took, so at least this show was trying. It’s just that the final results typically end up with a thick layer of 2000s cheese slathered all over it.
Surprisingly, some episodes get things right. “Cradle of Darkness” might be ridiculous in its bizarre execution of a story that asks “Would you kill baby Hitler?” but it ends up being so whacky that you can’t help but enjoy the experience. There’s also the mind-boggler that is “Cold Fusion,” an episode that will repeatedly leave you wondering what’s real and what isn’t. If you want to see George Costanza as Death, then check out Jason Alexander in “One Night at Mercy.” It’s actually a more sincere episode than it sounds like! The 2000s series is widely remembered for its attempts at either remaking or making sequels to old episodes, with some working pretty well. “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” has a solid remake, as does “Eye of the Beholder.” Elsewhere, the classic episode “It’s a Good Life” is given a sequel in “It’s Still a Good Life,” and this one stars Billy Mumy again. The 2000s show might be a total cheese fest, but it has its moments.
Jordan Peele and ‘The Twilight Zone’ Feels Like a Match Made in Heaven
Then there’s the 2019 to 2021 series. On paper, this one is a home run. This one should be so good that we’re still getting new episodes to this day. Unfortunately, despite the promise of Jordan Peele, he doesn’t do much with this show. Almost every episode has a great premise behind it… only for the execution in the final product to typically fall off, or in some worse cases, bore you. It’s just a shame that some of our biggest young filmmakers didn’t take on an episode or two. Imagine an incredible genre director like James Wan, or a killer dramatic artist like Greta Gerwig, going for a spin in The Twilight Zone. If people like these two were in the fray, more folks would have been craning their necks in to check this show out!
You can feel that Peele and his team had all the intentions to capture the original series’ magic. They’ve got the right music, a lot of the right rhythm in the language that Serling often used, and are leaning into the right ways of approaching social commentary in ways that fit The Twilight Zone, and some great actors out in front of the camera. (Kumail Nanjiani, Steven Yeun, and Topher Grace, to name a few.) The series premiere episode “The Comedian” has that nice, classic, slow-building Twilight Zone feel. There’s also the great “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” a remake of the classic William Shatner episode (you know, with the Gremlin!). Finally, check out the chilly and eerie “The Traveler” from Ana Lily Amirpour.
We are currently without a Twilight Zone show, and maybe that’s a good thing. Serling’s original show will never be met or topped in quality. Creatively, it was the perfect storm! There’s a reason that it has lived on to see great popularity to this day, and these other shows have fallen so flat immediately after cancelation. If you do crave something a little extra though and have revisited all the ’59-’64 episodes recently, then maybe give one of these reboots a shot. You’ll have to do some digging for yourself, but there are little bits of gold to be found here and there through any door that you open in The Twilight Zone.
