1. The Brain Center at Whipples
2. The Bewitchin Pool
3. What's in the Box
4. A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain
5. From Agnes With Love
6. Black Leather Jackets
7. I Dream of Genie
8. The Incredible World of Horace Ford
9. The Bard
10. No Time Like The Past
11. Jess Bell
12. Cavender is Coming
13. The Fever
14. Escape Clause
15. Mr. Bevis
16. The Mighty Casey
17. Mirror Mirror
18. Night of The Meek
19. Mr. Dingle, The Strong
20. The Whole Truth
I could go with most of those episodes. But I really like "Escape Clause". Maybe it was David Wayne's portrayal of a self pitying jerk who got his comeuppance. Maybe it was because here was YET another human who thought he was more clever than Satan!
I donk know why, I just liked that episode. Walter Bedeker was a typical TZ type of character who was "long suffering" and self absorbed. He treated his devoted wife like dirt and only cared about himself.
This episode had a definte TZ type ending for the main character. He wanted everything his own way, but in the end he got nothing.
The same goes for "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain." Flora was selfish and self centered. Her elderly husband's youth serum turned him into a baby. Now she was going to have to spend all her time tending to a child. Of course she would have had an escape clause of her own. She seemed too selfish and self involved to spend her life taking care of a child. I think she would have considered putting her husband up for adoption! Of course there was a clause that she would lose access to his money if she didn't care for him. But geez,he WAS a baby! He would have no idea what she was up to so I am sure that the crafty Flora would have found another sugar daddy while "raising her baby".
I also liked "No Time Like the Past." It was the typical time travel story where the protagonist tries to change the past but he can't. The past cannot be changed. It's very stubborn. Interesting how the main character tried to avert disaster, but he was thwarted at every turn. And the last segment was clever. He tried to stop a tragedy but it was actually his own actions which caused it.
Most of the other episodes on your list however, I agree!!
I will say this about "Escape Clause": Serling's outro to it is fantastic.
shareI agree Purplethat no time like the past is one of my favorites. Just saw a certain drink again and it had an interesting premise, but bad execution.
In alphabetical order:
1. Big Tall Wish, The
2. Caesar and Me
3. Dummy, The
4. Fever, The
5. Five Characters In Search of An Exit
6. Four O’Clock
7. From Agnes—With Love
8. Gift, The
9. Hocus-Pocus and Frisby
10. Incredible World of Horace Ford, The
11. Little Girl Lost
12. Long Morrow, The
13. Mighty Casey, The
14. Mirror, The
15. Mr. Dingle, the Strong
16. Perchance to Dream
17. Steel
18. Twenty-Two
19. What You Need
20. Whole Truth, The
I love "Five Characters," "Perchance" and "The Dummy."
"The Mirror" is hilariously bad. I've never seen more fake mustaches in all my life.
"Steel" has some fairly lousy fight choreography. Still, Mantell and Marvin are awesome and the ending is satisfactorily grim.
"Mr. Dingle," "The Whole Truth," "The Might Casey" and "From Agnes" demonstrate, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that comedy was not "TZ"'s forte. No "worst episodes" list of "TZ" can truly be complete without these stinkers.
Any list has to start with "In Praise of Pip" and "The Big Tall Wish"; those are really the worst of the worst.
I don't remember a TZ ep called "Mirror Mirror" though. There was "The Mirror," which was a pretty terrible ep featuring a Castro analog and "Mirror Image" about dopplegangers in a bus station (which was one of the best of the entire run) and there was a STAR TREK ep called "Mirror Mirror"--Spock with a beard--but I don't remember a TZ ep by that title.
"In Praise of Pip" a wonderful episode. It's usually chronicled as one of the finder episodes of the last year. "Still
Valley" is among the all-time worst, and I can't believe it hasn't been named as such.
While Serling seems largely on autopilot in the final season "Pip"'s aching sadness is reminiscent of Serling's earlier, superior work. "Wish" is from that earlier period and often gets lost amidst the "Willoughby"s and "Maple Street"s; but despite its unflattering rep I think it, like "Pip", is a dark, poignant study of regret and second chances. I tend to prefer "TZ" at its eeriest so I don't know if I rank these amidst the upper echelon. But, there's no doubt, they deserve a lot more appreciation than they attract.
shareI can't think of 20 but the ones that come to mind are
The Invaders
Spur Of The Moment
Black Leather Jackets
I Sing The Body Electric
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
Two
The Mighty Casey
The Obsolete Man
Not everyday you see "Maple Street" on a "TZ" list of "Worst Episodes." Kudos to you for at least thinking outside the box.
👍🏻 I noticed a lot of the same episodes, so I really tried to think of some different ones.
shareYeah, that episode was pretty bad; wasted my time watching it during the recent holiday marathon.
shareAre you referring to "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"?
shareYes, I thought it was obvious.
shareWhat do you think of "The Shelter"? It's essentially the same story only without aliens.
shareI don't recall ever having seen that.
shareDr. Stockton's home is the only one on the block with a bomb shelter. His neighbors, who mock with relish the Doomsday Prepper in their midst, soon eat crow when it's announced on the radio that a nuclear attack is imminent. Dr. Stockton installs his family in his shelter. His neighbors install themselves outside Dr. Stockton's shelter and beg him to let them in. He won't owing to the shelter being built only for his family. His neighbors don't cotton to this response and soon the neighborhood, much like the one in "Maple Street," is a pale imitation of its former idyllic self.
You might like it.