Greatest Show Ever Made
Bar none. The best written and acted show of all time. Anyone who tries to tell me some show like Game of Thrones or Lost or The Wire is the greatest I just laugh. Best show ever made.
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MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > Greatest Show Ever Made
One of the very few that never, ever jumped the shark.
Heck, the water skies never even got wet.
And as for the OP calling out modern shows, I have tried and just can't get into them. I'm a retro TV fan and TZ is among my faves.
It has gotten worse since the 80's and now it's really bad with all this "reality" show crap.
Damn, I'm good.
Blanket statements like this are highly arguable, particularly with all
the great TV shows: "Mash", "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", etc. I
would wager it's possibly the greatest anthology show ever produced.
As for never "jumping the shark", I beg to differ. The decision to
alter the title and go one hour in its fourth year was a poor one,
resulting in mostly forgettable offerings. And where was Serling's on-
camera presence? Didn't even feel like the same series, even when they
did flirt with a decent script. Fortunately, they found some ground
again then they went back to a thirty minute time slot in the final
season.
The decision to
alter the title and go one hour in its fourth year was a poor one,
resulting in mostly forgettable offerings
But that "hour long format" season did actually yield one of the overall best TZ episodes: specifically, the one with Dennis Hopper as a Neo-Fascist being led to power by the advice a mystery man hiding in the shadows (won't spoil it any further) -- teaching us how easy it is for history to repeat itself.
I don't really think the show jumped the shark at all. I suppose CBS, Serling, or Houghton recognized the one-hour format wasn't working, so they switched back to half-hour allotments.
OT: I cut my teeth on the 1980s version of the show, which also had its moments of greatness. The "shut up/start talking episode" with the nuclear warheads hanging in the sky still creeps me out to this day. And there was that one episode with Meg Foster that the Wachowskis' completely ripped off to make The Matrix.
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"One batch, two batch...Penny and dime." share
I will start by saying I own all of the TZ episodes on DVD and watch about a third regularly. But overall it's not the best show ever.
Magnum P.I.---to me is the most well rounded show ever.
The F.B.I.---to me is the most interesting show ever.
Munsters/Ozzie & Harriet/My 3 Sons/ Police Squad/ I Dream of Jeannie-Best Comedies
Star Trek TOS/Battlestar Galactica TOS-Best Sci-Fi
Adam-12/Dragnet/ T.J. Hooker-Best Cop Shows
Twilight would rate in the top 20 all time if I just counted the ones I love.
Okay I have to ask: What so interested you about The FBI? (I grew up watching it too.)
You've come up with a pretty good list I must say. My own might swap The Addams Family for The Munsters, although I enjoyed both - and Police Squad in favor of The Red Skelton Show.
Also, why T. J. Hooker?
The FBI was and is just such an interesting show. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is a favorite of mine. He just a darn good actor. I like how the stories unfold and the guest actors are always really good. I've always called it the most interesting show I've ever seen.
There will always be people that will favor The Munsters or favor The Addams Family. Addams Family was good, bur Herman Munster is one of my favorites of all time.
T.J. Hooker will always be a favorite of mine. William Shatner is probably my favoirte actor of all time along with John Wayne. Heather Lockear was also a favorite of mine. Ass James Darren and Adrian Zmed and you have a cast of really likable people. I love the show and think it's very entertaining.
The 2 things about The FBI that left the biggest impression on me (my first memory of the show dates from about 1968, I was 2 or 3) were Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. because his name was always mentioned during the opening credits and the fact that there almost always seemed to be either a large painting or photograph of J. Edgar Hoover visible somewhere in the interior office scenes, even if just for a second. (Hoover was, of course, a consultant for the series, but I hadn't yet learned to read during my earliest years as a viewer.) I sure knew his picture though when I saw it!
Holy Crap!
I thought I was old.
Where's Bonanza?
(Actually, except for Hooker and Battlestar, I watched those shows first run, too. But I hated FBI, because I pretty much hated whatever my dad liked. Same thing goes for the Honeymooners. )
You Fill Me with Inertia.
I am with you on the Honeymooners. Hate it. Hate it. See how well that "One of these days--- bang, Zoom--- Alice!" would work today.
As for Bonanza. Hey-- that's a guilty pleasure of mine. I grew up watching the repeats, but I can't say it was one of the top series ever.
In the case of the FBI, I wish it were syndicated. I didn't like it as a kid, but I wonder if I would like it now.
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Never say never...
comedies.. you left out Gilligan's Island!!!! LOL
I remember reading somewhere that Gilligan's Island had the distinction (I think it was in the 90's) of being aired every day somewhere in the world.. I grew up watching all those comedies but for some reason, I just loved GI.
There's actually a peripheral connection between The Twilight Zone and Gilligan's Island - other than Russ Johnson, that is. Ida Lupino, (of "Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" fame) directed at least 4 episodes of Gilligan's Island.
shareThe Honeymooners kicked ratings ARSE. The Flintstones cartoon was modeled after the Honeymooners. The FBI had too much talking and not enough dead or maimed bodies. Gilligan's Island was stupid to me as a kid. After he foiled about 2 or 3 rescue attempts I would have arranged for Gilligan to have an "accident". 📺😬
Luke Skywalker, your Mom was hawt! Darth Vader
Well, I guess I'll have to disagree with pretty much everybody about best comedies. The Honeymooners is definitely great in my book. But the other shows listed leave me cold. Great comedies that I'd cite: The Odd Couple, The Burns & Allen Show, Taxi, Seinfeld, The Simpsons. I also adore some of the British comedies: Monty Python, Faulty Towers, Black Adder.
I love the Zone, but I'm not sure it's the greatest show ever made. I'm not even sure it's the greatest anthology; Alfred Hitchcock Presents is also a damn good series.
But it certainly would be on my short list to *consider* for greatest show ever.
I have to agree, Quanqor, about “The Burns and Allen Show” – whether it be radio or television. I think it’s fair to say (especially since George has said it himself, in print and elsewhere) that Gracie was the brains of the outfit, crossing many times that fine line said to exist between truly brilliant and totally crazy. The scary part (for my nickel, anyway) was when Gracie would come out of far left field with somethingorother and a very short while thereafter the light would dawn – “Oh my God, she’s right. It makes perfect sense!”
This is a bit of a paraphrase, but George once said something along the lines of “If I ever got in trouble on stage [lost his place, forgot whatever it might be, etc.] all I had to do was turn and say ‘So Gracie, how’s your brother?’”
Additionally, I believe he also said that she never answered that or any other “How’s your…?” question the same way twice.
In a way she was like Jonathan Winters I think.
It's interesting you should mention the radio show. I've only heard a small handful of the radio shows, and I've actually found them to be inferior to the tv show. But I may just have a bad sample. After all, they were on the radio for a *long* time, and I'm sure the show evolved over time. Do you have any perspective on what the 'good' years of the radio show were, that I should focus on?
Interestingly, I find the exact reverse with The Jack Benny Program. While I enjoy the tv show, I find it quite inferior to the radio show, which was absolutely brilliant.
Well, offhand I'm not sure I can offer a proper perspective on the fly, Qanqor, but I'll give it some thought and get back to you. In the meantime, I've just now come across something you might enjoy - a biography of Gracie from about 2002 or so, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9px4cm5GeU
I'd agree with you as well about the Jack Benny Program I think. The television show is enjoyable (especially if Mel Blanc shows up in a bit part of some sort) but it almost seems that there was in a way more to the radio show - perhaps a combination of brilliant scripting and imagination what went almost hand in hand with any classic radio show.
I'm a great fan of the Fred Allen Show also - from about late 1941 or so on up to its end in June, 1949. The highlight of the show (at least in my opinion, and I mean besides whomever the guest stars might have been) was almost always something called "Allen's Alley." Truly great writing and performances by the whole bunch.
I'll have to find some time to watch that biography, thanks! However, I've read a couple of George Burns' books, so I do know a bit about her life.
I think what made the Jack Benny radio show so wonderful was that they, more than any other radio show I've encountered, made absolutely masterful use of the medium. They took advantage of the fact that the audience couldn't actually see what was going on to create extreme characters and situations that would have been impossible to pull off if one had to represent them visually. For instance, someone would make some kind of crack about something going on, and you'd think it was just a joke, an exaggeration. But then someone would say something revealing that it wasn't an exaggeration, it was completely accurate. This would allow for some really absurd things going on in the stories, which one could only imagine and build up in one's mind. The humor came from the fact that you *couldn't* see what was going on. To pick just a really simple, rudimentary example: take Don Wilson. For all the way they portrayed Wilson on the radio show, you imagine him as being this absolutely surreally huge obese guy. But on the TV show, we see him, and he's just a regular fat man. The fat jokes just lose their zing.
I've only caught a few episodes of Fred Allen, but I definitely liked them. I'll have to check him out more.
You know, I agree with you about the Benny show. It seemed far better heard than seen, you might say. The one character I think who never suffered either way was unquestionably Mel Blanc, whether he was playing the part of the long-suffering violin teacher, some flavor of repairman or even the incidental station announcer – “Now leaving on Track 5 for Anaheim, Azusa and Kook…amonga!” Somewhere I’ve heard or read a story from a crew person associated with either incarnation of the Jack Benny Program that Benny and Blanc would have occasional mild creative disagreements about how things should be done. The story goes that they usually ended with Jack Benny pounding the floor in a fit of laughter, tears streaming down his face.
Here’s a clip of what I think might be one of their last appearances together, on the Johnny Carson Show years and years ago. No mention of any disagreement, but there is a hilarious little bit about the day Benny and the writers tried to throw Mel Blanc a curve ball of sorts.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12xm4h_mel-blanc-jack-benny-carson-1974_fun
Oh, you had asked the other day about the “golden years” so to speak of the Burns & Allen Show on radio. After giving it some thought I’m sorry to say I don’t have a real opinion or knowledge as to when that might have been. There seem to be so few surviving examples from any given period that it’s difficult to judge. On top of that there’s the simple fact that what’s gold to one might be pyrite to another. I was however, able to find some examples from 1947 and 1948 that for the most part are of decent audio quality, at https://archive.org/details/TheBurnsAllenShow Of particular interest might be #14 which touches at least a bit on the wedding of then 21 year old Princess Elizabeth.
I totally agree with you about Mel Blanc. He was just wonderful. That video was great, I loved the thing with the English horse! And I agree that Mel worked just as well on tv as radio. When you see him do the "si!" routine, it's even better, because he does it with such a wonderful deadpan expression.
I'll check out that Burns & Allen link, thanks!
You're entirely welcome, Quanqor. Hope you enjoy them.
shareDisagree. The hour-length shows are padded, predictable and dull. Only one
or two are worth repeated viewings. A huge mistake by CBS. They clearly felt
the same way, or they wouldn't have returned to the half-hour format, especially
when all other dramas had gone 60 minutes.
I wish it was still more popular today... I love it.
shareEven though I was born well after the show went off the air, I completely agree. It was both brilliant and revolutionary in content. I love older shows in general but the atmosphere created by the twilight zone is unlike any other.
shareYou should see some of Serling's earlier stuff done for television. While it's somewhat different from The Twilight Zone, it, too, is pretty damned good stuff.
shareWhat is it called, I will definitely watch it. I have seen night gallery as well.
shareWell, there was a bunch of 'em - isolated episodes, shows like the Kraft Television Theatre and so forth. Here's one example, "Patterns" - a Serling script from January, 1955. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASfwFKUyM_4
You'll actually recognize a couple folks in this who showed up later in The Twilight Zone.
The easiest way to hunt 'em up is to do a search for (for instance) Rod Serling Playhouse 90 youtube, Rod Serling United States Steel Hour youtube, etc.
I love TZ, but Game of Thrones is pretty good too.
I actually agree with this. This show was hands down so original and thought provoking. Totally unique. Mad love for Twilight Zone!
shareIt's in my top 5.
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