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Anyone else think Season Two is a step down from Season One?


Sure it's got "Nick of Time", "Eye of the Beholder" and "Shadow Play"; but it's also hampered by those awful-looking videotape episodes as well as more of an emphasis on comedy than the year before. It certainly holds up better than most seasons of television but in comparison to what preceded it I can't help but feel it comes up short.

Plus, Bernard Herman's theme was a much more fitting one for "TZ" than Marius Constant's.

And Serling should probably have remained an off-camera presence (though he is a good-looking guy and his suits are impeccable).

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i don't know....
Some of the video taped ones were actually decent. I loved 22. The one with little Billy Mumy and the grandmother who gave him the toy telephone was extremely well done.
Personally, I think that all five seasons hold interest for just about everyone.
I'm not into some of the episodes others enjoy. Others don't care much for my favorites.
I don't mind because I feel that there is something for everyone.
This is a really great show. It has certainly stood the test of time.

People usually have a problem with the hour long episodes. There are some I do not care for but I have a few favorites there as well.....
Something for EVERYONE!

I also think that Rod Serling was great on camera..... just my opinion....
What don't you like about that?

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What seems to tip the scales in favor of Season Two comes down how much one likes"The Howling Man" and "The Invaders", two of Season Two's more beloved offerings. Since I'm not the biggest fan of either --though I should be since I'm a devotee of horror -- I go with Season One.

I like Serling's on-air presence though he does give the show sometimes a game show-vibe -- "Ladies and Gentleman, let's play: 'Who Get's Fucked With Tonight?'"

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I never cared for his voice overs during the episodes in season one.

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I still fe thre stories were strong, but season one has a tale for everyone and wide variety of talent. I guess they were afraid of not getting renewed at first and took more risks.

I feel one is the best.

Season 2 a great continuation

3 was decent, but dry in certain spots and has some dimonds among the coals.

Four is ok. But dragged out and many good stories are loaded with filter

Five is the weakest.

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I was about the say the same thing actually - the video episodes are hard to watch and I feel the theme music, while good and iconic, almost detracts from the episodes compared to Season 1's moody, haunting theme. (In fact, the music was the reason I originally fell in love with the series!) However, I came to prefer Serling's on-set narration as it's more immersive and it's fun to try and predict where'll he'll pop up!

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Not really except for the video taped episodes looking so strange and out of place i think its about on the same level as season 1.

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Season 2 has a somewhat different style from the first season, with its quiet, pensive opening, Serling's introductory remarks over the credits, with the emphasis on imagination, feels more open ended than any other season. It's The Twilight Zone In Search Of Itself, not yet defined by certain kinds of episodes even as one can see, thematically, prototypes of what was to come later on here and there.

The first season was more urban, the second more suburban, more Middle American feeling. There seem to be fewer "wild deviations" from the norm in season 2, understandably so since the previous season had essentially defined the norm for the series, broadly speaking. The second season feels "trickier" overall, with more playfulness as to what's real and what isn't, less darkness.

There were more spooky and/or ambiguous characters in season 1, it seems (Mr. Wickwire, Pip, Professor Daemon, Nightmare As A Child's Peter Selden, et al), with stronger implications of human nature being at times something inherently flawed, whether evil or deeply conflicted at the core, while in future seasons people's fates were often determined by some deus ex machina, things from "without" more than or as much as character, or maybe that's just my take.

Also, starting in season 2 The Twilight Zone became more kid or youth friendly. There's a consistency of maturity, of adultness, if you will, in the first season, that never returned, not 100%.

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