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Are you ready for The Twilight Zone, Version 4?


In a new interview with Variety, Academy Award winning writer Jordan Peele confirmed that the new Twilight Zone series, the third revival of the classic anthology series, will feature somebody in the role of the host that Rod Sterling previously held in the original 1959 version.

Though the series will feature a host, Peele also discussed that no one has filled the role and that he himself is resisting taking it, as his face is so well associated with comedy that he worries it would take away from the more serious tone of the show. However, the Get Out director hasn’t fully ruled it out yet either.

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/966595-jordan-peele-hasnt-ruled-out-hosting-new-twilight-zone-series

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Billy Mumy would be great! He appeared on the original TZ three times.

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Oooo.. good choice Miss Margo.

I'm sure there are those that will scream and pitch a fit about a reboot, but I'm all for it. If I don't like it, I won't watch it. If it's good, it's something else for me to watch. If it stinks, it won't affect my love or enjoyment of the original series.

When we first got married back in 1985, my wife and I watched the 80s reboot of TZ and enjoyed it immensely. I hope I can feel the same about the new series.

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My attitude is the same. I'll at least give the reboot a chance. You never know. It could be good.
We watched the reboot back in the 80s too. I thought it was OK. I really liked the 80s reboot of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I have found lots of those episodes on YouTube.

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The 2002 version was disappointing.Hopefully they get it right this time.

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None of these other versions of "TZ" felt quite like "TZ" because they weren't in black and white. Peele won't do it -- the demographic he's aiming for loathe black and white -- but, by not shooting in black and white, he risks making his version of "TZ" feel like just another anthology series instead of a continuation of Rod Serling's classic.

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It’s on CBS All Access. CBS has the rights to TZ but I do not like them choosing to release it on their pay to play streaming service. Also not sure why Peele would choose to put his work on a venue that fewer people will see. They must have offered him a sweet deal.

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With regard to CBS All Access, I refuse to pay more for what is essentially basic network quality fare...

I already pay a cable bill. I still have to sit through commercials to watch the programs I'm already paying for. Paying another surcharge on top of that just rankles me.

If there is anything I want to watch that CBS AA carries (nothing yet), I'll have my old friend Kodi I. McStream get it for me.

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strntz,

I resent the idea of paying extra to CBS also. If I was going to do that, I would have done it for Star Trek Discovery. I can wait.

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AngularTurnip,

We don't have "upvotes" here, but if we did, I would upvote your post. It doesn't feel right to me in color, and young people don't know what they're missing.

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How would fans of Frank Miller have responded if "Sin City" had been shot in color? They would have thought it a betrayal of Miller's vision. A similar betrayal, I feel, occurs when "TZ" is shot in color. "TZ," like "Sin City," has very much a noir feel. They both belong to the era of Mickey Spillane, the atomic bomb, The Cold War, McCarthyism, urban decay, racial tensions and much more. Black and white is affiliated with this era. Therefore, it would make sense, if you're continuing something from that era -- especially one with so many noir elements like "TZ" -- that you would shoot it in black and white. Would "The Artist," being the salute to the silent era that it is, made sense shot in color? I think you can update "TZ" while also remaining true to its core elements -- and black and white is one of those core elements. At the very least, I hope Peele shoots some of these episodes in black and white.

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Well, this little teaser is in Black & White, so that's kind of interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeS26bBeMkU

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I hope its good, but i think it will be more like like Black Mirror (which i love btw) and nothing like classic Twilight zone. Something with more sjwness and other contemporary stuff in it

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Serling was a sjw of his day.

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[deleted]

He treated people of color as equals before many shows did. Also, many of his subjects were people with all sorts of demons and character flaws that were often portrayed sympathetically. Moreover, people with hate in their hearts usually got the short end of the stick. I don't know if that constitutes SJW (within the context of the times), but there is little in TZ that even revisionists bitch about these days.

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[deleted]

To me, SJW implies someone who is perpetually offended about something and thinks they are more enlightened and superior to other people.


Yeah, that's my definition as well (actually, you're being kind), but SJWs don't see themselves that way.

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I was not familiar with this acronym, so I had to look it up. Apparently it was originally a positive term, but when people began using it as an insult on Twitter, it became negative. It certainly sounds positive to me, unless the person is not sincere.

As for Rod Serling, he did have very progressive attitudes on race, but not so much regarding gay people (which I take pains to overlook because I admire his work).

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SJW was a positive term. The problem is that some people don't know when a wrong is redressed and no more be done. Now the term is derisively (and accurately) used to describe asshats.


As for Rod Serling, he did have very progressive attitudes on race, but not so much regarding gay people (which I take pains to overlook because I admire his work).


His personal views or those in TZ episodes?

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What evidence do you have that Serling was a homophobe?

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It might be this, Turnip, at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/twilightzoneworfr/disturbing-fact-i-39-d-like-confirmed-or-refuted-t5240.html

There are other similar web links but most of them seem to stem from the above in terms of substance and/or allegation.

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Thanks for sharing that.

I think TLR1138 said it best: "I love Serling and admire his values and humanity, but he was still a flawed human being who could not completely escape the attitudes of the time he lived in."

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No problem. I got curious myself after reading the above - and I agree with you. Then too there's an even broader question: Who among us isn't somehow flawed? We're all of us to a great degree the product of individual upbringing. We carry everything we've ever learned virtually from the cradle to the grave - the good, the bad, and the ugly. The most any of us can do is our best at overcoming (or at least understanding) the latter two.

I'll say this in terms of the "evidentiary value" - at best it's thin as gruel. Were it put before me as a juror, I'd be forced to render a Scotch verdict pending submission of more seaworthy evidence.

Interestingly, neither Judaism nor Unitarianism (which I think Serling accepted after marrying Carol) carry any specific prohibition or denunciation of homosexuality.

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Well said.

From Wikipedia: "Traditionally, Judaism has understood homosexual male intercourse as contrary to Judaism, and this opinion is still maintained by Orthodox Judaism. On the other hand, Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism do not hold this view, and allow homosexual intercourse and same-sex marriage."

On the other hand, according to Wikipedia, Unitarian Universalism has always had a reputation of welcoming the LGBT community.

More importantly, it's hard to believe that the man who wrote this -- "Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man, that state is obsolete." -- would discriminate against any particular group, gay or otherwise.

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From Joel Engel's book, Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone (1989).
On the one hand, Serling is quoted as saying:
"I happen to think that singularly the worst aspect of our time is prejudice.... It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I've written, there is a thread of this--man's seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself" (p. 167).
On the other hand, Engel also quotes him as referring to some men in show business with the term "fag" (pp. 178, 202). Engel writes the following:
"His supermasculine personality was offended by homosexuality, and such homophobic epithets appeared regularly in his speech and letters, particularly when presumed gay actors had been cast in lead roles he imagined should be played by John Wayne. To his friends in the East, Serling took pleasure in confirming the homosexuality of certain male stars about whom there had been suspicions 'Incipient swishes,' he once said, were common at Antioch. And when an old paratrooper friend proclaimed in the mid-1960s his admiration for Serling and signed his letter 'love,' Serling overreacted. In a responding letter he detailed angrily and explicitly how sick and perverted he thought him to be and suggested immediate psychiatric help" (p. 202).
In his "Methodology and Sources" section, Engel notes his research at "UCLA's Research Library, looking through the many boxes of correspondence, manuscripts, and other memorabilia that Serling and his wife, Carol, had donated" as well as the collection of Serling's papers at the University of Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research and "perhaps fifty phone conversations" with Carol Serling (pp. 345-346).

As I said earlier, I make a conscious effort to set this aside in order to appreciate his work and his otherwise sincere concern for other marginalized people.

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Well, Serling converted to Unitarianism and Unitarianism -- at least Unitarian Universalism -- has a very progressive view of the LGBT community so maybe Serling's views on homosexuality evolved.

I'd like to see some of those letters the author references. Does he share any in his bio of Serling?

Interesting that he brought up John Wayne. Serling wrote "Showdown with Rance McGrew" as a dig at people like John Wayne, who got rich playing soliders and talking a big game about patriotism and serving one's country, even if same person elected to sit out WWII.

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Serling was NOT an "sjw." He was an intellectual, something no "sjw" will ever achieve (in fact, the "sjw" is pretty much the definition of anti-intellectual)

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Depends on definitions. Today, we have multiple languages under the umbrella of English.

I don't know the OP, but I assumed he was using the term benignly, as in Serling was a warrior against social injustice. His treatments of minorities, physical weaklings, mentally unstable, etc. characters was sympathetic in a time when that often wasn't the case. For instance, today there is no stigma to seeking psychiatric help, but back in the 50s, it was nearly scandalous (Nightmare at 20000 Feet for example).

Today, we use the term "SJW" to describe an over the top person who seeks what they believe is "justice" for those who have no need or don't deserve real justice, or defend a cause that negatively affects everyone else.

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Its now confirmed that Peele will host. I (along with lots of other fans, apparently) would love to see it in black and white. What I don't want is to see it be another Black Mirror. I know the shows get compared a lot, but The Twilight Zone needs to be unique. My biggest hope is just that it be better than the first two reboots.

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I like this little compendium of clips from original series that they did. And its in high-definition... cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdbTO-o1Dh8

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Very interesting. Like many here have said, I won’t subscribe to watch it but I’m sure I will find another way if the reviews are promising.

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Jordan Peele is like a chameleon. He can transform into any role and I will believe it. I would take him series as the host.

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I wouldn't watch it.

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