Toy Story Bracket Battle
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Toy Story 5 is now in production, and that announcement got us thinking…which Toy Story toy is the best? Put differently, if we found ourselves at a garage sale at Andy’s house and all of the Toy Story toys were in a box, which toy would we choose? It is March madness season, so that means we had to settle this question with a bracket! Who will come out victorious? We’re quite certain it’s not who you think! Grab your travel buddy, fill out your own bracket via the link below, and let’s find out which toy reigns supreme! (Is that a Zurg hint???)
Poetic Justice
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Season 5 of The Twilight Zone brought us two episodes handing out poetic justice to the lead characters. In “A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain,” an aging businessman drinks from a fountain of youth in order to satisfy his much younger, demanding wife. His plan backfires, leaving both of them to deal with life-altering consequences. In “Sounds and Silences,” a toy boat manufacturing executive forces everyone in his life to be constantly subjected to loud noises. His life is turned upside down when he develops hypersensitive hearing, and he’s forced to live his life with highly compromised hearing.
Am I Dreaming
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“Perchance to Dream” and “Twenty Two” are known for their psychological horror and explore the idea of being trapped in a nightmare or a dream that is indistinguishable from reality. They also examine the relationship between the mind, the subconscious, and the external world, as well as the idea that our dreams may hold hidden meanings and truths about our lives.
Big Talkers
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The world is full of big talkers, and not even the Twilight Zone can escape them. In season 2 Rod Serling wrote “The Silence” about two rich men who square off in an expensive bet, just so one of the men can be freed from the incessant talking of the other. In season 3 the Zone served up “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby,” a story about a country bumpkin that can spin yarns unlike anyone else. He’s abducted by aliens and is able to escape using his harmonica, but the townsfolk believe his story is just another of his exaggerated tales.
Before They Were Famous Part 2
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Hollywood legends Dennis Weaver and Robert Duvall each made trips into The Twilight Zone. In the season 2 episode, “Shadow Play,” Dennis Weaver portrayed Adam Grant, a man stuck in a dream where he is convicted to die over and over again in the electric chair. In season 4, Robert Duvall starred in, “Miniature,” a story where Charley Parkes falls in love with a woman from a museum display. Each of these two brilliant actors showed why they would soon become Hollywood legends.
Mind Your Business
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The power of the human mind is perhaps often underestimated, but it’s certainly capable of much more once it enters the Twilight Zone. Season 2 of Rod Serling’s masterpiece gave us two excellent examples. Episode 16 features Dick York in, “A Penny for Your Thoughts” and episode 27 showcases Shelley Berman in, “The Mind and the Matter.” Both of these light-hearted episodes had us cracking up and enjoying our trip to the Twilight Zone!
For the Love of Machines
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Are machines capable of love? Can they learn, adapt, conspire, or feel emotions? They definitely can in the Twilight Zone! In season 3, Ray Bradbury contributed the episode, “I Sing the Body Electric,” inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem of the same name. After losing their mother, a grieving father acquired a robot to help love, care, and raise his children. In season 5, Bernard C. Schoenfeld contributed the episode, From Agnes, With Love” in which a computer programmer is tormented by the jealous computer he works with at his office.
I See Dead People
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Whether it’s on the train to Willoughby or coming home from a ‘coon hunt, you never know when you might find yourself on a journey to the after life. You might discover that you’re seeing dead people and don’t know it, or even that you yourself have passed into the afterlife. At least, that’s the case with Mr. Williams and the Old Man in “A Stop at Willoughby” and “The Hunt.”
Elderly Exploits
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Stories that focus on the young or the elderly tend to bring us as viewers into an introspective frame of mind. Season 3 of The Twilight Zone gives us two such examples of this. “Kick the Can” blends both the elderly and the young into the storyline, giving us a double punch to ponder the innocence and wonder of childhood in a way that makes us never to grow old in our spirit. “The Trade-Ins” helps us appreciate the ones we cherish most and the life we’ve build together.
Single Actor Episodes
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It takes a gifted actor to be able to pull off a single-actor episode. When executed well – such as Agnes Moorehead’s “The Invaders,” the episode can become legendary. Since we’ve already covered that episode, this month we look at two other single-actor episodes. First up is Robert Cummings’ season 2 premiere, “King Nine Will Not Return.” Cummings portrays a US Air Force pilot who was unable to pilot what ended up being a fateful flight that took the lives of his entire crew. Next up we look at Mickey Rooney’s season 5 episode, “The Last Night of a Jockey.” Rooney plays Grady, a jockey who wishes he were big after being suspended for fixing races and doping.
