Best Twilight Zone episode. Go.

[revbob]

Was the 80s TZ series bad?

Yes. Uninspired the whole way. It flat out looked cheap and the scripts were mostly weak cliches (which, perhaps, speaks to how amazing the original was). Generally lazy construction and presentation.

Doc remembers specifics. I just remember it sucked. I mean TV in general was really bad then. I'm trying to recall anything good from the 80s. Police Squad maybe? I suppose perhaps a handful of others but that seems excessive. Simpsons (1989) doesn't count.

St. Elsewhere is the one that immediately comes to mind. Proof of it being good is that it was always under threat of cancellation and survived only to show that NBC wasn't a complete toxic dump of inane sitcoms.

Yeah I never saw that one. My dad ruled the TV. He watched the police equivalent.

[Dr. Medulla]

Was the 80s TZ series bad?

Yes. Uninspired the whole way. It flat out looked cheap and the scripts were mostly weak cliches (which, perhaps, speaks to how amazing the original was). Generally lazy construction and presentation.

Doc remembers specifics. I just remember it sucked. I mean TV in general was really bad then. I'm trying to recall anything good from the 80s. Police Squad maybe? I suppose perhaps a handful of others but that seems excessive. Simpsons (1989) doesn't count.

St. Elsewhere is the one that immediately comes to mind. Proof of it being good is that it was always under threat of cancellation and survived only to show that NBC wasn't a complete toxic dump of inane sitcoms.

Yeah I never saw that one. My dad ruled the TV. He watched the police equivalent.

Funny, I've never seen Hill Street Blues.

[revbob]

Yes. Uninspired the whole way. It flat out looked cheap and the scripts were mostly weak cliches (which, perhaps, speaks to how amazing the original was). Generally lazy construction and presentation.

Doc remembers specifics. I just remember it sucked. I mean TV in general was really bad then. I'm trying to recall anything good from the 80s. Police Squad maybe? I suppose perhaps a handful of others but that seems excessive. Simpsons (1989) doesn't count.

St. Elsewhere is the one that immediately comes to mind. Proof of it being good is that it was always under threat of cancellation and survived only to show that NBC wasn't a complete toxic dump of inane sitcoms.

Yeah I never saw that one. My dad ruled the TV. He watched the police equivalent.

Funny, I've never seen Hill Street Blues.

Ha, you knew what I was talking about. My dad was big on cop shows.

[Dr. Medulla]

Doc remembers specifics. I just remember it sucked. I mean TV in general was really bad then. I'm trying to recall anything good from the 80s. Police Squad maybe? I suppose perhaps a handful of others but that seems excessive. Simpsons (1989) doesn't count.

St. Elsewhere is the one that immediately comes to mind. Proof of it being good is that it was always under threat of cancellation and survived only to show that NBC wasn't a complete toxic dump of inane sitcoms.

Yeah I never saw that one. My dad ruled the TV. He watched the police equivalent.

Funny, I've never seen Hill Street Blues.

Ha, you knew what I was talking about. My dad was big on cop shows.

Those two and LA Law were NBC's big three of respectable drama. I remember only bits and pieces of LA Law, tho.

[revbob]

St. Elsewhere is the one that immediately comes to mind. Proof of it being good is that it was always under threat of cancellation and survived only to show that NBC wasn't a complete toxic dump of inane sitcoms.

Yeah I never saw that one. My dad ruled the TV. He watched the police equivalent.

Funny, I've never seen Hill Street Blues.

Ha, you knew what I was talking about. My dad was big on cop shows.

Those two and LA Law were NBC's big three of respectable drama. I remember only bits and pieces of LA Law, tho.

Dad hated lawyers no way we were watching that. I recall some friends watching it. What little I saw it seemed to be a show of mostly overly good looking people.

[Dr. Medulla]

Yeah I never saw that one. My dad ruled the TV. He watched the police equivalent.

Funny, I've never seen Hill Street Blues.

Ha, you knew what I was talking about. My dad was big on cop shows.

Those two and LA Law were NBC's big three of respectable drama. I remember only bits and pieces of LA Law, tho.

Dad hated lawyers no way we were watching that. I recall some friends watching it. What little I saw it seemed to be a show of mostly overly good looking people.

That's about it. Very glamourized idea of being a lawyer—wealth, fast cars, sex. St. Elsewhere and HSB were more street level, more human. SE was alternately really funny and heartbreaking.

[Dr. Medulla]

Watched the first two episodes of the new series this morning. It's … okay. One is about a stand-up who learns that his material kills and a remake of "Nightmare …" that is a more contemporary in its anxieties and plot devices. My chief objection is that the episodes go too long. Rather than ratcheting up the tension, the long run time drags it out. But it's good enough to keep watching.

[matedog]

Watched the first two episodes of the new series this morning. It's … okay. One is about a stand-up who learns that his material kills and a remake of "Nightmare …" that is a more contemporary in its anxieties and plot devices. My chief objection is that the episodes go too long. Rather than ratcheting up the tension, the long run time drags it out. But it's good enough to keep watching.

I agree. Only watched the Kumail Nanjiani ep. I thought it was good, but yeah, went on a bit too long in such a way that the climax wasn't much of a climax. Also Jordan Peele just doesn't have the on screen gravitas of Serling (who does?) or maybe I just watched too much Key and Peele.

[Dr. Medulla]

Also Jordan Peele just doesn't have the on screen gravitas of Serling (who does?) or maybe I just watched too much Key and Peele.

Yeah, I couldn't tell whether he just didn't measure up to Serling—that I expected him to deliver an opening in a way that evoked Serling—or he was just flat. But the intros were lacklustre.

[matedog]

Also Jordan Peele just doesn't have the on screen gravitas of Serling (who does?) or maybe I just watched too much Key and Peele.

Yeah, I couldn't tell whether he just didn't measure up to Serling—that I expected him to deliver an opening in a way that evoked Serling—or he was just flat. But the intros were lacklustre.

I liked the set design and the awkward camera angles.

I'm assuming it's better than the 80s version. I'll try to watch the Adam Scott one sooner than later.

[Dr. Medulla]

Also Jordan Peele just doesn't have the on screen gravitas of Serling (who does?) or maybe I just watched too much Key and Peele.

Yeah, I couldn't tell whether he just didn't measure up to Serling—that I expected him to deliver an opening in a way that evoked Serling—or he was just flat. But the intros were lacklustre.

I liked the set design and the awkward camera angles.

I'm assuming it's better than the 80s version. I'll try to watch the Adam Scott one sooner than later.

It's already better than the 80s reboot, which looked like it was shot with a cheap camcorder. As much as anything, that's what killed the 80s series for me—it looked amateurish, like college students trying to do Rod Serling. These first two episodes at least look like the producers give a damn about how things look and flow.

[Flex]

Just watched the Peele episodes. First one would have been good with 10-15 minutes trimmed, but not a bad start. Second episode was a great new spin on the classic story, hope the shorter runtime and tighter storytelling is indicative of the rest of the series.

And I like Peele in the Serling role. I think he pulls it off well. Serling is obviously a singular personality, but I think Peele holds his own and offers enough variation that he can own the narrator spot himself.

[revbob]

So are these freely available or do you need to do jump thru the usual hoops to acquire them?

[Dr. Medulla]

So are these freely available or do you need to do jump thru the usual hoops to acquire them?

Hoops. Always hoops.

[revbob]

So are these freely available or do you need to do jump thru the usual hoops to acquire them?

Hoops. Always hoops.

I figured but I do tire of this at times. Maybe this is a sign for me to stop bothering with watching TV.