The Twilight Zone: Season Two

The Twilight Zone: Season Two, 1960-1961. A collection of modern-day fairy tales.

Created by Rod Serling. Directed by Buzz Kulik (5 episodes), Douglas Heyes (5), Jack Smight (3), James Sheldon (3), David Orrick McDearmon (2), Richard L. Bare (2), Jus Addiss (2), John Brahm (2), Don Medford (1), John Rich (1), Boris Sagal (1), Montgomery Pittman (1), & Elliot Silverstein (1). Written by Serling (20 episodes), Charles Beaumont (5), Richard Matheson (2), E. Jack Neuman (1), George Clayton Johnson (1), & William Idelson (1). Starring Robert Cummings, Luther Adler, Joe Mantell, Richard Haydn, H.M. Wynant, Maxine Stuart, William Shatner, Inger Stevens, Brian Aherne, Fred Clark, Jean Carson, Art Carney, Thomas Gomez, Russell Johnson, Jack Carson, Agnes Moorehead, Dick York, Barbara Nichols, John Anderson, Burgess Meredith, Dean Jagger, Dane Clark, Buddy Ebsen, Philip Abbott, Patricia Smith, Cliff Robertson, Simon Oakland, Oscar Beregi Jr., Franchot Tone, Liam Sullivan, Dennis Weaver, Shelley Berman, & John Hoyt.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: There are a few bad episodes, and at its best, it's never as good as the best of season 1. It might be more consistently good on average, though. Or maybe I just enjoyed it more because I wasn't mistakenly expecting science fiction this time. B

GPA: 3.0/4

The Twilight Zone: Season One (wrap-up)

The Twilight Zone: Season One, 1959-1960. A collection of modern-day fairy tales.

[see individual episode posts for details]

Concept: Great idea for a show, although the episodes only occasionally have good ideas. A [episode-by-episode average: 2.89/4]
Story: I was surprised by how weak the stories are. I mean, they're mostly good, but I expected greatness. C [average: 2.39/4]
Characters: C [average: 2.14/4]
Dialog: B [average: 2.5/4]
Pacing: B [average: 2.67/4]
Cinematography: Great for early television. B [average: 2.69/4]
Special effects/design: B [average: 2.53/4]
Acting: B [average: 2.83/4]
Music: B [average: 2.89/4]
Enjoyment: I had extremely high expectations for this show - reinforced by the exceptional first episode - so maybe I'm not judging it fairly. But The Twilight Zone is not everything I'd hoped it would be. The few great episodes make up for a lot, though. And even when it doesn't work, they're at least constantly trying to do something different. B [average: 2.72/4]

GPA: 2.9/4 [episode-by-episode average: 2.63/4]