Happy birthday, The Twilight Zone! The classic series — which is about to be remade yet again into another film — debuted 50 years ago today. (Here are some guest stars who went on to be megafamous.)
I wonder if shows premiering now will have the same lasting impact. I…doubt it? And not because they’re not good or special or interesting, but because we dispose of them much faster. I feel like I watched a Twilight Zone marathon every New Years Eve when I was a kid, but I can’t really imagine watching, say, a 24 marathon 40-something years from now. There’s more of everything, and we go through it much faster.
Gaze into the crystal ball, PopWatchers: What if any contemporary show will be relevant 50 years from now?
Seinfeld…mark my words..
“Its a COOKBOOK!”
Best show ever!
I think one of the reasons TZ is so re-watchable is because everyone has a favorite episode (or many favorites), and it was an anthology- most every episode was unique, with different actors. I find I re-watch old anthology shows more than anything on DVD. With most any standard story drama I watch, even if I’m a big fan, I see it once and I don’t need to see it again.
Buffy and X-Files will probably hold onto their cult status over time- I could see a channel like Syfy (I cringe typing that) doing Halloween or New Years marathons of either show 30-40 years from now and having folks tune in. Of course, I think these shows need to go away for a while (not be in syndication) in order for them to be missed.
I finally saw a marathon of this show over the summer (maybe for July 4th?) and was completely underwhelmed. As a show that is considered a landmark not just of sci-fi, but of television, I was expecting to be really impressed by the stories, and instead I just found the show cheesy. I know the show is a product of its time, but seriously, how many different episodes playing up fear over Communism can you have?