[CBS AA] Twilight Zone Reboot

[Isgrimnur]

EW

After years of rotating in and out of development, with plenty of false starts, a new reboot of The Twilight Zone is officially a go.

The iconic anthology series — a show many consider to be among the best TV series ever made — is coming to CBS All Access.

The show will have a trio of producers with genre experience at the helm: Jordan Peele (Get Out), Simon Kinberg (The X-Men franchise), and Marco Ramirez (The Defenders).
...
There’s no word yet on when the new Twilight Zone will air or for how many episodes.

[gameoverman]

The '80s version was pretty damn good in my opinion. It showed that someone could do something with that franchise. They need stories though, it's all about the writers.

[hepcat]

I want a decent Night Gallery reboot using the same theme song that is, to this day, the only music that can invoke pure dread in me. Seriously, that friggin' theme scared the living crap out of me.

[Pyperkub]

The '80s version was pretty damn good in my opinion. It showed that someone could do something with that franchise. They need stories though, it's all about the writers.

Yup, 100% about the writers.

[hentzau]

I want a decent Night Gallery reboot using the same theme song that is, to this day, the only music that can invoke pure dread in me. Seriously, that friggin' theme scared the living crap out of me.

+1.

And for some reason, the theme song from the NBC Mystery Movie gives me the willies too.

[Smoove_B]

Finally coming = April 1st. Or it's a cruel joke.

CBS All Access has announced that the upcoming reboot of anthology series “The Twilight Zone” will premiere on the service on April 1st with two episodes. Subsequent episodes will premiere on Thursdays beginning April 11th.

Actors slated to appear in the various episodes of the first season of the new series include John Cho, Sanaa Lathan, Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Allison Tolman, Greg Kinnear, DeWanda Wise, Jessica Williams, Taissa Farmiga, Rhea Seehorn, Ike Barinholtz, Steven Yeun, and Jacob Tremblay.

Jordan Peele will executive produce the series and provide opening and closing narrations for each episode. Simon Kinberg and Marco Ramirez will also serve as executive producers

Still not buying a subscription service though.

[Jeff V]

Finally coming = April 1st. Or it's a cruel joke.

CBS All Access has announced that the upcoming reboot of anthology series “The Twilight Zone” will premiere on the service on April 1st with two episodes. Subsequent episodes will premiere on Thursdays beginning April 11th.

Actors slated to appear in the various episodes of the first season of the new series include John Cho, Sanaa Lathan, Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Allison Tolman, Greg Kinnear, DeWanda Wise, Jessica Williams, Taissa Farmiga, Rhea Seehorn, Ike Barinholtz, Steven Yeun, and Jacob Tremblay.

Jordan Peele will executive produce the series and provide opening and closing narrations for each episode. Simon Kinberg and Marco Ramirez will also serve as executive producers

Still not buying a subscription service though.

Might be a joke - I don't know everyone on that list but there are some comedians if I'm not mistaken. But considering the channel...I declare fake news.

[hepcat]

You keep using that term. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Kraken]

This is a thing I read: Commercial airliners have a diamond symbol above the seat row with the best view of the wing, in case the crew ever needs to make a visual inspection. They call it the Shatner row.

[Smoove_B]

Still not paying for it.

[Isgrimnur]

Well, you don't have to pay for one episode:

[YellowKing]

Watched both episodes.

The first one was kind of weak sauce - I think the only thing worse than bad stand-up is watching fictional bad stand-up. I was bored and starting to tune out by the halfway point.

On the other hand, the second episode (Nightmare at 30,000 Feet) was a brilliant modernization of the original. Loved it.

[Holman]

I haven't seen any episodes, but reviews I've seen suggest that while the show is technically good, it lacks the aura of the original.

That aura came from Rod Serling having to *suggest* horror and wonder because the norms of TV wouldn't allow the TZ to show them directly.

Now that anything goes in medialand, what can Jordan Peele suggest that can't be shown?

[Defiant]

I watched the first episode. I enjoyed it - it was suitably Twilight-Zoney. But it didn't need to be that long - you could have easily cut 10+ minutes off of it.

[Kraken]

I haven't seen any episodes, but reviews I've seen suggest that while the show is technically good, it lacks the aura of the original.

That aura came from Rod Serling having to *suggest* horror and wonder because the norms of TV wouldn't allow the TZ to show them directly.

Now that anything goes in medialand, what can Jordan Peele suggest that can't be shown?

TZ was groundbreaking. If Peele can break new ground with a retread, I'll be suitably impressed. Well, not in person, since it's on No Access...but I'll be vicariously impressed.

(I haven't watched the link yet.)

[Kraken]

For some reason Firefox has decided not to play Youtube tonight. Chrome has no such qualms so I watched the linked episode.

I have to say that it exceeded expectations. I was skeptical that it could sustain an hour after telegraphing the setup in the first 5 minutes, and I don't like stories where the characters take longer to realize what's up than the audience does. Part of TZ's secret sauce was telling short stories concisely. But this unfolded well and I didn't see the ending coming, so points there. Acting, writing, camerawork and production in general are top-drawer. The worst I can say is that I don't like Jordan Peele's Rod Serling impression. I wouldn't subscribe to watch it, but I'd watch it if I subscribed.

[YellowKing]

I subbed long enough to watch this and Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery. I think I have a few episodes of Big Bang Theory to catch up on as well.

With the way all these streaming services are diversifying, it's just going to have to be a piecemeal process of subbing up just long enough to watch what I want then canceling for awhile. No way I'm going back to paying the amount of money I was spending on cable just to juggle 20 different services.

[Torfish]

It's really unfortunate that CBS and others major network TV companies are creating their own exclusive services, then only putting some of their shows exclusively on their own streams. I loved the original Twilight Zone, but I'm out. I will not sub to multiple streaming services. Netflix is enough money and content for me to absorb.

[gameoverman]

I thought that comedian episode was pretty bad. Bad enough that I'm surprised, and disappointed, that the showrunners thought it was good enough to release. I got a Stephen King vibe off it, Quitter's Inc being the story I'm thinking of, but it was missing the kind of characters SK manages to create. This comedian was so bad at standup it was ridiculous. I could not sympathize with him at all. I was trying to understand why they'd let him go on stage more than once, hearing his first attempt should have been enough to end any chance of them letting him back out there. I think it might have worked better if the first part of the episode skipped the standup routine and instead just showed him living his life, allowing the audience a chance to relate to him. Then they could show a bit of standup later, not so terrible though, and go from there. The key to him, I thought, was his desperation for success, not that he's a lousy standup comic. He could be average at comedy and the idea still works.