Courtesy: CBS Blu-ray/Paramount
The Twilight Zone is one of the most revered television series of the 20th century. The sci-fi series has inspired TV writers across the board ever since it first aired almost 60 years ago. It has enjoyed its own continued life both on television and on various home video platforms in that time, too. That continued life on home video includes a new pair of re-issues this fall. The series’ was re-issued on DVD early this past October. That re-issue was followed up by a Blu-ray re-issue of the series last week. The series’ latest Blu-ray re-issue is a welcome addition to the home library of any of the show’s fans who might not already own any of the series’ previous releases. That is due in part to the presentation of the episodes themselves. While the episodes’ presentation is key to the set’s overall presentation, it is just one of the set’s key elements. The set’s episode listing is just as important to note as the episodes themselves. The bonus material presented in this collection rounds out its most important elements. Each element is clearly important in its own right to the collection’s presentation. All things considered The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series proves to be a re-issue that any of the series’ fans will welcome to their home DVD/BD libraries. That is especially the case for fans who might not already own any of the series’ previous releases.
CBS Blu-ray’s brand new Blu-ray re-issue of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series is a set that the show’s fans will openly welcome in their own home libraries. That applies primarily to those fans who might not already own any of the show’s previous full-series incarnations. That is due in part to the episodes’ presentation. The episodes are presented here exactly as they were presented in their original broadcast on CBS so many decades ago complete with commercial breaks and original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. In other words, it looks exactly as it did in its original broadcast. The black bars are there on either side. Of course, what with modern technological advances, audiences can handle that by setting their TVs to “cinema” mode (or whatever related mode each different brand might use) if they want a full-screen viewing experience. The commercial breaks are perfectly clean both going to and coming back, too. This could be chalked up to the fact that the episodes were taken directly from the transfers presented in Image Entertainment’s (now RLJ Entertainment) Blu-ray series presentation. That set was released in 2010 along with the series’ separate standalone season sets. Speaking of those releases, each disc even opens with the Image Entertainment slate, letting audiences know this collection was a direct transfer from that collection. This plays directly into the bonus material included in this collection and will be discussed later. Getting back on topic, the episodes’ presentation in this collection proves in the end to be key in its own right to the collection’s overall presentation. It is just one shining piece of the set’s overall presentation. The set’s episode listing is just as important to note as the episodes’ presentation to the set’s overall presentation.
The presentation of The Twilight Zone’s episodes in this latest re-issue is a key piece of the set’s overall presentation. That is because the episodes are presented here just as they were in their original broadcast on CBS nearly six decades ago. The commercial breaks are there and are perfectly edited both going and coming. Each episode is also presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. In other words, nothing has been lost in this latest transfer from Image Entertainment’s previous Blu-ray re-issue of the classic series. While the episodes’ presentation are key to this set’s overall presentation, they are only part of what makes this latest re-issue stand out. The episode listing is just as important to note as the episodes themselves. Audiences will note that each season’s episodes are listed clearly and chronologically not just once but twice. Each season is listed separate from the others inside the box’s front cover with the episodes in the exact order in which they originally aired. This instantly eliminates confusion for audiences. Even more impressive is that the episodes are linked with their respective discs, too. As if that isn’t enough, the people at CBS Blu-ray and Paramount even went so far as to include episode listings on each disc, too. This completely eliminates any guessing when audiences are looking for specific episodes. That makes the set’s overall presentation and viewing experience all the more enjoyable and entertaining. It isn’t the last important element to note in examining the set’s overall presentation. The set’s bonus material rounds out its most important elements.
The presentation of the episodes in CBS Blu-ray and Paramount’s new Blu-ray re-issue of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series and their listing are both key pieces of the set’s overall presentation. They are not its only key elements. The bonus material included in the set is just as important to note as the episodes’ presentation and their listing. As noted earlier, the set presented here is the exact same set presented to audiences back in 2010 by Image Entertainment (now RLJ Entertainment) right down to the Image Entertainment slate that opens each disc. What this means is that audiences not lucky enough to get that set will still get to see exactly what audiences with that set get/got to enjoy in terms of its bonus material. Not every episode comes with bonus material. But there is still plenty of bonus material to go around. Audiences will enjoy taking in Burgess Meredith’s interview with Marc Scott Zicree in “Time Enough At Last” in which Meredith reveals he didn’t know series creator Rod Serling before acting in that episode. He also revealed that he had a dislike for doing series that required constant appearances in that interview. “Night of The Meek” offers its own enlightening audio commentary track in which viewers learn about star Art Carney’s reason for taking on his role. Audiences will find just as entertaining the revelation that this episode was filmed at CBS’ studios in Los Angeles, so the snow had to be created for the episode since the episode was filmed on a sound stage and the very fact that it never snows in Los Angeles. As if all of this isn’t enough, many of the episodes even offer audiences the option of experiencing the episode in a radio-drama format. This and so much more makes the bonus material included in this latest Twilight Zone full series re-issue just as important to examine as the episodes’ presentation and their listing. Not every episode comes with bonus material, and the bonus material isn’t listed inside the box, either. That is a little problematic. At the same time though, it makes the discovery process enjoyable in its own right. To that end, the bonus material still proves to be important in its own right to this set’s presentation. When it is set alongside the presentation of the set’s episodes and their listing, all three elements make this set’s overall presentation hugely enjoyable and in turn, make the set in whole a collection that will be welcome in the home collection of any of the show’s fans. That applies primarily to those fans who might not already own the show in any of its previous full-series sets.
CBS Blu-ray and Paramount’s new Blu-ray presentation of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series is a set that will be welcome in the library of any of the show’s fans. That applies especially to fans who might not already own the show in its previous full-series releases. That is due in no small part to the fact that the episodes are presented here exactly as they were in the show’s original run. The commercial breaks are there and are edited expertly both going to and coming back. The episodes are shown in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, adding a certain element of nostalgia to the viewing experience. The episodes’ dual listing adds even more to the set’s presentation. It completely eliminates any confusion in looking for specific episodes. The bonus material included in this set is the same material included in Image Entertainment’s (now RLJ Entertainment) Blu-ray set released in 2010. While not every episode comes with bonus material, there is still a large amount of material for audiences to enjoy. It includes interviews and audio commentaries along with standalone radio drama presentations of specific episodes just to name a few items. The bonus material isn’t listed inside the set’s box. But that actually makes discovering the bonus material all the more enjoyable for audiences. Viewers need just select “Episodes” instead of “Play All Episodes” in order to discover each episode’s bonus material.
This new full-series re-issue of The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series boast plenty of positives even with one of those positives having a tiny negative that ultimately proves a positive, too. Keeping that in mind, the set’s only other real negative is its packaging. The packaging of the discs is touchy at best. When trying to take out or replace discs, other discs might slip out, leading to an increased chance of discs being damaged via scratching. This is an issue from which every one of CBS and Paramount’s recent series re-issues (I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, Hogan’s Heroes, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., Star Trek) has suffered. It is a troubling matter. But comparably speaking, it does make the packaging more ergonomic than so many of the show’s other full-series sets. To that end, CBS and Paramount can be forgiven. Hopefully it will be taken into consideration with any of the companies’ upcoming re-issues of other CBS series. All things considered, The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series proves, again, to be a collection that fans of the timeless series will welcome in their own home libraries if they don’t own any of the series’ previous full-series sets. It is available now in stores and online.
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