From an unsettlingly persistent hitchhiker to a malevolent slot machine, The Twilight Zone's first season did plumb "the pit of man's fears." One forgets how moving the series could be. Three of this season's most memorable and enduring episodes are the poignant and primal "stop-the-world-I-want-to-get-off fantasies, "Walking Distance," "A Stop at Willougby" and "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine," in which desperate characters seek refuge in a simpler past. Serling's few stabs at comedy ("Mr. Bevis," "The Mighty Casey") have not aged well, but the series finale, "A World of His Own," starring Keenan Wynn as a playwright whose fictional characters come to life, has a brilliant capper. The episodes are more deliberately paced than one might remember. Less patient younger viewers might be anxious to get to the payoffs, but once they settle into the rhythm, they will savor the literate writing and the performances by such veteran actors as Ed Wynn, Everett Sloan, and Ida Lupino, and newcomers such as Jack Klugman. The extras, including the unaired version of the pilot episode, "Where is Everybody?", audio commentaries and recollections, and a Serling college lecture, truly take this six-disc set to another dimension. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description
The complete first season of Rod Serling's classic groundbreaking series exploring the fantastic and the frightening. Episodes include: Where Is Everybody? One for the Angels Mr. Denton on Doomsday Sixteen Millimeter Shrine Walking Distance Escape Clause The Lonely Time Enough at Last Perchance to Dream Judgment Night And When the Sky Was Opened What You Need The Four of Us Are Dying Third from the Sun I Shot an Arrow into the Air The Hitch-Hiker The Fever The Last Flight The Purple Testament Elegy Mirror Image The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street A World of Difference Long Live Walter Jameson People Are Alike All Over Execution The Big Tall Wish A Nice Place to Visit Nightmare as a Child A Stop at Willoughby The Chaser A Passage for Trumpet Mr. Bevis The After Hours The Mighty Casey A World of His OwnSpecial Features:6-Disc Set; Stunning Brand-New Transfers! Remastered from new high-definition film transfers using the original camera negatives and magnetic soundtracks; Audio Commentaries by Earl Holliman Martin Landau Rod Taylor Martin Milner Kevin McCarthy Ted Post and William Self; Vintage Audio Recollections with Burgess Meredith Douglas Heyes Richard L. Bare Buck Houghton Anne Francis and Richard Matheson; Rod Serling Audio Lectures from Sherwood Oaks College; Isolated Music Scores featuring the legendary Bernard Herrmann Jerry Goldsmith and more; Rod Serling Promos for "Next Week's" Show; Original Unaired Pilot Version of "Where is Everybody?" with Rod Serling's Network Pitch; Rare Rod Serling Blooper.System Requirements: Running Time 900 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 014381243925 Manufacturer No: ID2439CUDVD