"The Twilight Zone" It's a Good Life (1961)

Director:

James Sheldon

Writers:

Jerome Bixby (story)
Rod Serling (teleplay) ...

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

3 November 1961 (Season 3, Episode 8)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

On an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish. |

Plot Keywords:

Power | Farm | Murder Plot | Abuse Of Power | Dictator

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Jan. 1

7:35 PM

SYFY

It's a Good Life

#3.8

Cast

John Larch	...	Mr. Fremont
Cloris Leachman	...	Mrs. Fremont
Don Keefer	...	Dan Hollis
Bill Mumy	...	Anthony Fremont (as Billy Mumy)
Alice Frost	...	Aunt Amy
Max Showalter	...	Pat Riley (as Casey Adams)
Jeanne Bates	...	Ethel Hollis
Lenore Kingston	...	Thelma Dunn
Tom Hatcher	...	Bill Soames

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Contains the longest opening narration of the series (or any Twilight Zone series).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there's a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror II (#3.7)" (1991)

Silly special effects, but still a great episode

This was one of the episodes of the original TWILIGHT ZONE series that was needlessly remade for THE TWILIGHT ZONE MOVIE. While the latter incarnation had better special effects, the original was better in every other way and proves that the people out in Hollywood are often idiots--choosing to remake things out of sheer laziness and contempt for the audience.

Cute little Billy Mumy stars as a bored little monster who is terrorizing an entire town. It seems this kid is a freak who has amazing mental powers but lacks the moral development to use it wisely. Again and again, at the slightest whim, this brat kills or maims people--forcing the survivors to cater to his every wish or else!! What I especially liked was the vague way it all ended--unlike the stupid movie version.

By the way, I am not 100% against remakes--I just want them to be intelligently written and necessary. THE SIMPSON'S version of this episode is excellent.