A Happy 2010... in The Twilight Zone

Submitted for your approval: a year which approaches denotes the chronology of us establishing contact upon an intergalactic scale.  But for now, we turn to an annual tradition with a cable channel taking us through an incredible journey as we countdown to this wondrous year.

There's the signpost up ahead: you've just entered the Twilight Zone Marathon.

During this annual tradition, I fondly recall the subtle tales with which we've been grateful to one Mr. Rod Serling.. tales which have remarkably endured not only humour, satire and parody, but the very essence of Time itself.  So much so, these journeys have recently been transposed from screen to radio, thanks to one Mr. Carl Amari and Stacy Keach, as well as actors who have revived these unforgettable classics.

You can paruse this fantastic dimensional take at this address: http://www.twilightzoneradio.com/index.html

But I regret I digress, as I'd like to share some of my favourite endeavors into the Twilight Zone:

1. Number Twelve Looks A Lot Like You - Chronocast: January 24, 1964

"Given the chance, what young girl wouldn't happily exchange a plain face for a lovely one?  What girl could refuse the opportunity to be beautiful?  For want of a better estimate, let's call it the year 2000.  At any rate, imagine a time in the future when science has developed a means of giving everyone the face and body he dreams of.  It may not happen tomorrow, but it happens now.. in the Twilight Zone."

Somewhere in the future, cosmetics and plastic surgery have replaced braces and contact lenses, and children at age of 19 are required to enter a transformation.  Not unlike my own Regeneration, but on a less randomised course, since this grants them an opportunity to become surgically--if not genetically--altered to resemble one of a limited number of fashion models.

Dream come true, you say? Not quite for Marilyn, whom at the age of 18, has reservations about appearing like everyone else.  For as she has learned from her late father, in a realm without ugliness, there can be no beauty.  And if you're the same as everybody, isn't it the same as being nobody?  Regrettably, poor Marilyn's views are misinterpreted as teen rebellion, as she is promptly sent to a doctor, then a psychiatrist.  But Marilyn's perspectives end up being dashed when she ends up undergoing the transformation herself, unwillingly, of course.

"Portrait of a young lady in love... with herself. Improbable? Perhaps. But in an age of plastic surgery, body building, and an infinity of  cosmetics, let us hesitate to say impossible. These and other strange beings may be waiting in the future, which after all... is the Twilight Zone."

Long before the Orwell/Big Brother hysteria was being revived in 1984, "Number 12 Looks a Lot Like You," not only forwarned us the dangers of society becoming perfect, but what we could lose while acquiring said perfection.  Strangely enough, what makes this a timeless tale is the frightening possibility of it coming true. Especially when one considers how science dedicates itself for not only prolonging life itself, but also focusing on the fact we desire in having perfect bodies.  No matter what the decade, century, or era, we tend to favour the concept of oblierating those imperfections which we deem as ugly.

Apparently, this is one of the best cautionary tales I've witnessed within this dimension.  Speaking of which.. here's another that I find rather intriguing at best... 

2. The Midnight Sun - Chronocast: November 17, 1961

"The word that Mrs. Bronson is unable to put into the hot, still, sodden air is 'doomed'...because the people you've just seen have been handed a death sentence.  One month ago, the Earth suddenly changed its eliptical orbit and in doing so began to follow a path which gradually, moment by moment, day by day, took it closer to the sun. And all of man's little devices to stir up the air are now no longer luxuries--they happen to be pitiful and panicky keys to survival. The time is five minutes to twelve, mignight. There is no more darkness. The place is New York City and this is the eve of the end, because even at midnight it's high noon...the hottest day in history, and you're about to spend it... in the Twilight Zone."

Mysteriously, the Earth has left its orbit and is slowly moving towards the sun, dooming mankind to a scorched extinction, as the scientist theorize.  All of the residents of Mrs. Bronson's apartment house have made attempts for migrating north.  All except for Norma, a young painter who appears to remain calm amidst the madness.

As the hours and days pass, the radio announcer starts losing his sanity, the landlady acts like a wild animal over a cool drink, the electric power stays off for much extended periods of time.  Not to mention a looter barges into Norma's apartment, driven out of his skull from the current circumstances.  Even Mrs. Bronson protests violently for Norma to not paint the sun anymore.


Eventually Norma does paint a waterfall scene for Mrs. Bronson, only to have the landlady hallucinate, then collapse from heat exhaustion.  Suddenly the extreme heat makes the windows burn to the touch, the thermometer to explode and the oils to melt upon her canvas.  Norma screams desperately before collapsing to her death. 


Without warning, Norma awakens, discovering the entire ordeal was nothing more than a feverish nightmare.  Relieved, she is unaware the Earth has indeed left its orbit, however, this time around, it's heading away from the sun, now plunging mankind into an endless ice age, dooming it into a frozen extinction.


"The poles of fear. The extremes of how the Earth might conceivably be doomed. Minor exercise in the care and feeding of a nightmare. Respectfully submitted by all the thermometer watchers... in the Twilight Zone."

Although not as chaotic, nor disastrous as the recent film '2012,' The Midnight Sun still brings chills down ones spine (or is that sweating bullets?) over the fact of how humankind could deal with such extremities as a never-ending day, let alone a possible endless night.  Interestingly enough this tale was popular for the fact there were people who feared the probable mishap of the Earth being flung from its orbit.


Ironically, one must speculate if this tale was the inspiration for the phenomena we now denote as 'global warming,' or perhaps also a forewarning of things yet to come if we aren't a bit more mindful of Earth itself.


Then again, another cautionary tale deals not as somuch environmental change, but rather one upon a more personal note instead.

3. The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street - Chronocast: March 4, 1960

"Maple Street, U.S.A., late summer. A tree-lined little world of front porch gliders, barbeques, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice-cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and the flash of light, it will be precisely six-forty-three PM on Maple Street... This is Maple Street on a late Saturday afternoon.  Maple Street--in the last calm and reflective moment.. before the monsters came!"

Throughout my Incarnations, I've always stated Paranoia and Suspicions are far more deadly than the Daleks and F-Clones themselves.  Regrettably, this foray into the Twilight Zone proves it beyond recognition.  By a simple flash of light overhead in the late afternoon, Maple Street finds itself in the grip of a massive power failure.  But not only are the electronic devices are affected, but the automobiles and power lawn mowers as well.


Before anyone can venture forth to learn of this enigmatic malady, a young child forewarns the citizens of Maple Street that aliens from outer space are responsible (for shame, Tommy, The Doctor and myself were nowhere near Maple Street at the time!).  Making matters worse, Tommy suggests a few of these beings might already be living among their community.


As hours pass, suspicions begin growing, especially when Les Goodman's automobile springs to life, the lights in Charlie's house come on, and everyone starts pointing accusatory fingers at each other.


Ironically Charlie ends up shooting Pete Van Horn in the streets, mistaking him for an alien.  Rather than accept the consequences for his actions, Charlie promptly blames Tommy for the scare, causing the inhabitants to become a mob.  Chaos ensues as the entire neighbourhood becomes a murderous frenzy.  Meanwhile two aliens observe their handiwork, as one comments by cutting off the power and throwing the humans into darkness for a short while, they will find their own worst enemy--themselves.


Having witnessing the results first-hand, the alien race plans on going from one Maple Street to the other until all of mankind has exterminated itself.


"The tools of conquest do not necesarily come with bombs and explosions and fall-out. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices--to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fall-out all its own for the children... and the children yet unborn.  And the pity of it is... that these things cannot be confined to...The Twilight Zone."

Even though this was briefly parodied in "Family Guy," as with Number 12, this episode always remains timeless.  Mainly because this tale seems to have become the foundation for many paranoia tales, as with "The Trigger Effect," showing what occurs when mankind experiences an inexplicable blackout.  The tale did regenerate within the New Twilight Zone, except instead of aliens being responsible, the culprits were employees from a special branch of the U.S. government, for the power blackouts.  According to them, they were conducting tests to see how small town America would react in the face of foreign terrorism.

Yet, regrettably, I fear, from real events, I've witnessed the Maple Street Effect all too well.  Rather a sad modernisation of the Salem Witch Trials, except then it was simply a means for controlling one through fear and suspicions than anything else.


More disturbing was Mr. Serling omitting the fact the aliens never got the chance for carrying out their plan.  Seems the Daleks and F-Clones didn't care for their plans, for what they hated more than someone beating them to an ingenious plan, was a bunch of smartasses.  Sad, really... but why don't we steer to something a bit more.. compassionate...

4. Long Distance Call - Chronocast: March 31, 1961

"As must be obvious, this is a house hovered over by Mr. Death--that omnipresent player to the third and final act of every life. And it's been said, and probably rightfully so, that what follows this lift is one of the unfathomable mysteries. An area of darkness which we the living reserve for the dead... or so it is said. For in a moment, a child will try to cross that bridge which separates light and shadow... and of course, he must take the only known route, that indistinct highway through the region we call...the Twilight Zone."

You know, I've always said family's important.  And in Billy's case, this definitely rings true as he has formed a strong bond with his grandmother.  While Billy celebrates his fifth birthday, he receives a toy telephone from her as a gift.  Unfortunately, the celebrations are short-lived as Grandma suffers a stroke and passes away moments later.


Before and after the funeral, Billy pretends to communicate with Grandma through the toy telephone.  Or is it really pretend, since Sylvia and Chris, Billy's parents, start noticing their son's strange behaviour.  Especially when Billy starts attempting to 'visit' Grandma in the netherworld (of course, my Uncle Beetlejuice could oblige, but Serling and Burton don't get along, from what I've heard.). 


Sylvia confirms this by claiming to have heard Grandma on the toy phone.  But her rage and fear alienate Billy, who can't comprehend why he cannot talk to his Grandma anymore.  Especially when Sylvia breaks the toy phone.  Disraught, Billy runs off and drowns in the backyard pool.  The paramedics come and attempt on reviving the child, while Chris goes upstairs and temporarily repairs the toy phone (well, I'm assuming, since apparently the toy phone seems to have repaired itself).  Pretending to contacting his mother, Chris pleads for his son's return.  Because Billy is only five, he's never experienced love, playing baseball or driving his first car.  


As Chris pleads with her, Grandma agrees, and the medics are mystified when Billy pulls through.


"A toy telephone... an act of faith... a set of improbable circumstances all combine to probe a mystery, to fathom a depth, to send a facet of light into a dark after-region. To be believed or disbelieved depending on your frame of reference. A fact or a fantasy. A substance or a shadow. But all of it very much a part... of the Twilight Zone."

Though one might find this tale a bit on the schmaltzy side, it does show what faith can really do.  Interestingly enough, though we might find Death a bit morbid, it's interesting how a toy phone can make a child feel as if he can transcend those boundaries by still talking to a loved one.

Despite the fact, I rarely approve of said loved one to allow her living relation to do away with himself, it is intriguing how the faith of another helps his child by remarkable means: convincing the deceased to return the one she loves to the land of the living.  One of the rare tales where it does have a more joyous ending than shocking one... then again... there's one more tale I seem to fancy...

5. The Night of the Meek - Chronocast: December 23, 1960

"This is Mr. Henry Corwin, normally unemployed, who once a year takes the lead role in the uniquely popular American institution, that of the department-store Santa Claus in a road company version of  'The Night Before Christmas.' But in just a moment Mr. Henry Corwin, ersatz Santa Claus, will enter a strange kind of North Pole which is one part the wondrous spirit of Christmas and one part the magic that can only be found...in the Twilight Zone."

Henry Corwin, a downtrodden soul who finds salvation from Jack Daniels, is hired by a department store to play the role of Santa Claus.  Naturally, he loses his job on Christmas Eve when he shows up to work intoxicated, stating the reason behind such is the fact he feels people have forgotten the true meaning of the Holidays.


Discovering a magic sack within an alley, Corwin becomes the real deal when he starts passing out presents to those in need.  Whatever people ask for, the sack automatically provides it with no questions asked.  However, when Corwin starts handing out gifts at a local mission, the police promptly arrest him for distributing stolen goods.  However, when they open the sack, they find nothing but a cat and some garbage.


After he is released from custody, Corwin continues passing out gifts again--until the sack is completely empty.  Witnessing the smiles on the faces of the homeless and poor, Corwin wishes he could put the same smiles on the meek every holiday season.  Wandering the alleyway late that evening, he is approached by a young elf and a sleigh with reindeer--his wish has been granted and next year Corwin, alias Santa Claus, will spread cheer for those in need.


"A word to the wise to all the children of the twentieth century, whether their concern be pediatrics or geriatrics, whether they crawl on hands and knees and wear diapers or walk with a cane and comb their beards. There's a wondrous magic to Christmas and there's a special power reserved for little people. In short, there's nothing mightier than the meek."

Even though the Holidays have come and gone, and this isn't quite a Dickens' Classic, The Night of the Meek is one of the better tales reserved for the fact it reveals the true spirit of the season.  And without the syrupy-sweet overindulgence we get handed with most holiday tales.  Basically it deals with a man who ends up regaining his hope and spirit for the holidays simply by providing for others with a magic sack.

And the fact, he wishes for performing the same miracle for every year at this time.

As 2010 approaches, I hope you all have a Wondrous New Year, and if you wish to share your favourite tales here, it's most appreciated.  Especially in a junction I like to call... The Twilight Zone.

The Box Expands to Film

Submitted for your approval:  A short tale from the Zone by one Mr. Richard Matheson in 1986, transforms into a two-hour film.  The tale in question is about a financially-strapped couple who is given an enigmatic box with a red-button affixed upon its top.

The function is relatively simple:  push the red button, earn a million dollars.  But there is one slight catch:  in exchange for the compensation, an unknown must cease to exist.  The moral dilemma is, would you push the button, risking the consequences in exchange for financial gain?

Though I confess, this is one tale I regrettably had only gone through halfway, thanks to a faulty television and reconfigured dimensional randomizer.  Thus, I myself never witnessed the end result of what the couple's actions had wrought.

Curiously, however, I ponder how one can successfully transpose a story for the Twilight Zone into a two-hour film?  Perhaps The Box may provide more dilemmas than what Mr. Matheson had to offer.  For the problem I can only see is similar to the manga Ikigami - The Ultimate Limit, where one is randomly killed by the government at a predetermined date.  Whereas one doesn't know whom might be exterminated, and if I know my delightful twists as I normally do, perhaps the unknown might be one of the couple itself.

Strange, I can envision my old friend, The Cryptkeeper, maniacally laughing at this prospect.  Also, if memory serves, Bender found a unique loophole with The Box when he was offered the same deal (Futurama Comics: 'Let's Twist Again.'):  By bashing the box over the robot's head who offered Bender the deal.

Robot (handing the money to Bender):  N-nice l-loophole!

Strange... but only oddities have occurred from such things originating from a little dimension we know simply as.. The Twilight Zone...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Submitted for your approval:  One L. Frank Baum.  A man who had many successes and failures in life, but like our Mr. Rod Serling, is most famous not in autobiographical history, but for creating a dimension of wonder.  One, similar to the Twilight Zone, has outlived its creator and became an instant component in Americana.  The place I am referring to, of course, is OZ.

Rumour speculates Baum discovered the name from an implausible source, a dictionary bearing the script O to Z.  However, what is known is when Baum created The Wonderful Wizard of OZ, it had promptly spawned several sequels about this mystical land and its people.

The tale is rather a simple one at best:  a young girl and her dog have inexplicably transported to another realm by means of a cyclone.  Once there, she inadvertently saves the inhabitants from one wicked witch by dropping in on her.  As she discovers her predicament, she encounters the Good Witch of the North, and given the former Witch's magic slippers.

Thus she embarks on her quest to locate OZ himself, the Wizard who can help her return back to her own realm known as Kansas.  Upon her journey, Dorothy, with her dog, Toto, come across three bizarre individuals:  The Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.  Each with a request for our intrepid Wizard:  a brain, a heart and some courage.

Thus, they promptly transverse the Yellow Brick Road to go to the Emerald City, stumbling across unusual dangers, such as Kalidahs and the Infamous Poppy Field.  Despite the technicolor vision produced by MGM. the real story behind OZ appears more enchanting, if not more curious.

For instance, in the case of the Tin Man, he was not originally a victim of the Wicked Witch of the West as the film would have you surmise.  But instead, he was an unwittingly victim of the former Witch of the East, all for the love of a Munchkin girl.  Where, like our Cybermen and Borg, our poor woodchopper ends up replacing his body from flesh and blood to tin, due to an enchanted axe.  Afterwards, discovering in his haste for interchanging his missing parts, he now realizes he lacks one thing making him once human:  a heart.

Another tale altered is Dorothy's encounter with the Wicked Witch of the West, where in this one, though she employs the Flying Monkeys to capture her.  The tale actually has our Wicked protagonist have the flying simians dispatch of the Scarecrow and Tin Man, whereas Dorothy is spared by the North Witch's kiss, and the Lion due to the fact the West Witch wants him for her beast of burden.  

Enslaving the child of Kansas and imprisoning the Lion, the West Witch attempts getting the slippers from Dorothy.  But is felled when she causes Dorothy to trip over an invisible, iron bar and obtains one of the slippers.  Angered by the witch, Dorothy throws the bucket of water upon her.  Thus, our fiendish sorceress ends up being melted and washed away, freeing the Winkies from her once-cruel reign.

Though much later, in the Emerald City, when the Wizard is revealed to be nothing more than a charlatan from Kansas as well, Dorothy does not use the slippers as the film indicates right away.  The Wizard does make good with giving our trio what they think they need, and promises to take Dorothy home via his air balloon. But when Toto, and a fated gust of wind, throw a monkey wrench into the works.  Our group actually embark upon a new journey, one which takes them through a land where the beings are composed of China.  A forest besieged by a giant spider, and a mountain inhabited by strange, men with shooting heads.

Until they finally reach the Land of the South, where they meet Glinda the Good.  She not only informs Dorothy how to return back home, but helps the Scarecrow return to the Emerald City, the Tin Man to the Land of the Winkies and the Lion back to the Forest.

Though I apologize for the long exposition, it does seem fascinating how this tale began on such simplicity.  Only later to spawn more tales about the wondrous land, for in the Land of OZ, we meet beings like Tip, Jack Pumpkinhead, and a new witch known as Mombi (who, despite many versions, has no relation to the other Wicked Witches).  Not to mention, Ozma as well.  Here Tip must save OZ, not from Mombi, in general, but a rebellion from an all-girl army upon the Emerald City.

Afterwards came countless of other sequels about this magical realm, with a plethora of inhabitants and assorted items only one could dare imagine.  But once again, I tend to digress.

As with our favourite dimension, OZ mysteriously has ingrained itself into a multitude of sequels as well as unexpected catalysts for other fantastic tales.  Submitted for your approval: L. Frank Baum's The Magic of OZ, becomes a nightmarish tome for a school teacher in Zenna Henderson's "The Believing Child."  In this intrepid story, the child is Dempsey, who believes anything she is told, and regrettably discovers an OZ phrase, "Pyrzqxgl,"  enabling her to perform actual feats of magic.  Especially for transforming some mischievious boys into rocks.  I have to agree with Dempsey's mother, 'the thing they print in children's books these days.'

Fanger and his son, Fanstar, have also visited this Land Over the Rainbow.  Of course, whereas Fangarius visited a more conventional version of OZ (pre-Land of OZ days), Fanstar ends up visting a futuristic version in "Atomic Baum."  

Captain Carrot and his Zoo Crew also came across OZ, in "The OZ/Wonderland War." Where the Nome King has taken over OZ and plans on invading Looking Glass Country, thus the Cheshire Cat enlists their help, and his assisted by Dorothy for this mission.

There have also been other versions of the realm as well from other countries, as with Dorothy of OZ, where a young girl known as Mara ends up in an altered-dimension of the Land Over the Rainbow, where the Witches are now scientists, the Scarecrow's a genetic clone, The Tin Man a cyborg, and the Lion's a cowardly lycanthrope.




In this tale, Mara has the strange ability into transforming herself into a witch thanks to a pair of strange boots.  Unlike Baum's tale, the Lands are now at constant war, and Mara must seek out the Wizard not for just returning her home, but hopefully establishing peace in this altered reality.

And it would be a serious crime, if I did not mention Tin Man, an intriguing continuation of the classic tale, but with a sci-fi/fantasy stint where DG has to free O.Z. from the sorceress, Azkadellia, with their help from her friends, Glitch, Wyatt Cain and Raw.


Nevertheless, now in its 7th decade, it's amazing how, as with our favourite otherly-dimension, the Twilight Zone, OZ has endured and will also remain another realm beyond our imagination and still exist somewhere over the rainbow...

A Little Peace and Quiet with A Kind of a Stopwatch

Submitted for your approval: Two different tales, but with several commonalities. Both deal with the power for controlling Time, and coming from a Paranormal Time Lord, such consequences come with unforeseen consequences.

Especially when both distinct tales also come from the Twilight Zone. Why don't we go through the back door first in order for us to move forward?

TZ Chrono Transmission: October 18, 1963

Classic TZ Episode: 'A Kind of a Stopwatch.'

Have you ever met a person like Mr. Patrick McNulty? The perfect conservation piece unto himself. To put it simply, a crashing, utter bore. McNulty possesses the irritating habit of suggesting infinite ways for improving society.

Regrettably, for Mr. McNulty, the only thing he accomplishes is clearing out a room faster than Daleks and F-Clones. In fact, due to McNulty's persona, for all his suggestions and improvements, he ends up getting himself the pink slip from his boss. Can't imagine why, since McNulty fancies himself as such a wonderful guy.

Interestingly enough, as our McNulty does what anyone does when they've been dismissed (get thoroughly plastered at the local bar), he encounters another drunk. The acquaintance gives him an intriguing family heirloom--a stopwatch. (Suspect this may have been my Uncle Chronotis, TZ always has had problems with him during his early years, though Mr. Serling seemed to get along with him.) Fascinatingly enough, as McNulty starts playing with the gadget, he discovers a unique function.

True to its nature, when its ticker is pressed, it literally stops time. (Yep, Uncle Chronotis.) At first, McNulty decides on sharing his wondrous fortune by taking it to his former boss. Naturally, when this plan backfires, McNulty impishly implements the device for practical jokes.

Of course, the novelty soon wears off and McNulty suddenly gains a spark of inspiration: why not use the stopwatch for financial gain? Definitely beats trying to alter History for your own selfish purposes. So our Mr. McNulty enters a bank, freezes time, and attempts the first major withdrawal never witnessed by man. At least not one without breaking into some unnecessary gunplay. However as the dictim with the Twilight Zone: even the greatest plans of mice and men can go awry.

In McNulty's case, he accidentally drops the stopwatch, cracking it. Attempting on re-establishing the flow of Time, he clicks the button. Regrettably, much to our man's horror, he ends up trapped in a world frozen in Time. A realm where its inhabitants fail to acknowledge (or show concern) about the presence of McNulty, and in my opinion, would be better off without him.

Of course, here, we hardly feel remorse for McNulty. But about several years later, when the Twilight Zone regenerated into an entirely new dimension for 1985, TZ selected a similar tale but with a different spin entirely.



TZ Chrono Transmission: September 27, 1985

New TZ Episode: A Little Peace and Quiet

Jumping ahead now, we find a different protagonist than our Mr. McNulty. Rather than a pompous, overbearing bore, we meet a harried housewife. In typical fashion, she deals with her kids, her hapless husband, and hardly has any time for herself.

For expedient purposes, we shall denote her as 'Melinda.' Sorry, folks, T2 and TZ are having datafile issues, so I'll be completing the blanks the best I can. Even in other dimensions, things happens.

Poor Melinda, unlike McNulty, she works herself to a frazzle, while managing her household, dealing with an uncaring world, and having to deal with obnoxious children as well. Of course, Ms. Melinda comes across her antiquity in a different way: whilst gardening, she comes across an antique box with an obscure message: 'May you have all the time in the world.' Curiously, she extracts an amulet in the form of a sundial (apparently my Aunt Estheria's been buring her heirlooms again. What a family, eh?) and without thinking puts it on.

One particular night when major chaos ensues with the husband and kids, Melinda, who can no longer takes the stress and strain, yells for everyone to 'SHUT UP!' In doing so, much to her surprise, everyone is frozen within Time. At first, Melinda freaks out, thinking she's broken the world. But then, after much consideration, she discovers by freezing Time, she can productively have a break now and again. Before she can ensue with the possibility, she realizes she can start time by saying, 'Start Talking.'

In the beginning, Melinda enjoys her newfound ability: freezing time at breakfast to enjoy her day, freezing time to stop an obnoxious customer from taking the last box of her kids' favorite cereal, and paying for her groceries (apparently unlike McNulty, Melinda's a bit more honest than opportunistic).

Now ironically, Melinda nearly ends up in the same fate as McNulty, when she almost loses the amulet while taking a bath during one of her 'Time Freezes.' However, the writer probably felt this might be a bit too much like McNulty's fate and had a more delicious twist in store for our Melinda.

In this case, while Melinda has been wrapped up in her own difficulties, she has become oblivious with the world's own crisis: a possible World War III. Complete with H-Bombs and atomic weapons, of course. The way this occurs is when her husband and kids suddenly rush in screaming inexplicably about the news. As everything becomes too much for her, Melinda screams with one resounding "SHUT UP" thundering across the world.

As peace and quiet return, Melinda then notices something peculiarly strange. Apparently, her family is nowhere to be found within the house. Gingerly stepping out, she notices, much to her horror, her family and neighbors are frozen, statuesque, looking upwards into the sky, horrified, astonished and dismay. And they have every right to be, for looming overhead, are gigantic H-bombs about to establish contact with the town. Thus, here, Melinda is ensnared in her timeless fate. But unlike our McNulty, who ended up deserving his fate for his greed and overbearing personality, our poor Melinda ends up receiving more peace and quiet than she anticipated: for if she dares resumes the flow of Time, she'll bring forth destruction of her world.

Overall, two different tales, with two different settings, but one coherent theme. With both similar fates: doomed trapped within a dimension beyond their reckoning. One well-deserved, while the other ends up learning the ancient adage: 'be careful what one wishes for.'

While our Mr. McNulty ended up accidentally trapped due to his own short-sightedness, our Ms. Melinda ends up being forced into her position by unfortunate circumstances. Strange how possessing the power of Time can crop up unexpected consequences. Especially when crossing over into the Twilight Zone.

Twilight Trivia: In the Futurama Comic #28: Let's Twist Again. Fry, Leela and Bender end up in a Parallel Universe while delivering material for the writers of 'The Scary Door' (Futurama's version of TZ). In this Universe, apparently ironic twists occur naturally. Meaning, classic and modern TZ episodes are being parodied.

In one case, our steel friend Bender hapless combines these two aforementioned episodes, when he gets ahold of a similar stopwatch, and yet, freezes time at a moment when H-Bombs are about to descend on the populous. However, unlike our Ms. Melinda, Bender attempts to diffuse the bombs, only to have them go off before impact when Time resumes.

Which just goes to show, even robots shouldn't monkey about time.

Sources:

The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to A Television Classic by Martin Grams Jr.

New Twilight Zone website by Marta Dawes and CBS.

Futurama Comics by Bongo Comics, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen

Entry composed by the Fourth Fanger.

Welcome to Twilight Tales

Submitted for your approval. A place beyond your imagination, and not teen vampires with odd solar skin conditions. A place where common logic and sense have no place in this world.

(And I don't mean the White House or Congress, folks.)

This is Fanger's Twilight Tales. But more importantly, rather than be an observer, you might be a participant as well. For here in this blog, I'll embark on stories, accounts and tales from places known as the Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and other points beyond. I'll probably visit my old friend the Crypt-Keeper as well.

Inspired by my own creation #TwilightZoneThursdays via Twitter, you can also tweet your odd tales of interest, or even come here and submit your own to me here.

They can be whimsically fictional, or chillingly real. Here you can discuss your fave episodes from your fave weird series, or comic series, or even submit intriguingly-haunting places as well.

Just be careful, though, for even here in Twilight Tales, anything goes where nothing is impossible, and the improbable is probable.

Welcome to Fanger's Twilight Tales.