You unlock this door with the key of imagination….

About two months ago I was watching TV late at night, (which I shouldn’t do) when I stumbled across a old episode of The Twilight Zone which featured Robert Duvall. I watched the end of the program and discovered that another one was about to come on. Being too tired to watch, I decided to record it on the DVR. When I set the timer I was asked if I wanted to record all occurrences, and of course I said yes.

Now I have the pleasure of seeing Rod Serling in his famous intros, cigarette in hand and one raised eyebrow twice daily. 24, Lost, The Office, Heroes, and all of that other crap that fills up the TV stations nowadays you can throw in the garbage can. The Twilight Zone still beats them all.

It has been great to see so many stars from their very young days in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, William Shatner, Sterling Holloway (voice of Winnie the Pooh and the Cheshire Cat), Burgess Meredith, Ed Wynn (voice of the Mad Hatter), Roddy McDowell, Jack Klugman, Charles Bronson, Jonathan Winters, Peter Falk, Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, Buster Keaton, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds and even Carol Burnett. Legends all, and all had their appearances in this great show.

And now that I am caught up on my Twilight Zone episodes, I finally understand the ‘to serve man’ joke from The Simpsons.

But my real joy came when I finally caught my all time favorite episode. It is called Time Enough at Last. Burgess Meredith portrays a man who is more dedicated to books than people, but can never find the time to enjoy them. Then one day during his lunch break at the bank he hides in the vault to read. While he is down there a bomb destroys everyone. He suffers at the loss of his world until he finds the remnants of the city library still somewhat intact. Rejoicing at the fact that he has all the books that he will ever be able to read, he drops his glasses, which break. Not the happiest ending, but then again The Twilight Zone never was known for happily-ever-after endings.

I encourage everyone to get caught up with these classic TV shows. Even the bad ones are better than the rehashed garbage we see today.