The Show
The Twilight Zone hit a happy groove by Season 3. Among these 37 episodes are two of those later adapted for 1983 feature film (Steven Spielberg's "Kick the Can" and Joe Dante's "It's a Good Life"), along with "To Serve Man," considered by many ardent fans to be the single best installment of the entire series. And then there's "Five Characters in Search of an Exit," which plays like a bit of Greenwich Village avant-garde theater, until the surprise ending, when we see that it was clearly an inspiration for... nah, that would spoil it.
The Zone honored Hollywood's past, with Buster Keaton starring in "Once Upon a Time," and ahead of the curve too, casting a young Robert Redford in the intimate character drama "Nothing in the Dark." It was also very much of its era, in the thick of The Cold War, with visions of a post-apocalyptic world ("Two") and impending nuclear disaster ("The Shelter.") Westerns were very popular in the early '60s as well, but here they are given a freaky spin that no one else would try.
There are visitors to and from strange new worlds, shocking demonstrations of mind over matter... in short, there's something for every fan of great fantasy TV in Season 3.
The Picture
There's a fine grain structure visible, along with some noise, in this high-quality film-originated content, framed here at its original 4:3 with black bars left and right. The blacks in the remastered black-and-white image are once again delicious. Textures are more than adequate, and I'm pretty sure I never noticed the narrow stripes on Rod Serling's shirt before.
Little touches like the negative scratches deliberately applied to opening shots of "Once Upon a Time," to help simulate the look of silent movies, are wonderfully conveyed. In general I found the picture just a bit soft, perhaps owing to increased compression. A typical sequence in a typical episode might read as low-to-mid-teen megabits-per-second, whereas a segment from Season 2 might range from the high teens to the mid-20s. I was concerned how this trend might bode for the next season, which shifts to an hour-long format (twice the length), but there are only half as many episodes to accommodate.
The Sound
Image Entertainment has been remastering the archival mono tracks for Blu-ray, presented here as uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 mono. Overall the audio comes across with superior balance of the music, dialogue and effects, fuller, cleaner and more natural, while still faithful to what an early-'60s TV show might sound like. That means it's certainly simple, but a step up from what we're used to hearing in The Twilight Zone.
Interestingly, all of the audio options--original/remastered tracks, commentaries old and new, isolated audio, radio dramas, etc.--appear to be in Linear PCM 2.0 as well, even the alternate laugh-track version of "Cavender Is Coming," although the quality of the track itself can vary.
The Extras
Distinguished enthusiasts and industry admirers are tapped for the 19 newly recorded audio commentary tracks, joining multiple tracks ported from DVD, from original creators including well-known actors. There are also 19 radio dramatizations with performances by many modern stars.
Four extremely obscure clips featuring creator/host Rod Serling have also been unearthed, in SD. He's a guest on Tell It to Groucho (15 minutes) and The Garry Moore Show (along with Carol Burnett in the "Twi-Nite Zone" skit, nine minutes). He was even the president of the Liar's Club (21-and-a-half minutes, with Betty White among the invited liars), and then there's a curious four-and-a-half-minute promotional spot wherein we're encouraged to enroll in the The Famous Writers School. Ironically, I've never heard of it.
A full listing of the extensive bonuses can be found below.
Final Thoughts
While perhaps a tiny notch below first two sets in terms of extras and video, this Season 3 collection is still a no-brainer (did you see the episode where the guy has no brain?) for anyone who appreciates exceptional editions of classic TV.
Also available for PRE-ORDER:
Product Details
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