There are 29 episodes in the second season and there are some good ones inthe first 6 on the first dvd in the set. I'm watching The Complete Definitive Collection. There are a few extras on each disc, mostly isolated scores and some interviews.
King Nine Will Not Return September 30, 1960
Rod Serling wrote the screenplay and Buzz Kulik is the director. Robert Cummings wakes up in the desert next to a downed bomber plane. He's the pilot and his crew is gone. He has a bout of anguish and yelling before he sees some jet planes pass overhead. He's confused, how could jet planes be in 1944 and how does he know what they are. He passes out and wakes up in the hospital in our time. I remember this one from my youth and I enjoyed it then and now. I'm no big Bob Cummings fan but he's ok here. There's an interview with Buzz Kulik and an isolated score by Fred Steiner.
The Man in the Bottle October 7, 1960
Rod penned the story and Don Medford is the director. A poor antiques dealer, Luther Adler, gets a visit from an old lady in worse financial shape. He takes pity on her and gives her a couple of dollars for an empty wine bottle. His wife finds out and tosses the bottle to the floor. Smoke pours out and it turns out the wine bottle holds a genie. The genie is played by Joseph Ruskin whom a lot of you would have seen in something during his 51 year career. I had last seen him in a 2006 episode of Bones. Luther and his wife have 4 wishes, and of course, those wishes have a payback. It takes all 4 of them to get back to the place they were in before they started wishing. I remember that an episode had a guy who got turned into Hitler but the rest of the story was all new to me. Kind of a typical Rod story. Enjoyable.
There's a isloated score which the Wikipedia says is music from the earlier episode called What You Need by Nathan Van Cleave. From the Wikipedia: Luther Adler had previously portrayed Hitler in two 1951 feature films: The Magic Face, a fantasy about a European impersonator who somehow manages to murder "der Fuehrer" and then assumes his identity; and The Desert Fox, a drama about Erwin Rommel.
Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room October 14, 1960
Rod did the screenplay that Douglas Heyes directed. A petty crook in a crappy hotel room gets a visit from another gangster who orders him to kill an old man. He's got to do it be killed himself. He's all jittery and nearly freaks out when he has an encounter with a more confident self in the mirror. They argue and after changing places he doesn't do the killing. He punches down the other gangster on his return and leaves for a new life. Another typical Rod style story. I don't think I remember it but I did enjoy it.
There's an interview with Douglas Heyes, an isloated score by Jerry Goldsmith and a Twilight Zone Radio Drama. From the Wikipedia: The Jackie Rhoades character is the first to deliver the famous lines "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me?" while facing a mirror. Most people know these lines from the films Taxi Driver and Dirty Harry, but they first appeared in this episode of The Twilight Zone.
A Thing About Machines October 28, 1960
Rod wrote the screenplay and David Orrick McDearmon directed. Richard Haydn is a pompus and annoying critic who has a problem with machines. He's so much a douche bag even machines don't like him and they eventually kill him. I did sympathize with the machines. I didn't remember this one either. It's slight but enjoyable. The episode has an isolated score.
The Howling Man November 4, 1960
Charles Beaumont wrote the screenplay and Douglas Heyes was the director. HM Wynant is on a walking tour of Europe in 1925. He comes a castle with a howling man trapped by some monks. Head monk, John Carradine, says that man is the devil. He tells HM that he shouldn't believe anything the Devil says and don't open the door. Of course HM releases the Devil and things go back to normal. The story is told in flashback. HM is telling his maid he has the Devil in his closet and she should not open the door. Guess what happens when he leaves? I remembered this one and quite like it. There's an interview with Douglas Heyes.
The Eye of the Beholder November 11, 1960
Rod wrote the story and Douglas Heyes directed. Maxine Stuart plays nearly the whole episode wrapped in a huge bandage that covers her face. She's in the hospital where she's had injections to correct her facial deformation. The bandages come off and Donna Douglas is revealed. I guess poor Maxine wasn't quite pretty enough. In that world Donna is deformed and after the injections fail she's sent off to a village to live with her kind. I remember it from when I was a kid. It's okay though a bit goofy. There's an audio commentary with Donna Douglas that's kind of nice to hear. There are two interviews, one with Maxine Stuart, who can't remember much about the show, and a second with Douglas Heyes, who remembers more. There's an isolated score by Bernard Herrmann, some rare color photos and the alternate end title from the rebroadcast when the show had a different title because of a lawsuit.
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