The Twilight Zone (CBS All Access) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Get Out writer/director Jordan Peele is developing a new version of "The Twilight Zone" for CBS's All Access premium subscription streaming service

It was recently announced by Netflix and Marvel that Marco Ramirez would not be returning as showrunner for "Daredevil" Season 3. It now appears that he's signed onto this as the day-to-day showrunner of "The Twilight Zone" under Peele.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Interesting. Twilight Zone has been revived multiple times (and even Serling himself did a TZ-type follow-up with Night Gallery), but none of the remakes or spinoffs have captured the magic of the original for me. I really enjoyed "Get Out" but I also wonder if it's possible to create a new version of TZ that will have the impact that the original did.

If this premieres while my All Access membership is still active for Trek, I'll give it a go. But it's not enough to make me sign up for All Access on its own, and that platform has some major technical issues that really need to be resolved.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

If they wanted to stand out from the pack, they'd go black and white again. The monochrome photography of the original series gives it atmospherics that none of the revivals could match. Same is true of the original "Outer Limits" versus the 1995 Showtime/Sci-Fi revival.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

We already have Black Mirror, and it's more readily available.

And of course, CBS can't squeeze a few more pennies out of a paid for IP if someone does something new. So I guess in the big rolodex of stuff to slap onscreen, it was TZ's turn again.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If they wanted to stand out from the pack, they'd go black and white again. The monochrome photography of the original series gives it atmospherics that none of the revivals could match. Same is true of the original "Outer Limits" versus the 1995 Showtime/Sci-Fi revival.

That would be a phenomenal idea.

I'd also love it if they kept the half-hour format. I don't like the hour long originals nearly as much as the half-hour ones, and I prefer TZ to OL in part for that reason. The half an hour running time was perfect for setting up a scenario and telling a story without too much padding, or allowing the audience too much time to start figuring out the show before it ended. I feel like it's more likely that CBS would want to get an hour-long show out of this, but I think a half hour would still be ideal.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

We already have Black Mirror, and it's more readily available.

And of course, CBS can't squeeze a few more pennies out of a paid for IP if someone does something new. So I guess in the big rolodex of stuff to slap onscreen, it was TZ's turn again.

You're not wrong.

I'd also love it if they kept the half-hour format.

Especially since streaming isn't bound by the confines of a rigid broadcast time slot, so they could make it a real half-hour, not the 20 minutes, 45 seconds we get nowadays.

If I recall correctly (and I certainly may not), the Forrest Whittaker reboot told two stories each hour. So it was basically the old half hour format smooshed together.

 

[Hanson]

If they put the kind of resources into TZ as they did to Discovery, we can expect 1 hour short films of cinematic quality.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

If they put the kind of resources into TZ as they did to Discovery, we can expect 1 hour short films of cinematic quality.

...that have nothing to do with the Twilight Zone concept whatsoever.

 

[Sam Favate]

If they wanted to stand out from the pack, they'd go black and white again. The monochrome photography of the original series gives it atmospherics that none of the revivals could match. Same is true of the original "Outer Limits" versus the 1995 Showtime/Sci-Fi revival.

I had the same thought. They should do this in black and white. The original had some of the best writing ever on television. To measure up, this is going to need great writers.

 

[Richard V]

That would be a phenomenal idea.

I'd also love it if they kept the half-hour format. I don't like the hour long originals nearly as much as the half-hour ones, and I prefer TZ to OL in part for that reason. The half an hour running time was perfect for setting up a scenario and telling a story without too much padding, or allowing the audience too much time to start figuring out the show before it ended. I feel like it's more likely that CBS would want to get an hour-long show out of this, but I think a half hour would still be ideal.

Agreed, the original TZ one hour episodes mostly seemed to drag, and felt like they were being padded.

 

[Rodney]

Why'd it have to be CBS All Access? I didn't get it for Star Trek and I won't be getting it for The Twilight Zone.
They own one of the Big Four Networks, for cripes' sake!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Why'd it have to be CBS All Access? I didn't get it for Star Trek and I won't be getting it for The Twilight Zone.

Probably because All Access has such few shows. There's The Good Fight, which I don't think anyone is watching and doesn't seem like a subscription driver. Then there's Trek, which is a subscription driver, but they're only producing 15 episodes despite there being 52 weeks in a year. They need to come up with content to for those 30+ weeks when there's not a new Star Trek episode but when they're still asking an audience to pay $10/month.

The new Star Trek show is about to take a two month break, though apparently the remaining episodes are completed; shooting is certainly done. They played eight new episodes, and are taking two months off, and then returning with six new episodes. Then, it will be at least seven months before it returns for a second season, perhaps longer, perhaps much longer (premium channels like HBO are making it a new standard to wait two years between seasons for premium shows, and CBS wants their streaming Trek to compete against shows produced by HBO, so it's not unreasonable to expect a second season could take a long time to appear on the service). So, I canceled my subscription for the interim. There's literally nothing on the service of value to me when Trek is off the air, so why pay an extra two month fee when I know I will be logging in exactly zero times?

If CBS All Access is to survive and to thrive, they need to get Trek customers to keep their subscriptions active even when there isn't any new Trek. I'm sure their number crunchers have concluded another recognizable sci-fi brand could draw in eyeballs, and a Twilight Zone remake or reboot probably has more potential at drawing eyeballs and subscriptions than an unknown series not tied to a brand name.

 

[Sam Favate]

If CBS All Access is to survive and to thrive, they need to get Trek customers to keep their subscriptions active even when there isn't any new Trek. I'm sure their number crunchers have concluded another recognizable sci-fi brand could draw in eyeballs, and a Twilight Zone remake or reboot probably has more potential at drawing eyeballs and subscriptions than an unknown series not tied to a brand name.

CBS All Access almost certainly will not survive. Launching a streaming service on the backs of American (and only American) Star Trek fans was never going to be enough to sustain it. Also, Disney's newly announced service - which Disney promises will be "substantially" cheaper than Netflix, presumably because it will have less content - will be the death of CBS AA, if it survives that long.

https://www.cnet.com/news/disney-streaming-service-take-on-netflix-for-substantially-less/

 

[benbess]

Honestly I don't see how anyone other than Rod Serling himself can make The Twilight Zone really work. People used to ask George Harrison in the 1980s when The Beatles might get back together, and his reply here applies to me for this show that I've loved since I was a kid: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead."

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The Twilight Zone IS Rod Serling; any possible remake can only be a ghost of that show. Still, I welcome the anthology genre back. The closest thing we've had to the social, moral and often disturbing reflections of our culture of the original is Black Mirror.

 

[Sam Favate]

I'd like to see the new TZ be a black-and-white show that takes place in 1950s America. Make it an extension of the original, not something contemporary.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Probably because All Access has such few shows. There's The Good Fight, which I don't think anyone is watching and doesn't seem like a subscription driver. Then there's Trek, which is a subscription driver, but they're only producing 15 episodes despite there being 52 weeks in a year. They need to come up with content to for those 30+ weeks when there's not a new Star Trek episode but when they're still asking an audience to pay $10/month.

The new Star Trek show is about to take a two month break, though apparently the remaining episodes are completed; shooting is certainly done. They played eight new episodes, and are taking two months off, and then returning with six new episodes. Then, it will be at least seven months before it returns for a second season, perhaps longer, perhaps much longer (premium channels like HBO are making it a new standard to wait two years between seasons for premium shows, and CBS wants their streaming Trek to compete against shows produced by HBO, so it's not unreasonable to expect a second season could take a long time to appear on the service). So, I canceled my subscription for the interim. There's literally nothing on the service of value to me when Trek is off the air, so why pay an extra two month fee when I know I will be logging in exactly zero times?

If CBS All Access is to survive and to thrive, they need to get Trek customers to keep their subscriptions active even when there isn't any new Trek. I'm sure their number crunchers have concluded another recognizable sci-fi brand could draw in eyeballs, and a Twilight Zone remake or reboot probably has more potential at drawing eyeballs and subscriptions than an unknown series not tied to a brand name.

They could make All Access more attractive by putting complete CBS series on it. Mostly, they are not.

 

[Nelson Au]

I just came across this story today. I was pretty surprised there are producers, and I am guessing young and new ones who are the ones interested in doing this. As has been mentioned, they've done this in the 80's and some were pretty good, I have the two box sets on DVD of all three seasons. My two favorites are The Once and Future King about Elvis and Profiles in Silver about JFK. Though the episodes sometimes felt more like The Outer Limits, most were pretty good with the twist endings. But yes, the original is still the best and in black and white which adds to the atmosphere.

Josh has often written about how bad CBS All Access is. Just joshing you Josh. I think this could be a good thing if they manage to pull off a new take on the format of the original. And its quite obvious CBS are trying hard to build a service here. I liked the effort so far with The Good Fight, they had a good first season. I'm interesting in seeing how the second season plays out. And I'm looking forward to January for the remaining Star Trek Discovery episodes.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Jordan Peele will serve as onscreen host and narrator of "Twilight Zone" revival

Here's the announcement:

 

[The Obsolete Man]

He hasn't smoked enough cigarettes to do the Narrator gig.