1/2 hour vs the hour long eps?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Twilight Zone
Deluded Juice — 4 years ago(July 08, 2021 12:09 PM)
Is there one you prefer over the other or both?
I prefer the half hr. ones.
Short and sweet.
Less is more.
Etc.
They seemed like they were just enough and I dunno why they tried an hour long format for a season. -
jriddle73 — 4 years ago(January 01, 2022 04:08 AM)
Yes, they were often still working with basically half-an-hour of story material. But I think the padding, which is often excessive, gives the hour-long ones an unfairly bad reputation. There are still some good eps among them.
"The Dig"
http://cinemarchaeologist.blogspot.com/ -
Deluded Juice — 4 years ago(July 08, 2021 02:10 PM)
Here is the reason why they went to an hr.
“Ours is the perfect half-hour show. If we went to an hour, we’d have to fleshen our stories, soap opera style. Viewers could watch fifteen minutes without knowing whether they were in a Twilight Zone or Desilu Playhouse.”
That was Rod Serling speaking, a couple years before The Twilight Zone spent one season as, yes, an hour-long show.
Why? Primarily because Twilight Zone was briefly off the air following Season 3, then brought back as a mid-season replacement — and the show it was replacing was 60 minutes. Besides, if the show was a hit at 30 minutes, why not expand it to 60 and give the audience twice as much show?
It soon became clear why: Fantasy stories, especially ones that depended on a twist ending, were more ideally suited to the half-hour format. In 30 minutes, they could get in, set up an intriguing premise, and then deliver the payoff. But when you double that length, the effect is ruined. The longer the expected payoff was delayed, the more the suspense and tension was dissipated.
Take “The Thirty-Fathom Grave,” for example. It’s a story about a modern Navy ship discovering a sunken World War II submarine — and hearing a mysterious tapping sound coming from inside. For the sake of those who haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin the ending, but suffice it to say that the story, despite the usual quality touches you’d expect on a TZ, is simply too padded. Several other Season 4 episodes were also stretched out a bit too long.
You can read more here which includes hr. long eps. the blogger likes:
https://thenightgallery.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/tz-the-best-of-season-4/ -
cryptoflovecraft — 8 months ago(July 04, 2025 12:37 PM)
The 1/2-hour episodes are generally better but there are some GREAT hour-long episodes (The Parallel, The New Exhibit, Death Ship, Miniature, He's Alive). The New Exhibit, starring Martin Balsam (Psycho), is one of the scariest TZ episodes ever made. Plenty of really bad hour-long episodes too e.g., The Bard and I Dream of Genie.