No one could know Serling, or view or read his work, without recognizing his deep affection for humanity, his sympathetically enthusiastic curiosity about us, and his determination to enlarge our horizons by giving us a better understanding of ourselves . . . He dreamed of much for us, and demanded much of himself, perhaps more than was possible for either in this time and place. But it is that quality of dreams and demands that makes the ones like Rod Serling rare . . . and always irreplaceable. - Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, on Rod Serling.

It makes sense that Gene Roddenberry would speak in such glowing terms about Rod Serling, six-time Emmy Award winning writer and the creator of the timeless television classic, Twilight Zone. Both men orbited the same moral and creative universe. They each saw humanity as flawed, but basically good, well-meaning, and deserving of continued existence. Roddenberry, of course, used 23rd century space travel as his safe and sneaky foundation to make points about our societal shortcomings and by acknowledging them, proving we're capable of doing better. Serling needed a bigger canvas. So he created one, made mostly out of irony. Twilight Zone, which ran for five seasons on CBS starting in 1959, is filled with irony. Sometimes, it's directed at a particular character, as when a lonely bank teller, complaining that he never has enough time to read his beloved books, breaks his reading glasses. Sometimes, the irony plays on the audience, as when a facially deformed woman, her head obscured by bandages, has her dressing removed, only to find out she's still ugly. The irony is, she looks beautiful to us, but in her world, she's hideous. Irony, fear, ignorance and prejudice (the latter sometimes a combination of fear and ignorance) were themes Serling found effortlessly elastic. He wrote or adapted 99 of the show's 156 episodes. And no matter what the topic, they all felt like a Serling script. They were smart, thoughtful, edgy, topical, and benignly didactic. Even the episodes that had nothing particularly important to say were said as if something sublimely intelligent or thought-provoking was just around the corner.

Image Entertainment, a company that's released the show on DVD about 150 times, is finally putting out the last word on Twilight Zone DVDs. And, starting with their Christmas 2004 release of Twilight Zone - The Definitive Edition - Season 1, they've absolutely 100% delivered. Season 3 , which was released last month, continues Image's fantastic re-packaging of the show. Arguably the show's best season, here we've got classics like A Game of Pool, where a neighborhood pool shark bets his life that he can defeat a long, dead master. Another favorite is The Little People, about an astronaut who goes on a power trip after landing on a planet whose inhabitants are all tiny. Season 3 also includes many people's choice for the best episode of the entire series. To Serve Man is classic Twilight Zone; for 22 minutes, we know the friendly, cancer-curing Kanamits are up to something (either that or Man is going to destroy the good intentions of an alien race), even if we're not sure what. But when we find out, it's still a corker, one of television's all-time great endings, tragically hilarious.

Twilight Zone was also a breeding ground for some terrific performers. And Season 3 continues that trend. Robert Redford, Cliff Robertson, Carol Burnett, Leonard Nimoy, Dean Stockwell, Charles Bronson, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jonathan Winters, Jack Klugman, Peter Falk, and Lee Marvin all put in pre-fame appearances during Season 3. Even the great silent film star Buster Keaton, nimble as ever, showed up. In the interest of fairness, I must admit that not all 36 episodes are classics. Some are weak. Four O'Clock is all wind-up and no pitch, the story of a fanatic who aims to eliminate evil by shrinking every evil person on Earth. Gee, I wonder who winds up two-feet tall at the end? Serling was rarely this obvious and this pushy about making his point. But at least my undying love for the show is not pie-in-the-sky.

Twilight Zone has been remade twice over the years, each with diminishing success (let's not even discuss the movie). The closest television has come to recreating the greatness of TZ was Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, which ran from 1985 to 1987. In fitting with the director whose name precedes the title, the episodes were more Spielbergian in tone: family oriented, more ambitious in scope, less ambitious in theme. But television can try a hundred more times to replicate the genius of Twilight Zone. It won't matter. Because nothing can replace the vision of Rod Serling and nothing will replace my copy of Twilight Zone - The Definitive Edition - Season 3 on my DVD shelf.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital mono is quite good. It's certainly not the revelation that the video is, but fans will be ultra-satisfied. The classic main theme retains its delicate sense of dread and the dialogue is always understandable. Dynamic range is pretty limited and there is light hiss in a couple of episodes, but only if you crank the audio, which I don't recommend. The musical scores, which ran the aural spectrum, never sound shrill, even the trumpets and strings. It's a great mono track.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

In terms of extras, Season 1 had the mother lode. Season 2 was good, if a bit less good. Now that we're at Season 3, it's nice to know that Image hasn't totally blown their Supplements Wad. There's plenty left to amaze and delight. Some of the extras, like the promos for upcoming episodes, will be familiar in concept. Some of the extras are all new. The easiest way to do this is to list the extras, disc by disc. So here we go:

On Disc One, Two contains an isolated score by composer Van Cleave. The Passesrby contains an isolated score by Fred Steiner and a radio drama version of The Passersby, with Stacy Keach reading the Rod Serling part. These radio dramas were part of a syndicated radio series produced by Falcon Picture Group (some text informing us of that fact would have been appreciated). Otherwise, your interest depends on your interest in old-school radio dramas. A Game of Pool contains an audio commentary by Jonathan Winters, who played Fats Brown. God love him, but Winters is so unfamiliar with the nascent art of DVD commentaries that he actually reads the opening credits right off the screen. Other than talking about the early days of his career, his comments are just not that interesting, as much as it pains me to say so. Also on A Game of Pool, is a vintage Marc Zicree interview with director Buzz Kulik and producer Buck Houghton. The audio-only interview (which was originally recorded as research for Zicree's essential TZ book) is laid over the episode as it plays. One of the men says casting a comedian like Winters in a dramatic role was risky. But he ìbrought a freshnessî to the part that worked. Kulik says Winters would alleviate his embarrassment after blowing a line by improvising comedically in character for minutes after ìcutî was called. This vintage interview plays better than Winters' audio commentary. Next, Winters returns to read George Clayton Johnson's alternate ending from the original script. Then, this original ending is dramatized in a clip from the 1989 remake of the episode with Esai Morales in the Jack Klugman role. The episode The Grave contains another isolated score, as does It's a Good Life, one of the more memorable episodes from the series. It's also got a clip from It's Still a Good Life, the sequel that aired as part of the 2003 incarnation of the series. Bill Mumy, who played the demonic kid in the 1961 original, returns for this go-around, providing audio commentary over the clip.

On to Disc two, where Deaths-Head Revisited contains an isolated score and a radio drama version of the episode starring H.M. Wynant. There is also a vintage interview with producer Buck Houghton, who says that the ever-political Serling wanted this World War II show to turn out great, and it did. The Midnight Sun contains an isolated score by Van Cleave and an audio commentary by Lois Nettleton, who plays the young lead. Nettleton says they turned the heat up in the studio to help the actors sweat. She said doing the show was like being in the Actor's Studio, since Serling made the program a performer's showcase. Considering Nettleton did the part over forty years ago, this is an admirable effort. The episode Still Valley contains a Wilbur Hatch isolated score and a radio drama version, starring Batman himself, Adam West. Once Upon a Time contains an isolated score only. The next two episodes feature audio commentaries that will be of interest to Star Trek fans. Five Characters in Search of an Exit has a fun audio commentary by William Windom, who played Commander Decker in Trek 's The Doomsday Machine. Here, he says Five Characters . . . was the first job he got after moving to California. He says Richard Widmark turned the role down because it only paid $1000 a week. Next is an audio-only interview with director Lamont Johnson that's laid atop the video. He says shooting Five Characters . . . in what was basically a large box was like shooting in the theater, so it wasn't so hard for him. A Quality of Mercy has the other Trek -centric extra, an audio commentary from Leonard Nimoy. He admits it's the first time he's seen his Twilight Zone episode in forty years. Nimoy recalls that he never met Serling, even though he acted in and directed an episode of Night Gallery. His comments don't span the whole 23-minutes. In fact, there's a swirly transition between Nimoy's statements. Finally, Nothing in the Dark has an isolated score and an audio-only interview with director Lamont Johnson and writer George Clayton Johnson. Johnson the Writer says he respected Serling's vision, but wasn't afraid to remove lines and tell Serling he shouldn't treat every word he writes as ìbiblical.î

On Disc three, One More Pallbearer contains another interesting, but basically useless radio drama, this time starring Chelcie Ross. Dead Man's Shoes has an isolated score and a clip from Dead Woman's Shoes, a remake produced for the 1985 incarnation of the series and starring Jeffrey Tambor (there's something about seeing these episodes in color, with modern sitcom actors that makes me not take them seriously). The Hunt includes an isolated score by Robert Drasnin and another audio-only interview, this time with writer Earl Hamner. Hamner says he met Serling after they both won something called the Mr. Christian Contest, a writing competition in about 1947! Years later, he mailed two Twilight Zone ideas to Rod Serling, who responded that all potential TZ ideas are evaluated by a committee. One of Hamner's approved ideas was The Hunt. Showdown with Rance McGrew contains an energetic commentary by star Robert Cornthwaite, who plays the movie director. The only advice the real director of the episode gave Cornthwaite is, ìplay me!î He remembers Serling as being ìdown to earthî and ìeasy to work with.î Kick the Can has only an isolated score, while the next episode A Piano in the House contains an isolated score and an okay Marc Zicree interview with Houghton and Hamner. The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank features an isolated score, while To Serve Man, arguably the best episode of the entire series, contains an audio-only interview with Richard L. Bare, who directed the episode. His comments, recorded around 1978, include a line that should have been edited out. Bare, flustered that Zicree is asking him about something he did decades earlier, testily says, ìyou should have taken me into a screening room . . . and I could probably give you a wealthy of material.î

Supplement quality and quantity drop considerably on Disc four. The Fugitive and Person or Persons Unknown contain only an isolated score. Little Girl Lost also has an isolated score, but this one is by the great Bernard Herrmann. So it's worth a listen. The Little People has an isolated score and yet another audio-only interview with Buck Houghton, which plays over the episode. Houghton says the biggest challenge was getting the scale right, with the gigantic astronauts towering over the planet's tiny inhabitants. It was so difficult, it necessitated retakes, which was unusual for Twilight Zone. The silly Hocus-Pocus and Frisby has an isolated score and a radio drama recreation of the episode, starring comedian Stan Freberg. Rounding out Disc four, the only supplements on The Trade-Ins and The Gift is an isolated score.

Disc 5 contains the final five episodes of the season, and all the bonus material. The Dummy features an isolated score, a radio adaptation of the episode starring Bruno Kirby (man, what happened to him?) and, best of all, a solid audio commentary by actor Cliff Robertson, whom younger audiences will know as Uncle Ben from the Spider-Man movies. He says that when he was cast in the TZ role, the production wanted to fly him to L.A. a week before shooting began. He didn't want to spend a week in L.A. just waiting around, so he cancelled the flight. That flight wound up crashing into Jamaica Bay after the pilot had a heart attack. Young Man's Fancy has only the isolated score. I Sing the Body Electric has the isolated score and also a Marc Zicree interview with producer Buck Houghton. Like all the other Houghton interviews, it's audio-only and laid atop the episode. There were two directors on I Sing the Body Electric, because the first attempt, according to Houghton, ìjust didn't work.î It was also the only TZ to be written by Ray Bradbury. Cavender is Coming has a fun extra, a 9-minute clip from the old Garry Moore Show. Serling enters and briefly spoofs his classic TZ opening narration, describing the Twilight Zone as ìthat area in Man's imagination that borders between stark reality and that fuzzy nowhere of when you're loaded.î Then comes a parody episode, starring comedienne Carol Burnett, who also starred in Cavender is Coming. Great stuff. The final episode of Season 3 , which aired June 1, 1962 is Changing of the Guard and the only extra there is an isolated score.

Now for the Bonus Materials. In the late ë60s, Serling lent his name to a correspondence course called The Famous Writers School. Budding authors would send away for a writing test, which would then be evaluated by Serling or another noted scribe involved with the program. If your essay was worthy, you were invited to join the school, provided you sent the appropriate amount of money, which in this case, probably meant a lot of money. The school was eventually revealed to be something of a sham and Serling et al, were just figureheads. If that's true, it's a sad side-journey in Serling's otherwise exemplary writing career. In any event, a 4:30 minute promo for the school is here. It's hosted by Serling, who takes us through the entire Famous Writers School process. The video is faded and bleached of bright colors, but looks outstanding, considering.

Absolutely priceless are the Season 3 Billboards, which are similar to the billboards included in the other seasons. These are the 0:15 commercial spots hawking some classic, old product that our grandmothers used to buy. For instance, ìThe Twilight Zone, brought to you by, the new dishwashing liquid that gives long-lasting suds. New, pink liquid Swan. Swan keeps sudsing and sudsing and sudsing. . .î Awesome! And the best part is that the video quality is excellent.

There is also a 2:30 Photo Gallery, which has a couple of dozen snaps from the third season episodes. Only a few contain any behind-the-scenes elements, like a camera. Worth a glance, nothing more.

Rod Serling's Night Gallery Promo Spots is a collection of promos, bumpers, teasers, and station ID's from his supernatural sequel to Twilight Zone , which ran from 1970 to 1973. The stations ID's are the funniest, because they hearken back to my childhood TV watching days, before cable. ìThis is Rod Serling, experience the unexplainable on the Night Gallery, here on Channel 61.î These are fun to skim through, not only for their behind-the-scenes feel, but to remind us that Twilight Zone really was Serling's crowning achievement.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There is a Twilight Zone comic book available on Disc 5. However, the disc can't be read by a Mac, so screw them.

Final Thoughts

With every piece-of-junk television show being released on DVD, these Twilight Zone - Definitive Editions risk getting lost in the flood. But make no mistake; Twilight Zone needs a place on your DVD shelf. So find it and buy it. Image Entertainment has done a fantastic job, with good transfers and supplements that are as comprehensive as humanly possible. I'm not even going to specifically recommend Season 3. It doesn't matter if you buy one season or all the seasons. As long as you own part of one of television's greatest achievements. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with a Kanamit.

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