REVIEW: ‘The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series’ arrives on DVD
Photo: The Twilight Zone episode “The Comedian” stars Kumail Nanjiani as Samir Wassan. The Twilight Zone is available to stream on Paramount+. Photo courtesy of Robert Falconer / CBS © 2018 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved. / Provided by CBS press site with permission.
The short-lived, but much-loved, reboot of The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access, which is now Paramount+, is a happy marriage of genre content with one of the most impressive genre names in recent years: Jordan Peele. The horror maestro behind this year’s Nope hosted the mystery series, much like Rod Serling hosted the original episodes several decades ago. The reboot is — perhaps surprisingly — awesome and engaging, with clever stories that have that Twilight-Zone-feeling of uncertainty and unexpected endings. The series should have run longer than two seasons, but at least TV consumers have this nicely put-together box set to remember the memories.
The cast of The Twilight Zone is impressive, featuring the acting talents of everyone from Greg Kinnear to Kumail Nanjiani to Tracy Morgan, Adam Scott, Gillian Jacobs and Seth Rogen. Throw in Topher Grace, Damon Wayans Jr., Ginnifer Goodwin, Joel McHale, John Cho and Chris O’Dowd, and it’s a fair statement to say that The Twilight Zone is a celebrity-a-minute affair, much like the original series, which featured a multitude of guest stars on a weekly basis.
The special features on the new collection consist of Crossing Over: Living in The Twilight Zone, plus a remembrance of Serling. Some episodes have audio commentaries, and fans can enjoy a few deleted and extended scenes.
Much credit to Peele, and his creative partner Simon Kinberg, for this “modern reimagining.” They updated the series in several different and interesting ways, including going longer with the stories (the original series had 30-minute episodes, and with commercials deleted, narratives ran a little longer than 20 minutes). This feels like a rich exercise in anthology TV-making, akin to Black Mirror.
Writing about the first season’s Blu-ray release, Hollywood Soapbox commented on the pilot episode of the new series. Here’s that summary:
The first episode of this anthology series, titled “The Comedian,” is a narrative doozy and a fitting start to the reimagined series. Kumail Nanjiani stars as Samir Wassan, a standup comedian who is having a rough-go at a comedy club called Eddies (no apostrophe on that Eddies, which is an ongoing joke in the episode). He has an opening joke about the Second Amendment, but it always seems to fall flat, night after night after night.
You see, Samir has values. He doesn’t want to dip into the easy jokes that so many comedians seem to relish, mostly because he sees comedy as an art form, and he’s determined to find authentic success.
One night, at the Eddies bar, Samir meets a famous comedian by the name of J.C. Wheeler (Tracy Morgan, in a performance that is essentially a cameo). Starstruck and dumbfounded, Samir asks for some advice because he cannot seem to land the punchlines. J.C. offers a few thoughts on how he can improve the routine, in particular how to focus on everyday people and topics.
The next time he’s on stage, Samir gives it a go. He talks about his dog, who has the ironic name of “Cat,” and the jokes kill. He has the entire comedy club laughing and shouting his name; it is his best night ever.
On cloud nine, Samir heads home to tell his girlfriend (Amara Karan) about the night of comedy, but then he realizes something strange: His dog is not in the apartment. The animal is gone, and his girlfriend tells him that they never had a dog. Ever.
You have entered the Twilight Zone.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series is now available on DVD. Click here for more information.
