It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone): Difference between revisions
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"'''It's a Good Life'''" is an episode of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It is based on a [[It's a Good Life|short story]] of the same name by [[Jerome Bixby]]. This episode has a sequel, named "[[It's Still a Good Life]]", which tells the story of the town forty years later. |
"'''It's a Good Life'''" is an episode of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It is based on a [[It's a Good Life|short story]] of the same name by [[Jerome Bixby]]. This episode has a sequel, named "[[It's Still a Good Life]]", which tells the story of the town forty years later. |
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==Opening narration== |
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{{cquote|''Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there's a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines - because they displeased him - and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages - just by using his mind. Now, I'd like to introduce you to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It's in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn't like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you're looking at now. She sings no more. And you'll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio, have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I ''did'' forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. '''This''' is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.''}} |
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==Synopsis== |
==Synopsis== |
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Because he is angry at what has happened, Anthony causes snow to begin falling outside. His father observes that the snow will kill off at least half the crops and that they may not have enough food to make it through the winter and people may starve to death. But as the adults look on, worried smiles on their faces, his father smiles and tells Anthony in a horror-tinged voice, "...but it's a real good thing you did. A ''real'' good thing. And tomorrow....tomorrow's gonna be a-- real '''good''' day!". |
Because he is angry at what has happened, Anthony causes snow to begin falling outside. His father observes that the snow will kill off at least half the crops and that they may not have enough food to make it through the winter and people may starve to death. But as the adults look on, worried smiles on their faces, his father smiles and tells Anthony in a horror-tinged voice, "...but it's a real good thing you did. A ''real'' good thing. And tomorrow....tomorrow's gonna be a-- real '''good''' day!". |
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==Closing narration== |
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{{cquote|''No comment here, no comment at all. We only wanted to introduce you to one of our very special citizens, little Anthony Fremont, age 6, who lives in a village called Peaksville in a place that used to be Ohio. And if by some strange chance you should run across him, you had best think only good thoughts. Anything less than that is handled at your own risk, because if you do meet Anthony you can be sure of one thing: you have entered the Twilight Zone.''}} |
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==Preview for next week's story== |
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Announcer: "And now, Mr. Serling." |
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{{cquote|''This the lobby of an inn, in a small Bavarian town, and next week, we'll enter it with a former S. S. officer. It's the first stop on his road back to relive a horror that was Nazi Germany. Mr. [[Joseph Schildkraut]] and Mr. [[Oscar Beregi]] demonstrate [[Deaths-Head Revisited|what happens to the monster when it is judged by the victim]]. Our feeling here is that this is as stark and moving a piece of drama as we've ever presented. I very much hope that you're around to make your own judgment.''}} |
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==Production notes== |
==Production notes== |
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Revision as of 20:14, 4 December 2009
| "It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)" |
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"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby. This episode has a sequel, named "It's Still a Good Life", which tells the story of the town forty years later.
Synopsis
Six-year-old Anthony Fremont looks like any other little boy, but looks are deceiving. He is a monster, a mutant with godlike mental powers. Early on, he isolated the small hamlet of Peaksville, Ohio. In fact, the handful of inhabitants do not even know if he destroyed the rest of the world or if it still exists. Anthony has also eliminated electricity, automobiles, and television signals. He controls the weather and what supplies can be found in the grocery store. Anthony creates and destroys as he pleases, and controls when the residents can watch the TV and what they can watch on it.
The adults tiptoe nervously around him, constantly telling him how everything he does is "good", since displeasing him can get them wished away "to the cornfield", where they are presumably met by a less-than-happy ending. At one point, a dog is heard barking angrily. Anthony thinks the dog is "bad" and "doesn't like him." He casts a spell, to his father's horror. But he dare not show it.
Finally, at Dan Hollis' birthday party, Dan, slightly drunk, can no longer stand the strain and confronts the boy, calling him a monster and a murderer; while Anthony's anger grows, Dan yells for the other adults to kill Anthony from behind - "Somebody end this, now!" - but no one has the courage to act. Anthony points to Dan, "You're a very bad man! And you keep thinking bad thoughts about me!" Before Dan is killed, he is shown, indirectly by his shadow, transformed into a jack-in-the-box with his human head, causing his widow to break down.
Because he is angry at what has happened, Anthony causes snow to begin falling outside. His father observes that the snow will kill off at least half the crops and that they may not have enough food to make it through the winter and people may starve to death. But as the adults look on, worried smiles on their faces, his father smiles and tells Anthony in a horror-tinged voice, "...but it's a real good thing you did. A real good thing. And tomorrow....tomorrow's gonna be a-- real good day!".
Production notes
A variant of or sequel to this episode became the third segment of 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie.
The first sentence and a half of the Opening Narration from this episode is used in Disney's The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attractions, in the Pre-Show Video. The shot of Serling is cut short, and impersonator Mark Silverman does the voice-over. The original shot of Serling that is used reads "Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a m..." it then cuts away from Serling to a "maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you." The shot of Serling is cut out of the original environment, and onto a shot of one of the Tower of Terror's Maintenance Service Elevators.
References in other media
"It's a Good Life" was parodied on the season three Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror II," in the segment, "Bart's Nightmare." In the parody, Bart plays the "monster" character who turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box when Homer goes to kill Bart after Bart sends Homer flying into a goal post during a football game. The segment ends on a more upbeat (though ultimately sarcastic) note, where Marvin Monroe advises Homer to spend more time with Bart (whose omnipotence is diagnosed as a cry for fatherly attention) and, after a day of bonding, Bart turns Homer back to a human and the two share a hug (which is interrupted when Bart wakes up screaming from the dream).
This episode was also parodied in the Johnny Bravo episode "Johnny Real Good", in which Johnny, in order to gain money for a new car, babysits a young boy with godlike powers, and is tormented when he doesn't speak to the boy nicely, including being sent to a literal cornfield outside the boy's house whenever he tries to discipline him.
The opening narration features as the introduction to Michael Jackson's Threatened, from his 2001 album, Invincible.[1]
Time Magazine named this the second-best Twilight Zone episode, behind "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street".[2]
References
- ^ Michael Jackson; Invincible http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ydpNBwF64
- ^ "Top 10 Twilight Zone episodes". 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090
- Michael Jackson's Threatened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ydpNBwF64
