The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Twilight Zone Companion
Book Review: How good is this book?
Summary: 5 Stars
What a wonderful book! I love watching the old horror programs on television, such as Karloff's Thriller, The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. What I enjoy most is watching each program, and then spend a few minutes reading up on the production history and trivia about the program, thanks to books like this. I just spent the last three years reading "The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion" by Grams and Wikstrom and watched each and every episode of the Hitchcock TV series one by one. What a fascinating program. So logically, I purchased this book some time ago and with each viewing I turned to this book and learned trivia I did not know, and other neat facts. That's what tells me if the book is a good book or not. A must-have. Buy it now.Book Review: Still using this reference since 1983
Summary: 5 Stars
I have the 1st edition book club hard cover published in 1982 and purchased the 1989 2nd edition in 2005. After all of these years I find myself still checking for information and trivia. The 2nd edition has 20 additional pages with information about the 2nd TV series, the movie AND a better index -- listing the actors this time as well as the episode titles.
I recommend this book for anyone who has the slightest interest in the original Twilight Zone series. There is wonderful information about each episode plus additional mention of the episodes in other parts of the book -- things you would never know. There is so much background information regarding the actors, the writers, regarding the politics (i.e., "reds under the bed"), at the time, etc.
Book Review: A definite must-have for every 'TZ' aficionado
Summary: 5 Stars
A quick perusal of amazon will demonstrate the plethora of guides, companions, compendiums, histories, personal remembrances, ad nauseam for nearly everyone's favorite television show. Most of them are well intentioned but realistically we readers of books of this genre classification know it's a crapshoot of getting one worth it's weight in gold - with crap being the key operative word. Some of the material available is shabby, crude, and embarrassingly bad. Being able to tap into a 'cash cow' has proved too inviting for a hack looking to make a quick buck, and we the reader realize too late we've been had.
That's definitely not the case with author Marc Scott Zicree and his superior 'The Twilight Zone Companion'. Zicree has an immediately recognizable deep fondness for this cult television series and he treats it with the highest admiration due. He has really gone the distance to bring the reader a quality product; years since its original publication it still has yet to be surpassed. There are other books available on 'The Twilight Zone' but not a single one of them can hope to challenge this guide.
The first 30 pages of the book contains a concise but informative biographical sketch on the creator of 'TZ'; a breakdown of every episode of each season of the original broadcast series (1959 - 1965) and rather lengthy essays on both the theatrical feature film and the 1980's follow-up series (that hoped to strike lightning once again but unfortunately failed) makes up the bulk of this companion. Zicree has written in a style that is eminently readable to most and maddeningly confounding to some others. His highly personal observations should be seen as a 'jumping off' point to both form your own opinion as well as afford you an opportunity to hear another objective point of view.
His research here is commendable. He has exhausted every known archive and publication concerning the show and its creative staff. One of the very best touches he put on the book was his inclusion of biographical background and photos of many of the writers, directors, actors and production staff that worked on 'TZ'. We get as intimately acquainted with most of these people as we are likely to; it also goes a long way in helping us to understand the ingenuity behind the program that made it the classic it was - and still remains so today. The seasons are broken down into separate chapters and each of them are prefixed by an 'insider's analysis' of what sort of creativity went into that season's production schedule, i. e. how they met and overcame such troubles as casting problems, budget constraints, and many other obstacles. Another item I really liked was the addition of a publicity photo or screenshot accompanying each episode synopsis.
I have had my copy of this companion for going on twenty years now and it is probably the most dog-eared book on my bookshelf. I am constantly thumbing through it and no matter how hard I try I cannot stop impulsively reading and re-reading it. This guide is indispensable to the fan of the original 'TZ' series and it is especially conventional now that the series has been made available in DVD collector sets.
Book Review: This Twilight Zone fan's favorite!
Summary: 5 Stars
Zicree did a great job on this book. To date no one has done better, and perhaps no one ever will. This is the definitive "general info" book on the Twilight Zone!As many people have mentioned, this just isn't a presentation of dry textual information (for that - try the "A Critical History of Television's the Twilight Zone, 1959-1964" ISBN: 0786404485), and the author is very opinionated. But why should this detract from the book?
Of course, when you offer opinions about the episodes (which many fondly remember from childhood - and don't enjoy reading about the flaws - especially picky and/or subjective gripes) you are taking a chance. But if you want to see "picky", then go to one of the Twilight Zone websites and check out a message board. Widely varying opinions abound and are encouraged (as they should be!). One persons very favorite #1 episode is anothers last place dog. And many of these people are all too willing to flame Zicree for offering praise and spending several pages for his favorites, and little coverage for the ones he didn't like???
I've actually purchased THREE of these books. My first one fell apart because I wore it out! The 2nd and 3rd were purchased as a replacement for #1, and to get a "revised edition" (that really wasn't updated, and didn't correct mistakes in the previous edition...oh well).
If you want to know about the Twilight Zone....look no further. This is the best "guidebook" for your imaginative adventure!
Book Review: One of my three favorite books
Summary: 5 Stars
This has to be one of my three favorite books. The other two are "The Outer Limits Companion" by David Schow and "The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion" by Martin Grams. Like those books, The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion covers the complete background production, synposis and episode guide, rare photos, and magnificent documentary approach. Great biography about Rod Serling, superb background on each broadcast, nice chapter about Serling's Night Gallery and the other Serling programs including 1980s version of TZ, and more. Great photos. To make it short and sweet (and I mean this literally) this the hands-down, ultimate book on the subject. Buy it!