"The Twilight Zone" It's a Good Life (1961)

Director:

James Sheldon

Writers:

Jerome Bixby (story)
Rod Serling (teleplay) ...

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

3 November 1961 (Season 3, Episode 8)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

On an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish. |

Plot Keywords:

Power | Farm | Murder Plot | Abuse Of Power | Dictator

Cast

  (Episode Complete credited cast)

John Larch	...	Mr. Fremont
Cloris Leachman	...	Mrs. Fremont
Don Keefer	...	Dan Hollis
Bill Mumy	...	Anthony Fremont (as Billy Mumy)
Alice Frost	...	Aunt Amy
Max Showalter	...	Pat Riley (as Casey Adams)
Jeanne Bates	...	Ethel Hollis
Lenore Kingston	...	Thelma Dunn
Tom Hatcher	...	Bill Soames

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Contains the longest opening narration of the series (or any Twilight Zone series).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: 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...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Older and Far Away (#6.14)" (2002)

This episode makes me soooooo angry!

I voted that it's awful, but maybe the visceral reaction I get to watching this episode is what was intended? Children that are catered to like this are part of the problem in the world today, so this is still quite a timely episode. I can never watch it again though, for fear I will seek and destroy the boy! In the Twilight Zone New Year marathon they interviewed the boy in this episode (who is now, obviously a man) and he seemed quite nice, so I give him credit for being an excellent actor. They redid this episode for The Twilight Zone movie, I believe and the resolution was different enough that you could watch both and not see one as a rehash of the other.