The Twilight Zone: Season 1, Episode 31It's Still a Good Life (19 Feb. 2003)40 years later, god-like Anthony Fremont is still holding Peaksville, Ohio under a reign of terror. However, things are about to change when his daughter turns out to have similar powers. Director:Allan Kroeker |
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The original "It's a good Life" was one of the creepiest show I have ever seen, with a terrifying 6 year old Bill Mumy as Anthony Fremont.
Now, 40 years later, Bill Mumy reprises his role. Try as his may, it's just not as good. Bill Mumy was a great child actor but only a good adult actor. A better actor like Edward Norton could had sold over an older Fremont as terrifying, although it seems more plausible to have a 25 year old Anthony. Cloris Leachman was outstanding and Bill Mumy's daughter was up to the job of being Anthony's daughter.
There are 2 reasons why this should had been a 2 part episode: 1. what happened to Anthony's girlfriend/wife? That could had made a good back story. I would had had her character breaking from fear of Anthony, getting married out of fear as much as love, and incapacitated some way, not put in the cornfield and 2. A half hour TV show in 1961 is now just a 25 minute show in 2003, with the extra commercials. The plot and suspense couldn't develop now as the did 40 years ago in the original Twilight Zone.
This was still a very good story and keeps in spirit with the original. Given a long history of great successful shows with disastrous sequels, that is an achievement.