Rod Serling
Ai Confini della Realtà™ - Stagione 2

THE REVIEW

“...You may believe, or you may choose not to believe. Either way, if a grumpy guy named Ross, or a cheerful bartender who always knows how to stay merry, if one of these two comes your way, you'd do well to shake his hand, in fact, all three hands, or to look him fully in the eye, all three eyes, because this gentleman might lead you beyond the...Twilight Zone”.

After the successful outcome of the first season, Serling's adventure continues, albeit with some surprises. Comics were even published, selling over 400,000 copies. Serling was once again supported by Matheson and Beamount.

Graphics, opening theme, narrative introduction, and soundtrack were renewed.

Serling's voiceover was replaced by his appearance on video, usually in the same scene where the action took place. Despite good audience ratings, CBS decided to reduce production costs by decreasing the number of episodes. To cut costs, 6 episodes were shot on magnetic tape instead of film. The tape allowed savings during post-production but revealed obvious creative limitations, due to footage restricted to indoors. Additionally, editing was limited to switching angles live, from one camera to another, and a reduced image quality.

These restrictions led to the abandonment of the magnetic support. The episodes using this technology are: 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 22.

The contexts of the stories were numerous: from drama to mystery, from science fiction to parapsychology, from thriller to satire, from despair to loneliness, from madness to dark humor.

The box set includes an elegant leaflet with 5 restored and remastered DVDs. Various extra contents: audio interviews, trivia for each episode, photo galleries, animated CG menus, and a 15-page booklet with Serling's biography, and other surprises.

Classics are not lacking such as: “King Nine Will Not Return”, “The Old Bottle”, “Shadow Theater”, “The Hercules”, “The Invaders”, "The Obsolete Man", “Will the Real Martian Stand Up?”.

The harrowing “Twenty-Two”, which inspired a famous series of films.

“But the cure for certain nightmares won't be found in medical manuals. Look for it under “remedies against bad dreams” in a place...In the twilight zone.

The unforgettable “Nick of Time”, with a masterful Shatner.

“...The moment is now, the place is a little diner in Ridgeview, Ohio. But the thing this young couple doesn't know is that this little town is very close...To the Twilight Zone”.

To be continued...

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