Well this is a problem.

Seeing the title, I immediately recognized it as a reference to TZ master Charles Beaumont and patted myself on the back accordingly. When the car was zapped by a Bradbury Ray, I thought, clever, but they’re pushing their luck.  Then they tell the sheriff they saw a meteor land near Willoughby, and I finally got it.

The segment is admirably stuffed with such references to the original Twilight Zone and 1950s sci-fi movies.  There comes a tipping point — and it comes early — where the point of the episode is mainly to shoehorn in as many references as possible.  This is the Mr. Creosote of TZ segments.  But that’s not a bad thing.

Many of the actors were actually in those 1950s movies such as Forbidden Planet, This Island Earth, and Them.  Their character’s names have at least one homage in them. The aliens, their uniforms, the spaceship design and sound effects are all based on those films.  There isn’t a whole lot of room left for a story after that.  But that’s not a bad thing.

It was the last episode of the season and they ended with a hoot.  But it doesn’t give me much to work with.  I could document every reference, but where’s the fun in that?  I didn’t even catch many of them.  The director’s commentary educated me on the more obscure ones.

It might have been more interesting if they had the actors — and their bloody composer — play it more straight.  Filming the segment in B&W would have given it a huge boost.  But why quibble.

So, I will just say it was a fun, light-hearted ending to the 1st season.  And get back to bed at a reasonable hour for a change.

Other Stuff:

• Classic TZ Legacy:  What the — didn’t you read anything above?
• Written by the writer of The Trouble with Tribbles.
• Skipped Segment:  The Last Defender of Camelot.  Pffft.