A Stop at Syfy: Some Twilight Zone Marathon Musings

I’ve been poring over the list of episodes for the upcoming Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy (I can tell you’re shocked) and, well, some random thoughts occurred to me:

• If you’re a fan of Season 4, you’re out of luck. Syfy won’t be showing any of its 18 hour-long episodes. Now, I think we can all agree that TZ is best suited to the half-hour format, so I suppose their decision is a practical one, but in the past, they’ve nearly always worked in a couple of them here and there.
• If you’re fan of Seasons 3 and 5, you’re definitely in luck. Syfy will be running every episode from both of those seasons.

“Good news, Mr. Wilson — ‘Walking Distance’ made the cut.”

• As for Seasons 1 and 2, it’s not bad: They’re showing about half of S2 (15 of its 29 episodes) and roughly two-thirds of S1 (23 of its 36 episodes). Unfortunately, a lot of them (at least when it comes to S1) are clumped up toward the end, in the wee hours of January 2, when viewership is sure to have dropped off.
• I realize they can’t include every episode (except the one time they did, back when we rang in 2016), but honestly, no “The Howling Man”? No “Mirror Image”? No “A World of His Own”? Heck, no “Night of the Meek”? It’s the Christmas season! Especially when we’re getting “Young Man’s Fancy”, “Showdown with Rance McGrew”, and “Cavender is Coming”, all of which make my list of least-favorite episodes.

Syfy’s 2018-2019 New Year’s Twilight Zone Marathon Schedule

I have to admit, being a fan of the Syfy Channel’s biannual Twilight Zone marathon has been a bit nerve-wracking lately.

Every New Year’s and Fourth of July, there they were, serving up a generous helping of our favorite show. The only question was what episodes they’d show and when it would start. When, not if.

Some line-ups were better than others (the every-episode-in-order one that ushered in 2016 was particularly well-received). And yes, in 2011 they celebrated the Fourth of July with a slate of “Greatest American Hero” episodes. But for the next few years, they didn’t miss.

Until last Fourth of July rolled around, and Syfy delivered a roster of “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Um, fireworks and Freddy Krueger? At least the “Greatest American Hero” made thematic sense!

True, a station named “Decades” stepped into the breach with an all-day Zone-a-thon. Much appreciated, to be sure, but — for now, at least — they don’t have the reach of Syfy. Most fans couldn’t tune in.

So when Syfy announced earlier this month that they were indeed hosting a New Year’s marathon, it was welcome news to a lot of Zone fanatics. Um, Zone-y-acs?