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?
Sure, there are some drawbacks to the marathon, as I get into here — the ads, the cuts, etc. I’m as spoiled as the rest of you by streaming and discs, believe me.
But you know what? There are still some good reasons to tune in. (Here’s my list.) So if you’re game, why not join the party and let Syfy do the programming? You never know: you might see an episode you’ve never seen before.
Decades, I should note, is also doing a New Year’s TZ marathon. If you can tune them in, you might want to check it out. (Here’s a link.)
Whichever marathon you sample, you might want to bring your own snacks. I wouldn’t touch those dishes the Kanamits are bringing. O_O
December 30, 2018
11:00pm – Static
11:30pm – The Prime Mover
December 31, 2018
12:00am – Long Distance Call
12:30am – A Hundred Yards Over the Rim
1:00am – The Rip Van Winkle Caper
1:30am – The Silence
2:00am – Shadow Play
2:30am – The Mind and the Matter
3:00am – The Obsolete Man
3:30am – Two
4:00am – The Arrival
4:30am – The Shelter
5:00am – The Passersby
5:30am – The Mirror
6:00am – The Grave
6:30am – Deaths-Head Revisited
7:00am – The Midnight Sun
7:30am – Still Valley
8:00am – The Jungle
8:30am – Once Upon a Time
9:00am – A Quality of Mercy
9:30am – Nothing in the Dark
10:00am – Once More Pallbearer
10:30am – Dead Man’s Shoes
11:00am – The Hunt
11:30am – Showdown with Rance McGrew
12:00pm – Kick the Can
12:30pm – Piano in the House
1:00pm – The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank
1:30pm – The Fugitive
2:00pm – Little Girl Lost
2:30pm – Person or Persons Unknown
3:00pm – The Gift
3:30pm – The Little People
4:00pm – Four O’Clock
4:30pm – The Trade-Ins
5:00pm – Hocus-Pocus and Frisby
5:30pm – The Dummy
6:00pm – Where is Everybody?
6:30pm – Twenty-Two
7:00pm – The Odyssey of Flight 33
7:30pm – It’s a Good Life
8:00pm – The Invaders
8:30pm – The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
9:00pm – Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
9:30pm – Time Enough at Last
10:00pm – People Are Alike All Over
10:30pm – Walking Distance
11:00pm – The Hitch-hiker
11:30pm – The Bewitchin’ Pool
January 1, 2019
12:00am – The Changing of the Guard
12:30am – Young Man’s Fancy
1:00am – Cavendar is Coming
1:30am – In Praise of Pip
2:00am – Steel
2:30am – A Kind of Stopwatch
3:00am – The Last Night of a Jockey
3:30am – The Old Man in the Cave
4:00am – Uncle Simon
4:30am – Night Call
5:00am – Probe 7 Over and Out
5:30am – The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms
6:00am – A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain
6:30am – Ninety Years Without Slumbering
7:00am – Ring-a-Ding Girl
7:30am – You Drive
8:00am – Number Twelve Looks Just Like You
8:30am – The Long Morrow
9:00am – The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross
9:30am – Black Leather Jackets
10:00am – From Agnes With Love
10:30am – Spur of the Moment
11:00am – Stopover in a Quiet Town
11:30am – An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
12:00pm – Queen of the Nile
12:30pm – What’s in the Box
1:00pm – I Am the Night – Color Me Black
1:30pm – Sounds and Silences
2:00pm – Caesar and Me
2:30pm – The Jeopardy Room
3:00pm – The Encounter
3:30pm – Mr. Garrity and the Graves
4:00pm -The Brain Center at Whipple’s
4:30pm – Come Wander With Me
5:00pm – The Fear
5:30pm – One For the Angels
6:00pm – A World of Difference
6:30pm – Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
7:00pm – A Stop at Willoughby
7:30pm – The Masks
8:00pm – Five Characters In Search of an Exit
8:30pm – Eye of the Beholder
9:00pm – To Serve Man
9:30pm – Living Doll
10:00pm – Nick of Time
10:30pm – The After Hours
11:00pm – A Game of Pool
11:30pm – I Sing the Body Electric
January 2, 2019
12:00am – Mr. Denton on Doomsday
12:30am – The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine
1:00am – Escape Clause
1:30am – The Lonely
2:00am – Perchance to Dream
2:30am – Judgment Night
3:00am – And When the Sky Was Opened
3:30am – What You Need
4:00am – The Four of Us Are Dying
4:30am – Third From the Sun
5:00am – I Shot An Arrow Into the Air
5:30am – The Fever
6:00am – Long Live Walter Jameson
6:30am – Nothing in the Dark
***
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Hope to see you in some corner of the fifth dimension soon!
Posted on 12/12/2018, in Twilight Zone and tagged marathons, New Year's, New Year's Eve, SyFy, TV marathons, Twilight Zone. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
Shadow & Substance 
Good news indeed. My area lost Decades in September, but for those who have it, it will be interesting to be able to switch back and forth.
Yes, this is the first time I can recall where there’s been some competition at marathon time. Probably a healthy thing for fans! Though I can’t cover more than one marathon. :P
I’m glad SyFy changed their minds, and Decades jumped in also. I don’t mind watching it with commercials as long as there’s no cuts. We have to keep the tradition going.
Yes, it’s good to have both doing it. As for cuts, well, those are pretty much guaranteed. They snip them to make room for more ads, which help pay for the air time. *sigh*
I do like the tradition, and not having to make the selections. I don’t mind a fair dose of commercials but I hope they don’t overdo the cutting to work them in.
They have some of my favorites in the wee hours of the morning of the 31st. Those, I’ll have to catch up on later.
Looking forward to the Tweet-stream
Thanks, Dan — will try to make it a good one! As for cutting, I don’t like it, but I can live with it — if only the cuts weren’t BAD, you know? Like the transformation scene in “The Howling Man” — I mean, really? I hate cuts, you surely they can do better than THAT.
As for the schedule, yeah. I realize that some episodes have to air in the wee hours, and they can’t all be “bad” ones, but still. I wouldn’t mind a little more thought being put into it. At least they didn’t put “The Midnight Sun” at midnight, like they’ve done for so long! And I suppose “Four O’Clock” at 4:00 is clever. Too bad it’s not a better episode …
Although I happen to like the “Bewitching Pool” I know a lot of people don’t so if they switch off to watch the ball drop, they won’t be upset.
I always look forward to the New Year’s marathon and your coverage of it! I can’t fault them for trying a few new things now and then – there’s nothing inherently July 4th-esque about TZ, after all, any more than Elm Street (maybe horror fans would argue they’re both true American classics?) – but Syfy has definitely made the Zone an integral part of these holidays.
I second your motion of “Zone-i-acs” as a moniker for folks like us! We can’t do “Twilighters” in the post-Edward-and-Bella age, that’s for certain…
Yours in “Team Serling”! – Mike
Thanks, Mike! Always glad to have you joining the rest of the “team”! And yes, I don’t mind them switching it up now and then, but one thing’s for sure — they had a lot of disappointed fans on their hands. Wondering if the ensuing complaints motivated them to do better for New Year’s.
Anyway, yeah, we can’t be Twilighters! And I suppose an “i” is better than a “y” in “Zone-i-acs” …
Thank you Syfy !!!!! I always look forward to this every year, love the Twilight Zone Marathon