The Twilight Zone: Vol. 23
An above-average edition in theTwilight ZoneDVD collection,  Volume 23 begins with "Long Live Walter Jameson," starring Kevin McCarthy as a Methuselah-like history teacher whose lessons are based on personal experience--but his secret of longevity is discovered with fateful results. McCarthy's climactic aging scene marked a milestone in TV makeup effects, and it's still dramatically effective. The same can't be said for "Dead Man's Shoes," a typical episode in which a Bowery bum (Warren Stevens) steals the shoes off the body of a murdered gangster, and instantly assumes the dead man's identity, thus assuming his role in a deadly cycle of fate. It was a good idea in 1962, but the pulpy plot and characters were hokey even then."You Drive" is an enjoyable fifth-season episode starring stalwart character actor Edward Andrews as a hit-and-run driver who is relentlessly badgered by his driverless car, which honks its horn, chases him, and wreaks havoc with the man's guilty conscience. A precursor to Stephen King'sChristine, this offbeat episode offered ample proof that the latter-dayTwilight Zonestill had a knack for capitalizing on simple ideas. Likewise "The Long Morrow" offers a tragic twist on the effects of long-term space travel. Removing himself from deep freeze, spacefaring astronaut Robert Lansing ages normally while his Earthbound lover (Mariette Hartley) awaits his return in suspended animation. Thanks to some subtle acting by '60s TV veterans Lansing and Hartley, the episode's payoff is still poignantly effective; ironically, CBS announcedThe Twilight Zone's cancellation shortly after this episode aired.--Jeff Shannon