The Twilight Zone: Season 2 (Definitive Edition)
The middle ground between light and shadow just became a whole lot  sharper and detailed with this stellar five-disc set, which compiles  the entire second season of Rod Serling's classic television series,The Twilight Zone, and gilds the whole package by including a  treasure trove of supplemental material.TZ's second season  (1960-61) is a stand-out in the series' history thanks to its sheer  number of memorable stories; among the episodes that have achieved pop  culture landmark status are the chilling "Eye of the Beholder" (a  disfigured woman undergoes surgery to appear more "normal") and "The  Silence" (Franchot Tone wagers that Liam Sullivan cannot silent for a  year); "The Invaders" (Agnes Moorhead is pitted against tiny space  travelers), "Long Distance Call" (Lost in Space's Billy Mumy  converses with a deceased relative on his toy phone), and the more  light-hearted "Night of the Meek," in which department store Santa  Claus Art Carney gets a chance to fulfill the real St. Nick's duties.  As always, the combination of sharp, intelligent scripting (mostly by  Serling, but with notable contributions by Charles Beaumont, Richard  Matheson, and George Clayton Johnson) and superb casting (guest stars  include Cliff Robertson, Dennis Weaver, Burgess Meredith, William  Shatner, John Carradine, and Don Rickles) produces television that  remains as thought-provoking and entertaining today as it was over  40 years ago.ThoughThe Twilight Zonehas received numerous home video  releases over the years, the aptly titledDefinitive Editionis  arguably the finest presentation of this series to date. Each of the  episodes have been digitally remastered from original camera negatives  (even the episodes filmed on videotape look good) and magnetic  soundtracks; Serling's previews for upcoming episodes and advertising  "billboards" (sponsor spots) have also been included, as have  commentaries by Rickles, Weaver, Robertson, Shelly Berman, and other  performers. Clips of Serling onThe Jack Benny Showand in  conversation with Mike Wallace, audio interviews with cast and crew  members byTwilight Zone Companionauthor Marc Scott Zicree,  radio adaptations of classic episodes, and even the script for  "Twenty-Two," complete with Serling's notes, round out the set, which  belongs in the collection of anyone who's ever been enthralled by this  landmark series. Now, if only the same treatment could be afforded to  Serling's other anthology program,Night Gallery…--Paul  Gaita