Showing posts with label TZ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TZ. Show all posts

4/27/2010

Lost In The Twilight Zone Update - Finale



Lost In The Twilight Zone Update 04/27/2010


There is no new Lost episode tonight offering the perfect opportunity to publish my final ABC Lost / Twilight Zone correlation update. The ABC Lost finale airs Sunday evening May 23rd.

Some Background Before We Proceed:

The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. I argue that the same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight's format will be different than previous updates. Instead of intensely comparing a single Twilight Zone episode to Lost, we will lightly review seven episodes. Instead of a lengthy comparison of all seven episodes, I will leave judgment in the hands of the viewers only pointing out the obvious.

Tonight's Offerings Are:
The Odyssey Of Flight 33 - Original Airdate - 2/24/21961
Shadow Play - Original Airdate - 05/05/1961
It's A Good Life - Original Airdate - 11/03/1961
Queen Of The Nile - Original Airdate - 03/06/1964
Stopover In A Quiet Town - Original Airdate - 04/24/1964
Little Girl Lost - Original Airdate - 03/16/1962
The Bewitching Pool - Original Airdate - 06/19/1964

Once you see the similarities of both programs, you will quickly realize that Lost is a modern-day Twilight Zone.

The Odyssey Of Flight 33

Monologue:

You're riding on a jet airliner en route from London to New York. You're at 35,000 feet atop an overcast and roughly fifty-five minutes from Idlewild Airport. But what you've seen occur inside the cockpit of this plane is no reflection on the aircraft or the crew. It's a safe, well-engineered, perfectly designed machine, and the men you've just met are a trained, cool, highly efficient team. The problem is simply that the plane is going too fast and there is nothing within the realm of knowledge or at least logic to explain it. Unbeknownst to passengers and crew, this aeroplane is heading into an uncharted region well off the beaten track of commercial travelers. It's moving into the Twilight Zone. What you're about to see we call The Odyssey of Flight 33.

Synopsis:

Global Airlines flight 33, typical flight from London to New York. An hour into the flight the Captain and crew notices the plane is acting strange. Its picking up speed and they cannot stop it. They fly into some sort of barrier and are thrown back in time. They spot dinosaurs on the ground that confirms their belief. The captain attempts to repeat the incredible speed increase in hopes of returning to the present. The captain succeeds but finds they didn't travel far enough and find themselves looking down over the 1939 New York Worlds Fair. Being low on fuel, the captain informs crew and passengers that he is going to attempt one more time to reach home and for everyone to remain as calm as possible.

Epilogue:

A Global jet airliner, en route from London to New York on an uneventful afternoon in the year 1961, but now reported overdue and missing, and by now searched for on land, sea, and air by anguished human beings fearful of what they'll find. But you and I know where she is, you and I know what's happened. So if some moment, any moment, you hear the sound of jet engines flying atop the overcast, engines that sound searching and lost, engines that sound desperate, shoot up a flare or do something. That would be Global 33 trying to get home — from the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie-In:

Lost began, or perhaps ended on a fateful plane ride. We all know what happened. The plane crashed, bizarre events happened to them, including time travel and so far just like in the Twilight Zone, they are still searching for home.

Shadow Play

Monologue:

Adam Grant, a nondescript kind of man found guilty of murder and sentenced to the electric chair. Like every other criminal caught in the wheels of justice he's scared, right down to the marrow of his bones. But it isn't prison that scares him, the long, silent nights of waiting, the slow walk to the little room, or even death itself. It's something else that holds Adam Grant in the hot, sweaty grip of fear, something worse than any punishment this world has to offer, something found only in the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:

Adam Grant was a man convicted of murder who tries to convince the judge and jury that he is living a nightmare, that everything around him is just an illusion that keeps repeating over and over. He states that the judge, attorneys, and jury are merely players in his dream. The judge asks why he is so concerned of dying if its only a dream and Grant says because since having this nightmare, he hasn't been able to get any sleep because he always wakes up screaming. He tells his attorney to go home and what he originally thought was for dinner will be something else. What Grant said is true, and the attorneys friends discuss the matter and perhaps get a stay of execution on the lines of insanity. Alas, the call to the governor arrives to late and Adam Grant is electrocuted. The next day, the same events occur once again, Grant in court going through the same motions, except the characters have assumed different roles.

Epilogue:

We know that a dream can be real, but whoever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings, or are we simply parts of someone's feverish, complicated nightmare? Think about it, and then ask yourself, do you live here, in this country, in this world, or do you live instead in the Twilight Zone?

Lost Tie-In:

This connects to my virtual reality theory precisely. Men and women in a captured audience, going through the motions of an execution hearing. One man (Desmond) realizes that everything is an illusion and tries to convince the rest of the people (Castaways) the same. Grant is not completely successful and the pattern repeats itself yet again in hopes that finally someone will come to his aid and rescue him from this nightmare.

Sound like Desmond!!! Desmond is living this nightmare. He now realizes that it is some sort of dream, an illusion, or virtual reality, and he sets off to help not only himself, but the other castaways to help them all wake up from the same shared nightmare.

Its A Good Life

Monologue:

Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there's a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines - because they displeased him - and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages - just by using his mind. Now I'd like to introduce you to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It's in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn't like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you're looking at now. She sings no more. And you'll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio, have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:

A 6-year-old boy named Anthony normal looking in every way, but looks are deceiving. Anthony is a monster with supernatural powers. Whatever he wishes, happens. All he has to do is think of something and it happens. The townsfolk walk on egg shells in hopes of not angering Anthony. They don't know if he destroyed the state of Ohio or the entire world. Anthony made cars go away, makes the townsfolk live without electricity and television programs. He controls the weather and even what supplies can be found at the local grocery and supply store.

The townsfolk are frightened of Anthony and keep telling him that he is good because if Anthony is displeased, he will wish that person away to the cornfield never to be seen again. Anthony hears a dog barking, and he doesn't like, and sends the dog to the cornfield.

Life continues like this for some time until a birthday party where Dan, who is drunk, can't take Anthony anymore and stands up to him. He calls Anthony a monster and tells the other adults to stand up and kill Anthony from behind. No one acts. Dan is sent to the cornfield.

Because Anthony is angry at what has happened, he makes it snow outside. His father tells Anthony that the snow will kill off half the crops. But as the adults look on, worried smiles on their faces, his father smiles and tells Anthony in a horror-tinged voice, but it's a real good thing you did Anthony. A real good thing. And tomorrow.... tomorrow's gonna be a... real good day!"

Epilogue:

No comment here, no comment at all. We only wanted to introduce you to one of our very special citizens, little Anthony Fremont, age 6, who lives in a village called Peaksville in a place that used to be Ohio. And if by some strange chance you should run across him, you had best think only good thoughts. Anything less than that is handled at your own risk, because if you do meet Anthony you can be sure of one thing: you have entered the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie-In:

Ok, everyone sees that the Smoke Monster is Anthony. Old Smoky has supernatural powers just like Anthony. he has his people frightened to death just like Anthony. Anyone that displeases Smoky, gets destroyed, sort of like getting sent to the cornfield. People rise up and revolt against Smoky, only to get destroyed.

The Lost island, an island that cannot be seen and is in unknown waters, sounds a lot like Peaksville, Ohio. Only Peaksville exists to the townsfolks. There is nothing beyond the city limits.

I hope you are beginning to see the similarities of Lost and the Twilight Zone and how the writers used these scenario's to write and feed off for their show.

Queen Of The Nile

Monologue:

Jordan Herrick, syndicated columnist whose work appears in more than a hundred newspapers. By nature a cynic, a disbeliever, caught for the moment by a lovely vision. He knows the vision he's seen is no dream; she is Pamela Morris, renowned movie star, whose name is a household word and whose face is known to millions. What Mr. Herrick does not know is that he has also just looked into the face--of the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:

Noted cynic columnist Jordan Herick prepares to interview the famous actress Pamela Morris known for her extreme beauty and vitality. Many ask her what her secret to staying young is. The interview takes place at the home of Pamela Morris. Jordan meets an old woman and assumes it is Pamela's mother. The old woman speaks up and claims she is the daughter of Pamela. Jordan thinks the old woman is senile.

Pamela comes down and Jordan sees her and falls in love with her. During the interview which turns into flirtatious conversation, where Pamela reveals her dark secret. She produces a small Egyptian scarab beetle. She claims it has the power to drain the life force from other people and transfer the life force to herself enabling her to stay young and healthy forever.

Jordan finds this ridiculous but wonders why she told him this information. He suddenly realizes that he has been poisoned and attempts to escape but to no avail. He falls dead in the house. Pamela uses the scarab to suck the life force from Jordan reducing Jordan to a pile of dust.

The episode ends with another young columnist arriving to interview Pamela, starting the cycle once again. It is implied that Pamela is actually Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and that she has been existing this way for centuries.

Epilogue:

Everybody knows Pamela Morris, the beautiful and eternally young movie star. Or does she have another name, even more famous, an Egyptian name from centuries past? It's best not to be too curious, lest you wind up like Jordan Herrick, a pile of dust and old clothing, discarded in the endless eternity of the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie-In:

In this episode, we have the Egyptian mysticism that is so prevalent on Lost. And a woman who doesn't age that goes by another more famous name, Cleopatra. Richard Alpert from Lost doesn't age. And if you take the initials from his first and last name, RA, you get the Egyptian Sun God, Ra. Coincidence, we think not.

Stopover In A Quiet Town

Monologue:

Bob and Millie Frasier: average young New Yorkers who had attended a party in the country last night, and on the way home, took a detour. Most of us, on waking in the morning, know exactly where we are; the rooster or the alarm clock brings us out of sleep into the familiar sights, sounds, aromas of home and the comfort of a routine day ahead. Not so with our young friends. This will be a day like none they've ever spent, and they'll spend it in the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:

A married couple wake up in a strange house. They only remember that they both drank too much at a party the night before. On the way home, a large shadow had appeared over their car and followed them. As they explore the house, they find its fake, cabinets glued, the appliances mere props, sort of like a doll house. All of a sudden they hear a child's laugh. They go to explore and find the town is all fake as well, right down to the trees on the lawn. They are the only people in town.

The couple become nervous and begin questioning where they are and thinks that perhaps they are in Hell dying in a car crash the night before. Just then they hear a train whistle and rush to the train station thinking they finally found a way out of the town. Smiling, they board the train and are relieved when the train starts moving and heading out-of-town. After a few minutes the train comes to a stop and they realize it went in a circle and they are back where they started.

Rejected, they leave the train and head back into town and are pursued by the large shadow that followed them into town and again they hear the child laugh. Its revealed that the shadow is a giant alien child who abducted the couple from Earth to be pets.

Epilogue:

The moral of what you've just seen is clear: if you drink, don't drive. And if your wife has had a couple, she shouldn't drive, either. You might both just wake up with a whale of a headache, in a deserted village, in the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie-In:

This episode introduces the alien influence to the castaways of Lost. The child is playing with them, putting them in multiple scenario's at her whim. They appear to be in control, but they are not. They are trapped in the virtual reality lab.

When the couple tried to escape, they failed, just as the castaways have attempted to escape the island. They always wound up back on the island where they began.

And the twist, as I have been stating for six years, is the introduction of the aliens at the very end of the series, pulling the strings, running the show.

Little Girl Lost

Monologue:

Missing: one frightened little girl. Name: Bettina Miller. Description: Six years of age, average height and build, light brown hair, quite pretty. Last seen being tucked into bed by her mother a few hours ago. Last heard--aye, there's the rub, as Hamlet put it. For Bettina Miller can be heard quite clearly, despite the rather curious fact that she can't be seen at all. Present location? Let's say for the moment--in the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:

A couple, Chris and Ruth, are awoken by the distant whimpering of their little girl, Tina. The couple get up to investigate when they hear their dog barking. They find Tina's bed empty but they can hear her crying. The parents look everywhere for Tina but can't find her.

The father can hear Tina crying and her voice has a strange echo sound to it. He tells his wife that although they can hear Tina, she is no longer with them. All the while the dog is barking wildly in the back yard. The father calls his friend who happens to be a physicist to help find Tina. He lets him in the house and the dog follows. The dog (Vincent) runs to Tina's room and under the bed. In an instant, they dog is gone as well but can still hear it barking.

The physicist examines the ball behind the bed and discovers a portal to another dimension. A dimension that sometimes runs parallel together with their own. They plan on using the dog to guide Tina back to the portal and to safety but it doesn't work. The father then leans into the portal and falls into the other dimension. He lands hard and he sees a bizarre place, quite unlike his own, where things are turning upside down and inside out at the same time.

The father sees the dog and Tina and tries to guide them back to where the portal is. He is afraid to move an inch in fear of not finding the portal again. He hears the physicist tell him to hurry up. Finally, after a tense few minutes, he grabs Tina and the dog and is pulled back to the other side.

The physicist explains that he was telling the father to hurry because the portal was closing in on him and he was actually between dimensions and if he would have stayed a few more seconds, he would have been caught in both dimensions.

Epilogue:

The other half where? The fourth dimension? The fifth? Perhaps. They never found the answer. Despite a battery of research physicists equipped with every device known to man, electronic and otherwise, no result was ever achieved, except perhaps a little more respect for and uncertainty about the mechanisms of the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie-In:

Another dimension, a portal to another place. That is right up the Lost castaways alley. The Lost crew has been tossed through time and space countless times ending up who knows where.

About the father in between dimensions. This depicts Desmond. He is living in both dimensions, this is how he can see what is happening in the other time lines and seems to know what is happening in the future.

The Bewitching Pool

Monologue:

A swimming pool not unlike any other pool, a structure built of tile and cement and money, a backyard toy for the affluent, wet entertainment for the well-to-do. But to Jeb and Sport Sharewood, this pool holds mysteries not dreamed of by the building contractor, not guaranteed in any sales brochure. For this pool has a secret exit that leads to a never-neverland, a place designed for junior citizens who need a long voyage away from reality, into the bottomless regions of the Twilight Zone.

Introduction to a perfect setting: Colonial mansion, spacious grounds, heated swimming Pool, all the luxuries money can buy. Introduction to two children, brother and sister: names: Jeb and Sport, healthy, happy, normal youngsters. Introduction to a mother: Gloria Sharewood by name, glamorous by nature. Introduction to a father: Gil Sharewood, handsome, prosperous, the picture of success, a man who has achieved every man's ambition: beautiful children, beautiful home, beautiful wife. Idyllic? Obviously. But don't look too carefully; don't peek behind the facade. The ideal may have feet of clay.

Synopsis:

Sport Sharewood and her brother Jeb live in a big, expensive house, but their mother is cold, insensitive and self-centered; their father is kinder, but still a distant and preoccupied businessman.

While Sport and Jeb are sitting by the pool, a young boy that looked like Huckleberry Finn pops up from the deep end of the pool and invites them to follow him. Scout and Jeb do indeed follow him diving underwater. When they surface, they find themselves in a simple rustic homestead. They see kids swimming. laughing, having fun, and playing. It is the complete opposite of their real home life. It is considered the ultimate paradise, where the children are always loved.

A woman appears, calls herself Aunt T, and explains that there are many children whose parents don't deserve them. But soon, sport and Jeb return home to find their parents didn't even notice they were gone and are divorcing. They race back to the pool, dive in, and escape back to Aunt T and the other children.

Epilogue:

A brief epilogue for concerned parents. Of course, there isn't any such place as the gingerbread house of Aunt T, and we grownups know there's no door at the bottom of a swimming pool that leads to a secret place. But who can say how real the fantasy world of lonely children can become? For Jeb and Sport Sharewood, the need for love turned fantasy into reality; they found a secret place - in the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie-In:

This was the Twilight Zone's final episode. It wasn't planned as the last episode, so there was no build up to a finale as there is with Lost. However, it is an excellent episode to end with.

The pool is an analogy of then island. The escape hatch is the hatch on the island, or perhaps the secret portal Ben uses to travel to and from the island as well through time and space. When the children do escape, they find an idealic scenario, exactly what children want. Laughing, playing, games, fun all day, candy. Almost as if someone read their minds and constructed a perfect play ground for them.

As we first witnessed the others in their cabins and huts living peaceful, with book clubs, cooking brownies, and tossing the football around, the citizens were at peace. When they returned to the real world, they found that they didn't really fit in there anymore and longed to return back to their island. Just as Sport and Jeb did.

Submitted for your approval. A Lost theory formulated six years ago before most of the cast of characters were introduced. A theory that slowly unfolded revealing more and more of its whole as if a puzzle were being pieced together. As season six comes to an end, my theory is laid out in all its glory, in full view, for all to see.

The sign post up ahead, the next stop.....



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL


4/12/2010

Lost Update Twilight Zone - The Parallel


Lost In The Twilight Zone Update: 04/12/2010

With ABC Lost approaching its climatic series finale on May 23rd, the Grassy Knoll Institute has one or two more Twilight Zone Updates to discuss the correlation between Rod Serling’s science fiction television program, The Twilight Zone, (1959-1964) and the current ABC network hit, Lost.

Some Background Before We Proceed:
The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. I argue that the same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight’s offering is: Season 4 Episode 113 The Parrallel
Original Airdate: 03/14/1963

I think once you see the similarities of both programs, you will quickly realize that Lost is a modern-day Twilight Zone.

Monologue:
In the vernacular of space, this is T minus one hour. Sixty minutes before a human being named Major Robert Gaines is lifted off from the Mother Earth and rocketed into the sky, farther and longer than any man ahead of him. Call this one of the first faltering steps of man to sever the umbilical cord of gravity and stretch out a fingertip toward an unknown. Shortly, we'll join this astronaut named Gaines and embark on an adventure, because the environs overhead — the stars, the sky, the infinite space — are all part of a vast question mark known as the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:
Astronaut Robert Gaines, Major, is on a routine space orbiting mission when his capsule malfunctions and he blacks out. However, he awakes on Earth with apparently no major problems and is released from the hospital and permitted to go home.

But things seem very odd to Major Gaines as inconsistencies pop up. He notices that his own daughter doesn't know who he is and everyone calls him Colonel when he knows he's a Major. And he argues with his friends and family that John F. Kennedy is the president of the United States even though no one else has ever heard of the man.

Major Gaines believes that he has slipped into a parallel universe where almost everything is the same but a few major changes in history. He returns to his capsule in hopes of traveling back into space and landing in his own universe but he blacks out again.

Major Gaines wakes up to find himself in his capsule back in space. He finds his landing points and pilots the ship to a safe landing. He thinks that this was just a great big nightmare until Mission Control receives another transmission from space... From Colonel Robert Gaines.

Epilogue:
Major Robert Gaines, a latter-day voyager just returned from an adventure. Submitted to you without any recommendations as to belief or disbelief. You can accept or reject; you pay your money and you take your choice. But credulous or incredulous, don't bother to ask anyone for proof that it could happen. The obligation is a reverse challenge: prove that it couldn't. This happens to be the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:
Desmond is a modern-day Major Robert Gaines.
Desmond embarks on a solo trip around the world in his ship. He blacks out and wakes up on the Lost island. As Desmond continues on his journey, he realizes that something is not exactly right. There are inconsistencies that cannot be explained away. He begins to have flashbacks and flash forwards where people do not know who he is.

As season six approaches its end, Desmond realizes what is happening and tries with great effort to return to his reality. He understands that he is living in both universe's at the same time and that he can control the outcome. Perhaps Desmond controls the blackouts forcing another chapter to further him along to find his home, his world, his universe, his Penny. Notice when Desmond blacks out and wakes up, he is in an alternate reality.

And just as Major Gaines in the Twilight Zone received a message from his alternate in space, Desmond has also send messages to the past and future Desmond. The question however, is where does Desmond ultimately belong?

Submitted for your approval. Please use the comments section below to voice your opinions.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

3/05/2010

ABC Lost Versus The Twilight Zone


Lost In The Twilight Zone Update 03/05/2010

Submitted For Your Approval:
For years I have been preaching about the similarities between ABC's Lost series and the 1960's science fiction program, The Twilight Zone. Last night while surfing Youtube I came across two most excellent video's combining Lost and the Twilight Zone. The editing skills are off the charts for both of these video's.




You can find more Lost video's at her home page at this link. Night Dancer 342
 The second video uses a different Twilight Zone season intro that uses Lost icons mixed with the Twilight Zone icons to make a most excellent introduction.
 

You can find more Lost video's at his home page at this link HANSOLOW 
The Lost writers (Lindelof and Cuse) have already admitted in interviews they were heavily influenced by Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone and the Lost series displays this perfectly. Just when you think you know what is happening on screen, a twist of fate to convolute the outcome.




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/22/2010

Lost Update: Static (A Twilight Zone Special)


Respectfully Submitted For Your Approval

Lost Update 02/22/2010

Greetings from another dimension of sight, sound, and imagination. Prepare yourselves for another Lost / Twilight Zone comparison. (The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. I argue that the same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.)

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight’s offering is from season two, episode number 56, original air date, March 03, 1961, titled, Static.

As you read the opening monologue, plot synopsis, and epilogue, think about Lost and the season six premiere. As usual, I will explain the tie in below.

Monologue:

Retired old Ed Lindsay retrieves his ancient radio from the boarding house basement. He asks one of the boys intently watching him, "Don't you know what a radio is?". The boy says that of course he has, just not quite lick that. Rod Serling appears standing at the top of the basement steps:

"No one ever saw one quite like that, because that's a very special sort of radio. In its day, circa 1935, its type was one of the most elegant consoles on the market. Now, with its fabric-covered speakers, its peculiar yellow dial, its serrated knobs, it looks quaint and a little strange. Mr. Ed Lindsay is going to find out how strange very soon, when he tunes in to the Twilight Zone."

Plot Synopsis:

Ed Lindsay is an irritable bachelor in his late fifties. He lives in a dull boarding house where much of his time is consumed watching what he calls worthless and mindless programs. Not able to take it anymore, Ed retrieves his old radio from storage in the basement. When Ed was younger and happier, he enjoyed the radio and was one of his favorite forms of entertainment. Ed brought the radio to his room and plugged it in. He was amazed as to what he heard playing. It was programs from the 30's and 40's from big bands no longer alive. He tried to tell the others of his miraculous radio, but when he turned it on for them, all they heard was static. By making several phone calls, he found that the radio station he was listening to was off the air for over 13 years.

Later we learn that Ed intended to marry the love of his life twenty years ago but he kept letting other things get in the way until it was to late. Vinnie, a 50 something female boarder tells Ed that the past cannot be recovered and he should let it go. She leaves Ed's room and returns to her own. Ed turns on the radio once again and magically Ed transforms into a much younger man, twenty years younger. Vinnie runs into Ed's room young again as well. The radio offers Ed another chance to relive his life and finally get things right this time around.

Epilogue:

Around and around she goes, and where she stops nobody knows. All Ed Lindsay knows is that he desperately wanted a second chance and he finally got it, through a strange and wonderful time machine called a radio.... in the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:

Remember way back in season one when Sayid and Hurley had the transmitter high atop the hill? Do you remember what they heard from the transmitter? That's right, they heard 1930's and 40's big band music. Sayid remarks, "What is that?" Hurley replies, "When is that?" Sayid looks at him strangely and then Hurley tells him, "Just kidding dude!"

Lost has always been about redemption, righting the wrongs from the past. The castaways have been given that opportunity in the form of traveling back in time, approximately 20-25 years, to fix what was broken. It doesn't mean that they will succeed, but they were given another chance at life.

just like Ed Lindsay from the Twilight Zone was given. What they do/did with that chance yet remains to be seen.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

2/06/2010

Lost Update Twilight Zone: Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge


Hello, glad you could make it to my first Lost / Twilight Zone comparison for season six. As promised several years ago, we are going to discuss the correlation between Rod Serling’s science fiction television program, The Twilight Zone, (1959-1964) and the current ABC network hit, Lost. You can find the previous updates here.
Lost In The Twilight Zone.

Tonight's offering is from season five, episode number 142, original air date, February 28, 1964, titled, An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

As you read the opening monologue, plot synopsis, and epilogue, think about Lost and the season six premiere. As usual, I will explain the tie in below.

Monologue:

Tonight a presentation so special and unique that, for the first time in the five years we’ve been presenting The Twilight Zone, we’re offering a film shot in France by others. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival of 1962, as well as other international awards, here is a haunting study of the incredible, from the past master of the incredible, Ambrose Bierce.

Plot Synopsis:

Here is the French production of An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge.
A Confederate spy is about to be hung by Union soldiers. The hanging is going to take place on a bridge above Owl Creek. The soldiers fix the noose around the spy’s neck and step off of the plank sending the spy toward the water. Just as the soldier reaches the bottom the rope snaps and the spy falls into the water. He struggles to get the noose off of his neck and swims to the surface. He makes his way down the river managing to avoid the Union gunfire.

As he is floating down the river he notices all the small things he had never noticed before. He realizes how great it is to be alive. Once he makes it to shore he starts to head home. He runs through what seems to be an endless forest until he finally sees his house. His wife is waiting there for him. He is filled with delight.

Just as he is about to embrace his wife his head snaps back. He is back at Owl Creek Bridge, swinging from his neck on a rope that didn’t break.

Epilogue:

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge – in two forms, as it was dreamed, and as it was lived and died. This is the stuff of fantasy, the thread of imagination, the ingredients of The Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:

The season six Lost premiere is spot on to what happened in this Twilight Zone episode. The prisoner is escorted out to the bridge, prepared to be hanged. The Lost castaways board Oceanic Flight 815 bound for Los Angeles, California.

The prisoner's hang rope snaps affording him a second chance. Luck would be on his side even more as he escapes the guards and their gunfire. The Lost castaways flight is typical until turbulence occurs shaking the passengers. In an instant, the plane tears apart and crashes on the island.

The prisoner in his journey to escape and go home to be with his wife and family becomes more aware of his surroundings and has a greater appreciation for the life he led and his family. On Lost the castaways during their journey on the island, become very aware of their surroundings in their struggle to escape the others and go home.

The prisoner, just at the moment he made it home to his house and family, was yanked back to reality as he found himself hanging from the bridge. On Lost, after battling smoke monsters, seeing loved ones die, and running and hiding from the evil Others, they find themselves back on the plane and after a little turbulence, land safely in California and go about their normal lives.

Submitted for your approval, respectfully, in the Lost Twilight Zone.



LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

12/10/2009

Lost Update Twilight Zone: Where Is Everyone


It has been a little while since my last Lost update and as we patiently wait for the start of season six, the final season of Lost to begin February second, 2010. As promised earlier, we are going to discuss the correlation between Rod Serling’s science fiction television program, The Twilight Zone, (1959-1964) and the current ABC network hit, Lost.

Some Background Before we Proceed:
The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. I argue that the same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight's offering is: Season 1 Episode 1 Where Is Everybody

I think once you see the similarities of both programs, you will quickly realize that Lost is a modern day Twilight Zone.

Monologue:
The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be our journey.

Plot:
Mike Ferris wakes and finds himself in a strange town all alone. He is dressed in an air force uniform but doesn't remember how he got there. As he walks through town, he seems to have just missed finding people as he sees water dripping from faucets, stoves burning, food cooking, tea boiling, cigarettes in ashtrays but no living sole in sight. While in the street, he clicks the traffic walk sign which brings him back to reality. Mr. Ferris was in an experiment for the space agency, testing his ability to cope with being alone in the void of space.

Epilogue:
Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in the void that is sky, up there is an enemy known as isolation. It sits there in the stars waiting, waiting with the patience of eons, forever waiting... in the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:
Ben Linus is Mr. Ferris. Perhaps Ben is also in an experiment, one to study absolute power and authority and how it affects morality. Similar attire, air force jump suit Mr. Ferris wears and the Dharma institute jump suit Ben wears. The empty town Mr. Ferris sees and the empty village Ben sees. Mr. Ferris in some outlandish experiment dealing with isolation and Ben isolated from the outside world in the middle of some outlandish experiment.

Mr. Ferris then clicks the traffic sign and returns to reality. Perhaps that is what Ben is about to do as well. Click the button and return from scratch. With a new cast and new scenario.



LURKING, STILL LOST ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

8/25/2009

Lost Update: The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street


Summer of Lost Update 08/25/2009

Tonight we continue our search for what we perceive as truth, reality, found, and Lost as The Twilight Zone and ABC's Lost intermingle as we explore my alternate theory and perhaps reality itself.

Some Background Before we Proceed:

The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. The same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight's Twilight Zone Lost offering is titled,
The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, season 1, episode 22, 1960


The Prologue:
Maple Street, USA. Late Summer. A tree-lined little world of front porch gliders, barbecues, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and a flash of light, it will be precisely 6:43 PM on Maple Street.

This is Maple Street on a late Saturday afternoon. Maple Street, in the last calm and reflective moments...before the monsters came.

Synopsis:
The episode begins as a typical Summer day. Kids playing, grown ups gathering. Then a dark shadow crawls across the sky and a flash of light and a loud noise is heard before everything goes dark. A complete power outage has occurred including the residents cars. The adults get together to discuss what happened and what they plan on doing about it. Pete Van Horn volunteers to investigate to see if the power outage is city wide or just the neighborhood.

Just after Pete leaves a young boy claims he knows what is happening. He shows the adults one of his comic books with a story about aliens coming down, assuming human appearance, and living in the neighborhood for a while – while they plan their attack.

At first the adults don’t believe the story until one of the neighbor’s lights go on in his house. Then someone else’s car starts for no reason. As things are going on and off randomly the people start to accuse each other of being the aliens. The fear and hostility of the neighborhood grows. When Pete Van Horn comes back one of the neighbors shoots him because he thought he was an alien.

As a full-scale riot breaks out, the camera pans outward and upward revealing two aliens sitting atop a hill overlooking Maple Street. They comment on how all they need to do is switch on and off a few lights and the people of Earth will destroy themselves.

Epilogue:
The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices. To be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the frightened, thoughtless search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own: for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things can not be confined to the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:
Jacob and the Unknown man seen at the beginning of the season five finale, are the two aliens. They are the ones manipulating mankind, one group of people at a time. They leave the Lost castaways to their own devices with minimum prodding on their part. Then they simply sit back and observe and learn what humanity really is.

Unknown Man: You’re still trying to prove me wrong.
Jacob: You are wrong!
Unknown Man: They come, fight, they destroy, they corrupt. It always ends the same.
Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that, it’s just progress.


The question before us is simple. Who are the real monsters? The aliens that are manipulating the power on Maple Street? Or perhaps the citizens of Maple street and how fear and prejudice blind us so quickly and completely that we behave like monsters?

I'll leave that up to you, in the Twilight Zone.


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

5/20/2009

Five Characters In Search Of An Exit


Summer Of Lost Update 05/20/2009

Tonight we enter an unknown realm as small as an island and as infinite as the universe as we blend the saga of the castaways of Lost and the classic science fiction series The Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. The same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight's offering is titled: Five Characters In Search Of An Exit.

Originally aired 12/22/1961 (Season 3) (Episode 79)

Prologue:
Clown. Hobo. Ballet Dancer. Bagpiper. And an Army Major. A collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation. Just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we'll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we'll only explain it, because this is the Twilight Zone.

Synopsis:
The Major awakens. He does not know exactly who he is or how he got to this place. And what kind of place it is? He is in the bottom of a featureless steel cylinder whose open end is many, many feet above. It’s a strange kind of prison.

But the Major is not alone. He first encounters a Clown… a sardonic, sarcastic joker who also has no idea what his real name is. Also present in the Cylinder are the Hobo, the Ballerina, and the Bagpipe Player. They have all been here for a long time but no one knows how long. There are many theories as to the why and where they are, but none are for sure. The ballet dancer thinks they all might be on a spaceship hurtling through space. The Major chimes in that perhaps they are all in hell.

And then there is the ear-shattering peal of a ringing bell that sounds at odd intervals. The Major is determined to escape the cylinder and learn the secret of where they are. The others have long ago given up hope but the Major’s fierce spirit energizes them. They concoct a plan where they will stand atop each other’s shoulders and use a rope made of fabric to throw a grappling hook over the edge of the cylinder.

After several heart-breaking failures, the Major maneuvers himself to the edge of the cylinder. He sees something! Something he cannot believe! He prepares to tell his fellow prisoners, but the giant roaring of the bells come again… and he loses his balance and falls outside the cylinder into the snow below. Here comes the Twilight Zone twist: They characters are dolls left in a Christmas charity drive donation barrel. A child picks up the major and puts him back into the barrel seeing that the doll has fallen out.

Epilogue:
Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in the distorted image of human life. But this added, hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer and a major. Tonight's cast of players on the odd stage known as the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:
Can you spot the similarities between Lost and the Twilight Zone?
The five characters represent the Lost castaways. A diverse bunch of people indeed. First and foremost, the TZ characters inquire where they are, and how they got there? Same goes for Lost. Some even say on screen, "Where the hell are we?" But let's get to the characters.

The Major, the focal point of the episode, is of course the alter ego of Jack Sheppard. Jack, the skilled surgeon, woke up on the island much like the army Major. Jack took charge of the castaways much like the army Major did. Jack energizes the castaways and sets them on to the task at hand, to secure survival.

Jack also got off the island just as the army Major got out of the cylinder only to find the twist of fate that set them right back where they started. Jack returned to the island winding up just as he arrived previously, opening his eyes on the island flat on his back. The army Major was tossed back into the cylinder by the little girl just as he arrived in the beginning.

The Clown:
Doesn’t the clown remind you of Sawyer? The wisecracking name calling know it all. A man hiding behind his feelings. And those funny glasses he wears to read. The clown as well as Sawyer seem to be skeptical of the plans and hierarchy of this small dynamic group of characters. Both the clown and Sawyer have to be pushed to assist. Both clown and Sawyer are not friendly people, and seem to have an agenda on their own.

The Hobo:
The hobo can only be Hugo Reyes. Hurley is dressed in semi ragged clothes, his hair is unkept, and his beard is unshaven. Hurley just wanted to escape it all. You can always find Hugo foraging for food and tinkering with beat up hunk a junk vans.

The Ballerina:
Shannon is the obvious choice here, (She was a ballet instructor) although Kate and Claire could certainly be inserted here as well. Shannon was the delicate pretty woman on the island. She really had no value other than a pretty face. However, she was useful when she was needed to translate the French distress call from the radio tower. The ballerina was also just a pretty face until they needed fabric from her outfit to make the rope needed to escape.

The Bagpiper:
Charlie Pace is a perfect fit. Charlie was a rock star who played guitar. Charlie, like the bagpiper, blended into the background scenery and was content to play second or third fiddle. (Pun intended) However, with Charlie, their goal could not have been achieved, and possibly like Lost when Charlie gave up his life to save the others, the outcome was the same.

The Bell:
On Lost, when Desmond turned the fail safe key, a mighty sound came from the heavens. It signaled the island shifting into a new time line. The bell, the mighty sound from the heavens on TZ, signaled another new arrival into the barrel.

The Barrel:
On TZ, the barrel, the round cylinder, was the universe of the dolls. They had no escape, no hope of rescue. For the Lost castaways, the island was their universe. They had no hope for rescue and were stranded on the island.

Until next week, Get Lost...




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

3/11/2009

Lost In The Twilight Zone - No Time Like The Past



Special Lost Update - Season V - 03/11/2009

Submitted For Your Approval: As promised, tonight is a special Lost update, our destination, The Twilight Zone. We will visit the past, the present, and perhaps the future. I will use Twilight Zone episode #112 from season IV, 1963, titled, No Time Like The Past as the template for tonight's journey. As always with my Lost/Twilight Zone updates, the format remains the same. I will offer the original Serling opening monologue, my personal synopsis of the episode, then Serling's original epilogue of the episode, and finally, what it all means to ABC Lost. Let's begin shall we...

As like all Twilight Zone episodes, Rod Serling offered an opening monologue that went something like this...

Opening Monologue:
Exit one Paul Driscoll, a creature of the 20th century. He puts to a test a complicated theorem of space-time continuum, but he goes a step further, or tries to. Shortly, he will seek out three moments of the past in a desperate attempt to alter the present - one of the odd and fanciful functions in a shadowland known as the Twilight Zone.

Story Synopsis:
Paul Driscol has access to a time machine. He intends to use the machine to go back in time and alter the course of history for the betterment of Mankind. His first attempt goes bad as he tries to convince the Japanese military that a bomb will explode in Hiroshima. In his second attempt he goes back before the start of World War II and attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler but fails. His third attempt is to prevent the RMS Lusitania from being torpedoed but again fails.

Depressed for failing so many times, Driscol comes to the conclusion that the past cannot be changed no matter how hard one tries to do so. He then decides to travel back to a more peaceful time and settles on the year 1881, and intends to live his life out.

Arriving in the past, Driscol realizes that the president, James Garfeild, will be assassinated the next day. He doesn't interfere and Garfield is shot. Later on, he attempts to prevent a schoolhouse from burning down that he read about. Instead of preventing the fire, he inadvertently causes the fire and schoolhouse to burn down.

Realizing that he cannot live in the past knowing what the future brings, he returns to his present time learning a hard lesson to not tamper or attempt to change the course of history.

Epilogue:
Incident on a July afternoon, 1881. A man named Driscoll who came and went and, in the process, learned a simple lesson, perhaps best said by a poet named Lathbury, who wrote, 'Children of yesterday, heirs of tomorrow, what are you wearing? Labor and sorrow? Look to your looms again, faster and faster fly the great shuttles prepared by the master. Life's in the loom, room for it--room!'
Tonight's tale of clocks and calendars. In the Twilight Zone.

WOW! Take a minute and let what you just read sink in. Don't worry, you have plenty of time as ABC is airing a repeat of Lost tonight. (BTW, ABC said they would air 16 straight episodes with no breaks, seems they lied, just like Ben Linus) The question for tonight, what is the premise of season five for ABC Lost and where is the series headed? That's right boys and girls, (And the several alien species that read my updates) it's all about time travel and attempting to change past events.

We can easily compare Daniel Faraday or Ben Linus to Paul Driscol. Faraday seems to have the intellect and knowledge to understand and manipulate the complicated space-time theorem. You see him conducting several experiments on the island with the rockets. He also knows about the past, and the future. He has been there before. As for Ben, he may not possess the intellect, but he controls the time machine, and thus, controls destiny. We know that both Faraday and Linus have visited the past before. The results are not yet determined, but seeing that the island is in a hell of a mess, and Faraday and Linus are still traveling back in time, the results are not acceptable. The same fate was had for Driscol in Twilight Zone.

Moving on to Driscol picking a quiet time in the past to settle down and live the rest of his life out, we know that didn't work out to well for him. He inadvertently caused the school house fire he was trying to prevent. Sawyer and Juliet are 30 years in the past, 1974, and after confronting Horace, they become integral parts of the Dharma Initiative, and becomes a powerful man. We know by using this Twilight Zone episode as a template that Sawyer and Juliet will not end up well in their current time frame.

As a side note, Desmond saw the future, and saw Charlie dying. No matter what Desmond did to prevent Charlie from dying, fate or destiny took it's course and Charlie did die.

Perhaps Ben Linus, trapped in a continuous loop of desperation and insanity, is unprepared for tonight's lesson, taught only in the Twilight Zone.




LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL

4/01/2008

Lost Update - Damn Dirty Ape


Lost Update Season IV 03/27/2008

There has been a lot of speculation about the “Foot” seen on the Lost island. The foot was shown only once and only for a precious few seconds. The Grassy Knoll Institute has been asked to explain the foot and what we believe it’s significance is to the Lost series. Our simple short answer is… Everything.

The photo above is of the famous Lost Foot. Take a good look at it. Not just the base featuring the four toed foot wearing a sandal, but the entire statue. Notice that it is broken and only partially intact. (This is important) One wonders what the entire statue looked like before it crumbled. What was attached to the foot? What was surrounding the statue? Perhaps the next photo below will shed some light on what the foot represents.


For those of you who do not recognize the photo, it is from the final scene of the classic 1968 movie, Planet Of The Apes.
(Dramatic Pause!)

Yes folks, the foot is none other than that of the "Lawgiver," the Christ figure of Ape World in the movie. Notice that the foot is broken and the pedestal is crumbled. Now notice the broken Statue Of Liberty. Both the Lawgiver and Statue Of Liberty are cultural icons, easily recognizable, and placed in prominent places.

Still not convinced?! Need more proof? No problem. Take a look at the picture below of the Lawgiver, an actual prop used on the set of Planet Of The Apes. Notice the Lawgiver has four toes and wearing sandals just like the foot on Lost. Both the foot and Lawgiver are the same color and texture.

There's still more! I told you this was a special Lost Update.

The screenplay of Planet Of The Apes was written by none other than Sci-Fi guru Rod Serling, the creator of the Twilight Zone, (A Sci-Fi supernatural television show from the 1960's depicting ordinary people thrust into bizarre and unexplainable situations with plenty of twists of fates and moral consequences.)


From reading the Grassy Knoll Institute Lost Updates, we all know that the program is similar to the old sci-fi series Twilight Zone and that the characters are from Twilight Zone episodes. This link will act as a refresher course to the TZ links. Lost In The Twilight Zone

Lets delve a little deeper into the Planet of The Apes and Lost to compare the story outlines of each.

On Lost, we all know the story begins with a plane crash. Same as with Planet Of The Apes. The spaceship crashed in the water and Taylor and the rest of the survivors swam to shore.

On Lost, they crashed on a strange mysterious island and we were immediately introduced to an invisible monster and miraculous healing properties. Planet Of The Apes also crashed on a strange mysterious planet and introduced the audience to talking apes who were the dominant species on this distant planet.

We learn on Lost that time is somehow distorted and perhaps is taking place in the past or the future. On Planet of The Apes, we learn that 2500 years have passed for the marooned astronauts.

Ben and the others village on Lost are the counterparts to the apes and Ape City on Planet Of The Apes.

The final scene has not yet been aired for Lost, (We have two more years for that) but by looking at Planet of The Apes, we can hazard a guess.

The ending of Planet of the Apes showed Taylor riding off with Nova, the female human mate he had chosen along the shoreline to find his destiny. He is warned by Dr. Zaius, the leader of Ape City, that he wouldn't like what he finds ahead. (Ben also warned the castaways that leaving is bad)

A few minutes more of following the shoreline and Taylor comes to the shocking realization that he is not on a distant planet, but at home, planet Earth, and that the world has destroyed itself and now apes rule in their place.

An old broken and half buried Statue Of Liberty drives home that realization as Taylor cries on the shore, "You finally did it, Damn you all to hell!"

There you go Lost fans. The meaning of the Foot.

Until next week, GET LOST!


LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL