Not many of the Twilight Zone hour long episodes were that good but on this DVD, we have "On Thrusday, We Leave For Home. One of Rod Serling's best written episodes and perhaps the best story ever done on the Twilight Zone. It's the story of survivors of an Earth spaceship that crashed on a hostile planet some two deacdes ago, and they are kept going by the wisedom of the colony leader (played by James Whitmore) but when a new starship (captined by Tim O' Conner) land and begin to take the people home to Earth, the colony leader changes from a good man to a person afraid of losing his power. The episode also makes good useage of the sets, uniforms, and general technology left over from the 1956 film "FORBITTEN PLANET" and fans of that movie might be interested in seeing this episode (perhaps the best Twilight Zone story ever written and helped paved the way to "STAR TREK").Written by Rod Serling. Directed by Buzz Kulik.

Volume 39 in "The Twilight Zone" DVD Series offers one lesser episode and two of my personal favorties. "Mr. Bevis," written by Rod Serling, tells the tale of James B. W. Bevis (Orson Bean), who is an eccentric young man with a tendency to get in accidents. His guardian angel, J. Hardy Hempstead (Henry Jones) appears and gives him a chance to be a success. All he has to do is give up the loud clothes, zither music and model ship building, that is, everything that makes Mr. Bevis the loveable neighborhood oddball. Originally, this was intended as the pilot for a series starring Burgess Meredith, but the actor turned it down. "The Silence" is a standout episode written by Serling that is unique in that it has no supernatural or science fiction elements, just an interesting bet. Archie Taylor (Franchot Tone) bets incessant talker Jamie Tennyson (Liam Sullivan) a half million dollars that he cannot stay quiet for a year. This was always one of my favorite Zones and I found out years later the reason Tone is shot only from profile for the middle part of the episode is because one side of his face had been scrapped open under mysterious circumstances. Finally, Serling's "On Thursday We Leave for Home" is one of the best hour-long episodes from the show's fourth season. James Whitmore stars as William Benteen, the self-appointed leader of survivors of a colony who have spent thirty years on an inhospitable planet with two suns. During those years Benteen has kept hope alive with stories of the wonders of Earth. Now a spaceship from Earth is coming to take the colonists home, and Benteen is unwilling to give up power. Whitmore's performance is first rate and the transformation of the character from benevolent leader to petty dictator is well done. While the first episode is below average, these other two stories are both very, very good. This is one of those discs that rounds up to the 5 stars.

All three episodes on this DVD were written by Rod Serling and represent a variety of themes and styles. THE SILENCE seems like it would be more at home as an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." However, Franchot Tone gives an excellent performance as an elder member of a parlor club who finds the ceaseless rhetorical chatter of a younger member (Liam Sullivan) too nauseating to bear. Franchot Tone offers Sullivan a half million dollars if he can keep silent for a full year. Jonathan Harris, Tone's friend advises him against making the bet but to no avail. This is actually one of Serling's more memorable episodes from the 2nd season and is true to his ongoing theme of nostalgia for days or generations past. However what is intriguing in this episode is how the old guard faces off against the new with surprising results and Serling does not really give us a any feeling of optimism which he usually does for this theme (WALKING DISTANCE for instance). ON THURSDAY WE LEAVE FOR HOME is a strong episode from the 4th season starring James Whitmore as the inflexible leader of space settlers stranded and decimated on a barren planet. When they finally get the chance to return to Earth from a relief ship captained by Tim O'Conner, Whitmore sees his power as the leader of the settlement slowly erode. This is a great character study by Rod Serling of a man torn between power, which he thinks he needs to survive, and the love of a home he probably never thought he would see again. This is one of the best hour-long episodes. MR. BEVIS from the 1st season is a rather lightweight episode about a good-natured fellow (Orson Bean) whose life is turned around when he receives "help" from his guardian angel (Henry Jones). It reminded me of Serling's CAVENDER IS COMING episode which I enjoyed much better.