Rating: 
Summary: An great book to have on hand while watching Twilight Zone.
Review: Widely regarded as the best anthology TV series ever, as well as perhaps the best Science Fiction show, the Twilight Zone has many fans.
This book lists every episode, and includes the story introductions and concluding monologues, as spoken by Rod Serling on the show.
Marc Scott Zicree also reviews all the episodes, as well as provides interviews and backgrounds by some of those that worked on the show, including the writers and directors.
Also included is some dialog from the series, and some biographical information on Serling. The updated version includes information on the new series, and an expanded index.
A must-have for fans of the series and of Rod Serling.
Rating:
Summary: An great book to have on hand while watching Twilight Zone.
Review: Widely regarded as the best anthology TV series ever, as well as perhaps the best Science Fiction show, the Twilight Zone has many fans. This book lists every episode, and includes the story introductions and concluding monologues, as spoken by Rod Serling on the show. Marc Scott Zicree also reviews all the episodes, as well as provides interviews and backgrounds by some of those that worked on the show, including the writers and directors. Also included is some dialog from the series, and some biographical information on Serling. The updated version includes information on the new series, and an expanded index. A must-have for fans of the series and of Rod Serling.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: A must for any Twilight Zone fan! It's a book which one can read over again. The author provides excellent summaries and background stories for each episode and interviews with many of the participants. Hopefully there will be a third edition soon.
Rating:
Summary: A definite must-have for every 'TZ' aficionado
Review: A quick perusal of amazon will demonstrate the plethora of guides, companions, compendiums, histories, personal remembrances, ad nauseam for nearly everyone's favorite television show. Most of them are well intentioned but realistically we readers of books of this genre classification know it's a crapshoot of getting one worth it's weight in gold - with crap being the key operative word. Some of the material available is shabby, crude, and embarrassingly bad. Being able to tap into a 'cash cow' has proved too inviting for a hack looking to make a quick buck, and we the reader realize too late we've been had.
That's definitely not the case with author Marc Scott Zicree and his superior 'The Twilight Zone Companion'. Zicree has an immediately recognizable deep fondness for this cult television series and he treats it with the highest admiration due. He has really gone the distance to bring the reader a quality product; years since its original publication it still has yet to be surpassed. There are other books available on 'The Twilight Zone' but not a single one of them can hope to challenge this guide.
The first 30 pages of the book contains a concise but informative biographical sketch on the creator of 'TZ'; a breakdown of every episode of each season of the original broadcast series (1959 - 1965) and rather lengthy essays on both the theatrical feature film and the 1980's follow-up series (that hoped to strike lightning once again but unfortunately failed) makes up the bulk of this companion. Zicree has written in a style that is eminently readable to most and maddeningly confounding to some others. His highly personal observations should be seen as a 'jumping off' point to both form your own opinion as well as afford you an opportunity to hear another objective point of view.
His research here is commendable. He has exhausted every known archive and publication concerning the show and its creative staff. One of the very best touches he put on the book was his inclusion of biographical background and photos of many of the writers, directors, actors and production staff that worked on 'TZ'. We get as intimately acquainted with most of these people as we are likely to; it also goes a long way in helping us to understand the ingenuity behind the program that made it the classic it was - and still remains so today. The seasons are broken down into separate chapters and each of them are prefixed by an 'insider's analysis' of what sort of creativity went into that season's production schedule, i. e. how they met and overcame such troubles as casting problems, budget constraints, and many other obstacles. Another item I really liked was the addition of a publicity photo or screenshot accompanying each episode synopsis.
I have had my copy of this companion for going on twenty years now and it is probably the most dog-eared book on my bookshelf. I am constantly thumbing through it and no matter how hard I try I cannot stop impulsively reading and re-reading it. This guide is indispensable to the fan of the original 'TZ' series and it is especially conventional now that the series has been made available in DVD collector sets.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Episode guide so far still needs improvement!
Review: Although this is the best episode guide on TZ, the author fails to accurately analyze many of the shows. At times he seems to randomly nitpick and bash episodes that fans have loved for years. In addition, some of the shows receive only a few lines of analysis, while other shows receive very lengthy and detailed coverage. However, if you are a very big TZ fan, like me, you need this book. Some of the comments by Zicree are insightful, and his coverage of the series is the most extensive thus far.
Rating:
Summary: must have for twilight zone fans
Review: blah blah blah if u like twilight zone u need this book so buy it right now. blah blah blah great book. blah blah reviews of every episode. blah blah blah twilight zone history. blah blah rod serling = genius. blah blah. buy this book. blah.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference book but...
Review: Don't get me wrong this book is a superb resource of information about the Twilight Zone. I agree with most of the other reviews posted here. The only problem I have is with the authors own personal opinion of the episodes. I disagree with around 95% of them! A personal opinion is a difficult thing to object against but his are very opinionated! I don't think he appreciates the atmosphere or charm of certain episodes at all. Use this book for the reference material and judge the merits of the individual episodes for yourself!
Rating:
Summary: Still indispensible!
Review: Every time the Sci-Fi Channel runs one of their "chain reaction" marathons of TZ, this book is always on my coffee table. Not only does it contain summaries of every single TZ episode (including the ones that aired only once or not at all), it has great bios on Serling and his "core" writers: Charles Beaumont, George Clayton Johnson, and Richard Matheson. You even get a mini-history of each of the five seasons: how both the public and the sponsors responded to the show in general, and Serling in particular; how the writing often suffered when TZ went into hour-long episodes; and even the reasons behind why several of writer Ray Bradbury's screenplays were picked up but never used. It's twenty years later, and Zicree's book is as timeless as the subject he chronicled.
Rating:
Summary: Thank goodness for Marc Scott Zicree
Review: Having read and been extremely disappointed with a couple of other "guides" on some of my favorite shows (e.g. Blackadder) I was REALLY thankful to see that someone had done right by my favorite television series of all time. Zicree's Twilight Zone companion is one of the best organized guides to a show I've ever seen. It's put together perfectly to compliment the show and it's many facets. It covers everything about the show in a clear consice pattern. Each episode section begins with -A screenshot of the episode
-A full cast listing
-Serlings verbal introduction
-An overview of what happens in the episode
-Serlings verbal exit
-Discussion, quotes, and interviews regarding that particular episodes production. There is also a large amount of biographical information on several of the shows' writers, directors, and cast such as Rod Serling and Richard Matheson. At the begining and end of each season there is even more production information regarding how the show did for the season, ratings and pretty much anyhing you would want to know about the show and what surrouds it. Additionally Zicree does an exceptional job of interviewing and quoting important people that were working on the show. This is a wonderful book for fans of the series that explains and expounds alot on the genius that was Rod Serling. A MUST BUY!
Rating:
Summary: Great book for TZ fans!
Review: I am a huge TZ fan, and have been for years and years. This is THE best book on the subject of the original TZ television series, bar none. I have probably 30 different TZ books in my library, and this is the one I keep going to over and over again. My second copy is getting pretty ratty, guess I might as well buy a third while I'm here! hehe If you haven't seen this book, and you love the original TZ, by all means order it today. I simply can't say enough!
| 
