Favorite Scenes from "It's a Good Life", in "The Twilight Zone" series

[parkman35]

Everyone sucking up to him because they know with just a point of his finger they'll be food for the worms..

[coventrygardens]

@parkman35 that cornfield must have gotten pretty crowded.

[1234bboys]

You got to love this little Monster name "Anthony" this is a Classic.... The Best Powers Ever!!!!!

[coventrygardens]

@1234bboys yea, but i think i know someone who just might be able to handle anthony..... i met her when i was a young kid in the 1970s......... she was a living doll. ...................her name is talking tina.

[rcplanetim53]

where can i see the whole episode

[obito94]

@rcplanetim53 google it, I'm sure you can find it somewhere

[coventrygardens]

@rcplanetim53 they used to have the whole episode on youtube, but i haven't seen it in recent weeks. maybe it was taken off. heck, my video may wind up getting removed as well.

[crystalheart9]

This episode was one of the best. So scary. I also read the original story and it was very scary as well. Billy Mumy was a great child actor.

[coventrygardens]

@crystalheart9 he was great in those days. he was great when he played as a loving child, & great as a monstrous child. this episode was spooky, & yet it has some fun in it. once i saw it a few times, i could watch it without getting spooked,& thus i can laugh at many parts. i love it whenever people say how good everything is. when he points his finger at the man, i tend to point my finger right at the screen, as if i am taking part in his actions. i 1st saw it around '77. i not read the book.

[crystalheart9]

@coventrygardens Billy was a wonderful actor in whatever he did. I saw this Twilight Zone episode as a child and later in high school read it in a book that had a collection of short stories. The book version was quite spooky as it went into more detail how everyone around him was constantly guarding their every thoughts. The part in the Twilight Zone episode where he turns the neighbor into a jack in the box, in the book he turned him into a creepy animal. Great episode!

[michaelj1955]

There were so many good episodes and this was one of my favorites! I hated Anthony (Billy Mumy) so bad in this...oops I better stop thinking bad thoughts! I'm sorry Anthony I love you man. Its good that you are a little prick. Yeah it's real good! :)

[bluchismoon]

I liked the story better, it was freaking creepy.

[coventrygardens]

@bluchismoon i guess you mean you like the book better than the film. i haven't read the book, and yet i saw a description of the book, and it looks even creepier than the film.

[bluchismoon]

@coventrygardens Ya, we read that in English class and then we watched this episode of The Twilight Zone, but I was way more creeped out by the story. Still a good episode. I'd never watched the Twilight Zone before that.

[coventrygardens]

@bluchismoon really?? you read this stuff in English class?? i have a feeling you are a bit younger than i am. i was born in 1967. i first watched this episode when i was a kid in the 1970s. though the twilight zone episodes ( original series ) were released in 1959-1964, it was still big in the '70s. back then, i had about 6 or 7 tv channels that came in well. i couldn't watch anything except at the moment it was being broadcasted. the twilight zone was one of my favorites.

[bluchismoon]

@coventrygardens Yeah, I am younger, then. I was born 1991. :) I grew up watching old tv shows like Batman, Get Smart, the Green Hornet and several others, but I never watched any episodes from the twilight zone till that class.

[1seakyr]

Read the original story by Jerome Bixby. Its even creepier.

[coventrygardens]

@1seakyr it has been awhile since i was in a habit of reading fiction, aside from when i take wee looks at things i have already read. i used to read tons of fictional books, including those that were science fiction, and yet i'm out of that stage right now. after i saw your comment, i looked at a description of the book. yea, it does look creepier. apparently the boy wasn't evil, and he sometimes regretted the harm that he inflicted, and yet he couldn't undo what he had already done.

[KutWrite]

This also shows how power corrupts.

Anthony may have been a great kid... well, maybe a little bratty... before he discovered, started using, then abusing his power.

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite then the solution is to give ME all the power. i can't become corrupted. lol

[KutWrite]

@coventrygardens - Haha! If only we'd known!

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite well, anthony seemed invincible, and yet i believe i know someone who just might be able to handle anthony. i met her about 35 years ago when i was a young kid. she's such a doll..... her name is talking tina.

[KutWrite]

@coventrygardens - haha! Good one!



[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite  yea, tina could say, "gee, anthony, let's go outside and play. yea, let's take the STAIRS."

[parkman35]

I always wondered why someone just didn't take a 12 gage shotgun and put an end to Anthony's madness...

[coventrygardens]

@parkman35 he had the power to read minds. furthermore, he may have had a force field around his body. i think he was just as immortal as the show's producers intended him to be.

[Glitter234]

did i forget to mention that the guy in the white suit in the beginning of the video is hot? lol

[coventrygardens]

@Glitter234 yea, i kind of doubt you mentioned it before. i think i would have remembered that remark if the remark had been made.

[Glitter234]

does anyone find this episode funny, freaky, weird, or all of the above? lol

[coventrygardens]

@Glitter234 i'd say it's all of that which you said. my only regret is that, at the time i made the video, i didn't know how to edit it well. nevertheless, it serves the purpose. i was simply seeking to come up with an abbreviated version of the tv episode, so my friends and acquaintances and i could see the best parts while skipping the rest. the abbreviated version is no substitute for the real thing though.

[Diamhea]

I always laughed when he turned that dude into the toy.

[coventrygardens]

@Diamhea i generally point my finger right at the tv screen or video screen at that point in the show, as if i'm taking part in Anthony's action.

[coventrygardens]

@Diamhea and it's good that you always laughed at that event. REAL good. and tomorrow's going to be a real good day, provided that you keep right on laughing.

[Blacksheepishot]

screaming in horrific pain from this dreaded plague/disease. After this tragedy and many more to follow, he was often quoted saying negative things about religion in general

Now bitter Rod looked for a script that would manifest his feelings towards a mysterious creature many call God that didn't seem to care about anything or anyone.

[Blacksheepishot]

That is true Mr. Sterling was the furthest thing from what the people of thee faith would call a Christian. Why? Because, he like Gene Roddenberry of that Star Trek fame knew a little more about this God thing then most would give them credit for. Rod a gifted writer and producer ( good friend of our family) would often visit children's Cancer centers disguised as an old man, sometimes by request. He saw this great inhuman injustice firsthand after a close relative died...

[coventrygardens]

@Blacksheepishot did serling and/or roddenberry try to get people to hate god, or were they trying to get people to hate the concept of god that was promoted by certain religions ( like christianity & presumably judaism ) ? furthermore, even before you wrote to me about serling's objectives, i could practically visualize anthony saying, "i am god here." i think that quote was in a movie. i think i recall a movie where a character in a video game made that statement. i think the movie was tron.

[Blacksheepishot]

@coventrygardens I believe the movie were this dude said "I am a god in here" was "Dreamscape" staring, Dennis Quad.

As for the other Q Sterling compared little Anthony's character to that temper tantruming throwing God of the old testament, who sometimes acts just like a spoiled brat with supernatural powers....

[coventrygardens]

@Blacksheepishot it looks like you and i both were wrong about the movie that has a character saying "i am god here". a few minutes ago, i searched, and i found it in "lawnmower man".

[Blacksheepishot]

"It's a Good Life", was much more then a mere twilight zone episode geared to entertain the masses. No, Mr. Sterling who was not an overly religious man was intelligent enough to ask us a question about the universe and this all-powerful creative being behind it all?

When you watch this particular episode you begin to hate this little wicked monster Anthony who induces the most judgmental fear imaginable like "God".

Thus, anything but happy thoughts = sin to him. The cornfield = Hades

[coventrygardens]

@Blacksheepishot Are you saying that Serling was trying to get people to hate God ?? Well, maybe that is what Serling was doing, but i hadn't thought of it till you mentioned it. Now that you mention it, it does seem like Serling was trying to accomplish something like that. I believe Serling's religion ( Unitarianism ) takes that kind of attitude.

[Blacksheepishot]

@coventrygardens Rod looked for a script that would manifest his feelings towards a mysterious creature that didn't seem to care about anything or anyone. We all know about that controversy script he wrote and co produced. A small boy with supernatural powers = to a God. Who will murder anyone if they don’t please him 24.7? In other words Rod was trying to convey the fact that the Christian religion is no different than the script "it's a good live", formerly called "the monster?"

[Salamon2]

@Blacksheepishot I wouldn't go that far with the comparison. Dictators, which IMO was what the episode was a commentary on--which is more astute considering that the world was still under the control of many dictators in the 1960s and still to this day, are able to do what Anthony does, but are able to accomplish it within human means. In order to have a child as a dictator, the child needs some kind of super powers in order to maintain "order".

[UT5000]

that kid should get shot!

[coventrygardens]

@UT5000 well, just make sure the shot is fired spontaneously. don't spend time thinking about it ahead of time. do it without putting much thought into it.

[UT5000]

@coventrygardens

do it in the sleep, disappear till then!!!

[coventrygardens]

@UT5000 yeah, right.

[mt1221]

the father was a much better actor than the kid.

[coventrygardens]

@mt1221 well, the actor who played the father likely had more years of experiece acting than the actor ( billy mumy ) who played the son. lol

[mt1221]

I like how the piano player delivers his line @ 5:01

[coventrygardens]

@mt1221  yea, his delivery was swell, really swell. real good.

[blueskies919]

That kid was an amazing actor! He creeped me out for years!

[coventrygardens]

@blueskies919 well, if the stuff billy mumy did on the "twilight zone" is the only thing you saw him do, then i can see why he would creep you out. nevertheless, his performance on "lost in space" wasn't creepy.

[MsCupcakelover73864]

wjhat episode is this one called

[coventrygardens]

@MsCupcakelover73864

 these are scenes from "it's a good life".

[coventrygardens]

@tomstephens100 i made the video before i found out that i could edit it. i mainly made it for personal friends and my own enjoyment. maybe i'll try editing it, but i don't think it would make much difference. i like it anyway.

[ShellyDZ99]

That was a good episode. A real good episode! lol

[coventrygardens]

@ShellyDZ99 yea, and tomorrow's going to be a real good day.

[LordOfYahoo]

should have shot the little bugger in the head

[coventrygardens]

@LordOfYahoo but the person would have to plan it out, and anthony might be able to read the person's thoughts. furthermore, anthony may have had some kind of force field around his body. he may even have been immortal. in truth, anthony would have had whatever power the show's producers intended for him to have.

[KutWrite]

@LordOfYahoo - Problem is, would all the people and the "world" wink out of existence without Anthony.

In the short story, the question is raised whether the world even exists outside of their little neighborhood. And would it continue without Anthony.

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite though your comment about the world winking out of existence wasn't directed to me, i read it. it's an interesting thought. i had never considered the possibility that the people needed anthony to exist in order for their world to exist.

[KutWrite]

@coventrygardens - Yeah; I got that from the short story. It was one of the best I read as a kid, when I was really, really, into Science Fiction.

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite wel, i never read the story on which the tv episode was based.

[americanmisfit1]

my names anthony

[coventrygardens]

@americanmisfit1 well, i hope your last name isn't freemont, and i hope you don't live in south-west ohio. in the sequel, "it's still a good life", it showed where anthony's hometown ( peaksville ) was, and it wasn't very far from where i lived when i was a young kid.

[apacolipps]

That's why I made him go on fire ... ! This so disturbing and sinister! What brilliant concept and execution. Today's moronic, sensationalistic TV pales in comparison.

[coventrygardens]

@apacolipps in the sequel, "it's still a good life", they show anthony making someone go on fire. in the sequel, anthony was played by billy mumy ( as an adult ), and that's the same actor that played him as a kid in this original.

[shitthrowingmonkey1]

Common people grow a backbone and tell little anthony he can't go around wishing everyone into the cornfield or killing them every time he doesn't like what they say. Better to take my chances with the cornfield than life this spineless worthless life.

[coventrygardens]

@shitthrowingmonkey1 it sounds like you're a bad man. a VERY bad man!!

[shitthrowingmonkey1]

@coventrygardens Yeah, well, that cornfield is only so many acres and your rear end is getting a beating from the belt when I find my way out!

[coventrygardens]

@shitthrowingmonkey1 have you ever considered what it would be like to become a jack-in-the-box?? yea, even if you don't get sent to the cornfield, being a jack-in-the-box could ruin your whole day.  you should just settle back and watch anthony's tv shows. he made tv for EVERYONE.

[KutWrite]

@shitthrowingmonkey1 - I think that's the point of the movie - an allegory for fascist governments.

Like the one that's a-building in this country right now!

[Salamon2]

@KutWrite Quite agreed, especially considering the fact Sterling fought in WWII. It's a commentary on dictatorships throughout history. As for the latter, it's a good time in America right now... a real good time.

[coventrygardens]

@Salamon2 hey, if republicans manage to win the next presidential race, are you still going to say there's a fascist government being built. lol btw, it's serling, not sterling.

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite hey, if republicans manage to win the next presidential race, are you still going to say there's a fascist government being built. lol

[KutWrite]

@coventrygardens - Yes, except maybe if Ron Paul wins... and is not sent to the cornfield.

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite i get the feeling you are one of these blokes who think the democratic leaders & republican leaders are secretly aligned with each other in order to bring about a one-world government,& you likely think this conspiracy includes tons of leaders throughout the world, & you likely think this conspiracy has existed for hundreds ( or maybe thousands ) of years. you likely think the freemasons are involved. you likely think virtually all the leaders in the world are part of the freemasons.

[KutWrite]

@coventrygardens - That argument is called "reductus ad absurdum." Take someone's comment and extrapolate it until it seems ridiculous, then argue against your own extreme creation as if it was the original assertion.

So... don't tell me what I think, because you will be wrong.

I think others get it, though. Maybe someday you will too! ;-)

[coventrygardens]

@KutWrite  then what DO you think??

[fubleduck]

If Anthony knows their thoughts, why doesn't he see through their lies?

[coventrygardens]

@fubleduck i have wondered that exact same thing. likewise it makes no sense that they would pretend to love him while he was able to read their minds. perhaps he couldn't read minds unless the person was focusing intently on the person's own thoughts, and thus the people had an incentive to try to avoid focusing their attention on their negative feelings about anthony.

[KutWrite]

@fubleduck - Probably because he wants to believe they love him.

Every good villain has a weak spot; that's his! (as shown in the sequel)

[fubleduck]

You're a BAD Youtube for hiding the dislikes bar so I can't tell who'se been naughty & who's been nice

[coventrygardens]

@fubleduck yea, but i allow people to read the written comments, and i haven't removed any comments yet. it's good that you pointed this out. real good.

[89adzer]

it was real good that you put that link up real good

[coventrygardens]

@89adzer it's real good that you left that comment. REAL good. i like having this condensed version. it's especially intense where anthony points his finger right before turning the man into a jack-in-the-box that had the man's bad face. when anthony points his finger, i tend to point my finger right toward the screen, as if i'm joining anthony in his endeavor. in the sequel, "it's still a good life", they show where anthony lived, and it was pretty close to where i used to live. REAL close.

[KutWrite]

@89adzer - :-) to the above 3 posts.

We all love them. Really.

[TheModerndaymediator]

Psycho kid.

[coventrygardens]

@TheModerndaymediator it's 1 of my favorite episodes. i simply removed aome parts. the parts that i removed were mainly those where people were talking about the kid ( anthony ) when the kid wasn't present.

[TheModerndaymediator]

@coventrygardens What I don't get is why don't they just leave.

[coventrygardens]

@TheModerndaymediator i've wondered about that as well. i assume you've see the whole episode. their town was isolated. the people couldn't leave the town, but plenty of people were hanging out in other parts of town, away from anthony. thus i wonder why this litlle group was hanging around anthony. i guess i can see why his parents felt an attachment to him based on his being their son, but i don't see why those other people were hanging around.

[TheModerndaymediator]

@coventrygardens Could it be that maybe Anthony created some kind of shield around their farm so that they couldn't leave?

[coventrygardens]

@TheModerndaymediator i have a feeling the people chose to hang around with anthony in order to please him. maybe he told them that they needed to please him by hanging around him while saying good things about him. anthony's powers extended throughout that entire place, not just the house and farm where anthony lived. i guess anthony was like a parole officer, and those people had to check in with him on a regular basis.

[coventrygardens]

@TheModerndaymediator hey, did you ever see the full episode?? this video is not a good substitute for the full episode.  this is just a condensed version.

[TheModerndaymediator]

@coventrygardens No I haven't seen it. I just like watching movies about creepy kids but I'm not such a big fan of the twilight zone.

[coventrygardens]

@TheModerndaymediator in the episode, the narrator ( rod serling ) explained that anthony caused that town ( peaksville, ohio ) to be isolated from everything else. the local people didn't even know whether the rest of the world still existed. it was as if peaksvill had entered a different dimension. nevertheless, it seems clear that some peaksville residents were not hanging around with anthony.