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It's a Good Life and its sequel are my favorite episodes of the whole show. I wish I didn't, but I find Anthony relatable and not just because we have the same first name. A lot of stuff about him reminds me of myself throughout too much of my life. He's selfish, thinks he's the center of the world, and gets mad when things don't go his way. Watching the episode is a good way to remind myself "Anthony, stop being like this," which is something I really needed. It's mostly from when I was a kid, but still.
It's such an iconic episode, Bill Mumy was a talented child actor, and for once, the sequel is worth a look. His real life daughter Liliana plays Anthony's daughter Audrey, who has inherited his psychic abilities.
The scariest episode ever. When he turns the guy into a Jack In The Box, it still freaks me out. You can see the aunt begin to reach for the fireplace poker, but then back away. She wants to end it all, but can't bring herself to do it.
@@strawberrylime33 I can't ever watch this episode without getting so mad. It's a great enough episode to piss me off that bad and The Monsters Due on Maple Street.
Well... at least until the crop failure leads to all of the food running out sooner and the few remaining residents of Peaksville starve to death... including Anthony. Bet he'll regret the snow then.
@@Unownshipper Nah, he'll just conjure up food out of nowhere and learn nothing from the experience. There are no consequences if you can actually do anything.
It's a really good thing that Walter covered this episode this year, a really good thing... What's even scarier about this episode is that Anthony genuinely wants to make the people around him happy, but due to his young age, doesn't really comprehend how to.
It's not just that he's very young, although that is a big part of it. There's actually a direct sequel to this episode in the 2002 Twilight Zone where he has grown into an adult and still continues to terrorize everybody- the sequel, while just as scary as this one, is actually really good. But it's not just that he's young, it's also just the fact that he's never really experienced suffering before. Any moment that he's afraid or angry at anybody or anything, he can just wish it away immediately. I think we've all had times as a kid where we really wanted our way, But ultimately didn't get it, and despite all our anger for it, we couldn't do anything. This kid never had to experience a situation like not because he could always get his way no matter what, even if the adults disagreed. It's when we experience forms of helplessness that we understand why it sucks so much, and thus we understand why other people act in certain ways when they also feel helpless, it's this that can help cause maturity, which is something the kid never felt.
I don't think Anthony has the empathy to care about what other people want. He's a child that never developed any self-control or sense of real-world consequence because of his powers. Thus people either exist to entertain or validate him, or they disappear forever because they aren't necessary anymore.
Watch the intro, it's no coincidence Serling is standing before a US flag. He's bringing home the point, that if we live in our own little morality plays and pretend we "know hardship", we're the same as a little boy who's just being self-assured. And he didn't succeed, you're still rpetending that the cost of gas and devaluing of the US monopoly money, is anything compared to MASSES of US waste exported to foreign countries instead of dealt with, and shipments of exotic, unethically produced foods like chocolate coming in return is just normal American way of life. JFK died for nothing, and that's how you would have it be.
@@christiankallio8586 This is more what I think. Children are not pure and holy beings from the time they're born. Left to their own devices, they're little shits. Not all of them, but a great deal of them will be. It's not that they want to make things better for those they're making a living hell for, it's that they don't care. Not until like @carealoo744 said, only until they experience the things they're doing to others can they understand and empathize. I personally also take these stories to be more what the person thinks Jesus would have actually been like if he'd had unlimited power. Comic books weren't that popular back then, and there were no movies for them, so it wasn't the trope of Superman that no one thought about until recently. But what has always been popular? Religion. And what's the most prominent over here in the west? Christianity/Catholicism, or some form of them. I think they were portraying what Jesus would have actually become (and if you watch Genetically Modified Skeptic, you'll learn Jesus was a shit as a child), but religion skewed the story, as Jesus either wasn't god's flesh and blood or he wasn't real at all.
In 2003, Bill Mumy reprised his role as Anthony for the revival, with his real life daughter Liliana playing Anthony's psychic daughter Audrey. It's immensely satisfying to see Agnes finally get to tell off Anthony for the harm he's caused to everyone, using the exact same words he used on Dan. "You're a bad man, a very bad man!"
@@sarahsims6164 I read an interpretation of that ending that Audrey is actually playing a long con to outsmart her father. He can’t read her mind, and unlike him she can bring things back from “the cornfield.” She can essentially physiologically torture him like he’s been doing to everyone else. It’s an interesting way to think about it.
I think there are some people who can handle it or at least not be as horrible as Anthony, but they are very few and you still wouldn't want to tick them off.
@@killahhufc Kinda like what happened to Professor X when he was mind controlled by that one mutant in...was it the second X-Men film? Jeese. Anyway, he was used to very nearly kill off all the mutants and then all the normies. I imagine it would be as terrifying but hopefully having psychic reality warping powers means you can use them on yourself to remain healthy.
One of my fondest childhood memories is watching The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror segment that parodies this Twilight Zone episode with Bart being the godlike child and where Homer and Bart get along after Bart turns Homer into a Jack In The Box. After watching the show, I got that the guy who narrates the Treehouse Of Horror was supposed to be Rod Serling. Did a damn good impression of him too.
I like that the "horrific conclusion" to that episode wasn't anything conventional but, rather, Homer and Bart forming a loving relationship...which, as a result, makes Bart wake up screaming.
The genius of this episode for me was that it is never explained how the kid was born with these powers. That makes it all the more terrifying that it could happen just by accident that someone could be "born wrong", like the original Sadako in Ringu and her mother as well.
I remember hating this episode because of how bratty the kid was and even as a kid I was like "can an alien vaporize him already so these poor people can just live?" That's just a personal preference; as an adult, the cinematography and acting are masterful and, yeah, it's still effectively creepy.
I watched the full episode, and it's indeed disturbing. Anthony could've just turned the man into a generic jack-in-the-box, but he decided to be cruel and make it so it's like his severed head was glued to a springbox.
Probably one of the best performances from a child actor. Hopefully the kid was treated alright on set, always pull at my collar when talking about kid actors.
I was thinking the same thing! Say what you will about Stanley Kubrick, I appreciate that he went to great lengths to shield young Danny Lloyd from the horror premise of The Shining. Somehow I'm sure Rod Serling made sure that Billy Mumy was alright while filming; he just seems like that kind of a guy.
There is an interview with Bill Mumy sharing how much he liked working with Rod Serling and how nice he was to him. It was a different story when he talked about working with Alfred Hitchcock.
"You... You had to go and HAVE him, didn't you...?" GOD I love this one. It's legendary. And I LOVE the Johnny Bravo parody, as well as the 2003 sequel. XD
Years later, I finally understood what that Johnny Bravo episode was parodying. In fact, I think there were two other Johnny Bravo episodes that were clearly parodying Twilight Zone episodes, one with a clown on the wing of the airplane, instead of a gremlin and another parodying the Talky Tina episode.
I like this episode. Bill Mumy was excellent as the Anthony. The moment when Dan says "Will someone grab a lamp or a bottle or something and end this" is my favorite moment. The Joe Dante remake and the 2002 sequel are just as good
Bill Mumy's finest hour. Probably the most revisited episode with this, a remake in the movie, and a sequel in the 2000's reboot. Bill Mumy famously believed that because Anthony had unlimited power and the body and personality of a child that he didn't understand what he was doing. He didn't realize that what he thought was best for Anthony wasn't best for everyone else. You can see that interpretation in the sequel when he tells his daughter, Audrey that he just sends them to the cornfield away from him (implying that he doesn't really know where he sends them just out of Peeksville). Also when he is finally left alone with her and he realizes that a town without anyone else is incredibly lonely. I mean it's a good thing that you created this video, Walter, a real good thing.😏😎
Empathy is genuinely a late-appearing trait. It is completely normal for children to be narcissistic sociopaths- that is the default state. They literally do not have the mirror neurons that allow them to feel what other people are feeling. All children are monsters. The only thing keeping them from terrorizing the world is their complete lack of power. Give a child omnipotence, and you'll see a gruesome end to the world.
Definitely one of the best episodes of the series. The Jack in the Box scarred the crap out of me as a little kid. My grandma and I quote this episode often. It’s a real good thing you said about this episode, Walter, a real good thing.
I remember the Simpsons episode of Treehouse Horrors that parody this episode of The Twilight Zone. All of a sudden the football is being changed into this big fat balding guy. We don't know what just happened here but we always say when something like this happens, we're happy that Bart did it.
I love the idea of a monster being a six year old, they’re just a kid and want things their way and it could lead to some creepy things! I’m intrigued to learn that there is a sequel and a remake to the episode, I definitely want to see both of them. This episode is really great, so far “It’s a Good Life” and “The Shelter” our my favorite episodes!
The thing about Anthony is that he really isn't evil, it's just his unlimited power makes him impossible to discipline. He has no way to know right from wrong and just sees bad as anything that he doesn't like
In 1995 there was a documentary about Irwin Allen hosted by June Lockhart and Bill Mumy, plus the Lost in Space Robot. At one point, Mumy brings up how he was already an established child actor before that show, to which the Robot says "That was a good thing you did, Bill!"
What makes Anthony so unnerving is that he is essentially a six year old boy. He’s curious but lacks the maturity for self-reflection and remorse, and since no one dares to upset him he isn’t going to change. No one is safe, the woman he liked most he struck mute, and Dan’s breaking point was clearly a long time coming. Just the detail that supplies aren’t renewing is another point of horror, these characters are trapped in one town with dwindling resources including no soap and five bottles of whiskey left, and the one person who could do something about it is the one they fear the most. It may be why Bill finds the tomato soup, Anthony is bringing new cans into existence for Bill to find because it’s his favorite.
Here's a few later roles for Mumy's Daughter. She also played Lucy in the Santa Clause sequels, Myrtle in the Lilo and Stitch franchise (replacing Miranda Paige Walls who chose not to continue acting after the first movie) and is currently playing Leni Loud in the Loud House over on Nickelodeon.
One of the most disturbing and terrifying episodes of the Twilight Zone of all time! The little boy definitely displays the Jungian Infantile Archetype of The High-Chair Tyrant ... on Steroids!
Awesome review! When it comes to being able to see what Anthony puts on the television, I think the point was to give a hint as to another element of living under young Anthony's regime: it's maddeningly boring in addition to being perilous. Young children can be particularly obsessive and limited in their interests to the point of insisting they watch the same show or movie or play the same games over and over again. Having to entertain a child is already pretty exhausting. But what if on top of that you couldn't express even one iota of annoyance or frustration at the situation, not even by accident, or else your child will kill you or even strip you of your humanity? That it's either you get used to being a literal captive audience to a little boy playing with his dinosaurs for the umpteenth time or become a lobotomized monstrosity? You better start thinking that dinosaurs are real good. They're real good...
I remember someone was asked what kind of super powers they would want and they said "The power to force everyone to be happy." the worst part was they were confused why everyone else was shocked.
I’m so grateful this episode had a sequel with his daughter because it cushions the inescapable horror of the premise here a little and gives some hope to these poor people.
I’m low-key hoping they’ll reference this episode somehow in Owl House with the Collector. Fantastic episode. The sense of dread, even in this review, is like a thick fog.
Other references are The Bart Zone segment from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror series, The Katie Kaboom segments from Animaniacs, and even The Sabrina Trilogy from Pokemon.
It was even a Treehouse of Horror story, definitely one of the most iconic Twilight Zone episodes and for a good reason at that. The walking on eggshells tone of the adults masterfully done. This was just a good episode. A really good episode 😆
You could cut the tension in the climax with a knife. As Dan continues to risk Anthony’s wrath, getting increasingly less concerned about doing so, you feel just as nervous as the adult actors in the scene waiting for moment something snaps.
Yes, it is creepy. But I think "Living Doll" needs to be talked about in this special. That's my favorite episode and I do believe it's one of the better living doll stories being adapted.
By the sequel everything outside the town had been wished away, which made me wonder if the kid had destroyed everything or just separated the town off from the rest of reality.
I think the thing that bothered me most about this episode is that Anthony could potentially use his powers to greatly help the world, but because the brat can just mutilate anyone who even thinks something he doesn’t like, nobody can stand up to him and teach him right from wrong. I remember the first time I saw this imagining how great it would be to see a certain bald man in a wheelchair and red headed woman stroll into Peaksville and set Anthony straight.
I read the short story on line a while back... Anthony is only 3 in the original story, and it gives some of his inner thoughts- how he doesn't like hearing what others think of him, how he does want to do good but he doesn't understand and it turns out terrible, how he enjoyed being in the woods enjoyed animals thoughts and wants because they were simpler. He was still monstrous and did terrible unspeakable things that were frightening to imagine even while the descriptions were kept vague. But I came away feeling sorry for him somewhat even though the idea of a 3 year old with that god like power is terrifying. I think the show aging him to 6 or 7 and direction and changes make him even more terrifying. The 3 year old honestly wanted to give people what they wanted. The 7 year old Anthony come across as more malicious and evil.
A legendary episode that lands in everybody's top 10 of the show. It's propably the reason why The Twilight Zone is remembered so largely as a horror show. Everything about it is just terrifying. These people are prisoners who have no other choice but to constantly act, live and even think a lie, knowing that they die the moment they stop doing so. There is no escape or alternative. It's a never ending nightmare. And that's more terrifying than any grotesk death in a horror film. The anxiety of watching these people forcing themselves to smile and be happy, while they are obviously on a brink of bursting into tears is something that fiction can rarely dublicate. It's a timeless gem.
Fun fact: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror used footage of Rod Serling pointing at the map from this episode in the pre-show for the ride where Rod Serling narrates to the audience the tale of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Of course instead of a map Rod is pointing to a maintenance elevator…still in operation waiting for you.
I think the lesson in this is what will happen when a child is left to their own devices and not made to learn rules and respect. If the parents cater to their child's every whim, they create their own little monsters. It sort of reminds me of Veruka Salt in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. Children become what their parents create.
They should make a spin-off series about Anthony set after the events of "It's Still A Good Life", with Anthony & his daughter ruling the world and a small resistance group is formed in order to end their reign of terror.
They should! Another plot I can see happening is an older Audrey has become far worse than her dad to where even he is afraid and begins to realize just how much damage he and his daughter has caused. Maybe it could end with Anthony attempting to stop his daughter only to fail and is sent to the cornfield and is surrounded by everyone he has ever sent there.
Oh my gosh this is the episode I've been waiting for! I saw this from Fallout 3 and when I saw it was based on the Twilight Zone I had to see it. Its super creepy how the kid turned the man into a jack in the box and especially the cornfield. Not to mention the ending is so dark. Definitely a legendary Twilight Zone episode
I watched this episode as a teen many years ago and it really stuck with me. Specifically because of the extremely tense and anxious performances of the scared adults throughout. What a perfect display of what happens when you rule entirely through fear, and what happens when one person has unlimited power. Deserved 10/10 classic!
There’s a 3rd sequel, “In 2002, the revived The Twilight Zone featured a sequel called It's Still a Good Life, with the same actors. It shows a forty-six-years-old Anthony Fremont still dictator of Peaksville, and his even mightier daughter Audrey, played by Bill Mumy’s daughter Liliana.”
Also, "It's a Good Life" reminds me most of that episode of the original Justice League cartoon where a deformed mutated child recreates his nuclear devastated world and forces all the residents to be stuck it time. He even has the same telepathic abilities.
@@shinigamiphantom1391 I don't remember the timescale of the Justice Guild world. All I know is that it took place in an alternate timeline where the Cuban Missile Crisis turned the Cold War hot, Fawcett City was destroyed as a result, and the survivors were forced to replay their old lives without question. The mutated child didn't sound significantly older than his normal facade.
@@CCaster2000 Anyone would do the same in that situation. People would rather live in an illusion of their Perfect world than face the nightmare that is reality. It's "escapism" made real.
I had a dream about such a similar thing but i had never seen its a good life. I was the boys older sister and he used to turn people into sand if they were mean to him or if he didnt like him. Like in this, he was a good kid just didnt know what do about others being "meanies"
Used to spend hours as a kid glued to the ztV watching these. So much better than the I Love Lucy reruns that came on after cartoons. This and classic 60s Batman and then rest of the afternoon running around the neighborhood. Good times. Thanks Tober.
This episode was spoofed in "Treehouse of Horror". Bart has similar power like this kid. I had no idea that this story was used in the "Twilight Zone". :D
In a show with man-eating aliens, diabolical dummies, evil talking dolls and menacing gremlins on an airplane wing, the most frightening monster in all the show's history is a 6-year old boy with godlike powers. Hands down, the most disturbing episode that's always haunted me. It's also my favorite. For all his bullying and intimidation, we still see hints of childlike innocence in Anthony, such as when he's playing with his three-headed gopher, or talking about turning the farm's pigs into monsters. Then we're reminded of how diabolical and menacing he can be, when he mentions setting one neighbor on fire for thinking bad thoughts about him, sending all the dogs to the cornfield because they don't like him (gee, I wonder why!) and of course, his turning Dan Hollis into a jack-in-the-box and banishing him to the dreaded cornfield. For such a young child actor, Billy Mumy hit it out of the ball park as the little terror Anthony Fremont. All the other actors are great as well, especially Don Keefer as the doomed Hollis. I prefer the TV version of this episode to the movie version. The subtleties of the horrors inflicted by little Anthony are more disturbing than the over-the-top theatrics in the film remake IMO.
Of the many homages this episode got, there’s two that stick out to me. One is an episode of Star Trek where the Enterprise crew pick up a similar reality warping psychic youth but the day is saved by the fact that Kirk, who the kid idolizes, finally brings the hammer down and has the guts to discipline the kid and tell him what he’s doing is wrong. The other one, and the one I think is better, is a much more subtle homage in a Justice League episode. Where the League is transported to another world out of the Golden Age of comics but the plasticity and artificiality of the genre is not only played for intrigue and creep factor, but the culprit is the kid sidekick who’s the survivor of a nuclear Holocaust recreating the world of the heroes he worshipped. The Justice Guild of America are nothing but his constructs and only become aware of that once the facade is exposed. Meanwhile the real people are trapped playing out their roles as essentially background extras in a Norman Rockwell painting. Most touching of all though is that the Justice Guild see the villain for what he is, know that defeating him means they’ll die but resolve to “LET JUSTICE PREVAIL!” And save the League’s lives, smiling at Green Lantern as they vanish. 😢
Yeah... with the whole thing that he didn't turn Dan into a grotesque Jack in the box, he turned into, and I quote wikipedia's article: "something like nothing anyone would have believed possible" Anf the whole "the obstetrician at his birth tried to kill him the moment he saw him..... and Anthony alreayd knew how to use his powers since birth so that obstetrician died"
Thoughts on "It's a Good Life"?
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It's a Good Life and its sequel are my favorite episodes of the whole show. I wish I didn't, but I find Anthony relatable and not just because we have the same first name. A lot of stuff about him reminds me of myself throughout too much of my life. He's selfish, thinks he's the center of the world, and gets mad when things don't go his way. Watching the episode is a good way to remind myself "Anthony, stop being like this," which is something I really needed. It's mostly from when I was a kid, but still.
It's such an iconic episode, Bill Mumy was a talented child actor, and for once, the sequel is worth a look. His real life daughter Liliana plays Anthony's daughter Audrey, who has inherited his psychic abilities.
AH The episode that gave us Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World.
Bart saying to Homer i love you. Then him waking up in terror was so funny.
Can you bring back Old vs new videos please. I miss them 😭😭
The scariest episode ever. When he turns the guy into a Jack In The Box, it still freaks me out. You can see the aunt begin to reach for the fireplace poker, but then back away. She wants to end it all, but can't bring herself to do it.
The twist is...that there was no twist! No ending, no resolution, just Anthony having his way forever!
When you think what will happen after he dies.
That made me so mad when I first watched the episode. I wanted that awful little boy punished!
@@strawberrylime33 I can't ever watch this episode without getting so mad. It's a great enough episode to piss me off that bad and The Monsters Due on Maple Street.
Well... at least until the crop failure leads to all of the food running out sooner and the few remaining residents of Peaksville starve to death... including Anthony. Bet he'll regret the snow then.
@@Unownshipper Nah, he'll just conjure up food out of nowhere and learn nothing from the experience. There are no consequences if you can actually do anything.
It's a really good thing that Walter covered this episode this year, a really good thing... What's even scarier about this episode is that Anthony genuinely wants to make the people around him happy, but due to his young age, doesn't really comprehend how to.
It's not just that he's very young, although that is a big part of it. There's actually a direct sequel to this episode in the 2002 Twilight Zone where he has grown into an adult and still continues to terrorize everybody- the sequel, while just as scary as this one, is actually really good.
But it's not just that he's young, it's also just the fact that he's never really experienced suffering before. Any moment that he's afraid or angry at anybody or anything, he can just wish it away immediately.
I think we've all had times as a kid where we really wanted our way, But ultimately didn't get it, and despite all our anger for it, we couldn't do anything.
This kid never had to experience a situation like not because he could always get his way no matter what, even if the adults disagreed.
It's when we experience forms of helplessness that we understand why it sucks so much, and thus we understand why other people act in certain ways when they also feel helpless, it's this that can help cause maturity, which is something the kid never felt.
Or maybe Anthony knows full well what he's doing and he's just a monster
I don't think Anthony has the empathy to care about what other people want. He's a child that never developed any self-control or sense of real-world consequence because of his powers. Thus people either exist to entertain or validate him, or they disappear forever because they aren't necessary anymore.
Watch the intro, it's no coincidence Serling is standing before a US flag. He's bringing home the point, that if we live in our own little morality plays and pretend we "know hardship", we're the same as a little boy who's just being self-assured.
And he didn't succeed, you're still rpetending that the cost of gas and devaluing of the US monopoly money, is anything compared to MASSES of US waste exported to foreign countries instead of dealt with, and shipments of exotic, unethically produced foods like chocolate coming in return is just normal American way of life.
JFK died for nothing, and that's how you would have it be.
@@christiankallio8586 This is more what I think. Children are not pure and holy beings from the time they're born. Left to their own devices, they're little shits. Not all of them, but a great deal of them will be. It's not that they want to make things better for those they're making a living hell for, it's that they don't care. Not until like @carealoo744 said, only until they experience the things they're doing to others can they understand and empathize. I personally also take these stories to be more what the person thinks Jesus would have actually been like if he'd had unlimited power. Comic books weren't that popular back then, and there were no movies for them, so it wasn't the trope of Superman that no one thought about until recently. But what has always been popular? Religion. And what's the most prominent over here in the west? Christianity/Catholicism, or some form of them. I think they were portraying what Jesus would have actually become (and if you watch Genetically Modified Skeptic, you'll learn Jesus was a shit as a child), but religion skewed the story, as Jesus either wasn't god's flesh and blood or he wasn't real at all.
In 2003, Bill Mumy reprised his role as Anthony for the revival, with his real life daughter Liliana playing Anthony's psychic daughter Audrey. It's immensely satisfying to see Agnes finally get to tell off Anthony for the harm he's caused to everyone, using the exact same words he used on Dan. "You're a bad man, a very bad man!"
She still ended up in the Corn field though. 😆
Just a shame that he and his daughter never learned their lesson though.
In fact the only person that Anthony feared is his daughter Audrey because she is more powerful than him.
Kinda heartwarming how Anthony and his daughter seemed genuinely happy. Both were monsters terrorizing the village but it was kinda cute nonetheless.
@@sarahsims6164 I read an interpretation of that ending that Audrey is actually playing a long con to outsmart her father. He can’t read her mind, and unlike him she can bring things back from “the cornfield.” She can essentially physiologically torture him like he’s been doing to everyone else. It’s an interesting way to think about it.
This episode always reminds me that the idea of ANYONE with reality warping powers in real life is horrifying
I think there are some people who can handle it or at least not be as horrible as Anthony, but they are very few and you still wouldn't want to tick them off.
Unless they actually exist, in which case it's a good thing. A very good thing.
@@meganparrish807
Kid from "Good Omen" is a perfect example of playing it right.
@@meganparrish807 idk , imagine that "good " reality warper getting dimentia and the havoc they could invoke
@@killahhufc
Kinda like what happened to Professor X when he was mind controlled by that one mutant in...was it the second X-Men film? Jeese. Anyway, he was used to very nearly kill off all the mutants and then all the normies.
I imagine it would be as terrifying but hopefully having psychic reality warping powers means you can use them on yourself to remain healthy.
An iconic episode in tv, not just for Twilight Zone
Precisely, even if you've never seen this episode before, then you've certainly heard of it at some point.
It's a good Episode
It's good that it's a good Episode indeed
The cornfield/jack in the box scene as a kid absolutely terrified me. Phenomenal episode
One of my fondest childhood memories is watching The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror segment that parodies this Twilight Zone episode with Bart being the godlike child and where Homer and Bart get along after Bart turns Homer into a Jack In The Box. After watching the show, I got that the guy who narrates the Treehouse Of Horror was supposed to be Rod Serling. Did a damn good impression of him too.
That Simpsons Treehouse of Horror was my first introduction to this episode
@@Anman999 Yeah, me too.
@@Anman999 Likewise; although I am surprised the Simpsons parody wasn't referenced during this video.
I like that the "horrific conclusion" to that episode wasn't anything conventional but, rather, Homer and Bart forming a loving relationship...which, as a result, makes Bart wake up screaming.
@@johntumahab323 Eating as much candy as he did could do that to a person I understand.
The genius of this episode for me was that it is never explained how the kid was born with these powers. That makes it all the more terrifying that it could happen just by accident that someone could be "born wrong", like the original Sadako in Ringu and her mother as well.
I remember hating this episode because of how bratty the kid was and even as a kid I was like "can an alien vaporize him already so these poor people can just live?" That's just a personal preference; as an adult, the cinematography and acting are masterful and, yeah, it's still effectively creepy.
But someone should have realy murdered him by the end.
Stfu it’s a fuckin tv show. These poor ppl😂😂
I watched the full episode, and it's indeed disturbing. Anthony could've just turned the man into a generic jack-in-the-box, but he decided to be cruel and make it so it's like his severed head was glued to a springbox.
Probably one of the best performances from a child actor.
Hopefully the kid was treated alright on set, always pull at my collar when talking about kid actors.
I was thinking the same thing! Say what you will about Stanley Kubrick, I appreciate that he went to great lengths to shield young Danny Lloyd from the horror premise of The Shining. Somehow I'm sure Rod Serling made sure that Billy Mumy was alright while filming; he just seems like that kind of a guy.
Look up what Steven Spielberg did to heather o’rourke. Absolutely disgusting. Worse than Roman Polanski
There is an interview with Bill Mumy sharing how much he liked working with Rod Serling and how nice he was to him. It was a different story when he talked about working with Alfred Hitchcock.
"You... You had to go and HAVE him, didn't you...?"
GOD I love this one. It's legendary. And I LOVE the Johnny Bravo parody, as well as the 2003 sequel. XD
I was laughing my head off at the Johnny Bravo clip!
Years later, I finally understood what that Johnny Bravo episode was parodying. In fact, I think there were two other Johnny Bravo episodes that were clearly parodying Twilight Zone episodes, one with a clown on the wing of the airplane, instead of a gremlin and another parodying the Talky Tina episode.
I like this episode. Bill Mumy was excellent as the Anthony. The moment when Dan says "Will someone grab a lamp or a bottle or something and end this" is my favorite moment. The Joe Dante remake and the 2002 sequel are just as good
Bill Mumy's finest hour.
Probably the most revisited episode with this, a remake in the movie, and a sequel in the 2000's reboot.
Bill Mumy famously believed that because Anthony had unlimited power and the body and personality of a child that he didn't understand what he was doing. He didn't realize that what he thought was best for Anthony wasn't best for everyone else.
You can see that interpretation in the sequel when he tells his daughter, Audrey that he just sends them to the cornfield away from him (implying that he doesn't really know where he sends them just out of Peeksville). Also when he is finally left alone with her and he realizes that a town without anyone else is incredibly lonely.
I mean it's a good thing that you created this video, Walter, a real good thing.😏😎
Man, as a Babylon 5 Fanboy, my Mind is Blown that he is this Kid
Empathy is genuinely a late-appearing trait. It is completely normal for children to be narcissistic sociopaths- that is the default state. They literally do not have the mirror neurons that allow them to feel what other people are feeling.
All children are monsters. The only thing keeping them from terrorizing the world is their complete lack of power. Give a child omnipotence, and you'll see a gruesome end to the world.
Definitely one of the best episodes of the series. The Jack in the Box scarred the crap out of me as a little kid. My grandma and I quote this episode often. It’s a real good thing you said about this episode, Walter, a real good thing.
There's such a great sense of dread over this whole episode.
I remember the Simpsons episode of Treehouse Horrors that parody this episode of The Twilight Zone. All of a sudden the football is being changed into this big fat balding guy. We don't know what just happened here but we always say when something like this happens, we're happy that Bart did it.
"Oh good, the curtains are on fire!"
@@karrihart1 Takes after your side. No monsters in my family!
I love the idea of a monster being a six year old, they’re just a kid and want things their way and it could lead to some creepy things!
I’m intrigued to learn that there is a sequel and a remake to the episode, I definitely want to see both of them. This episode is really great, so far “It’s a Good Life” and “The Shelter” our my favorite episodes!
You can find the sequel episode very easily on TH-cam. Just type in "it's still a good life"
@@rockys201 ok thx
There's a neat little touch with Rod's opening narration. He refuses to enter that world. Anthony is probably the most powerful fictional character.
Ha! Good point. Yeah, Anthony would have spotted him.
The thing about Anthony is that he really isn't evil, it's just his unlimited power makes him impossible to discipline. He has no way to know right from wrong and just sees bad as anything that he doesn't like
In 1995 there was a documentary about Irwin Allen hosted by June Lockhart and Bill Mumy, plus the Lost in Space Robot. At one point, Mumy brings up how he was already an established child actor before that show, to which the Robot says "That was a good thing you did, Bill!"
A documentary? Too bad it wasn't something like a live panel discussion. I bet those in the audience who "got it" would have roared with laughter!
What makes Anthony so unnerving is that he is essentially a six year old boy. He’s curious but lacks the maturity for self-reflection and remorse, and since no one dares to upset him he isn’t going to change. No one is safe, the woman he liked most he struck mute, and Dan’s breaking point was clearly a long time coming.
Just the detail that supplies aren’t renewing is another point of horror, these characters are trapped in one town with dwindling resources including no soap and five bottles of whiskey left, and the one person who could do something about it is the one they fear the most. It may be why Bill finds the tomato soup, Anthony is bringing new cans into existence for Bill to find because it’s his favorite.
Here's a few later roles for Mumy's Daughter. She also played Lucy in the Santa Clause sequels, Myrtle in the Lilo and Stitch franchise (replacing Miranda Paige Walls who chose not to continue acting after the first movie) and is currently playing Leni Loud in the Loud House over on Nickelodeon.
That's so cool! Thank you
One of the most disturbing and terrifying episodes of the Twilight Zone of all time! The little boy definitely displays the Jungian Infantile Archetype of The High-Chair Tyrant ... on Steroids!
Fun Fact: the growling and snarling sounds used for the dinosaurs on the TV were from the 1960 film The Time Machine for the Morlocks.
Awesome review!
When it comes to being able to see what Anthony puts on the television, I think the point was to give a hint as to another element of living under young Anthony's regime: it's maddeningly boring in addition to being perilous. Young children can be particularly obsessive and limited in their interests to the point of insisting they watch the same show or movie or play the same games over and over again. Having to entertain a child is already pretty exhausting. But what if on top of that you couldn't express even one iota of annoyance or frustration at the situation, not even by accident, or else your child will kill you or even strip you of your humanity? That it's either you get used to being a literal captive audience to a little boy playing with his dinosaurs for the umpteenth time or become a lobotomized monstrosity? You better start thinking that dinosaurs are real good. They're real good...
Yes, la creme de la creme of The Twilight Zone is finally here. Today is definitely a good day.
I remember someone was asked what kind of super powers they would want and they said "The power to force everyone to be happy." the worst part was they were confused why everyone else was shocked.
I’m so grateful this episode had a sequel with his daughter because it cushions the inescapable horror of the premise here a little and gives some hope to these poor people.
I’m low-key hoping they’ll reference this episode somehow in Owl House with the Collector.
Fantastic episode. The sense of dread, even in this review, is like a thick fog.
You mean Owl House
@@jbcatz5 thanks. Had Amphibia on the brain
Honestly, I could definitely see this working.
that’s a real good idea, real good.
Other references are The Bart Zone segment from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror series, The Katie Kaboom segments from Animaniacs, and even The Sabrina Trilogy from Pokemon.
It was even a Treehouse of Horror story, definitely one of the most iconic Twilight Zone episodes and for a good reason at that. The walking on eggshells tone of the adults masterfully done. This was just a good episode. A really good episode 😆
You could cut the tension in the climax with a knife. As Dan continues to risk Anthony’s wrath, getting increasingly less concerned about doing so, you feel just as nervous as the adult actors in the scene waiting for moment something snaps.
Yes, it is creepy.
But I think "Living Doll" needs to be talked about in this special. That's my favorite episode and I do believe it's one of the better living doll stories being adapted.
Talking Tina would be sorry she threatened this kid!!!!!
By the sequel everything outside the town had been wished away, which made me wonder if the kid had destroyed everything or just separated the town off from the rest of reality.
I think the thing that bothered me most about this episode is that Anthony could potentially use his powers to greatly help the world, but because the brat can just mutilate anyone who even thinks something he doesn’t like, nobody can stand up to him and teach him right from wrong. I remember the first time I saw this imagining how great it would be to see a certain bald man in a wheelchair and red headed woman stroll into Peaksville and set Anthony straight.
I read the short story on line a while back... Anthony is only 3 in the original story, and it gives some of his inner thoughts- how he doesn't like hearing what others think of him, how he does want to do good but he doesn't understand and it turns out terrible, how he enjoyed being in the woods enjoyed animals thoughts and wants because they were simpler.
He was still monstrous and did terrible unspeakable things that were frightening to imagine even while the descriptions were kept vague. But I came away feeling sorry for him somewhat even though the idea of a 3 year old with that god like power is terrifying. I think the show aging him to 6 or 7 and direction and changes make him even more terrifying. The 3 year old honestly wanted to give people what they wanted. The 7 year old Anthony come across as more malicious and evil.
I honestly believe they aged him up to use Bill Mumy
@@Ringohulk777 Probably, and honestly, it works. I can't imagine another actor in the part.
A legendary episode that lands in everybody's top 10 of the show. It's propably the reason why The Twilight Zone is remembered so largely as a horror show. Everything about it is just terrifying. These people are prisoners who have no other choice but to constantly act, live and even think a lie, knowing that they die the moment they stop doing so. There is no escape or alternative. It's a never ending nightmare. And that's more terrifying than any grotesk death in a horror film. The anxiety of watching these people forcing themselves to smile and be happy, while they are obviously on a brink of bursting into tears is something that fiction can rarely dublicate.
It's a timeless gem.
Fun fact: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror used footage of Rod Serling pointing at the map from this episode in the pre-show for the ride where Rod Serling narrates to the audience the tale of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Of course instead of a map Rod is pointing to a maintenance elevator…still in operation waiting for you.
That ride was my first exposure to the twilight zone
I read the short story this episode was based on. Easily one of the most disturbing things I've ever read.
Man I love this show and this episode, kid deserves a award for that performance.
The suspense in this episode, chefs kiss
I think the lesson in this is what will happen when a child is left to their own devices and not made to learn rules and respect. If the parents cater to their child's every whim, they create their own little monsters. It sort of reminds me of Veruka Salt in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. Children become what their parents create.
I love this episode! What a great concept!
This episode still haunts me!
They should make a spin-off series about Anthony set after the events of "It's Still A Good Life", with Anthony & his daughter ruling the world and a small resistance group is formed in order to end their reign of terror.
They should! Another plot I can see happening is an older Audrey has become far worse than her dad to where even he is afraid and begins to realize just how much damage he and his daughter has caused.
Maybe it could end with Anthony attempting to stop his daughter only to fail and is sent to the cornfield and is surrounded by everyone he has ever sent there.
Oh my gosh this is the episode I've been waiting for! I saw this from Fallout 3 and when I saw it was based on the Twilight Zone I had to see it. Its super creepy how the kid turned the man into a jack in the box and especially the cornfield. Not to mention the ending is so dark. Definitely a legendary Twilight Zone episode
Fallout 3? Ohh! You’re talking about Tranquility Lane, right?
@@anarky1765 Yes!
I watched this episode as a teen many years ago and it really stuck with me. Specifically because of the extremely tense and anxious performances of the scared adults throughout. What a perfect display of what happens when you rule entirely through fear, and what happens when one person has unlimited power. Deserved 10/10 classic!
I remember The Simpsons parodied this episode with Bart as the powerful kid and Homer becoming a Jack-in-the-Box.
There’s a 3rd sequel, “In 2002, the revived The Twilight Zone featured a sequel called It's Still a Good Life, with the same actors. It shows a forty-six-years-old Anthony Fremont still dictator of Peaksville, and his even mightier daughter Audrey, played by Bill Mumy’s daughter Liliana.”
This was one of the first Twilight Zone episodes I ever saw
Lucky One
Yes! I've been waiting for them to cover this episode!
I’ve been waiting for this vid for years. Truly my favorite twilight zone episode.
All I can think of, is what happens when the kid becomes a teenager, when he enters puberty. O_O
That... can't be good
This episode is my favorite
Also, "It's a Good Life" reminds me most of that episode of the original Justice League cartoon where a deformed mutated child recreates his nuclear devastated world and forces all the residents to be stuck it time. He even has the same telepathic abilities.
At least he didnt send people away...just put them in danger from his tangible illusions.
Wasn't it implied he also stopped people from aging?
@@shinigamiphantom1391 I don't remember the timescale of the Justice Guild world. All I know is that it took place in an alternate timeline where the Cuban Missile Crisis turned the Cold War hot, Fawcett City was destroyed as a result, and the survivors were forced to replay their old lives without question. The mutated child didn't sound significantly older than his normal facade.
That one was more sad because the kid wasn't trying to be malicious. He just wanted everything back to they way it once was.
@@CCaster2000
Anyone would do the same in that situation. People would rather live in an illusion of their Perfect world than face the nightmare that is reality.
It's "escapism" made real.
I love this episode! It's my favorite!
It has been 7 days - in only 48 hours.. we are watching,
Channel Awesome.
I had a dream about such a similar thing but i had never seen its a good life. I was the boys older sister and he used to turn people into sand if they were mean to him or if he didnt like him. Like in this, he was a good kid just didnt know what do about others being "meanies"
Perhaps the most chilling episode of TZ... and they've had many unsettling (amazing) episodes!
Even Chad Rocco of Familiar Faces referenced and parodied this episode when he talked about Katie Kaboom!
I'm surprised by the Johnny Bravo episode nod... I was honestly expecting the Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors homage
But anoybody knows the Simpsons Reference
i never saw that Johnny Bravo one
It's. a good thing that you braved this episode Walter.. a very good thing.
I’ve been waiting for this
Yes! I’ve been waiting for this one!
So The Boys is just a remake of this episode
(Homelander is the kid)
One of my favorite episodes of the Twilight Zone
Used to spend hours as a kid glued to the ztV watching these. So much better than the I Love Lucy reruns that came on after cartoons. This and classic 60s Batman and then rest of the afternoon running around the neighborhood. Good times. Thanks Tober.
"Welcome to Marlborough Country" ;-)
One of the top 10 must watch episodes
Remember; happy thoughts and good feelings.
It's never a good thing for anyone to have that much power.
Let alone a child.
I was wondering if you were going to do this one, and I must say, it’s a very good thing that you did.
Very, very good.
This episode is a good thing a real good thing
Funny thing is, this is the first Twilight Zone episode I saw and is what got me into these Twilight-tober Zone videos.
I've been looking forward to this one
one of the two episodes I've ever seen. scarred me for life
This episode was spoofed in "Treehouse of Horror". Bart has similar power like this kid. I had no idea that this story was used in the "Twilight Zone". :D
Probably my fave episode, I still quote Anthony
This feels like tranquility Lane from fallout 3!
In a show with man-eating aliens, diabolical dummies, evil talking dolls and menacing gremlins on an airplane wing, the most frightening monster in all the show's history is a 6-year old boy with godlike powers.
Hands down, the most disturbing episode that's always haunted me. It's also my favorite.
For all his bullying and intimidation, we still see hints of childlike innocence in Anthony, such as when he's playing with his three-headed gopher, or talking about turning the farm's pigs into monsters.
Then we're reminded of how diabolical and menacing he can be, when he mentions setting one neighbor on fire for thinking bad thoughts about him, sending all the dogs to the cornfield because they don't like him (gee, I wonder why!) and of course, his turning Dan Hollis into a jack-in-the-box and banishing him to the dreaded cornfield.
For such a young child actor, Billy Mumy hit it out of the ball park as the little terror Anthony Fremont. All the other actors are great as well, especially Don Keefer as the doomed Hollis.
I prefer the TV version of this episode to the movie version. The subtleties of the horrors inflicted by little Anthony are more disturbing than the over-the-top theatrics in the film remake IMO.
2022 is a good year. It’s really good.
Of the many homages this episode got, there’s two that stick out to me.
One is an episode of Star Trek where the Enterprise crew pick up a similar reality warping psychic youth but the day is saved by the fact that Kirk, who the kid idolizes, finally brings the hammer down and has the guts to discipline the kid and tell him what he’s doing is wrong.
The other one, and the one I think is better, is a much more subtle homage in a Justice League episode. Where the League is transported to another world out of the Golden Age of comics but the plasticity and artificiality of the genre is not only played for intrigue and creep factor, but the culprit is the kid sidekick who’s the survivor of a nuclear Holocaust recreating the world of the heroes he worshipped. The Justice Guild of America are nothing but his constructs and only become aware of that once the facade is exposed. Meanwhile the real people are trapped playing out their roles as essentially background extras in a Norman Rockwell painting.
Most touching of all though is that the Justice Guild see the villain for what he is, know that defeating him means they’ll die but resolve to “LET JUSTICE PREVAIL!” And save the League’s lives, smiling at Green Lantern as they vanish. 😢
This is my favorite episode!
My fav episode.
"It's GOOD that Bart did that! It's VERY good!"
" You're a Bad Man. YOU'RE A VERY BAD MAN" !!!!
“ Don’t make any noise when the music’s playing “
Thanks for reviewing Billy Mummy’s favorite Twilight episode…it’s a great episode…right Anthony…😂!
Have a great day!
Thanks for watching!!
The original short story is just as disturbing, if not worse. To Serve Man is another one that lives up to its source material, too.
Yeah... with the whole thing that he didn't turn Dan into a grotesque Jack in the box, he turned into, and I quote wikipedia's article: "something like nothing anyone would have believed possible"
Anf the whole "the obstetrician at his birth tried to kill him the moment he saw him..... and Anthony alreayd knew how to use his powers since birth so that obstetrician died"
This was spoofed in The Simpsons!
Wooo hoo! Twilight-tober zone is back baby!
Yessss finally covering the best meme-isode ever!
This guy could find something wrong w anything. This episode is perfect. Dinosaurs and all
My science teacher showed us this episode and said if anyone misbehaved their going to the cornfield.
I love Anthony! 😊
"That's all the television there is!" Lol
I wish I was the little monster and educate everyone in the World or else...
5:12, nice! Lol!!
I was wondering when you'd get around to this episode. It's a good thing you made this video.. a very good thing.
Iconic and one of the scariest episode of the Twilight Zone ever
I feel the dinosaurs are actually effective in making it more sickly ironic that they are held at the mercy of something/someone so childish