"It's a Good Life" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American television series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'', and the 73rd overall. It was written by series creator/showrunner

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

, based on the 1953 short story " It's a ''Good'' Life" by

Jerome Bixby Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby (January 11, 1923 – April 28, 1998) was an American short story writer and scriptwriter. He wrote the 1953 story ''It's a Good Life'', which was included in '' The Science Fiction Hall of Fame''. ''It's a Good L ...

. The episode was directed by

James Sheldon Leonard James Schleifer, also known as James Sheldon (November 12, 1920 – March 12, 2016), was an American television director. Sheldon directed for television programs including ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'', ''Th ...

, and is considered by some, such as ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'', to be one of the best episodes of the series. It originally aired on November 3, 1961. The episode was one of four from the original 1959 series which formed the basis of the 1983 film '' Twilight Zone: The Movie''.

Opening narration

Plot summary

Six-year-old Anthony Fremont has godlike mental powers, including mind-reading. He has isolated his town of Peaksville, Ohio, from the rest of the universe. The people must grow their own food, and supplies of common household items, such as

bar soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually used for washing, b ...

, have been dwindling. He has blocked television signals and caused cars not to work. He creates grotesque creatures, such as three-headed

gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...

s, which he then kills. Everybody is under his rule, even his parents. The people live in fear of Anthony, constantly telling him how everything he does is "good", since he banishes anyone thinking unhappy thoughts forever to a place that he calls "the cornfield." Having never experienced any form of discipline, he does not understand that his actions are harmful. He is confused when his father tells him that the neighbors are reluctant to let their children play with him after he sent several of his playmates to the cornfield. One night each week, Anthony gives the townsfolk one hour of television, which he creates and projects onto the family TV set. The adults gather around in the Fremonts' living room, squirming uncomfortably as Anthony shows them a vision of battling

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s with ample gore. Unable to voice their real feelings, they tell Anthony that it was far better than what used to be on television. Afterwards, the adults celebrate their friend Dan Hollis's birthday. He gets two presents from his wife — a bottle of

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

, one of only five bottles of liquor left in the village, and a

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

record. Dan is eager to listen to the record, but he's reminded by everyone that Anthony does not like singing. Getting drunk from the brandy, he starts complaining about the miserable state of the town, not being able to listen to the record, and no one singing " Happy Birthday" to him. Dan snaps and confronts the child, calling him a monster and a murderer. While Anthony's anger grows, Dan yells for someone to attack him from behind and end his reign of terror. Aunt Amy (who isn't able to sing anymore because of Anthony) tentatively reaches for a fireplace poker, but no one has the courage to act. Anthony transforms Dan into a

jack-in-the-box A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy that outwardly consists of a Music Box, music box with a Crankset, crank. When the crank is turned, a music box mechanism in the toy plays a melody. After the crank has been turned a sufficient number of ti ...

, causing his wife to break down. The adults are horrified at what Anthony has done, and his father asks him to wish Dan into the cornfield, which Anthony does. Anthony then causes snow to begin falling outside. The snow will kill off at least half the

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same spe ...

s and the town will face

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, de ...

. Anthony's father starts to rebuke Anthony about this, but his wife and the other adults look on with worried smiles on their faces. The intimidated father then smiles and tells Anthony "...But it's good that you're making it snow, Anthony, it's real good. And tomorrow...tomorrow's gonna be a real good day!"

Closing narration

Cast

John Larch John Larch (born Harold Aronin; October 4, 1914 – October 16, 2005; also credited Harry Larch) was an American radio, film, and television actor. Early life John Larch was born Harold Aronin"California County Marriages", marriage licens ...

as Mr. Fremont *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

as Mrs. Fremont *

Don Keefer Donald Hood Keefer (August 18, 1916 – September 7, 2014) was an American actor known for his versatility in performing comedic, as well as highly dramatic, roles. In an acting career that spanned more than 50 years, he appeared in hundreds of ...

as Dan Hollis * Billy Mumy as Anthony Fremont * Alice Frost as Aunt Amy *

Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...

(as Casey Adams) as Pat Riley *

Jeanne Bates Jeanne Bates (May 21, 1918 – November 28, 2007) was an American radio, film and television actress. After performing in radio drama, radio serials, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942 which began her career in films both ...

as Ethel Hollis * Lenore Kingston as Thelma Dunn * Tom Hatcher as Bill Soames

Reception and legacy

''Time'' named this the third-best ''Twilight Zone'' episode, behind " Time Enough at Last" and "

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

". Rod Serling's introduction at the beginning of this episode was recycled and digitally edited for the preshow of the Disney Parks attraction

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ''The Twilight Zone'' Tower of Terror, or simply Tower of Terror, is a series of similar accelerated drop tower dark rides located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney Californ ...

. In the preshow video, Serling stands in front of a service elevator door, rather than a map of the United States, and explains to guests the journey they are about to experience. The attraction, which first opened at

Disney-MGM Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Bri ...

in 1994, almost two decades after Serling's death, is an homage to the original series with an original story based on it. When conceiving the attraction, Disney Imagineers wanted to include Serling in the attraction and opted for a voice artist to play him; Mark Silverman was chosen by Serling's widow to provide his voice. A poster advertising "Anthony Fremont's Orchestra" is displayed next to the concierge desk in the lobby of the attraction, an ironic reference to Anthony's hatred of singing. In 1997 ''TV Guide'' ranked the episode number 31 on its 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list. The opening narration of this episode is sampled in "Threatened" by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

in his 2001 album, ''Invincible''.

Remake

In a 1974 interview with Marvel Comics,

said "I'm on my third draft of a feature film based on Jerome Bixby's short story, 'It's a Good Life'. We did it originally on ''Twilight Zone'', but now we're doing a full-length version.

Alan Landsburg Alan William Landsburg (May 10, 1933 – August 13, 2014) was an American Screenwriter, television writer, Television producer, producer, and Television director, director. He was the founder and CEO of Alan Landsburg Productions and the Landsbu ...

, who produced ''

Chariots of the Gods ''Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past'' () is a book written in 1968 by Erich von Däniken and translated from the original German by Michael Heron. It involves the hypothesis that the technologies and religions of many ancien ...

'', is producing it. It's in the fantasy-horror genre." This was one of Serling's last interviews before his death in 1975. '' Twilight Zone: The Movie''s "It's a Good Life" segment is a remake of the original episode, and is directed by

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with Counterculture of th ...

Pop culture

The 1980 song "Cemetery Girls" by novelty rock group Barnes & Barnes refers to the episode in its lyrics ("Fresh souls in the cornfield...Anthony put them there..."), and with samples of lines. Since the album was released several years before fictional twin brothers Art (

Bill Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, producer, and musician. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor whose work included television appearances on ''Bewitched'', ''I Dream of Jeannie'', ''T ...

) Barnes and Artie ( Robert Haimer) went "public" about their identities, the reference is an in-joke. This episode was also remade as a parody in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' episode " Treehouse of Horror II" in 1991, with

Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

in the role of Anthony. The 1997 episode "Johnny Real Good" from ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, it aired from July 14, 1997, to August 27, 2004. The titular Johnny Bravo (voiced by ...

'' is also based on this episode. Johnny has to babysit a boy named Timmy, who also has supernatural powers and sends Johnny several times to a nearby cornfield for "thinking bad thoughts." The 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao ''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' is a 2007 novel written by Dominican American author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey in the United States, where Díaz was raised, and it deals with the Dominican ...

'' uses the episode as an analogy for life under the dictator

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( ; ; 24 October 1891 – 30 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (; "the boss"), was a Dominican military officer and dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from August 1930 until Rafael Trujillo#Assassination, ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. The 2017 ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

'' episode "

USS Callister "USS ''Callister''" is the first episode of the fourth series of the anthology series '' Black Mirror''. Written by series creator Charlie Brooker and William Bridges and directed by Toby Haynes, it first aired on Netflix, along with the rest ...

" was conceived with the episode as an inspiration.

Sequel

In the 2002 revival series, a sequel to this episode was broadcast, titled "

It's Still a Good Life "It's Still a Good Life" is the thirty-first episode of the 2002 revival television series of ''The Twilight Zone''. The episode was first broadcast on February 19, 2003, on UPN. It is a sequel to the original series episode "It's a Good Life" ...

", making it the only ''Twilight Zone'' episode to have a sequel. In the episode, Anthony is a middle-aged man who now has a daughter Audrey who has inherited his powers.

and

reprised their roles from the original episode. Anthony Fremont's daughter, Audrey, is played by actor Bill Mumy's real-life daughter

Liliana Mumy Liliana Berry Davis Mumy (; born April 16, 1994) is an American actress. Between 2002 and 2006, she appeared as Jessica Baker in ''Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film), Cheaper by the Dozen'' and its Cheaper by the Dozen 2, sequel, as well as Lucy ...

. A commercial for

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...

airing on that channel in 2015 features an adult Bill Mumy as adult Anthony intercut with scenes from the original episode, apparently interacting as the adult Anthony uses his powers to beam Me-TV to little Anthony's set. In early 2017, the network used clips from this episode in promos for the show's late-night reruns.

References

Bibliography

* Zicree, Marc Scott: ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition) * DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. * Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. * Diaz, Junot. Penguin Books New York (2007) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao p.g 224 * Wiater, Stan, et al. (2007). ''The Stephen King Universe: The Guide to the Worlds of the King of Horror'' (1st ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Renaissance Books. p. 427.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:It's A Good Life (The Twilight Zone) 1961 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 3 episodes Fiction about telepathy Television episodes written by Rod Serling Television episodes based on short fiction Television episodes set in Ohio