Episode Summary

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9.1
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EPISODE RATING: Superb
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Little Anthony Fremont controls an entire town with his ability to read minds and make people do as he wishes. Which is a real good thing.
  • My thoughts on one of the most memorable episodes.

    8.5
    "Great"
    In this episode, parts can be humorous, one part can bring tears to the eyes, and some find it quite scary (and it's probably one of the episodes that causes some people to consider The Twilight Zone a horror series). I think it\'s the only episode that can bring out all three of those emotions (though probably not all 3 for the same person).

    After the 1st time I saw it, for some reason, the most memorable line from this (or any) episode was \"You\'re a bad man. You\'re a VERY bad man.\" Now when I watch it, I can say a lot of the lines along with them.

    I\'m just wondering why Aunt Amy didn\'t go ahead and hit Anthony over the head with the poker like she was about to.
    moreless
  • It's A Good Life has one of the best plots and really showcases the sci- fi element the Twilght Zone had to offer.

    9.8
    "Superb"
    It's A Good Life is a very speacial episode in my opinon. To start it is timeless and classic and I just love the acting. Billy Mumy is a great actor and I watch him all the time on my Lost In Space DVDs. The episode is really fun and just wonderful and creepy.
    9.8
  • A small town is held captive by a young boy named Anthony Freemont. Everybody in the town, even Anthony's own family, struggle to keep Anthony happy for fear of risking the wrath of his telepathic powers.moreless

    9.5
    "Superb"
    Watch this episode and even you will fear Anthony Freemont and his telepathic powers. The cast gives a first rate performance throughout the episode. The viewer can really sense the fear in the faces of the cast and actually feel it themselves. I also like the fact that Anthony is a young boy because that adds an extra element of fear to the story. The danger to the townspeople is even more grave because Anthony is a boy and is too young to really realize the danger his power possesses and has no real grasp of its consequences. Classic episode.moreless
  • The Twilight Zone show that you'll never forget. A boy with the power to get rid of anything he doesn't like is what really makes this show suspensful.

    10
    "Perfect"
    This is a must see Twilight Zone episode which also defines the seires. If you've never seen this episode then you don't know the Twilight Zone. This is the show that made me think of what would happen if the situation of a little boy having that power. It makes you think a whole lot like what happens in the cornfield? Is it really a cornfield? Why was he born with such power? Why couldn't they just kill him. For those who didn't like the ending, well, it's the perfect ending to a Twilight Zone episode. If you would like to know what happened to Anthony, there's the sequel, it's still a good life, which shows what happened when Anthony grew up and had a daughter of his own.moreless
  • Evil Seed

    10
    "Perfect"
    Another favorate of mine. It's not hard to see why, it's one that I thought was very creepy. Bill Muny for a kid at the time was a really good actor, making himself an anti Christ like character a force of evil to be reconded with. There is very little explination as to why according to the begining of the narration supposedly all of the world is destroyed except for one little farming town (possibly Billy the perpetrator)? Why Anthony is so powerful and seems to be abusing his powers? What the heck happens after people or things are wished away to the cornfield?

    This tale doesn't need explanation because it's mainly invested in moody horror sensability and emotion. Sort of has the errie sensibility of a folklore or Brother's Grimm tale. From the begining visual when we see everyone just smiling, they seem more like very forced smiles (similar to some of the opening in David Lynch's Blue Velvet) you can tell there is something wrong with this picture. From how the adults and some of the older kids act we are able to get some information from them about the type of existance they live in and who Anthony is. On the outside it looks like any other town nice and quiet but underneath it it's actually a post apaciliptic hell. Some of the information gives us a feeling of chilling dread from people forced to think happy thoughts all the time to shield them from giving Anthony a reason to use his powers against them, lack of resources, people that always go missing, kids who Anthony wished away, and other things. You feel a little sense of pity for most of the adults, they constantly wear masks of happyness but underneath those masks their are hints of desperation, despair, repressed anger, and depression. Anthony is an interesting bad guy even though he is a perpetrator of bad things, there at times seems to be some humanity in the kid which gives you a hint he might have a concious. It kinda brings a lot of questions, is the kid really responsible for his actions or is he a victum of circumstance, perhaps if his parients gave him proper guidence he might not so many bad things. Basically on one hand this could be seen as a causionary fable about what happens when you raise a child improperly. But mainly it's a metaphoric tale show how the ideal peaceful existance we supposedly are living is a complete lie and the evil that lies underneth it. Is Anthony really as evil as we are ment to believe or could the older people living the continual peaceful existance be more eviler than him. After all they all have to pay very huge prices to maintain living even if it means turning your back on your best friend/husband as we saw in the party. It's possible all of them could have overpowered Anthony but they did nothing for they were too week and somewhat bankrupt morally. Also in the final scene at one moment the parients were going to stand up to Anthony but then clammed up, was Anthony really going to send his father to the cornfield at that moment or was he just trying to understand why his father was acting that way at the moment?

    It sort of makes you think about all the peacful existances coexisting during times of war and crisis. Why there were many people that did nothing while others did everything to maintain that peaceful existance a lot of people live in. It almost feels as though Anthony is trying very hard to create that peaceful existance for not so much himself but everyone but it doesn't always seem possible. Just as there are no explanations in the story, we have no answers to these questions it's really up to you. Just remember keep thinking happy thoughts.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (0)

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  • QUOTES (5)

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    • Mr. Fremont: It's snowing outside! Anthony, are you making it snow? Anthony: Yes, I'm making it snow. Mr. Fremont: Why that'll ruin half the crops! You know that, don't you, half the crops! That's what that... But it's good that you're making it snow, Anthony, it's real good.

    • Anthony: You're a bad man! You're a very bad man!

    • Anthony: No kids came to play with me today, not a single one, and I wanted someone to play with! Mr. Fremont: Well, Anthony, you remember what happened the last time some kids came over to play. The little Fredricks boy and his sister. Anthony: I had a real good time. Mr. Fremont: Oh, sure you did, you had a real good time, and it's good that you have a good time, it's real good. It's just that... Anthony: It's just that what? Mr. Fremont: Well, Anthony, you uh... you wished them away into the cornfield, and their mommy and daddy were real upset.

    • (Closing Narration) Narrator: No comment here, no comment at all. We only wanted to introduce you to one of our very special citizens, little Anthony Fremont, age 6, who lives in a village called Peaksville in a place that used to be Ohio. And if by some strange chance you should run across him, you had best think only good thoughts. Anything less than that is handled at your own risk, because if you do meet Anthony you can be sure of one thing: you have entered the Twilight Zone.

    • (Opening Narration) Narrator: Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there's a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines - because they displeased him - and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages - just by using his mind. Now I'd like to introduce you to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It's in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn't like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you're looking at now. She sings no more. And you'll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio, have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.

  • NOTES (6)

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    • All of the lines up to "This, as you may recognise, is a..." were used in the Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror preshow. The rest of the line is changed to "is a maintinance service elevator, still in operation, and waiting for you." Also, there are many referances to The Twilight Zone made in the ride. (The ride, in fact, was based of a lost episode.)

    • This episode contains the longest opening narration on the entire series

    • A sequel was made for the 2002 version series, with Billy Mumy and Cloris Leachman reprising their roles

    • This episode was remade as a segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1982.

    • Included on volume 9 of Image-Entertainment's DVD collection.

    • This episode is based on the short story "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby. The story was first published in the Frederik Pohl edited anthology Star Science Fiction Stories #2 (1953).

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