The Twilight Zone

Season 5 Episode 36

The Bewitchin' Pool

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3
7.1
out of 10
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137 votes
10

EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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Two unhappy children find a happy escape in a swimming pool.

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SUBMIT REVIEW
  • Dvbhfbb

    10
    I LOVE it.
  • Two children escape their life with battling parents

    4.5
    I was watching this on a Twilight Zone marathon. This one aired right after "A Stop at Willoughby". Both are about escaping into a fantasy world to flee a stressful reality. "A Stop at Willoughby" had depth and flair and an ending to make your heart stop.



    This episode suffers in comparison, having two kids who want to escape to a wonderful place with a homey, grandmotherly figure, who still has them do chores — not the perfect kid's fantasy.



    Still it's better than living with the caricature of bitter parents who don't seem to give a fig about ANYONE, especially their children. These one dimensional parents would be embarassing in lesser shows, but are downright appalling in such a well written show as TZ.



    I was going crazy listening to the girl. I just knew that was June Foray's voice, who did Rocky the Flying Squirrel. She has such an unusual voice. Well, too much of an accent and background noise meant the girl actress had to be dubbed, but, ohmigawd, as much as I love June's voice, it was the wrong one to use.



    It was distracting to the nth degree and added to an already weak episode.



    There are plenty of wonderful TZ eppys to watch. Avoid this one.moreless
  • Not worthy of being the finale of the greatest television show ever.

    6.0
    "The Bewitchin' Pool" is simply not worthy of being the series finale of what is likely the greatest television series of all time. There are so many great epsiodes of "The Twilight Zone" that would have made for a better finale. I agree with the subject matter that "too many parents divorce" and "too many parents ignore their children," but simply feel that this is one of the lesser episodes of the wonderful series.



    I also could not get past the fact that Mary Badham's voice (which was largely dubbed) was annoying throughout the episode. It's almost sad to see Rod Serling and "The Twilight Zone" go out on this note.moreless
  • Two children with bickering parents discover that a door to a idyllic home of sorts for children with uncaring parents.

    5.5
    I'm a huge fan of the series and will watch for hours on end when the SciFi Channel runs marathons of "Twilight Zone". Unfortunately, this one is a major disappointment. I like the idea of the storyline, and it is actually pretty well written. However, there are a couple of problems that ruin this episode for me. First of all, the acting by the parents is awful. The only thing they do is argue, yell at each other and yell at their children. I would have rather seen them ignore the children more instead of yelling at them all the time, no matter what they were doing. The other problem for me was really what made the episode painful to watch. The dubbing over of the little girl's voice made me cringe every time she talked. It was so obviously fake that it was like nails on a chalkboard. I really wish that this episode had been given the quality of performance that this clever storyline deserved and "Twilight Zone" is known for.moreless
  • I first saw this episode when I was the age of the children in this episode when it first aired back in'64... growing up in a single parent family, this episode was probably the most memorable of all the TZ's to me.. and still is...moreless

    9.8
    I first saw this episode when I was the age of the children in this episode when it first aired back in'64... growing up in a single parent family, this episode was probably the most memorable of all the TZ's to me.. and still is... for a child of 8 years old viewing this episode, this episode was very thought provoking..... so i guess i am coming at this from a different perspective than your garden variety adult TZ afficiando.. i try not to over intellectualize or overthink .. just enjoy one of the finest tv show series ever created..moreless

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (1)

    • When Sport and Jeb jump in the pool in the last scene, Sport is wearing a shirt. When she comes up in Aunt T's land, she is wearing a swim suit.

  • QUOTES (7)

    • Gloria: I told you to go find your brother, not play in the pool.
      Sport: That's where he was.
      Gloria: You remember what I told you about people who lie.
      Sport: Yes, they go to hell and get burnt up.

    • Jeb: Why do we have to have chores?
      Aunt T: All children need chores to appreciate labor and the joy of honest work.

    • Jeb: You mean all children have a door at the bottom of the pool?
      Aunt T: Oh no, not all children come down here through the pool. Some come down chimneys, or you open the door and there they are. Or sometimes they're on a street corner, or other times on a doorstep, like Whitt there.

    • Aunt T: You sure are solemn children, don't you ever laugh?
      Sport: What's there to laugh about?
      Aunt T: I'm funny, you could laugh at me.
      Whitt: You're not funny, you're nice.
      Aunt T: How about a riddle? Does anybody know a riddle?
      Whitt: I do. What do you call someone who crosses the ocean twice and doesn't take a bath either way?
      Aunt T: What?
      Whitt: A dirty double crosser! (everybody laughs)

    • (Last Scene of the Series - Aunt T's House)
      Gloria:(voice over) Oh children, please come back.
      Sport: Huh?
      Aunt T: What is it dear?
      Sport: I thought I heard something. (Laughs) May I please have another piece of cake, Aunt T?

    • (Opening Narration)
      Narrator: A swimming pool not unlike any other pool, a structure built of tile and cement and money, a backyard toy for the affluent, wet entertainment for the well-to-do. But to Jeb and Sport Sharewood, this pool holds mysteries not dreamed of by the building contractor, not guaranteed in any sales brochure. For this pool has a secret exit that leads to a never-neverland, a place designed for junior citizens who need a long voyage away from reality, into the bottomless regions of the Twilight Zone.

    • (Closing Narration)
      Narrator: A brief epilogue for concerned parents. Of course, there isn't any such place as the gingerbread house of Aunt T, and we grownups know there's no door at the bottom of a swimming pool that leads to a secret place. But who can say how real the fantasy world of lonely children can become? For Jeb and Sport Sharewood, the need for love turned fantasy into reality; they found a secret place--in the Twilight Zone.

  • NOTES (5)

    • Included on volume 42 of Image-Entertainment's DVD collection.

    • The two main child characters in "To Kill A Mockingbird" were Jem and Scout (Mary Badham). In this episode, they're Jeb and Sport (Badham).

    • In the outdoor scenes, Mary Badham's voice was overdubbed by June Foray (who was the voice of Rocky the Squirrel) due to Badham's heavy southern accent combined with a high backlot noise level.

    • In the book of Earl Hamner TZ scripts, the script for this episode contains a different beginning (instead of showing part of the ending, as it does today).

    • The script is included in The Twilight Zone Scripts of Earl Hamner by Earl Hamner and Tony Albarella.

  • ALLUSIONS (0)

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