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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 4:39:02 GMT
This is what I thought @painbow had been asking for in the other thread here. Do you guys, especially TZ/ OL fans ( mszanadu, WarrenPeace, et al.) ever have plot-ideas for episodes you’ve dreamt up? I write often (as BATouttaheck and Primemovermithrax Pejorative know from my “scary story” thread!), so I often think of these kinds of ideas. I mentioned the fake TZ “The Lost Martian” in the TZ board, and I was amused because I’d also thought of an idea where the hero is (unknown to him) revealed to be an alien at the end. Any ideas you have?
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on May 13, 2018 8:35:13 GMT
I have thought of ideas inspired by the Twilight Zone.
Like I had a variation on "The Masks" where a stage actress gets antique theater masks as a gift.
Another I mentioned before involved three bums who find a doorway to alternate dimensions and one of them schemes to exploit it for personal gain.
Another is about a man trapped in an abandoned building with a black mamba.
If I ever get my ass in gear I will endeavor to write them out.
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Post by mszanadu on May 13, 2018 15:42:44 GMT
Although I'm not much of a writer with the exception of this forum of course . IMPO - I always thought this classic underrated and most clever film for it's time should have been " The First Official Twilight Zone Movie " or even the " before TV Pilot " to accompany this classic TV Show . The Twonky (1953 film) - Wikipedia The Twonky (1953) - Full Movie 1:09:25 As for the Outer Limits there was another really good sci fi film from the 1940's I watched about a year or so ago on the COMET Channel about a plane ending up in another dimension but now I cannot remember the movie title or exact year either . Thanks so much Salzmank for your subject post .
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Post by mszanadu on May 13, 2018 19:00:57 GMT
Salzmank I actually found the film that reminded me of an " Outer Limits type episode movie " . Also my mistake on the decade here too it was from the early 1960's not the 1940's and the storylines focus was about a form of time travel not traveling to other dimensions . IMPO - This is a real good & memorable one and definitely had all the makings to be an Outer Limits movie or pilot as well . The Flight That Disappeared (1961 film)
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Post by marianne48 on May 13, 2018 19:21:23 GMT
I always had this one in mind (but if I thought of it, it's probably been done on some show somewhere before): A version of the "be careful what you wish for" premise--a once-famous singer, whose career has since dried up, meets a mysterious, supernatural genie (Elvis Presley's or Tupac Shakur's ghost, take your pick) who offers him/her a wish. The singer wishes for a successful comeback, with his/her old hits popular again. The singer's wish is granted--his/her merchandise is selling and making millions. The reason for this is that the singer has died horribly and the old fans are buying his/her stuff for sentimental reasons and morbid nostalgia. (Both Elvis and Shakur made a fortune, and continue to sell well, after their deaths).
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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 19:30:37 GMT
Thanks, guys! Primemovermithrax Pejorative, I really like your “three bums discovering another dimension” idea; that seems fairly Serling-esque, too. Would the “Masks” variation have the same twist? mszanadu, I’d never even heard of those movies, but they do seem pretty TZ/ OL-esque. I see that The Twonky was based on a ‘40s short story, and many TZ episodes were taken from similar sources—so maybe it could have been an episode if they hadn’t made the movie first. It looks like The Flight that Disappeared is more like The Outer Limits, as you said, but the airplane thing seems like Serling; so many airplanes in The Twilight Zone, as we’ve mentioned before! I had an idea a little while back and have now forgotten it completely, worse luck, but I just thought of a possible plot where astronauts go through some kind of disturbance, an Apollo 13-like situation, and have to return to Earth—except that they find Earth is different, in very subtle ways, from the way they recall it. One of them convinces the others that they’ve actually ended up on an alternate world and can’t trust anyone…and I can’t think of a good twist. But the situation works, I think, even if it’s a bit too similar to real TZs.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 19:33:30 GMT
I always had this one in mind (but if I thought of it, it's probably been done on some show somewhere before): A version of the "be careful what you wish for" premise--a once-famous singer, whose career has since dried up, meets a mysterious, supernatural genie (Elvis Presley's or Tupac Shakur's ghost, take your pick) who offers him/her a wish. The singer wishes for a successful comeback, with his/her old hits popular again. The singer's wish is granted--his/her merchandise is selling and making millions. The reason for this is that the singer has died horribly and the old fans are buying his/her stuff for sentimental reasons and morbid nostalgia. (Both Elvis and Shakur made a fortune, and continue to sell well, after their deaths). We cross-posted (or whatever the expression is), but I really like this idea, Marianne. It’s actually the kind of twist I thought the real TZ “A Game of Pool” was going to go for but didn’t. Excellent plot concept.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 20:21:21 GMT
Geez, I just found a real TZ, “The Parallel” (which I’ve never seen), that’s close to the plot I articulated above. Oh, well, back to the drawing board…
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on May 13, 2018 20:22:06 GMT
Primemovermithrax Pejorative , I really like your “three bums discovering another dimension” idea; that seems fairly Serling-esque, too. Would the “Masks” variation have the same twist? Yes, a transformation as a comeuppance, but different in why it happens (accidental) and the outcome (not entirely negative). It's like a combination of the Masks with the Cliff Robertson one involving the dummy. The bum story is more along the lines of "What have I got to lose? What is the worst thing that could happen?" The it is just a matter of coming up with the worst possible answer. haha
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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 20:36:41 GMT
Primemovermithrax Pejorative , I really like your “three bums discovering another dimension” idea; that seems fairly Serling-esque, too. Would the “Masks” variation have the same twist? Yes, a transformation as a comeuppance, but different in why it happens (accidental) and the outcome (not entirely negative). It's like a combination of the Masks with the Cliff Robertson one involving the dummy. The bum story is more along the lines of "What have I got to lose? What is the worst thing that could happen?" The it is just a matter of coming up with the worst possible answer. haha So it would be just the one woman with several different masks—and, what, each one changes her emotions or appearance or something? I could definitely see the bum one done in the ‘60s with Burgess Meredith playing the lead.
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on May 13, 2018 20:54:52 GMT
So it would be just the one woman with several different masks—and, what, each one changes her emotions or appearance or something? Right-different masks and emotions/appearances. It's not a particularly clever idea, but I like stories with transformations so its acceptable to me. The bum story-it needs someone who is more of a rough rascally type. Maybe in the context of the 60s, a Charles McGraw, Darren McGavin or Lee Marvin. He's a bum who accepts his state of affairs but feels he deserves more, and when the opportunity comes, he doesn't care about the risks because he figures he has already hit rock bottom. What has he got to lose? But when you are dealing with alternate universes where anything is possible, he could lose a lot depending on what dimension it opens into and unforeseen consequences.
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Post by mszanadu on May 13, 2018 20:55:41 GMT
mszanadu , I’d never even heard of those movies, but they do seem pretty TZ/ OL-esque. I see that The Twonky was based on a ‘40s short story, and many TZ episodes were taken from similar sources—so maybe it could have been an episode if they hadn’t made the movie first. It looks like The Flight that Disappeared is more like The Outer Limits, as you said, but the airplane thing seems like Serling; so many airplanes in The Twilight Zone, as we’ve mentioned before! IMPO - I do highly recommend viewing these 2 forgotten gem films too Salzmank . The Twonky is a lot of fun and the early style special effects seemed most clever & amazing too . The Flight that Disappeared is a more intense and serious film . The music and dream-like atmosphere scene definitely has that " TZ/OL-esque " feel as you put it very perfectly here too . I also agree with you here that both films would qualify for either TZ or Outer Limits . Thanks so much Salzmank for your reply .
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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 20:57:28 GMT
I found a concept that I wrote up here back in November: “…reader goes to library and sees a book by someone he knows is a fictional character in a TV show, but when he asks everyone, he's assured that the author is a real, well-known author and that there's no TV show.” It was based on something novastar6 wrote. There’s also something NormanClature, who used to be @eattheeloi, wrote that inspired this. And The Office of Strange Science, of course, though that’s more an intentional X-Files knock-off.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 13, 2018 21:00:55 GMT
So it would be just the one woman with several different masks—and, what, each one changes her emotions or appearance or something? Right-different masks and emotions/appearances. It's not a particularly clever idea, but I like stories with transformations so its acceptable to me. The bum story-it needs someone who is more of a rough rascally type. Maybe in the context of the 60s, a Charles McGraw, Darren McGavin or Lee Marvin. He's a bum who accepts his state of affairs but feels he deserves more, and when the opportunity comes, he doesn't care about the risks because he figures he has already hit rock bottom. What has he got to lose? But when you are dealing with alternate universes where anything is possible, he could lose a lot depending on what dimension it opens into and unforeseen consequences. No, I think it’s pretty clever—maybe she’s not necessarily bad, as the family in “The Masks” are, but rather that she’s a mess of emotions and the masks represent each one? We do go back and forth fleshing out these ideas, you and I… Bullets/Biscuits for Beauregard! I was thinking Meredith because there’d probably be an emotional catharsis scene at the end, something I always thought Meredith did so well, but I know what you mean with the bum’s being a more rascally sort. Maybe each bum should end up in a different alternate universe?
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on May 13, 2018 21:21:58 GMT
No, I think it’s pretty clever—maybe she’s not necessarily bad, as the family in “The Masks” are, but rather that she’s a mess of emotions and the masks represent each one? We do go back and forth fleshing out these ideas, you and I… Bullets/Biscuits for Beauregard! Maybe each bum should end up in a different alternate universe? In the bum story, the lead bum proposes they enter the portal (which closes after 15 minutes) to investigate, but the other two are afraid-which is why he says: what have we got to lose? They wont do it so he goes it alone. I looked up my notes on the mask story (must be like 8 years I last looked at them). Interestingly, I had another mask story plot I had forgotten all about: "collector of masks gets a mask made from the body of an executed criminal that possesses him to commit acts of revenge." Sounds like it was inspired by the Skull or that Martin Balsam wax dummy episode! No other plot details written for that one. Must have been one of those things where I had an idea and just wrote it down and forgot about.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 30, 2018 17:07:16 GMT
Bump, you crazy kids.
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Post by President Ackbar™ on May 30, 2018 17:12:26 GMT
I always had the idea for story where time travelers "kill Hitler" and then come back and find a person ( or an outcome ) that was "much worse"
I haven't read it, but I think Stephen King finally did one like that.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2018 17:23:54 GMT
I have a story idea that could fit either.
A man's home universe is destroyed and he somehow survives the destruction. He finds himself on an alternate version of his earth where there is another version of him and his family members. Longing to interact with his dead family members again, he begins to wear a disguise and pretend he is a former owner of their house so that he can come inside and look around. He notices that some of the problems that led to fractures in his family on his home dimension are happening here as well. He resolves to improve their lives so that things don't get as bad as they were on his home dimension. However, he soon begins to notice that there are more strange differences in this dimension than he realized.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 31, 2018 19:43:31 GMT
Love your ideas, guys. President Ackbar™, there was a TZ (“No Time Like the Past”) in which a man tries to assassinate Hitler, but it ends on a different twist from your concept. Do you know the Stephen King story? I tried looking it up but couldn’t find it. @snakeeyes43, as you can tell from my concept (sixth post from top), I really like parallel-universe stories, and I think your idea is just swell. I’d love to find out the twist! This morning, I was listening to an episode of old-time radio horror series Lights Out about an airplane that suddenly goes still in the middle of its flight, engines stopped, without dropping—as if it’s being held up. It reminded me of both The Twilight Zone (especially in light of Serling’s love of airplanes) and the movie mszanadu recommended, The Flight that Disappeared. Unfortunately, the episode kinda wimps out at the end—it’s a fairly basic and banal morality tale—but that premise is excellent and very TZ-esque.
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Post by mszanadu on Sept 20, 2018 20:25:51 GMT
Bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bump…
Any stories with - ghosts , space aliens or gremlin creatures , creepy or friendly dolls ,
and young people with mental abilities / powers works for me here Salzmank ( I tend to be an easy audience with these great character storylines here too ) .
OH PS - Also inanimate objects that have a life of it's own too .
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