Recasting Iconic Twilight Zone Episodes

For the record, my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone tend be ones that are not highly rated, or well loved. Or I guess memorable. Kind of like this blog. So I decided in honor of the reboot of the show, I would recast the most iconic episodes of The Twilight Zone. Please hire me, Jordan Peele.

 

NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET 

So, this one was very easy to cast, for me. If you haven't seen the episode, you have probably seen it referenced on some show or another. And the original version starred William Shatner, who is most known as Captain Kirk in Star Trek. Or, being the mask Michael Myers be wearing in the movies. 

The reboot will star Adam Scott, which is super cool. I saw it a little differently! I wanted a real husband and wife duo to play the main characters! And my favorite married living actors are Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. I don't really have a favorite actor outside of maybe Robin Williams, but I guess the consensus is that Will Smith is his heir apparent.

I really like the idea of casting a husband and wife duo, because it makes the unrealistic (a goblin on the wing of a plane) realistic. 

TIME ENOUGH AT LAST

Time Enough At Last would have Bryan Cranston as Henry Bemis, Dale Dickey as his wife and Ken Watanabe as Mr. Bemis' boss. I'm trying to keep these as vague as possible because I want to encourage you guys to watch the episodes for yourself. They are not very long, and so important to American television history. The Twilight Zone is currently on Netflix.

 Where is Everybody is one of those episode that happens to be loved my me and the public. Maybe I just have bad taste, but most of my favorites are seen as the "bad" episodes. Rude. Anyway, Dave Patel would be the perfect Mike . This episode was the only one that was filmed at my beloved Universal Studios. I love this episode. And hopefully, soon you will able to see it's influence on me. ;)
I know Nightmare At 20,000 Feet is one of the more popular episodes, but this was actually the second episode filmed. I feel like this should be the first episode aired when the reboot comes. This is technically the first episode of the series. An episode called The Time Element. It is considered a teleplay by CBS. However, it has the same format as all of the other episodes. I consider that the first episode. But most do not.

Ugh, he's just a whole ass man, huh? It's important that the main character of the episode is handsome because we spend A LOT of time with him. 

Clown, hobo, ballet dancer, bagpiper, and an army major—a collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation; just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we'll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we'll only explain it—because this is the Twilight Zone.

 Honestly, when will I ever? This is Rod Sterling at his absolute best and I will argue over it. This is the episode that made me want to write a book with a twist in it. This episode is so beautiful and it took me a long while to figure out who exactly I wanted to see in a newer version.

I chose Ty Burrell as The Clown. Even though I feel like Modern Family has run it;s course I still enjoy it sometimes. I know a lot of people are afraid of clowns. I feel like Ty Burrell has the ability to make an audience see clowns as the way they were intended to be. Warm and friendly to children.

 I think John C. Reily does not get enough credit for his versatility as an actor. I think most of us just know him for his comedy roles with Will Ferrell. But, he has been in musicals, documentaries,  dramas, and animated features. I think John C. Reily as The Hobo would give him an opportunity to showcase as much talent as he can in thirty minutes. And, let me tell you, that is a LOT of talent. I see The Hobo as someone sarcastic and jaded with life. I know Reily would play that to perfection.

 This may be kind of left field but I don't care. I want Ice-T to play the Army Major. Like every adult ever, I love Law and Order. And, little known fact, Ice-T is a veteran in real life. I think that's pretty cool.

 So like, maybe a lot of people don't know who Misty Copeland is. But she is a real ballerina that has started an acting career. I haven't seen The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, obviously... I have a good feeling that the movie is going to be good. I always wanted to be a ballerina, but felt that was unattainable for....reasons. So, it's really cool to see someone that looks like me be the principal dancer at The American Ballet Theater. I know there are other little black girls that felt the way I did and I think it's incredibly important that they see images of black ballerinas over and over again.

There's a bagpipe player in this episode and the first Scottish actor that came to my mind was Sean Biggerstaff. He played Oliver Wood in the Harry Potter series. That's really it. I want to see more Hogwarts Alumni doing things. I like Emma Watson a lot, but it seems like she is the only child actor from HP that we consistently hear about. Everyone should get some shine!