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I always wanted to review and rate every episode of "The Twilight Zone" but I never had the time or the motivation, let alone the opportunity to see them all, uncut and in original broadcast order.

But now that we are collectively living in an Episode of "The Twilight Zone" and because CBS All-Access has granted a free month of their service (till April 23 - use the code GIFT to get it) - obviously as a motivator to get people to stay at home during these crucial days, this seems like the moment to do it.

I'm a little surprised the 1985 version of TZ isn't here. I know a lot of people found it lacking, but it was the first attempt to resurrect the series, so it only had the original series to compare it to, and there were some other issues that caused problems for that series. That's no reason to leave it out. I guess I can dig out the DVD set of season one of the '85 Zone. We'll see how motivated I am after watching the original, in its entirety. Plus the first ten episodes of Jordan Peele's reimagining of the series are here, too. I'll probably get to them before I scavenge for the eighties' incarnation.

Meanwhile, there's a whole lot of shows available on that CBS dot com website that are great. All the Star Treks are there (though The Original Series has been "remastered" which means they redid the visuals/special effects to make it look less like 1960s sci-fi. It's a little jarring if you know those episodes well). This includes the Star Trek Animated Series. And there are webisodes of something called "Star Trek: Short Treks"which looks like a mix of adults and kids on a Starship from the clip I viewed.

There's "The Odd Couple," both the Jack Klugman/Tony Randall 1970s and the Matthew Perry/Thomas Lennon 2010s. No sign of the Demond Wilson/Ron Glass 1980s version, though.

There's many episodes of "I Love Lucy." "Sabrina The Teenage Witch," Melissa Joan Hart's supernatural sitcom from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s is available. "Cheers," "Everybody Hates Chris," "The Brady Bunch," if you really must... and I'm giving a shout out to the Halle Berry SF psychological thriller "Extant" because it was created by my friend, Mickey Fisher.

Anyway, I'll post my commentary about each "Twilight Zone" episode here, one day at a time (no Norman Lear plug, intended) and maybe you'll be watching along, too!

"The Twilight Zone" - Season 1 Episode 1 - "Where Is Everybody?"

You probably did not know that on October 2nd, 1959, a total eclipse of the sun took place and was seen in its totality over parts of New England, including Boston. Well, it would have been, if it weren't raining at sunrise, in Beantown, when it was happening.

The second day of the tenth month in 1959 was also the date of the premiere of Rod Serling's television series, "The Twilight Zone," and it's perfect that this most spectacular celestial event took place on that particular day and, in a way, perfect that it was obscured. Those are major themes during the run of this series, designed to both disguise and reveal the elements of humanity, just past the midpoint of the 20th Century.

The opening narration is worth noting. Over the title animation, Mr. Serling sets the tone for the series:

"There is a fifth dimension... Beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It's an area which we call... The Twilight Zone."

That really hits, maybe even harder than it did more than sixty years ago. Because those really are the two ends of that spectrum, fear on one end and knowledge on the other. And that is what we are going through, during this global pandemic. It is both a chilling thought and a life-affirming reminder.

( ***SPOILERS ABOUT THIS EPISODE MAY BE REVEALED*** )