Twilight Zone episode review — 3.13 — Once Upon a Time
Episode 3.13 “Once Upon a Time”
Original air date: December 15, 1961
Writer: Richard Matheson
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Rating: 1/10
It’s difficult to think of a more out of place episode in the series. It’s kind of amazing they aired this on television, as it’s done in the style of an old silent movie, and stars Buster Keaton. That having been said, it really doesn’t fit into the series’s specialties of well told stories, clever writing, and thought-provoking science fiction or fantasy.
It’s interesting, but not good.
Buster Keaton plays Woodrow Mulligan, a man living in 1890 that is upset with his time — the cost of goods, the fast living, the noise. He stumbles upon a professor who has constructed a device that will allow someone to travel through time, and when he tries it on, he’s transported into the present. He’s of course immediately irritated by the noise, the cars, et cetera.
Slapstick ensues as a kid snatches the time traveling helmet, and he needs to get it back. It’s not funny. The best I can say is it’s pleasant, inoffensive.
