It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)

"It's a Good Life"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 8
Directed by	James Sheldon
Written by	Rod Serling from the story "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby
Featured music	Stock plus "Moonglow" and "Stardust"
Production code	4801
Original air date	November 3, 1961
Guest actors
John Larch Cloris Leachman Don Keefer Bill Mumy Alice Frost Max Showalter (as Casey Adams) Jeanne Bates Lenore Kingston Tom Hatcher

"It's a Good Life" is episode 73 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on the 1953 short story "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby and is considered by many, such as Time Magazine and TV Guide, to be one of the best episodes of the series. It originally aired on November 3, 1961.

Plot summary

Six-year-old Anthony Fremont looks like any other average little boy, but looks can be deceiving: in retrospect he is a spoiled and controlling monster, a freak of nature, a mutant with godlike mental powers, including mindreading. Apparently years before, he isolated his hometown of Peaksville, Ohio. This caused the entire community and anything connected to it to vanish, thus erasing its very existence from the outside world. The town's residents are now strictly under Anthony's rule, even his parents. Since isolating everything, supplies of common household items, such as bar soap, have been dwindling. He has blocked telephone and television signals, caused cars to not work, and due to him dominating everyone, including the authorities, he does not attend school.

The children and adults, including his own parents, tiptoe nervously around him, constantly telling him how everything he does is "good," since displeasing him by not being obedient to his demands or simply thinking ill of him can get them wished away forever into a mystical "cornfield", an unknown dimension, from which there is no return. At one point, a dog is heard barking angrily. Anthony thinks the dog is "bad" and doesn't "like [him] at all," and wishes it into the cornfield. His father and mother are horrified, but they dare not show it.

One night, due to the townsfolk having always done what he wants, he treats them to one hour of TV. Although they do not like what he shows, they tell Anthony that it was far better than what used to be on TV.

Finally, at Dan Hollins' birthday party, he gets two presents from his wife: a bottle of brandy and a Perry Como record. As Dan is eager to listen to the record, he is reminded by everyone that Anthony does not like singing. Getting slightly drunk from the brandy, complaining about not listening to the record, and no one singing "Happy Birthday" to him, Dan cannot take the strain anymore and confronts Anthony, calling him a monster and a murderer. While Anthony's anger grows, Dan yells for someone to attack Anthony from behind and end his reign of terror. Aunt Amy (who isn't able to sing anymore because of Anthony) tentatively reaches for a fireplace poker, but no one has the courage to act. Anthony cries out to Dan, "You're a bad man! You're a very bad man! And you keep thinking bad thoughts about me!" Dan is transformed into a jack-in-the-box (ending his life), causing his wife to break down. The adults are horrified at what Anthony has done, and his father begs him to wish it into the cornfield, which he does.

Because of Amy's earlier complaints about the heat, Anthony causes snow to begin falling outside. His father observes that the snow will kill off at least half the crops, and he is about to confront Anthony about this, but his wife and the other adults look on with worried smiles on their faces. The father then smiles and tells Anthony in a horror-tinged voice, "...But it's good you're making it snow. A real good thing. And tomorrow... tomorrow's gonna be a... real 'good' day!"

Cast

• John Larch as Mr. Fremont
• Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Fremont
• Don Keefer as Dan Hollis
• Bill Mumy as Anthony Fremont
• Alice Frost as Aunt Amy
• Max Showalter (as Casey Adams) as Pat Riley
• Jeanne Bates as Ethel Hollis
• Lenore Kingston as Thelma Dunn
• Tom Hatcher as Bill Soames

Quotations

Opening narration

Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there's a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines - because they displeased him - and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages - just by using his mind. Now I'd like to introduce you to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It's in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn't like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you're looking at now. She sings no more. And you'll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio, have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn't I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He's six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you'd better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.

Closing narration

No comment here, no comment at all. We only wanted to introduce you to one of our very special citizens, little Anthony Fremont, age 6, who lives in a village called Peaksville in a place that used to be Ohio. And if by some strange chance you should run across him, you had best think only good thoughts. Anything less than that is handled at your own risk, because if you do meet Anthony, you can be sure of one thing: you have entered The Twilight Zone.

Reception and Legacy

Time Magazine named this the third-best Twilight Zone episode, behind "Time Enough At Last" and "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street".

Rod Serling's map background intro which is seen at the beginning of this episode, was recycled and edited with a sound-alike voiceover artist to place him within the show and accommodate a service elevator theme. This new version serves as the library room pre-show introduction for Disney's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attractions. The library room also contains other numerous episode artifacts from The Twilight Zone TV series such as Rod Serling's name engraved on a shelf, books titled with all the episode names from the series, and a broken pair of glasses from "Time Enough At Last," among many other things.

In 1997 TV Guide ranked the episode number 31 on its 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list.

Remake

In a 1974 interview with Marvel Comics, Rod Serling said "I'm on my third draft of a feature film based on Jerome Bixby's short story, 'It's a Good Life'. We did it originally on Twilight Zone but now we're doing a full-length version. Alan Landsburg, who produced 'Chariots of the Gods?', is producing it. It's in the fantasy-horror genre." This was one of Serling's last interviews before his death in 1975.

An updated remake of this episode with a lighter ending written by Richard Matheson and directed by Joe Dante, was featured as the third segment of 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie. Bill Mumy made a cameo appearance in the segment. Nancy Cartwright (who would later go on to star in a show that also parodied the episode) also appeared in it.

This episode was also remade as a parody in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror II" in 1991.

Sequel

In the 2002 revival series, a sequel to this episode was broadcast, entitled "It's Still a Good Life". In the episode, Anthony is a middle-aged man who now has a daughter Audrey who has inherited his powers. Bill Mumy and Cloris Leachman reprised their roles from the original episode. Anthony Fremont's daughter, Audrey, is played by actor Bill Mumy's real life daughter Liliana Mumy.

A commercial for Me-TV airing on that channel in 2015 and available on Vimeo features an adult Bill Mumy as adult Anthony intercut with scenes from the original episode, apparently interacting as the adult Anthony uses his powers to beam Me-TV to little Anthony's set.

References

Bibliography

• Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0
• Diaz, Junot. Penguin Books New York (2007) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao p.g 224

External links

• "It's a Good Life" at IMDb
• TV.com episode page