4th of July Twilight Zone Marathon 2011

"Yeah, I'm the guy who decided to cancel last year's Twilight Zone Marathon, so what? Um... where did you say this place was again?"

Well, I'm happy to say that Syfy did the right thing this year and is bringing back the 4th of July Twilight Zone Marathon! I was a little concerned about the status of this year's marathon, considering last year's debacle, but it looks like we're back on again! Starting at 6am on July 3rd and running all day on the 4th, back to back to back episodes of TZ! Check out the schedule here and look for your favorite episodes!

If you're as happy as I am, let Syfy know, feedback@syfy.com so they don't try pulling some lame shit again a couple years down the line.

I'll be back with some more 80's Vintage goodness soon, I promise!

No 4th of July Twilight Zone Marathon on Syfy

"You're a BAD network, Syfy! A VERY bad network!"

I am deeply saddened.
The Syfy channel has decided NOT to have a Twilight Zone marathon this 4th of July weekend. What a crock.
I have some very fond childhood memories of the 4th of July. It'd be hot in SoCal so we'd swim at the community pool or go to the beach all day. When we got home, my parents, my brother, and I would all sit around the TV and watch the Twilight Zone Marathon on KTLA Channel 5 until it started getting dark. Then we'd head out to the driveway with a huge box of 'Safe and Sane' fireworks and light them all off like crazy until all that was left was a pile of ashes on the scorched pavement, and we'd head back in, reeking of pyrotechnic smoke to watch the last few episodes of the marathon.
I had been looking forward to carrying on this tradition with my own children - In what looked to be a good start, I was enjoying the marathon in 2008 from the hospital maternity ward when my son was born - but it looks like we'll have to find some new ones now that the 4th of July holiday is just a shadow of what it once was.
Fireworks? Good luck! Almost every major city in California has banned all personal fireworks and also decided to cut the community displays from the budget as well.
Twilight Zone? C'mon, Syfy, if you're not going to carry on the 4th of July marathon tradition because some bean counters didn't think it was a good idea for the bottom line, then give up your freakin' rights to the show and let some other network do it!
Well, at least I can still take the kids swimming.... Maybe one of the new traditions we'll start is a Family Wrench Day and everyone can work on their bikes. Or... everyone can watch Daddy work on his bike(s), burn himself with the BBQ grill and vote on which TZ episodes we'll watch later on DVD. Sigh... it's just not the same.
Email Syfy and tell 'em what you think! feedback@syfy.com

The Twilight Zone Marathon!

Well kiddies, I'm about beside myself with excitement. The 4th of July Twilight Zone Marathon is almost upon us!
Looks like SciFi is running a day of episodes from the 80's series on July 2nd and most of the 3rd and then the classic episodes starting primetime on the 3rd and into the 4th. Check out the schedule to see when your favorite episode is playing on SciFi's website.
If you're scratching your head and wondering what the fuss is about and why I've interrupted your 80's vintage cycling reading goodness, look here.

Off topic - 4th of July and Twilight Zone

If any of you grew up down in Southern California in the '80s you'll remember KTLA Channel 5 used to show Twilight Zone episodes between noon and 1pm on weekdays and then a big ol' Marathon on the 4th of July.
My whole family were big fans of the ol' TZ and every year, we'd watch Twilight Zone during the day and then go out and light off a huge box of fireworks at night that we bought from one of those stands setup in the supermarket parking lots like Freedom, Red Devil, or Gorilla. One year, I convinced my dad to get a box so big that before we were even halfway through the box, we started getting bored and chucking lit ground bloom flowers as fast as we could light them or just setting whole boxes of "magic snakes" on fire and watching the medusa-like tentacles emerging from the flaming box. Those were great childhood memories. Decades later, I still associate the 4th of July with the TZ marathons and "Safe & Sane" fireworks.
Unfortunately, I believe KTLA's rights to show Twilight Zone expired at some point and "Safe & Sane" fireworks were considered to be neither "Safe" nor "Sane" by your local city. For me, that's like not being able to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas and then finding out that Christmas trees were outlawed to boot.
As if outlawing personal fireworks displays wasn't enough, now cities all around are canceling their community displays too. WTF?!?! Is this an intentional attempt at turning the 4th of July into one of the most boring holidays of the year?? What a freakin' joke.
Luckily, at least half of the tradition can be saved. BIG kudos to the SCIFI channel for continuing the 4th of July Twilight Zone Marathon tradition!!
http://www.scifi.com/twilightzone/poll/index.html