Twilight Zone Nights

   It was in the summer of ‘84 when my brother, Jamie and I got into watching the classic series – The Twilight Zone. The re-runs aired weeknights on Channel 38, a television station that had been in existence for only a few months. 10 o’clock every night we would sit in my room in front of my little Zenith black and white tv. Other times we would watch it over by our next door neighbor’s Mrs. Betty Roger. Mrs. Betty was a widow and her kids were grown and had moved away. Those occasions when we’d come over to watch Twilight Zone, Mrs. Betty would pop a big batch of popcorn. There was nothing like the smell and taste of popcorn and the sound Rod Serling’s voice late at night.

    When the summer ended and school started, Twilight Zone started to come on at 10:30 – too late for Jamie and me to stay up. In those days our bedtime was around 9:30. But on a few occasions my folks would stretch it to 10. But that was still too early for us to catch our favorite show.

    Jamie and I both had the little black and white tvs in our rooms. On these nights we would try to sneak and watch past 10:30. However, it always seemed to be a challenge. If Mom or Dad happened to walk down the hall and see that light glimmering from under the door – our ass was grass! At least that’s what I thought. But Jamie was a rebel; he’d keep his tv on as long as he could. I’d be lying in bed watching and waiting for The Waltons to go off, contemplating whether I was going to chance it. Looking back, what was the worst that could happen? Mom or Dad would just say, “Turn off that tv, Ryan!” But I never liked confrontations, and I hated the thought of getting caught. So reluctantly, I’d turn off the tv just before that iconic, Twilight Zone intro would come on.

   As I lay in bed I could still here Jamie pushing the envelop, leaving his tv on way past the allowed time. What the hell are you doing, Jamie? Don’t you know you’re going to get your ass caught? Jamie didn’t care; it was no big deal to him. He was used to toting the line. Mom and Dad’s fussing was small potatoes to him.

  The next morning him and I would sitting be at the breakfast table. Jamie would ask, “Did you watch Twilight Zone?”

  I would smirk and reply, “No…I thought Mom would catch me.”

   “Really?” Jamie would say. “Ah well…you missed a good one.”

   “No…huh?”

   “Yeah…let me tell ya what happened.”

   I’m flooded with these great memories every time I watch the Sci-Fi channel’s Twilight Zone marathons. I recall them like they happened yesterday.