No Time Like The Past - Twilight-Tober Zone
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- "No Time Like the Past" has a few decent crackles of life hidden beneath an hour of slow-moving story, but that still places it far from a recommendation. Join Walter for his thoughts on this Twilight Zone episode.
Watch the new NC here - • Trick 'r Treat - Nosta...
Watch Twilight-Tober Zone 2022 Compilation - • Twilight-Tober Zone 20...
Watch more Twilight-Tober Zone here - bit.ly/Twilight...
Follow Walter on Twitter - / awesome_walter
Follow us on Twitch - / channelawesome
"No Time Like the Past" is episode 112 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. In this episode a man tries to escape the troubles of the 20th century by taking up residence in an idyllic small town in the 19th century.
Facebook: / channelawesome
Twitter: / channelawesome
Instagram: / channelawesome
Like Doug on Facebook: / 127127037353766
The ONLY Official UA-cam channel for the Nostalgia Critic and Channel Awesome.
New Nostalgia Critic episodes every Wednesday at 5PM CST.
#twilightzone #twilighttoberzone #thetwilightzone
What did everyone think of No Time Like The Past?
Watch the new NC here - ua-cam.com/video/xwObktR_VrI/v-deo.htmlsi=EoLjLJp9tuc-TKEE
Watch more Twilight-Tober Zone here - bit.ly/TwilightToberZone
Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome
The message as in the main idea of the story is good, but yeah the episode comes across as too preachy and I do agree they should’ve cast someone much more younger
Felt as though two half-hour scripts with time travel themes were put together.
And with all the past to choose from, why choose
A. mere moments before the Hiroshima a-bomb,
B.Hitler at his height of popularity, and
C. just as Lusitania was torpedoed?
Why not
A. a day (or more) before the bomb to potentially evacuate more people,
B. targeting Herr Hitler during the Beer Hall Putsch, and
C. sabotage Lusitania before it leaves port?
This is one of the few hour long stories that I have seen, and I felt that it was weak.
Back to the Future III ?
I disagree with your assessment of the actor playing Driscoll. He was perfect. A younger actor would have made no sense. Also, regarding the attempt on Hitler’s life. We all would have liked to have seen Hitler convincingly assassinated. But that wound have defeated the premise of the story, which is to say that you can’t go back in time and change what already happened. Serling’s closing monologue is a beauty and while there are still issues with the story, it easily is one of, if not the best episode from season 4.
@@jamesgarrett8833disagree with you. Not preachy and a younger actor wouldn’t have made sense since it’s age that brings on cynicism not youth.
The gun jamming was probably the most interesting "can't change the past" moment. I would've liked more of that rather than just people not believing him over and over
that honestly feels to me the most contrived part to me, the gun just happens to jam just feels like a huge convenience to get out of committing to the idea of killing Hitler narratively, while its reputative, someone telling you their from the future here to stop your death....that's a reasonably hard sell in a realistic context. Though it would have been better if it wasn't just doing the exact same thing to save the boat, they could have wrote a third scenario in a way was him using non-direct means of fixing the past only for that to still fail too
It is a well used trope that characters, no matter how they try, cannot change specific, pivotal moments in human history; Hitler's rise to power being the most notable example.
@@derekstein6193I've heard it used as "You cannot change history on purpose", changing history would mean that the event that made you go to change history wouldn't have happened hence you wouldn't have gone back and change it.
Honestly, I'd love to see something lean into that as a comedy. You know they're not going to change the past, but the question is how will their efforts be thwarted. The more contrived, the better.
@@EkoBahamut Depends what model of time travel you subscribe to. If you believe that every time you change something in the past, you create an alternate timeline that exists parallel to the one you came from, there is no paradox. You disappear from your own timeline, the act of appearing in the past having created a new timeline (so you never arrive in your own past, always an alternative past). You can change whatever you want, it has no bearing on your timeline. Of course, the consequence of this is that you can never interact with your original timeline again.
A great time travel episode where one man's quest to change the past is more difficult than he imagined.
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” - Winston Churchill
"History is lies agreed upon." -Napoleon Bonaparte
That Churchill quote is a paraphrase of "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." by George Santayana.
This episode has a strong message that even with a Time Machine you cannot change the past no matter how hard you tried, disaster events are inevitable, so instead of trying to be some savior of the universe, just live in the present moments and have some fun
That's ultimately the problem with most time travel stories in general. You always run into the paradox of deciphering whether or not you're trying to say time can be changed via time travel, or how fate is inevitable to where nothing you do can prevent what's coming.
"Same level of attraction as Green Lantern and the colour yellow...."
OMG your best one liner this year. 😅😅😅
This one actually feels like a good rewatch considering alternate timelines are all the rage in comic movies/shows right now.
They were 60 years ahead of the curve. 😂
This is why, kids, time travel is a dangerous thing to mess with.
Abe Simpson tried to warn Homer.
Tell that to The Doctor.
It's much safer to use the Large Hadron Collider to shift all of reality to the multiverse more to your liking.
Yes, let's all stay put!
@@louisduarte8763 Time Lords are honor bound not to interfere in history, lest their actions would cause great catastrophe.
Aw, I actually really like this episode. It was one I watched when I was a kid and it stuck with me years later. I have watched it recently and I still enjoyed it. I liked how it started with him going to different time period to try and stop disasters, and then the second part where he decides to stay in a peaceful era. Yeah, it is a little preachy, but it's well written dialogue with a message I can get behind, so it didn't bother me that the actor's delivery isn't perfect.
I liked this episode as well. I especially liked the Homeville section, where he tried to make a life in that idyllic town. It was sad when he was unable to remain there with Abigail. And I found their brief romance touching and appealing.
I felt sorry for Driscoll when he couldn't tell Abigail that James Garfield would die from his injuries when she had high hopes that Garfield would recover. I figured that she wouldn't believe him or be convinced that he was involved in the assassination plot.
There is plenty of debate about time travel (and/or whether or not it's actually interdimensional travel), but this episode decided to go with a more practical explanation for how it may work.
"The Past is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery but Today is a gift. That is why it's called Present."
Thank you Master Ooguay
That's not the reason though.
I actually thought of a different Oogway quote during this episode "A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” I know it's actually from someone else originally, but Kung Fu Panda is where I heard it first 😊
Who is Toda, and what gift did they bring?
@georgesears2916 have you heard of the channel "So Uncivilized?" He made a video on Luke Skywalker with a similar message in his OT character analysis.
The dining table scene is easily the best part of this episode, mainly because you can tell that was a very personal subject for Serling. The words in Dana Andrews's mouth in that scene tell you all you need to know about what the WWII veteran Serling felt about those who cheerlead for war while hiding out on the sidelines.
Plus, I find it hilarious how the jingoistic banker looks and sounds like Louis Gohmert (the dumb as dirt ex-congressman from Texas).
This IS a recommended episode because it has one of Serling's most brilliant monologues at the start of the episode and that alone earns it high marks. Shame on Walter for not nearly appreciating its candor. Secondly, the dining room episode alone earns the highest of marks possible. Rod gave it to the militants of this world who have a penchant for warfare but not a clue as to the suffering it brings. The concluding monologue with Lathbury's poem about Children of yesterday, heirs of tomorrow was simply beautiful. The importance of working towards a "tomorrow" is such an important message that we need now more than ever. This episode is one of the best from season 4 and too bad you got hung up on shortcomings of the episode rather than focusing on the greater message that forever is part of Serling's gift to us.
Gotta say. This episode is much more interesting than the one where a guy attempts to prevent Lincoln's assassination. There's more variety and the protagonist is a bit smarter blending into his emvironment. And some of his attempts at changing history are relatable. The deaths in Hiroshima could've been minimized if authorities listened to him. The Nazi regime might've destabilized if its Fuhrer recieved a bullet in the brain before the war began. And considering the sinking of the Lusitania merely angered Americans but didn't provoke them into war, preventing such a tragic waste of life would've been a good thing. Still, like the episode says, the past belongs to those who lived in it and not to future interlopers.
Why was the Lusitania sunk? Because it was _illegally_ moving war materials.
Rod serling was only human ,even someone with his genius cannot be perfect all the time.
I liked Dana Andrews in "Laura" and "Best Days of our Lives", and he also turns in a charismatic performance here as well.
This was when his career was on the downswing. He unfortunately had some issues with the bottle.
OMG. The creators of Quantum Leap must have seen this. They even have an "Al" character to bounce off of. Deciding to make it where he has to change things to make the correct things happen in the past was a good idea or there would not have been enough material for a series.
Funny you should say that. In "A Quality of Mercy," Al's actor, Dean Stockwell, got mixed up in body-swapping time travel that wouldn't be out of place in Quantum Leap.
I kinda like this concept of being sent back in time to prevent major disasters.
Fun fact: it happens all the time. But what about all the calamities that actually did happen, you ask? Well, turns out, those are the comparatively minor ones. 😉
Seven Days was a TV show from 1998 about a government program that allowed an agent to travel back in time seven days to prevent major disasters. "We're going to undo that event."
@@Serahpin Ah, yes, what was their code phrase again when they called in, to let home base know? "The Conundrum has landed" or something along those lines? Tried googling it, but coming up empty.
@@EvenTheDogAgrees I can't remember, either.
Sounds a lot like John titor's story many years ago
Walter, whenever Twilight Tober Zone comes to an end, you should top it off with a tier list of all the episodes!
This is another one that I think HEAVILY inspired Stephen King. Paul's struggle to change the "obstinate" past is nearly identical to the rules of the universe in 11/22/63.
I was hoping this character actually succeeded in changing the past to fix the future, but I had a feeling he would cause an event to actually happen and not change the past
Really plays up the power of destiny and fate here.
This just proves that some events can't be changed
My problem with the Germany segment is kind of a compliment to it. I think it's how plenty of time travelers really would act - they'd wear the anti-Hitler feeling right on their sleeves the way he does with the maid, and they'd get caught!
My God, I think this episode may have inspired Back To The Future 3, Time Tunnel and Quantum Leap!
There were vibes of Time Cop 2: The Berlin Dilemma and The Voyagers as well. However, a lot of things in this episode were discussed as far back as Jewls Verne.
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why they call it The Present!"
When he is standing on the high platform I got Halloween 3 vibes
3:33 Lovin' that reel-to-reel action in the background!
Nice video I just wanted to add there are some shots of Harvey standing on that great platform with the light behind seems to symbolize a Halo of some kind😊
This whole story reminds of the Back to the future trilogy. Even the part where ge travels to the 1880's and fall in love. I bet the storyline of doc brown and Clara actually was inspired by this episode.
In most time travel adventures, it is by a misstake, forced by a mission has been done, and you cant go back to your original time before that task is completed.
This episode more closely parallels the film, "Peggy Sue Got Married." Because Peggy Sue thought she had the golden opportunity to change her life but realized, at last, that she couldn't, and, at the very end, did not wish to.
This episode made me glad that time travel doesn’t exist in real life. I’d be horrified of the consequences of changing history! But the *idea* of time travel is still fun to play around with when writing fiction.
Solid time travel episode I was in it from beginning to end. Beautiful tragic tale you can understand. Were the characters coming from
This episode makes me think of what Ogway said to Poe;
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but to day is a gift. That's why they call it 'present'"
I don't know if that is fitting or ironic.
Yeah, it should been liked few hours later, they cut to police captain looking at family photo and officer comes tells him the prisoner has vanished and than the bombs drop , think that would been more effective. Way it went down even if he convinces him about the bomb there no time to get people out before the bombs drop.
Yeah, this is a pretty accurate review. I’m a fan of time travel In entertainment, so despite this not being one of my favorites I’ve seen it several times. Nice Green Lantern reference, I’m sure I’ll remember it every time I see it in the future! 😉
Thanks for sharing these! Happy October everyone🎃👻🐈⬛🧡🖤💜
The past can never be changed, only the future.
I just wanted to say this is my favorite music that is used when reviewing these episodes. Its really interesting sounding.
I think it'd be cool if the twist was that we watched his failures and instead there were alternate universes where he succeeded and the audience saw am infinutude where some had better endings and others worse.
I love this The Twilight Zone episode!
Also, how much would saving Garfield have changed things? Sure, he was a reformer who tried fixing the civil service system, among other things, but so was his successor. An alive Garfield completing his term could've ended up delaying the Progressive Era.
I always liked when the show dabbled in time travel. Though it was a bit slow moving, I liked the overall message that disasters have and will always occur, so there's no point in trying to prevent them. Instead, you should live in the present moment.
In other words, "Fuck it, we're all gonna die."
I don't think the message is there's no use in trying to prevent disasters, rather that the past can't be changed and should be looked to in order to prevent future problems.
8:10 - "You either die hero or live..."
(you know the drill...)
Dana Andrews said prunes give him the runes.
And passing them used lots of skills.
I can see what's wrong with this episode but it remains one of my favourites. I find the abortive yet poignant romance between Driscoll and Abigail intensely moving , and actually tragic because you sense that for both of them it was a last chance.
Drescall's speeches in this episode really feel a ton like Charleston Heston's monologue from the classic PLANET OF THE APES (which Sterling also wrote). Feels Sterling got most preachy when his characters were more pessimistic.
Oh, his rifle in Germany MALFUNCTIONED! All these years, I was taking Marc Zicree's TZG at its word that the whole Nazi Germany episode was an ultimately pointless scene of our hero "practicing" his history-changing with a rehearsal of how easy it would be to take a shot if he did.
Which, IMO, defined the S4 "Second-act fakeout", where we spend a good ten to fifteen minutes of a typical hour-long episode following a middle-act subplot that frustratingly goes nowhere toward the final episode.
Love these videos guys! 🎃🎃🖤🖤🧡🧡
Maybe Rod's just tired of how that time was. Imagine how it was back then when people could be loud and wrong, at least today people lie
A lot of people now can still be loud AND wrong.
@@louisduarte8763 That is true but there's at least some pretense about it, some 'but I'm okay with those people' and a little more leeway. Back then nobody was safe
I feel like “time traveler goes back in time to stop something bad from happening, only to be the very reason it happened” works better as a comic story beat.
You mean like in the Red Dwarf episode Tikka to Ride? I mean, it's not exactly what you describe, it's more of a "time traveler accidentally prevents a disaster, leading to a greater disaster, and now has to put things right again" plot, but kinda similar.
The diner room table scene makes the whole episode worth having been created.
Ron Sterling once said some of them should have just stayed in the trunk
This dude has to be the most conspicuous time traveler ever, even more than The Doctor! He's really not even trying to be subtle or believable
He is an idiot after all never even considered the time paradox. You cannot change observable history if it is not observed you can though.
Yeah, he had to blurt out that Hiroshima would be bombed with no evidence, and he made no attempt to learn German before traveling back to assassinate Hitler.
Got a time machine but won't use any future weapons or tech to assist in missions to change the past? Seems very short-sighted & unprepared imo.
This OG episode has a lot in common with a Twilight Zone episode from the 2000s remake, “Cradle of Darkness”; in it a young woman goes back in time to try to assassinate Adolf Hitler when he’s a baby
The consistency paradox at work. No matter your efforts it is literally impossible to change the past. Which is as humorous as the thought of time travel to the past.
There is a lot to like about this episode: namely the concept of going back in time and still not being able to change the course of history. The fact his rifle malfunctions when he tried to kill Hitler suggests there are forces in the universe trying to prevent history from being rewritten.
Maybe if the main protagonist was more likable this episode would’ve hit! Can’t say he isn’t relatable though in what rubs him the wrong way!
The concept is done to death, of course. Either there's something preventing you from changing the past, or you _can_ change the past, but this only creates bigger problems. I like Stephen King's take on it in his book 11/22/63, which was also made into a pretty decent TV series if you're not a fan of books.
They were never able to change history on The Time Tunnel either, they might save a couple people during the attack on Pearl Harbor or the Titanic's sinking, but they couldn't avert the main catastrophe and didn't even consider the repercussions if they'd succeeded. A fixed timeline makes it easier to avoid paradoxes and after-effects from actions in the past.
The series Timeless did allow history to be altered, (the Hindenburg not blowing up on May 6, 1937, Eliot Ness getting killed, the Spirit of St. Louis getting shot down, stopping the Salem Witch Trials, key details in the Lincoln assassination changing...) but after the first episode the characters always managed to come back and resume their own lives with minimal after-effects. If you changed the past that dramatically, the present you left would cease to exist, you couldn't just resume a conversation you were having with someone like nothing happened. I got more frustrated watching Timeless not playing by its own rules than The Time Tunnel's simple jump-run-and-fight antics that stayed mostly true to its premise. In both cases, the writers wanted to make things easy for themselves.
The small town set is the same one used in A Stop at Willoughby.
Time-traveling scientist falls in love with 19th Century school teacher and must debate whether to change the future or not!
It's almost like the forerunner of Quantum Leap.
Driscoll attempting to assassinate Hitler _would_ have unpredictable knock-on effects; he used a Japanese rifle, not a European one, which would have created major issues for relations between Germany and Japan.
28 SECS BABYYYY
Ironically the 2001 remake of this episode did this plot better where a woman is sent to the past to kill baby Hitler and let's just say it doesn't go off as planned
This kind of time travel plot always feels contrived, even though the perfectly enclosed loop is the most realistic concept. The bad luck from the first three jumps is a tired and frustrating trope. Even though it was preachy, I liked it overall...big downer episode but sometimes those are needed.
I just find Driscoll to be a consumate moron. For example, even if the Japanese officer had believed him and utterly taken his warning to heart, what was he supposed to do to save anyone's life with only 5 minutes to spare before the atomic blast? Showing up at practically the last minute and then hoping to persuade someone of some impending disaster is not only hopeless, but utterly ridiculous. Must agree that the one scene with the one guy who kept going on about "planting the American flag" everywhere seems good, but was anyone anywhere really that stupid? Seems hard to believe.
There really were ardent imperialists who wanted America to become a giant transcontinental empire providing the light of "civilization" to foreign lands. Hell, there are people today who wish we turned Afghanistan and Iraq into territories to hold on forever.
The king novel tackled this issue. The past doesn’t want to be changed so will do everything to keep it as is.
Miguel: It's a canon event.
Green Lantern and the color yellow 🟡
8:12
"We live..."
In a society?
This sounds like a movie I saw once
The past can't be changed and somehow this isn't because of a major paradox or butterfly effect!
I think this concept was done better in an earlier episode from the second season, "Back There." Plus, Russell Horton, who starred in that one, made for a stronger leading actor.
I have to completely agree that the lead casting was the problem. The performance was drab, dispassionate and lacked the energy that was needed to carry out this script. I also found the Lucitania a poor choice. I also would have liked him changing the past and realizing he made the future - worse.
However, I loved the message in the end. Don't change the past - you can't. Change the future. Well said. Have to agree this episode was a total drag to get through and the love story was unneeded.
You think this was the precursor to Quantum Leap?
Oh hi Driscoll.
I got a message from some Dr. Sam Beckett: Stand Back I’m saving those kids dumb ass.
Just a damn preachy episode.
I want to find the clip of the Dinner scene. The nearly best part of it all
I can't remember if it was a new twilight zone show episode or a different show. But one time travel Hitler assassination story I thought was cool was one where a woman goes back in time to either kill him as a baby or try to raise him to be good.
In the end she gets chased out with baby Hitler and jumps into a river killing them both but the maid chasing her is too afraid of being blamed for the incident if it gets out so she buys a baby off of a homeless Jewish woman that eventually becomes the Hitler we know. As if time is repairing itself. I feel something like this would hae been a better twist.
the original Quantum Leap handled the time travel morals concept the best
Awesome and cool! ^_^
Maybe doc and Marty sabotaged all his attempts to change history
I was expecting that they were going to mention that this was an inspiration for the show Quantum leap.
I was hoping for "On Thursday We leave for Home" was todays video.
That one is in a few days.
This premise was that much better in in that show Time Tunnel.
Never heard of this one either
Despite different names, Dana Andrews was brother of Steve Forrest, who appeared also in Season 4 in episode The Parallel. Unlike his brother, who was a big star at the time, Andrews never managed to reach such heights.
This is another amazing episode!!!💯💯 that Quote by Serling at the end was absolute perfection!! Ill take Driscolls preaching over Identity woke BS political preaching Anyday!!! 🙄😒😒
It's such a fun/great concept (ie you can't change the past even with a time machine) but I agree, not a great episode.
LOST handled this concept much better.
I found it strange that the professor preaches to the guy who made the time machine like he was the one being foolish and irresponsible.
What a difference a new hairstyle makes..could not recognize her.
Speaking of potentially assassinating Hitler with a rifle . . . The 1941 Fritz Lang movie "Man Hunt" has Walter Pidgeon almost doing just that. It's a very effective noirish thriller that co-stars Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine and a very young Roddy McDowall. Recommended.
I thought I saw the whole series but I can't remember this episode.
I loved this episode. I think you're crazy.
I wonder if the series 11.22.63 took some inspiration from this episode
What annoyed me was right after saying the past is inviolate, he was immediately worried about changing the past for no reason.
If you want another TZ episode about trying to kill Hitler, there is one from the 2002 series that is actually pretty good, starring Kathryn Heigel (sp?) I think. The woman from Knocked Up and I think Grey’s Anatomy.
It is Heigel and she's a time traveler trying to kill Baby Hitler.
4:40 This episode was aired just some
week before L H Oswald ordered his rifle in order to assassinate General Walker whom he thought to be the Hitler of his time.
I wonder if Oswald saw this on TV
back then and was influenced by it..!
This concept was made better by a remake of the Twilight Zone of the 2000s
Don’t remember the entire plot, but one of the maids of the father of Hitler, take baby Hitler and jumps to a river, killing her and the baby. Another maid see this and decide to buy a baby to a gypsy woman so Hitler dad never know what truly happen to his son
The moral is that by trying to change the outcome, the maid that kill herself and the baby ended creating the monster she was trying to destroy
I loved this episode. Stop being technical 😊
this episode is how actually time travel would work, you travel bak to the past and end up not fixing the problem or making it appear in the first place, this follows the theory all time was created simultaneously adn works as a 4th dimension we move throu and all coexists
What's the name of the background music for this video?
Dana Andrews is wonderful in "Curse/Night of the Demon" and "The Best Years of Our Lives," but I agree that a younger actor might work better in the role, someone less world-weary and more energetic, idealistic, convinced he CAN change things for the better. It would also make the character more sympathetic and less judgey/preachy.