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I really enjoyed this segment, as well as the message of never being too old to be young at heart. I didn't mind the 1983 segment from the movie, but it lacked the bittersweet ending of the episode.
I thought it was bittersweet. The sweet part was when Charles had achieved his goal. The sad part was that his best friend Ben missed his chance and lost Charles forever.
Ben was foolish, weak, cowardly and toxic. He rejected the possibility of a different outlook on life solely because he had given up and gave into fear and irrational anger when Charles "dared" to reawaken his inner child. Ben made his choice and now must face the consequences of that choice.
I was first introduced to this episode by seeing the remake from the Twilight Zone movie. The OG kick the can story is much better, actually it’s damn good better than the remake. It does a good job of humanize our main character
I always saw that ending as a metaphor for Charlie and the others moving on to the other side, leaving Ben with that feeling of being the sole survivor of a group and getting left behind (a common feeling among the elderly), but that’s just me.
I really like that deep interpretation, it makes the ending all the more bittersweet, in that Ben narrowly missed out on his chance to become young again, and is all alone.
@@trinaq he was invited to play when the childhood version of his friend said last one there a rotten egg. He decided not to go, it last and only chance.
@@randyortonsbulge I got that impression too. Charlie explained it to him before, so Ben knew how they did it. But when the time came, I think Ben still didn't believe that he, himself could do it.
You can't help but feel sorry for Ben, as grumpy as he is. He's the only resident to refuse to act like a child, and as a result, is left behind, unable to be recognised by his old friend Charles.
It's almost like Charles feared acknowledging Ben, threatening to undo the miracle he and the others had found. Like Orpheus or Lot's wife, looking back for too long, or at all, can lead to disaster.
I think he actually did recognize him; the way he stared at him, followed by saying “last one into the forest is a rotten apple”, was his way of telling his old friend “you had your chance, sorry”.
@@fullmoonfever6189 Or inviting Ben to play. Charlie can't bring him along; he has to believe on his own. If he had whooped and laughed and tried to race Charlie into the woods, he might have become young himself.... instead, he just turns away, a sad old man.
Charles didn't refuse his friend, he did give him one more chance... Charles said, "last one into the forest is a rotten apple". A kid would have taken the challenge and raced off but Ben still refused to act like a child. I think if he had thrown caution to the wind and ran off too, he would have changed.
I love this episode. As a nursing aide at a rest home, I've seen residents who act like this. Wanting to be young again. Scatman Crothers was the best part of the movie remake.
Any/every time I'm asked "How old are you?", I always reply "A bit North of 60, awaiting puberty". Always gets that (oddly enjoyable) 5-10 seconds pause.
At the same time, the staff isn’t shown as being evil or wholly antagonistic. They’re shown actually trying to keep the (in their eyes) elderly residents from injuring themselves, and showing genuine concern. It would’ve been easy to make them “evil”, but instead they just showed them doing a job.
I was thinking of my dog Molly when I saw this episode again. Molly didn't play as much because she is older. But when we adopted two new puppies she took to them right away. Since we got the puppies she seems more energetic and playful with them.
I’m really wondering what retirement homes for many of us are going to look like when we get old. A retirement home full of gamers, animation fans and binge-watchers. It’s only going to make the nostalgia even more potent.
I am so happy we are living in an age we can watch whichever shows we want when we want. I am hopeful that by the time I reach old age, scheduled TV will die out completely and we will only have streaming services and that retirement homes will pay for streaming services and residents will have individual tablets to watch what they want when they want. I'm not a big gamer myself but retirement homes will probably also pay for some gaming consoles.
Totally agree that the original ending was the best. I remember this episode so vividly from my childhood in the 1950s. I bought the entire series recently and this is the episode I remember the best. I'm 76 now, so it has special meaning.
My sister cried at the end of "Time enough at last." It was the only episode she watched that made her cry. I told her about this episode and when she asked what it was about I told her "it's about a group of old people who decided to kick the can instead of the bucket."
This episode always stuck out to me even as a kid, making it one of my favorite episodes as I grew older. I didn’t know what the public opinion on this episode was, but it makes me happy to hear that it gets the recognition it deserves.
A very moving episode. It actually makes me worried to rewatch it. I used to watch TZ with my grandpa who died of dementia recently. I know watching this will make me cry thinking about how much I miss him.
As the recent adage of Wandavision was able to point out, "What is grief, if not love persevering?", so to have that cry while watching this, is a good thing. It shows how much you loved and cared about your grandpa, and still do. The pain of loss will always be there, but so will the love of someone that you cared for. Go for it, it'll be worth bringing back the fun memories. 🤗
"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us."~ Brian Jacques, Taggerung
Man as a kid this episode always stuck with me, that ending. Where the man saw his friends for the last time, knowing they were able to let themselves be young again as he remained. Only with his thoughts and memories of what used to be.
I've barely found any clips for this episode despite its classic status, but I have to say the message is very resonating. Everyone who turns 60 fears losing their sense of wonder and fun, but age is only a state of mind. It's up to you whether you want to act crotchety and bitter in your later years.
I haven't played kick the can since I was 10 years old and I'm 64 now. I do remember it was a lot of fun though. That probably would make me feel young again.
The ending reminds me a lot of the conclusion to the best Season 4 episode, "On Thursday We Leave for Home." In both episodes, we see a misguided man being irrevocably left behind at the very moment true understanding comes to him at last. Both men have, to a substantial degree, brought it on themselves, but my heart still breaks for them. (Edit: I just realized this may count as a spoiler; do you need me to take it down?)
I remember watching Twilight Zone the Movie for a screenwriting class, and I remember liking that kick the can segment the most, as it's honestly how I live my own life. Living like a kid.
This is one of my favorite episodes, my other being Nothing in the Dark. I think this is really the episode that made me fall in love with the series as a whole. My mother never liked the show, as she didn't like how scary the show was when she saw it as a kid, but my Dad loved it and it made me interested. And this episode showed that not all Twilight Zone stories were scary. There is something wonderful in this story, and oddly hopeful. I do believe in your interpretation of the end, that the kids go off into another plane of existence, which is a sort of death in the real world, but it showed that growing old is more of a state of mind rather than a fact of aging. And while they may no longer be with us, they left with the world still being full of magic and wonder, and leaving others to ponder their own ability to see the world that way again. It gives us hope that we can all remain young even while we grow older. I think it's rather beautiful.
Even though I will be 30 next year I will always do my best of what I enjoy as a kid I love playing video games and watching cartoons from the 90’s and I enjoy watching Disney movies, Your never too old for that and I got to watch this episode it looks great especially from the twilight tober zone.
What is especially ironically sad about watching this 60-year-old episode today is that all the young kids in it playing the youthened seniors would in real life be as old *now* as those seniors were *then.*
I don't know, I took the ending more to be open-ended as to whether or not it was actually magic, or if the bunch of kids seen by Ben were just the same kids Charlie saw at the start. I feel like the best 'Twilight Zone' episodes leave it open to interpretation like that. Did the elderly folks somehow achieve a magical de-aging into their childhood forms? Or did they simply run away somewhere, leaving Ben behind who, in his own desperation, started to believe in the same 'magic' they did, and mistook a random kid for Charlie?
I used to wonder what friendship could be Until you all shared its magic with me Big adventure Tons of fun A beautiful heart Faithful and strong Sharing kindness! It's an easy feat And magic makes it all complete
This episode has always stuck with me ever since I saw it as a kid. It is a bittersweet episode that captures the saying "Young At Heart" Perfectly. No Creepy undertones like how it might be made by certain folks today. Just a story that is heart warming and also heart breaking.
I remember playing kick-the-can when I was a child. It was a good time to be a kid. The good ol' days when the world was safer for children. I'm glad I was young when I was.
I loved this episode. The first time I saw it, I wondered if it could happen with my grandpa. I was under 10 then. I think this episode is why I always take the time to play something from my library of games. Games from my childhood and today, and almost never single player.
Also, the premise reminds me of Ron Howard's Cocoon, only difference being that the old retirement home residents in that film didn't physically turn young but regained youthful energy.
Kick the can is one of my all-time favorites and it's something that I've always kept in mind when it comes to getting older and I'll oftentimes tell older people that I know to remember that it's all a state of mind and some of the happiest old people I know are into their 90s
Hey Walter, I hope you see this but I wanted to say thank you so much for giving us so much content over the last year, be it Bat-May or Twilight-Tober Zone, getting able to sit down and listen to your views on these timeless pieces of media in these little series throughout the last few years have really added a spice of variety to my seasonal watching. Always looking forward to the next one!
It really is. When you're young, you want to be an adult, but when you're an adult, all you can think about is being a kid again. However, you're never too old to be young at heart. ♥️
One of my favorite channels during Halloween. You write the episodes so well with your words. Most episodes I’m choked up by the very end, with the last words “in the twilight zone” and the music cues. Damn. Well done sir.
Not just getting old but retiring, or even just finding free time on a weekend, there’s growing up and there’s growing old. Being an adult sucks. Any bit of joy, or even that simplicity of being a kid again, hell I’ll take it. It’s certainly a heartbreaking ending, like maybe last second he could’ve started after the others rather than be left behind.
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”-CS Lewis I do find myself wishing it were socially acceptable to do some kid-oriented things, like go trick-or-treating. But I guess that’s why childhood can be so special.
I sometimes get bullied by other adults for being a Disney fan. they think it makes my opinions on things like politics somehow less valid. in actuality, liking Disney isn't immature; judging others as immature for what media they consume is immature
I was telling someone the other day there's should be more trick or treating events for adults. We work hard and pay taxes, we should be able to dress up and get candy too🍬 (not necessarily for candy but for the fun of it)
@@Center-For-I.E.D.Mismanagement Does it really matter how you enjoy reliving your childhood memories? Also we're adults now and when you are no longer a child you put away childish things. Being bitter about what you no longer have isn't going to help.
Thing is, both Charles and Ben have a point. Nobody lives forever and while death comes to us all that doesn't mean you have to be a bitter cynical old man when it does. But obsessing over being young is not healthy either.
Fun Fact: Producer & Director Steven Spielberg wanted to remake the episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" for "The Twilight Zone Movie", but after the infamous accident that took place du-ring the filming of Landis' segment, he wanted to leave the project altogether but was convinced to stay. So after Joe Dante & George Miller finished their segments, Spielberg did his segment last which was changed into the safer remake of "Kick the Can".
It wasn't my favourite of the segments, and they added a few details that weren't in the original episode, but it was decent enough, and Spielberg adds his own personal touches.
I thought that segment really dragged down the movie. They should have picked a better episode to replace that one. I would have chosen “The Dummy” or “A Nice Place To Visit” but that’s just my personal preference.
I am only 50, but the whole “fresh young minds” quote from the movie resonates more and more as I age. Your thoughts have different “flavors” that perpetually change as you age. Might be good. Might be bad. But sometimes a song, a show or a fragrance will briefly bring you back and you get that old forgotten flavor of mind for a fleeting moment. You go from imagining the future, what your spouse might be like, your job, your kids. Then you pursue and perhaps achieve those goals and try and provide that same magic of youth to your own kids. Then you are nostalgic and occasionally long for those long ago times. That exciting feeling of being young. Carefree. And wish you could at the minimum, capture those feelings. That imagination. That hope. That fresh young mind.
Part of me wonders if Charles did recognize Ben, and was hinting what Ben needed to do was chase and play with them, but Ben still/just didn't understand the magic Charles had discussed earlier and is thus stuck knowing it is possible to be young again but not understanding how.
This episode always makes me wonder what kind of games as children we have forgotten and what we still have in today's society is part of the whole art of playing I have to ReDiscover that because I have a niece and a nephew that are under the age of two. And I'm trying to remember my childhood Games and Things I used to like to do I never had a chance to play with children my own age because of where I lived.
I watched this episode on Sunday night on Pluto tv, this episode made me cry, I feel so bad for elderly people in resting homes, Im in my 40's and I wish I could be young again. this is why I push myself to workout at the gym and stay active & not sit around my house doing nothing. I always treat elderly people with dignity and respect but then again I treat everybody with dignity and respect because that's the way I would like to be treated.
I always wanted to see a follow-up to this episode. Like, what happens to Charles and the other kids after they run off? Did they get picked up by the cops, shipped off to an orphanage and get adopted? Would they find a way to stay close friends? Do they still hold *any* of their memories of their old lives? How would they grow up again through the 70s and 80s? Would Charles end up remembering Ben? Maybe visit his grave sometime in the 90s? There's just too much story potential here to brush this all off.
@@spacedinosaur8733 That's a good idea. Or maybe they end up in Willoughby. Though, considering Willoughby is possibly the afterlife, or at least a place that requires you to die in this world in order to stay there (sort of like the land of the fae folk?), it's possible that their becoming young again represents them going to Heaven.
If I recall, there's actually some credence to the idea that your limitations as you age are based in part on your perception of aging. They've found that people who think positive thoughts about the elderly wind up being more active and happy, while those who think negative thoughts about the elderly wind up being more passive and disabled and miserable. Also, this episode reminds me of "Lockout Time" from the original *Peter Pan* -- the idea that a moment comes when your choices are set in stone, no matter how much you would make the decision differently if given the chance. One of the most heart-rending moments in all the literature I've ever read, little Peter beating his tiny fists against the glass, wailing for his mother to let him in again, but she can't hear him because she has a new little boy and Peter simply delayed too long.
Kind of funny that this episode treats wanting to be young again, and getting that wish to be a good thing when so many other stories like “Walking Distance” treats such things as wrong and even downright harmful. Heck, the same thing that happens to Charlie is basically the same that happens Barbara in “!6 milimeter shrine”. And Walter thinks that’s a sad ending.
I remember seeing that episode for the first time back when I was 14 years old that was a really good episode that by now I am getting old and that I refuse to be getting old and rather be young again.
I love this episode but I also really enjoy Scatman Crothers in the movie. I also really liked the message of remaining young at heart. We all grow old but that doesn't have to make us sad. I love both
I know that the writer didn't like the ending but I took a more allegorical interpretation. It reminds me of a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "We don't stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing".
I like the movie's ending better primarily because it's a bit less bittersweet - Ben didn't necessarily deserve to be left behind, and I inferred that Charlie and the rest were essentially passing away, just in a different fashion. With the movie, Ben gets a chance to realize the error of his ways, and it's a good message to the audience that you don't have to put away the things you enjoy just because they're viewed as "childish".
👍Absolutely agree with you the 1962 version is the Best!! This & “Walking Distance” are two of my favorites. Thanks for pointing out the music was the same- I didn’t catch that! ✌️
The only thing I wish they'd have done is give the "children" turn of the century clothes. Assuming this story was set in then present 1962, these characters would have been born right around 1890 give or take, so to see children running around in 1900's attire would have added to the twist IMHO.
I could never understand anyone who “chooses” to grow old. I respect the choice for their own reasons but I have trouble following whatever logic that’d be. That isn’t to say don’t be mature/mindful ofc. But the concept of a “fleeting youth” is terrifying imo. It feels like you inherently lose joy. It feels like a sense of “giving up”. I want to give a quick shoutout to my mom in particular. She was a nurse and was always busy but always tried to have time for me and to catch up/understand stuff that I’m into. My mom is a very social person while my dad feels like a stay-at-home hermit. Ofc he has to do the chores and such but he just doesn’t go out. I love him but it feels like he’s given up, aside from his sense of humor. My folks feel like almost the “night and day” duality of the concept of “growing old” and it’s weird to see. I think they love each other though and it’s just fascinating to me how they get each other. Sorry for the tangent 😅
I remember watching this for the first time and being sad and existential. I like both this and the one starring Scatman Crothers as they both have a charm to them but I find the original leaves a sad melancholy behind.
Ben didn’t get left behind he refused to go. The child says last one there is a rotten egg inviting his friend to play but he refuses to play the game .
I liked both versions, they both had similar messages and different ways of portraying it without going overboard. That's a trap some of the remakes of the other episodes have been guilty of.
I knew that in the Twilight Zone movie segment of this adaptation, one of the kids is played by Skippy’s sister on Family Ties. It was the younger version of the actress who played grandma in the Parenthood movie.
Same here, an alternate ending could have had him running after Charles with a smile on his face and then also becoming a kid when he reaches the forest. Then it's the doctor left standing alone in puzzlement with the can. It's pretty unfair to Ben, how was he to know this was the one time wishful thinking would actually work?
I liked Ben. He was definitely a realist. And we see the children run off into the woods. But where will they go? Who will take care of them? Where will they go and what will they eat? Are they now to be vagabond children, baseless of the Earth, wandering for all time?
The remake of this episode in the 1983 Twilight Zone movie attempted to address this issue. They spent some time having the children wonder who would care for them. While not living up to the original, I do have to give the writers credit for trying to answer this.
You say he got left behind, but isnt it that Charle was so stuck feeling old that he stayed behind. He knew what the secret was, to act like a kid again. But when his friend calls out "last one there is a rotten egg" he does follow and try to play the game, he instead just sits there pleading all the more.
“You’re only as healthy… You’re only as healthy as you feel… You’re only… as healthy… as… you… feel…” - Travis Bickle, 1976 What’s really tragic is that it was never too late for Ben. Even at the end, Charlie says “last one into the forest is a rotten egg.” If Ben followed the kids into the forest with childlike abandon, he may well have transform with the other residents, but his internalized believe that he IS an old man kept him from joining them even in this crucial final moment. He even asks for Charlie to take him with them. Ben wanted to be hand held back into his childhood when the option was in his hands all along.
Very touching episode. I guess because Ben didn't play kick-the-can with his best friend, he'll likely be playing kick-the-bucket instead. And the ghost says... Booo!
Thoughts on Kick the Can? Worth all the praise?
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I really enjoyed this segment, as well as the message of never being too old to be young at heart. I didn't mind the 1983 segment from the movie, but it lacked the bittersweet ending of the episode.
I thought it was bittersweet. The sweet part was when Charles had achieved his goal. The sad part was that his best friend Ben missed his chance and lost Charles forever.
Ben was foolish, weak, cowardly and toxic. He rejected the possibility of a different outlook on life solely because he had given up and gave into fear and irrational anger when Charles "dared" to reawaken his inner child.
Ben made his choice and now must face the consequences of that choice.
I was first introduced to this episode by seeing the remake from the Twilight Zone movie. The OG kick the can story is much better, actually it’s damn good better than the remake. It does a good job of humanize our main character
Why the Hell adapted Spielberg THIS Story of them all? It's such a weird choice
I always saw that ending as a metaphor for Charlie and the others moving on to the other side, leaving Ben with that feeling of being the sole survivor of a group and getting left behind (a common feeling among the elderly), but that’s just me.
I really like that deep interpretation, it makes the ending all the more bittersweet, in that Ben narrowly missed out on his chance to become young again, and is all alone.
@@trinaq he was invited to play when the childhood version of his friend said last one there a rotten egg. He decided not to go, it last and only chance.
Yea, I agree.
I never thought of that..
@@randyortonsbulge I got that impression too. Charlie explained it to him before, so Ben knew how they did it. But when the time came, I think Ben still didn't believe that he, himself could do it.
You can't help but feel sorry for Ben, as grumpy as he is. He's the only resident to refuse to act like a child, and as a result, is left behind, unable to be recognised by his old friend Charles.
It's almost like Charles feared acknowledging Ben, threatening to undo the miracle he and the others had found. Like Orpheus or Lot's wife, looking back for too long, or at all, can lead to disaster.
I think he actually did recognize him; the way he stared at him, followed by saying “last one into the forest is a rotten apple”, was his way of telling his old friend “you had your chance, sorry”.
what a ending! you feel awful for ben.
@@fullmoonfever6189 Or inviting Ben to play. Charlie can't bring him along; he has to believe on his own. If he had whooped and laughed and tried to race Charlie into the woods, he might have become young himself.... instead, he just turns away, a sad old man.
@Brian Babin “Living your life to the fullest ’til the moment of your death, this is the rule to live by in any world.” - Crusty - Log Horizon
Charles didn't refuse his friend, he did give him one more chance... Charles said, "last one into the forest is a rotten apple". A kid would have taken the challenge and raced off but Ben still refused to act like a child. I think if he had thrown caution to the wind and ran off too, he would have changed.
That's my thought now upon watching it again. Charlie can't make Ben young as he asks; Ben has to believe in the magic himself.
You said it better than me...taking down a comment.
I love this episode. As a nursing aide at a rest home, I've seen residents who act like this. Wanting to be young again. Scatman Crothers was the best part of the movie remake.
Agreed, it's very relatable, and while the 1983 segment was alright, if forgettable, Scatman Crothers was undeniably the best part.
Yeah Scatman broke the four wall at the end He'll get it
Any/every time I'm asked "How old are you?", I always reply "A bit North of 60, awaiting puberty". Always gets that (oddly enjoyable) 5-10 seconds pause.
I loved the remake
@@ICONICPARIS I reckon it works because it strikes a chord with any of us who have an actual soul!
At the same time, the staff isn’t shown as being evil or wholly antagonistic. They’re shown actually trying to keep the (in their eyes) elderly residents from injuring themselves, and showing genuine concern. It would’ve been easy to make them “evil”, but instead they just showed them doing a job.
I was thinking of my dog Molly when I saw this episode again. Molly didn't play as much because she is older. But when we adopted two new puppies she took to them right away. Since we got the puppies she seems more energetic and playful with them.
I’m really wondering what retirement homes for many of us are going to look like when we get old.
A retirement home full of gamers, animation fans and binge-watchers. It’s only going to make the nostalgia even more potent.
I am so happy we are living in an age we can watch whichever shows we want when we want. I am hopeful that by the time I reach old age, scheduled TV will die out completely and we will only have streaming services and that retirement homes will pay for streaming services and residents will have individual tablets to watch what they want when they want.
I'm not a big gamer myself but retirement homes will probably also pay for some gaming consoles.
Hah, you think the current generation is going to ever get to retire.
As long as I can take my arcade cabinet with me to the rest home, I'm good.
We'll all be Jerry sharing that "duck, duck, birdie" meme. Guarantee it.
@@BoomGiggity with dementia, I'm not so sure it would be a good idea
Totally agree that the original ending was the best. I remember this episode so vividly from my childhood in the 1950s. I bought the entire series recently and this is the episode I remember the best. I'm 76 now, so it has special meaning.
My sister cried at the end of "Time enough at last." It was the only episode she watched that made her cry. I told her about this episode and when she asked what it was about I told her "it's about a group of old people who decided to kick the can instead of the bucket."
Kel: Nice.
So...did she like it?
I've never heard of the game kick the can until I saw this episode by the same name.
I refuse to watch "Time Enough at Last" because I'm certain it's going to give me a panic attack.
That's hilarious lol
THIS EPISODE HAS BEEN IN MY BRAIN FOR TWENTY YEARS
Twenty Years
twenty years
This episode always stuck out to me even as a kid, making it one of my favorite episodes as I grew older. I didn’t know what the public opinion on this episode was, but it makes me happy to hear that it gets the recognition it deserves.
I started my comment nearly identical as your, this episode stuck to me as a child and anytime I think of this show I always think of this episode.
A very moving episode. It actually makes me worried to rewatch it. I used to watch TZ with my grandpa who died of dementia recently. I know watching this will make me cry thinking about how much I miss him.
As the recent adage of Wandavision was able to point out, "What is grief, if not love persevering?", so to have that cry while watching this, is a good thing. It shows how much you loved and cared about your grandpa, and still do. The pain of loss will always be there, but so will the love of someone that you cared for. Go for it, it'll be worth bringing back the fun memories. 🤗
"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us."~ Brian Jacques, Taggerung
One of my favorite episodes. It’s nostalgia in a can!
Kind of a heartbreaking episode but a good episode to be young again is the whole meaning behind this episode
Man as a kid this episode always stuck with me, that ending. Where the man saw his friends for the last time, knowing they were able to let themselves be young again as he remained. Only with his thoughts and memories of what used to be.
I've barely found any clips for this episode despite its classic status, but I have to say the message is very resonating. Everyone who turns 60 fears losing their sense of wonder and fun, but age is only a state of mind. It's up to you whether you want to act crotchety and bitter in your later years.
I love this episode. It’s definitely in my top ten, probably top five. That music and his performance move me. I love it
I haven't played kick the can since I was 10 years old and I'm 64 now. I do remember it was a lot of fun though. That probably would make me feel young again.
The ending reminds me a lot of the conclusion to the best Season 4 episode, "On Thursday We Leave for Home." In both episodes, we see a misguided man being irrevocably left behind at the very moment true understanding comes to him at last. Both men have, to a substantial degree, brought it on themselves, but my heart still breaks for them.
(Edit: I just realized this may count as a spoiler; do you need me to take it down?)
One of the best pop stories I've seen on self-delusion. Whitmore, wow.
The older I get, the more valuable this episode becomes to me.
I remember watching Twilight Zone the Movie for a screenwriting class, and I remember liking that kick the can segment the most, as it's honestly how I live my own life. Living like a kid.
This is one of my favorite episodes, my other being Nothing in the Dark. I think this is really the episode that made me fall in love with the series as a whole. My mother never liked the show, as she didn't like how scary the show was when she saw it as a kid, but my Dad loved it and it made me interested. And this episode showed that not all Twilight Zone stories were scary. There is something wonderful in this story, and oddly hopeful. I do believe in your interpretation of the end, that the kids go off into another plane of existence, which is a sort of death in the real world, but it showed that growing old is more of a state of mind rather than a fact of aging. And while they may no longer be with us, they left with the world still being full of magic and wonder, and leaving others to ponder their own ability to see the world that way again. It gives us hope that we can all remain young even while we grow older. I think it's rather beautiful.
Even though I will be 30 next year I will always do my best of what I enjoy as a kid I love playing video games and watching cartoons from the 90’s and I enjoy watching Disney movies, Your never too old for that and I got to watch this episode it looks great especially from the twilight tober zone.
I'm 43 and I still enjoy reading the funnies! As well as watching some of the cartoons from the 80s and 90s!
@@melissacooper8724 Nice
@@melissacooper8724 While I'm sure they can a bit hokey and "problematic" in these modern times, cartoons from the 80s and 90s are some of the best.
@@spacedinosaur8733 What's problematic about them? Just curious
I work at an elderly home & I know a few residents I shown this episode too that really understands this episode.
What is especially ironically sad about watching this 60-year-old episode today is that all the young kids in it playing the youthened seniors would in real life be as old *now* as those seniors were *then.*
I don't know, I took the ending more to be open-ended as to whether or not it was actually magic, or if the bunch of kids seen by Ben were just the same kids Charlie saw at the start. I feel like the best 'Twilight Zone' episodes leave it open to interpretation like that. Did the elderly folks somehow achieve a magical de-aging into their childhood forms? Or did they simply run away somewhere, leaving Ben behind who, in his own desperation, started to believe in the same 'magic' they did, and mistook a random kid for Charlie?
I take it more as they DID de-age, but left our dimension, in the process. Sorta like the cornfield scene in Field of Dreams
I noticed that Young Charlie was wearing clothes while Old Charlie was wearing pajamas and a bathrobe.
Even in 1962, friendship was magic.
I used to wonder what friendship could be
Until you all shared its magic with me
Big adventure
Tons of fun
A beautiful heart
Faithful and strong
Sharing kindness!
It's an easy feat
And magic makes it all complete
This episode has always stuck with me ever since I saw it as a kid. It is a bittersweet episode that captures the saying "Young At Heart" Perfectly. No Creepy undertones like how it might be made by certain folks today. Just a story that is heart warming and also heart breaking.
I remember playing kick-the-can when I was a child. It was a good time to be a kid.
The good ol' days when the world was safer for children. I'm glad I was young when I was.
I loved this episode. The first time I saw it, I wondered if it could happen with my grandpa. I was under 10 then. I think this episode is why I always take the time to play something from my library of games. Games from my childhood and today, and almost never single player.
I don't want the month to end!
Walter: You do a great job with this every year; so informative, so interesting, so insightful.
Also, the premise reminds me of Ron Howard's Cocoon, only difference being that the old retirement home residents in that film didn't physically turn young but regained youthful energy.
Kick the can is one of my all-time favorites and it's something that I've always kept in mind when it comes to getting older and I'll oftentimes tell older people that I know to remember that it's all a state of mind and some of the happiest old people I know are into their 90s
I love that these videos are almost exactly 24 hours apart
Always dead on 6pm bst (dont know about other timezones)
Hey Walter, I hope you see this but I wanted to say thank you so much for giving us so much content over the last year, be it Bat-May or Twilight-Tober Zone, getting able to sit down and listen to your views on these timeless pieces of media in these little series throughout the last few years have really added a spice of variety to my seasonal watching. Always looking forward to the next one!
Man, getting old is just sad in a lot of ways.
It really is. When you're young, you want to be an adult, but when you're an adult, all you can think about is being a kid again. However, you're never too old to be young at heart. ♥️
@@trinaq Very true
One of my favorite channels during Halloween. You write the episodes so well with your words. Most episodes I’m choked up by the very end, with the last words “in the twilight zone” and the music cues. Damn. Well done sir.
Not just getting old but retiring, or even just finding free time on a weekend, there’s growing up and there’s growing old. Being an adult sucks. Any bit of joy, or even that simplicity of being a kid again, hell I’ll take it.
It’s certainly a heartbreaking ending, like maybe last second he could’ve started after the others rather than be left behind.
Touching episode, reminding us that we should never let ourselves grow old in spirit and enthusiasm for life..
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”-CS Lewis
I do find myself wishing it were socially acceptable to do some kid-oriented things, like go trick-or-treating. But I guess that’s why childhood can be so special.
I sometimes get bullied by other adults for being a Disney fan. they think it makes my opinions on things like politics somehow less valid. in actuality, liking Disney isn't immature; judging others as immature for what media they consume is immature
I was telling someone the other day there's should be more trick or treating events for adults. We work hard and pay taxes, we should be able to dress up and get candy too🍬 (not necessarily for candy but for the fun of it)
But when you have children of your own, you can relive your childhood years and join in on the activities with them.
@@graciegj63
Vicarious experience is not the same as personal experience, unfortunately. Adults deserve to sustain their inner child. Period.
@@Center-For-I.E.D.Mismanagement Does it really matter how you enjoy reliving your childhood memories? Also we're adults now and when you are no longer a child you put away childish things. Being bitter about what you no longer have isn't going to help.
Thing is, both Charles and Ben have a point. Nobody lives forever and while death comes to us all that doesn't mean you have to be a bitter cynical old man when it does. But obsessing over being young is not healthy either.
Fun Fact:
Producer & Director Steven Spielberg wanted to remake the episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" for "The Twilight Zone Movie", but after the infamous accident that took place du-ring the filming of Landis' segment, he wanted to leave the project altogether but was convinced to stay. So after Joe Dante & George Miller finished their segments, Spielberg did his segment last which was changed into the safer remake of "Kick the Can".
This is the most wholesome thing I've ever seen, I'm actually genuinely crying right now.
This is the one & only episode from the entire Series that brings Tears to my eyes with that Ending.
They remade this segment for TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE, and it was directed by Steven Spielberg.
I thought that segment was kinda lame
And it suuuuuuuuuuuuucked, which is extremely rare for Spielberg (especially in the '80s).
It wasn't my favourite of the segments, and they added a few details that weren't in the original episode, but it was decent enough, and Spielberg adds his own personal touches.
I thought that segment really dragged down the movie. They should have picked a better episode to replace that one. I would have chosen “The Dummy” or “A Nice Place To Visit” but that’s just my personal preference.
It slowed down the movie down to a crawl there was better episodes that could've been replaced it
I like this one because it's not scary, it's actually pretty heartwarming.
I am only 50, but the whole “fresh young minds” quote from the movie resonates more and more as I age. Your thoughts have different “flavors” that perpetually change as you age. Might be good. Might be bad. But sometimes a song, a show or a fragrance will briefly bring you back and you get that old forgotten flavor of mind for a fleeting moment. You go from imagining the future, what your spouse might be like, your job, your kids. Then you pursue and perhaps achieve those goals and try and provide that same magic of youth to your own kids. Then you are nostalgic and occasionally long for those long ago times. That exciting feeling of being young. Carefree. And wish you could at the minimum, capture those feelings. That imagination. That hope. That fresh young mind.
Part of me wonders if Charles did recognize Ben, and was hinting what Ben needed to do was chase and play with them, but Ben still/just didn't understand the magic Charles had discussed earlier and is thus stuck knowing it is possible to be young again but not understanding how.
This episode always makes me wonder what kind of games as children we have forgotten and what we still have in today's society is part of the whole art of playing I have to ReDiscover that because I have a niece and a nephew that are under the age of two. And I'm trying to remember my childhood Games and Things I used to like to do I never had a chance to play with children my own age because of where I lived.
This is another one of those episodes I still remember from decades ago.
My number three episode. I never played "kick the can", but do always think of my youth back in 1950s❤
I watched this episode on Sunday night on Pluto tv, this episode made me cry, I feel so bad for elderly people in resting homes, Im in my 40's and I wish I could be young again. this is why I push myself to workout at the gym and stay active & not sit around my house doing nothing. I always treat elderly people with dignity and respect but then again I treat everybody with dignity and respect because that's the way I would like to be treated.
Man, this episode has a really deep message and a sad one at that, man poor Ben!
The fact that Ben is left with the can at the end leaves the story on a hopeful note, I think. He still could change and go off again later.
To me this episode was the most beloved twilight zone episode
The Twilight Zone movie did this classic a wonderful tribute in my opinion.
I always wanted to see a follow-up to this episode. Like, what happens to Charles and the other kids after they run off? Did they get picked up by the cops, shipped off to an orphanage and get adopted? Would they find a way to stay close friends? Do they still hold *any* of their memories of their old lives? How would they grow up again through the 70s and 80s? Would Charles end up remembering Ben? Maybe visit his grave sometime in the 90s? There's just too much story potential here to brush this all off.
They probly went off to neverland (the disney one, not the mj version)
It did make sense that in the 80s movie that they did revert back to their old selves but gained a new aspect on life.
You are overthinking a story that is already self-contained. This is how most great stories are ruined.
Maybe they go live with Aunt T?
@@spacedinosaur8733 That's a good idea. Or maybe they end up in Willoughby. Though, considering Willoughby is possibly the afterlife, or at least a place that requires you to die in this world in order to stay there (sort of like the land of the fae folk?), it's possible that their becoming young again represents them going to Heaven.
If I recall, there's actually some credence to the idea that your limitations as you age are based in part on your perception of aging. They've found that people who think positive thoughts about the elderly wind up being more active and happy, while those who think negative thoughts about the elderly wind up being more passive and disabled and miserable.
Also, this episode reminds me of "Lockout Time" from the original *Peter Pan* -- the idea that a moment comes when your choices are set in stone, no matter how much you would make the decision differently if given the chance. One of the most heart-rending moments in all the literature I've ever read, little Peter beating his tiny fists against the glass, wailing for his mother to let him in again, but she can't hear him because she has a new little boy and Peter simply delayed too long.
Kind of funny that this episode treats wanting to be young again, and getting that wish to be a good thing when so many other stories like “Walking Distance” treats such things as wrong and even downright harmful.
Heck, the same thing that happens to Charlie is basically the same that happens Barbara in “!6 milimeter shrine”. And Walter thinks that’s a sad ending.
One of ONLY remakes (in the movie version) that worked!!
Saw this back in the day. Amazing episode.
The thought about being forgotten by the ones you love or someone you care about a lot truly is frightening and depressing…
I remember seeing that episode for the first time back when I was 14 years old that was a really good episode that by now I am getting old and that I refuse to be getting old and rather be young again.
seniors need more love and respect, America needs to show thier elders more compassion!
30 years from now, they'll reboot the Twilight Zone and they'll make an episode entitled Fortnite, following the same plot
You mean re3boot.
I love this episode but I also really enjoy Scatman Crothers in the movie. I also really liked the message of remaining young at heart. We all grow old but that doesn't have to make us sad. I love both
I know that the writer didn't like the ending but I took a more allegorical interpretation. It reminds me of a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "We don't stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing".
Classic ep! Love the large cast
I always personally interpreted this message as all of them passing away. And the one guy was just left behind alone.
I like the movie's ending better primarily because it's a bit less bittersweet - Ben didn't necessarily deserve to be left behind, and I inferred that Charlie and the rest were essentially passing away, just in a different fashion. With the movie, Ben gets a chance to realize the error of his ways, and it's a good message to the audience that you don't have to put away the things you enjoy just because they're viewed as "childish".
Agreed. This is one of the very rare times where I thought the remake was better.
always happy to hear about a classic
👍Absolutely agree with you the 1962 version is the Best!! This & “Walking Distance” are two of my favorites. Thanks for pointing out the music was the same- I didn’t catch that! ✌️
The beautiful mysticism of the original is bittersweet. The 1983 movie was a definite " if it ain't broke, don't remake it " for me.
The most anachronistic sentence ever spoken, "Google how to play kick the can..."
Oh Steven Spielberg remade this in the Twilight Zone movie.
The movie had the optimistic vibe to it though when the magic man said "Oh he'll get it"
This made me cry so much 😢
I watch this episode so many times
The only thing I wish they'd have done is give the "children" turn of the century clothes. Assuming this story was set in then present 1962, these characters would have been born right around 1890 give or take, so to see children running around in 1900's attire would have added to the twist IMHO.
At one time, the can used in the TZ episode was on display in the library of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
I can see them Adapting the Kick the Can Episode as an Origin Story for Peter Pan, Got real Peter Pan Vibes from the kid at the End.
I could never understand anyone who “chooses” to grow old. I respect the choice for their own reasons but I have trouble following whatever logic that’d be.
That isn’t to say don’t be mature/mindful ofc.
But the concept of a “fleeting youth” is terrifying imo. It feels like you inherently lose joy. It feels like a sense of “giving up”.
I want to give a quick shoutout to my mom in particular. She was a nurse and was always busy but always tried to have time for me and to catch up/understand stuff that I’m into. My mom is a very social person while my dad feels like a stay-at-home hermit. Ofc he has to do the chores and such but he just doesn’t go out. I love him but it feels like he’s given up, aside from his sense of humor. My folks feel like almost the “night and day” duality of the concept of “growing old” and it’s weird to see. I think they love each other though and it’s just fascinating to me how they get each other. Sorry for the tangent 😅
Charles' son in the car, is the actor's real life son.
Just awesome Classics. Helps make life so much fun.
Both versions are sweet. One shows a literal transformation to youth and the other a metaphorical.
That’s two of the movie stories covered. It may be a while yet before we cover the other two, but that only adds to the excitement
I saw that episode in the movie. It is very heartwarming.
Babe wake up new twilight tober dropped
Great...now I'm crying...
I remember watching this for the first time and being sad and existential. I like both this and the one starring Scatman Crothers as they both have a charm to them but I find the original leaves a sad melancholy behind.
Ben didn’t get left behind he refused to go. The child says last one there is a rotten egg inviting his friend to play but he refuses to play the game .
I liked both versions, they both had similar messages and different ways of portraying it without going overboard. That's a trap some of the remakes of the other episodes have been guilty of.
I knew that in the Twilight Zone movie segment of this adaptation, one of the kids is played by Skippy’s sister on Family Ties. It was the younger version of the actress who played grandma in the Parenthood movie.
I was wondering when you would get to this one.
Does anyone understand what the kid shouts at 5:20?
@Max S. Charlie says “Last one into the forest is a rotten apple!”
I think Ben might have changed too if he had actually raced Charles. He chose to stay, and not join.
Same here, an alternate ending could have had him running after Charles with a smile on his face and then also becoming a kid when he reaches the forest. Then it's the doctor left standing alone in puzzlement with the can. It's pretty unfair to Ben, how was he to know this was the one time wishful thinking would actually work?
I liked Ben. He was definitely a realist. And we see the children run off into the woods. But where will they go? Who will take care of them? Where will they go and what will they eat? Are they now to be vagabond children, baseless of the Earth, wandering for all time?
The remake of this episode in the 1983 Twilight Zone movie attempted to address this issue. They spent some time having the children wonder who would care for them. While not living up to the original, I do have to give the writers credit for trying to answer this.
You say he got left behind, but isnt it that Charle was so stuck feeling old that he stayed behind. He knew what the secret was, to act like a kid again. But when his friend calls out "last one there is a rotten egg" he does follow and try to play the game, he instead just sits there pleading all the more.
Poor Ben, I'm honestly crying now.
5:45 - 5:50 Maybe its some kind of metaphor that they're all going to the afterlife?
“You’re only as healthy… You’re only as healthy as you feel… You’re only… as healthy… as… you… feel…”
- Travis Bickle, 1976
What’s really tragic is that it was never too late for Ben. Even at the end, Charlie says “last one into the forest is a rotten egg.” If Ben followed the kids into the forest with childlike abandon, he may well have transform with the other residents, but his internalized believe that he IS an old man kept him from joining them even in this crucial final moment. He even asks for Charlie to take him with them. Ben wanted to be hand held back into his childhood when the option was in his hands all along.
Very touching episode. I guess because Ben didn't play kick-the-can with his best friend, he'll likely be playing kick-the-bucket instead. And the ghost says... Booo!