Button, button
The mid-1980s revival of “The Twilight Zone” didn’t last long, but it had several quite good episodes. (Each episode was an hour long, but usually made up of several unrelated segments of varying lengths.) Not long ago, I was infuriated to catch just the last minute of “Shatterday,” a segment starring Bruce Willis which revealed that he had acting chops beyond those he was displaying at the time on “Moonlighting.” That episode was based on a story by the great Harlan Ellison.
Another great segment was “Button, Button,” based on a story by another legendary writer, Richard Matheson. Matheson did more than anyone else except Rod Serling himself to shape the Twilight Zone in its original run, writing many of its best-loved episodes. “Button, Button” starred Mare Winningham and Brad Davis. It was relatively short, it was a great story, and it had a perfect “Twilight Zone” ending.
So, naturally, Hollywood has taken it, pumped in filler and an unnecessary continuation to the story, and created “The Box.” I haven’t seen it, and don’t plan on doing so, but this review confirms all my worst fears.
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