TV's 25 Scariest Episodes - #3 - The Twilight Zone: 'It's a Good Life'

October 29, 5:57 PMClassic TV ExaminerDoug Krentzlin

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Billy Mumy in "It's a Good Life"
(CBS Broadcasting)

Don’t let the title of The Twilight Zone episode It’s a Good Life (originally broadcast on Nov. 3, 1961) fool you. This has no resemblance whatsoever to the Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Just the opposite. Directed by James Shelton and adapted by Rod Serling from a short story by Jerome Bixby, It’s a Good Life tells of how a single individual can ruin the lives of every inhabitant of a small town.

Like many Twilight Zone episodes, It’s a Good Life is a variation on an established classic with supernatural trimmings. Maxwell Anderson’s play The Bad Seed depicted a sociopathic, conscienceless child. One of the creepiest Twilight Zone episodes ever, It’s a Good Life takes that idea one step farther and gives its protagonist awesome super powers with which to enforce his tyranny over the adults around him.

The psychotic child is Anthony Fremont (Billy Mumy), who rules the town of Peaksville like a pint-sized Hitler. Among other things, Anthony can read minds so his parents (John Larch and Cloris Leachman) and any other adults have to be very careful in his presence. In fact, the patronizing phrase “That’s a good thing you did, Anthony” becomes the town mantra.

It’s television night (Anthony’s powers include creating visual images) and a group of the Fremonts’ friends are a captive audience. (“Your television is much better than the old television,” one of the guests says.) It is also the birthday of Dan Hollis (Don Keefer) and his wife Ethel (Jeanne Bates) makes the mistake of giving him a Perry Como record as a present.

You see, Anthony doesn’t like music. Dan loses it and starts denouncing Anthony. As the little monster prepares to put the whammy on Dan, he hysterically begs the other adults to kill Anthony while he’s distracted. They don’t and Anthony turns Dan into a grotesque giant jack-in-the-box with his dead head atop a spring. Now Anthony’s pissed and he lashes out at the other adults…

The Twilight Zone: It’s a Good Life is available from Netflix (Vol. 9) and Amazon (Season Three).