Jordan Peele solidified himself in recent years as a fantastic storyteller, with the Oscar-winning Get Out and his most recent endeavor, Us, sweeping theaters everywhere now. It would only seem natural that he would find himself in a project such as a Twilight Zone reboot. The third such remake finds the anthology series with a host of guest stars in a modern setting, naturally, and for the most part the tales told retain the spirit and aura that the original series held together so well and consistently. CBS’s All Access streaming service released the first episode online for free and the second one for subscribers last night, so already we’ve gotten a healthy double serving of what is to come.





Episode 1: The Comedian





Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone. – “Solitude” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox





The opening story in this anthology remake proves effective at capturing a little bit of that old magic that Rod Serling put into his stories, even if it does lose itself in its own ambiguity for the sake of it. Real-life standup comedian and Oscar-winning writer of The Big Sick Kumail Nanjiani guest stars in the pilot; concerning a failed comedian who spends his nights unsuccessfully trying to entertain bar crowds. His opening joke (repeated multiple times throughout the episode) is painfully unfunny, almost trying to draw comedy from outright public controversy or sensitive hot button topics. One night after a mysterious encounter with a stranger (an enigmatic Tracy Morgan) he finds that jokes about his own personal life and the people he knows starts to draw laughs from the crowd.













It’s a slow and unconvincing start, but once you start to realize where the bizarre reality lies within the story, that’s when the real Twilight Zone magic starts to show itself. It’s a better-made human drama that successfully implements the aura of weirdness that made Serling’s series so endearing over the years. Perhaps it’s that bit of star power added into these guest starring episodes that will lend some more power to performances than what may initially be seen on standard television- only time will tell how well this series will stand on its own.













But that’s another great thing about this Twilight Zone reboot: the myriad of possibilities from its lineup of A-list guest actors should add a much-needed bit of spice to an already fascinating series.



