Twilight Zone classics make appearance in new trailer

CBS All Access dropped the first trailer to Jordan Peele’s reimagining of The Twilight Zone. But it’s classic episodes that may give some clues into what the series has in store.

The premiere episode is still over a month away, but CBS All Access has just granted waiting fans their first look at Jordan Peele’s take on the classic tv series The Twilight Zone. And let me tell you, it is everything.

Peele and team have created a tone that is downright spooky. Unsettling music, odd images. The whole thing is enough to put you on edge. Once you get past that unease (and trying to spot the stars—hey there, Tracy Morgan, welcome to the party), there are some clues from original Twilight Zone episodes that may indicate what the series has in store.

There’s a doll that floats up on a beach. It’s a clear replica of the monster seen on the wing of the plane in the original Rod Serling The Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” It had been previously announced that Peele was remaking this episode (starring Scott), but details were limited. It’s clear now, thanks to the doll and clips showing Adam Scott panicked on a beach, that unlike the original, the episode may not take place entirely on an airplane. Then again, the original episode was about the “delusions” the main character was having while on the flight.

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There’s a brief shot of stopwatch. I may be making too much out of this one, but I certainly hope it signals Peele remaking one of my favorite classic Twilight Zone episodes: “A Kind of Stopwatch.” In that episode, a man is given a stopwatch capable of stopping time for everyone in the world—except himself. He got up to some nice 1960’s mischief, but I’d love to see what Peele would do with that premise.

There’s a brief shot of a devil face on a red box. Look no further than the 1960 episode “Nick of Time.” In that episode, a couple is stuck in a town getting their car fixed when a man becomes obsessed with a fortune telling machine (with a devil on top). The machine is right so many times that there is a risk he becomes completely reliant on following exactly what the strange machine says.

There are brief shots of people moving backward and a tape recorder pressing rewind. Classic Twilight Zone messed with time a lot, but I can’t think of a specific on that rewound time so directly. Peele seems to have a creepy enough idea himself for that one.

There’s Kumail Nanjiani’s character talking to his partner, asking where their dog is, only to find out they’ve never had a dog. Later, his voice says he’s erased something. Maybe more indirect than anything, but Twilight Zone’s penchant for messing with time includes allowing the character to suffer for messing with it. An easy example is “Walking Distance” where a man crosses over a ridge and finds himself back in his hometown. Well, the hometown of his childhood. He tries to go up to his childhood self and accidentally causes an injury. Now, all of a sudden, in the present day he has an injured leg as a result. He’s changed his own past.

The trailer also includes some shots of episodes that look like they’ve clearly come straight from the mind of the always politically aware Peele. Shots of an election and campaign. Shots of a police officer reaching into the car of a black man to turn off a camera recording him. An officer pulling a gun on a black woman who exited her car.

CBS All Access (CBS’s streaming service) will bring the science fiction classic back on April 1 with two brand new episodes. Following the two premiere episodes, The Twilight Zone will have a new episode available weekly on Thursdays, starting April 11.

The Twilight Zone is produced by Peele’s company, Monkeypaw Productions, and CBS TV Studios along with Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films. Executive producers for the show are Peele, Kinberg, Win Rosenfeld, Andrey Chon, Glen Morgan, Carol Serling (Rod Serling’s daughter), Rick Berg and Greg Yaitanes.

It’s never safe to make assumptions where masters of deceptions Rod Serling and Jordan Peele are trying to tell you a story. But what are you looking forward to? Are there any classic episodes you see echoing in the new series?