What does it all mean?

An old episode of The Twilight Zone called "Third from the Sun" involves two scared scientists and their families commandeering a spaceship and escaping just before their planet is destroyed by nuclear holocaust. For all intents and purposes these are Earth people; they look like Earth people, live in houses and drive cars that resemble those on Earth, speak the same version of the English language we do, and observe the same customs kept by Americans.

Turns out they aren't from Earth at all, and the inhabited planet toward which their spaceship is aimed is, in fact, the third planet from the Sun. Surprise, surprise.

Watching the episode for the first time (sorry to those for whom this is a spoiler), I had a sense of satisfaction at the twist ending. Then I thought about it, and realized there was nothing to be satisfied about, because nothing of consequence had happened in the 25-minute plot. It was like an O. Henry story—fun while it lasts, but useless for describing or illuminating real life.

So what if the characters are from another planet? Does that help us understand anything about our existence, here? No, it's just an entertainment, and a pretty shallow one at that.

Which is exactly what must be said about the majority of TV shows and movies popular today. They score high in the cleverness department, but what good are they? They're often well-made, but are they worth our time?

A lot of people look back on the 1950s as some kind of wholesome period between the debauchery of the '20s and the chaos of the '60s and '70s. The Twilight Zone is about as 1950s as it gets, complete with married couples sleeping in separate twin beds and references to God Almighty, prayer, and the Laws of Heaven. It's also as postmodern as Seinfeld, with its empty plots good for a thrill or raised eyebrows, but ultimately as formless and void as your brain after an episode of American Idol. Maybe not that bad, but then you can't get much worse than a bunch of no-talent people embarrassing themselves in front of judges who can't judge and aren't witty. But that's another post altogether.