Channel Zero

How does a knife-wielding-contortionist-clown-who-hides-under-your-back-deck sound to you?


When I was a kid, I would tape old episodes of The Twilight Zone on my VCR and watch them before I went to school, or at lunch, or right after school. Watching Rod Serling introduce us to the "dimension of imagination" was something I cherished. As a teenager I watched Tales From the Dark Side. This was a lower budget, cheesier, but maybe slightly creepier version of The Twilight Zone. I loved it too; maybe not as much, but there was not much else at the time - this was the 80s.
A few years back I discovered a show called Black Mirror. I thought I had found my show, something contemporary that gave me the nostalgia of The Twilight Zone and yet it was fresh and updated. Black Mirror isn't really that, it's much more. It's often a commentary on modern society, technology, and/or our use of social media. Black Mirror is a smart show that makes you think and makes you intentionally uncomfortable. But the problem for me is the ugly nihilism the show seems to have for its characters and sometimes even its viewers . I haven't watch a show yet where there is any real sense of redemption. It's just ugly. And that's fine. But after watching two shows with my wife, she said, "I don't like this show, I don't want to watch this." So now I watch Black Mirror alone.
Last year, flipping about my digital world, I came across an odd looking icon of what looked like a white skull and took a chance on a show called, Channel Zero. It had a nice Twilight Zone sounding name; Channel Zero. I'll watch one and see. Oh man did I fall hard for this show. As I type this, the American SYFY network has now released four seasons of this series. Each one is a stand-alone season, much like American Horror Story. The latest one, The Dream Door, ranks up there as one of the best. Each season is six episodes and all episodes clock in around the 60 minute mark. The only big name actors are John Carroll Lynch from season two and Rutger Hauer from season three.
The only person I have met who has seen this show is my dental hygienist, Jennifer. I was so happy to talk to her about it. She loved it too.
Channel Zero taps into the same zeitgeist as The Twilight Zone - there is something compelling here, and slightly frightening. It's a fantastic and fantastical show and you need to watch it so I can talk to you about it.


Catch it on the SYFY network, Shudder, or Showcase On Demand.