Ok, we know TZ is great, but many people seem to be very torn between the quality of the episodes.
What I would suggest is that the worst TZ episodes are better than most film and tv ever produced. That being said, Cavander is Coming should be appreciated for what it is, not what it is not.
So, what is it? Well, I found it funny, but with a serious touch of dark melodrama. And there is the added element of the Capra allusions and Carol Burnett's meta role that seems reflective of her own life.
I would place this episode alongside episodes like, Night of the Meek, The Changing of the Guard, Once Upon a Time, The Bard, or The Man in the Bottle. So, it is humorous but with an underlying darkness.
In terms of quality, lets try and sum up the acting, writing, cinematography, production design, and editing: not the best, but on par with classic episodes such as To Serve Man, third from the Sun, Death Ship.
Frankly, i don't know how anyone can find this episode, as a piece of filmic art, to be of a lesser quality than many other Zones. It is not poorly acted or written. Sure, its silly/humorous, but that is a qualitative judgement, if you do not like the content, that does not mean the episode is poorly made.
Also, people seem to feel upset by the fact that this film is an obvious hommage to Its a Wonderful Life, thus being less original than other TZ episodes. To this I say, none of them were that original. If you watch the film Dead of Night (1945), it is pretty obvious that at least 4 TZ episodes were gleaned from it. And many episodes were based on short stories, or written by great authors using material/ideas that they had in play from other texts. If this is too much of a rant, go back and watch silent film until you develop an appriciation of the art and techniques of film production, then watch Infinity War, and you decide what is better, a tightly told story done on the cheap with very little discontinuity, or something that costs mort than the GDP of many countries and is rife with continuity errors and an equal, if not greater dose of nonsense, than you have in Cavander is Coming.
Honestly, i do not have an answer but to suggest that those who truly love film, and understand how the medium affects society will always understand the TZ, and see the beauty of each and every episode.
Frankly, i don't know how anyone can find this episode, as a piece of filmic art, to be of a lesser quality than many other Zones. It is not poorly acted or written. Sure, its silly/humorous, but that is a qualitative judgement, if you do not like the content, that does not mean the episode is poorly made.
Also, people seem to feel upset by the fact that this film is an obvious hommage to Its a Wonderful Life, thus being less original than other TZ episodes. To this I say, none of them were that original. If you watch the film Dead of Night (1945), it is pretty obvious that at least 4 TZ episodes were gleaned from it. And many episodes were based on short stories, or written by great authors using material/ideas that they had in play from other texts. If this is too much of a rant, go back and watch silent film until you develop an appriciation of the art and techniques of film production, then watch Infinity War, and you decide what is better, a tightly told story done on the cheap with very little discontinuity, or something that costs mort than the GDP of many countries and is rife with continuity errors and an equal, if not greater dose of nonsense, than you have in Cavander is Coming.
Honestly, i do not have an answer but to suggest that those who truly love film, and understand how the medium affects society will always understand the TZ, and see the beauty of each and every episode.