You have entered. . . the Serling zone

Rod Serling's legacy lives on in two recently released DVD box sets, both of which merit a look even if they do routinely get a rap for paling by comparison. It's admittedly a little odd to see Serling stroll onscreen in color in "Night Gallery": The Complete First Season (1970), his "Twilight Zone" follow-up. But if anything, stronger production values work to the benefit of the later series, which at its best is a worthy continuation of Serling's "gotcha" storytelling sensibility. Be sure to check out an early segment directed by Steven Spielberg and starring, yes, Joan Crawford as a blind, embittered Manhattan recluse whose wealth and cruelty are limitless -- meaning, naturally, that she uses both to procure luckless Tom Bosley's healthy eyes for an experimental optical transplant. The three-disc set offers better twists elsewhere, but for scenery-chewing melodrama, this is the episode. Other guest stars of note include Sally Field, Carl Reiner, and Roddy McDowall. This is the extent of the bonuses, though, as the set is disappointingly no-frills.

"The Twilight Zone": Season One (2002), collecting all 43 (who knew?) episodes from the most recent stab at reviving the franchise, does frequently fall short in its bid to surprise. Let's face it, we've all been conditioned for years to anticipate "Twilight Zone" endings, and this series doesn't help itself by remaking such classic stories as "Eye of the Beholder." Still, original segments such as the creepy suburbia-as-dystopia tale "Evergreen" (more like "Soylent Green") are effective, telegraphed or not.

("Night Gallery," Universal, $58.98; "Twilight Zone," New Line, $59.98)