‘Twilight Zone’--An Eerie Fourth of July Tradition

July 4 means fireworks, parades--and lots of “The Twilight Zone”--from 8 a.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, courtesy of the Sci-Fi Channel.

The marathon doesn’t include all the classics. There’s no “Time Enough at Last,” “It’s a Good Life” or “The Invaders.” But there are others, such as “The Hitch-Hiker” (Saturday at 10:30 a.m.), “Eye of the Beholder” (7:30 p.m.), “People Are Alike All Over” (8 p.m.), “A Stop at Willoughby” (10:30 p.m.) and “The Mighty Casey” (midnight).

These, too, are worth a look:

* “A World of Difference” (Saturday at 4 p.m.), about a guy (Howard Duff) who discovers his world is part of a sound stage--and that his reality has been others’ entertainment. It’s not “The Truman Show,” but the film’s critics have cited the episode as evidence that the movie isn’t as original as has been hyped.

* “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” (Saturday at 3:30 p.m.), set in a seemingly normal town where panic turns to violence over a power failure. This “Maple Street,” where neighbors turn on each other, is the same street on the MGM lot where, in the ‘30s and ‘40s, kindly Judge Hardy dispensed thoughtful and rational advice to his all-American son, Andy.

* “The Fever” (Saturday at 11 a.m.), whose antagonist--a slot machine--was difficult to get on the set during the show’s first season in 1960. With slot machines illegal in California, it meant using an impounded one from the police. And a cop was always on the set to make sure it stayed there.

* “The Big Tall Wish” (Saturday at 9 p.m.), starring Ivan Dixon as a washed-up prizefighter. He got the role after a casting director saw him on the New York stage. But even with his starring role in the lauded movie “Nothing but a Man” and his career as a director, he’s barely known outside of his role as Sgt. Kinchloe in “Hogan’s Heroes.”

* The little girl in “Nightmare as a Child” (Saturday at 10 p.m.) is Suzanne Cupito, who grew up to be “Dallas” star Morgan Brittany.

There’s a break in the marathon Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. for a Sci-Fi Channel original movie, “A Town Has Turned to Dust,” based on a teleplay “Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling did for the ‘50s anthology show “Playhouse 90.”

DETAILS, DETAILS: What documentary show--running from 1968 to ‘74--did Rod Serling narrate? Answer next week. The answer to last week’s quiz (Besides “MGM Parade,” which program in 1955 marked a movie studio’s entry into TV production?): “Warner Brothers Presents.”

Set Your VCR

The Family Channel’s Fourth of July marathon is more down to earth than “Twilight Zone” but just as American. It’s eight “Bonanza” episodes starting at 5 p.m.

Nickelodeon’s “Laverne and Shirley” marathon, which runs for four hours nightly starting at 8:30 p.m. Monday (through July 10), kicks off with the pilot. The marathon format is a Lenny-and-Squiggy (Michael McKean and David L. Lander) infomercial in which they discuss their “system for successful living.”

Guest stars include Mark Harmon (Monday at 10 p.m.), Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham (Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.), Fabian (Wednesday at 10 p.m.), Jay Leno (Thursday at 10 p.m.), Art Garfunkel (Thursday at 11 p.m.) and Carrie Fisher and Hugh Hefner (July 10 at 11 p.m.).

The Family Channel airs the 12-hour miniseries “North and South” (1985) in two-hour segments beginning Sunday at 7 p.m. and continuing nightly at 6 p.m. beginning Monday.