Category: TV

Z-View Twilight Zone: “People Are Alike All Over” [Season 1, Episode 25]

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Twilight Zone: “People Are Alike All Over” [Season 1, Episode 25]
Original Air Date: March 25, 1960

Director: Mitchell Leisen

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by Paul Fairman

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Susan Oliver and Paul Comi.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The first manned mission to Mars consists of a two man crew, Sam Conrad [McDowall] and Mark Marcusson [Comi].  Conrad is concerned that whatever life they find there will be dangerous.  Marcusson is convinced that all life is made in God’s image and will therefore be like humans.

Marcusson is killed when the ship crash lands on Mars.  Conrad is terrified at first, but then sees that Martians look like humans and are friendly.  They promise to provide him a home and take care of him… sadly, Conrad comes to discover that people are indeed alike all over.

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Z-View Twilight Zone: “Long Live Walter Jameson” [Season 1, Episode 24]

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Twilight Zone: “Long Live Walter Jameson” [Season 1, Episode 24]
Original Air Date: March 18, 1960

Director: Tony [Anton] Leader

Writer: Charles Beaumont 

Starring: Kevin McCarthy and Edgar Stehli.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Professor Walter Jameson [McCarthy] plans to marry his friend’s much younger daughter.  When his friend discovers that Jameson has been hiding a secret for years and someone from Jameson’s past shows up, well, you know you’ve entered the Twilight Zone.

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Z-View Twilight Zone: “A World of Difference” [Season 1, Episode 23]

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Twilight Zone: “A World of Difference” [Season 1, Episode 23]
Original Air Date: March 11, 1960

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Richard Matheson 

Starring: Howard Duff and David White.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Arthur Curtis [Duff] is working in his office when suddenly someone yells, “Cut” and he finds himself on a movie set.  He is led to believe he is Gerry Reagan, an actor with a drinking problem… yet he knows he is Arthur Curtis… or is he?

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Twilight Zone: “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” [Season 1, Episode 22] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” [Season 1, Episode 22]
Original Air Date: March 4, 1960

Director: Ronald Winston

Writer: Rod Serling 

Starring: Claude Akins, Barry Atwater and Jack Weston.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

It’s a beautiful summer afternoon until a strange sound and vibration brings neighbors outside.  Paranoia soon takes over as the thought of an alien invasion takes hold.  Who among them isn’t human?

Final Thoughts: One of the best Twilight Zone episodes.  A true classic.

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Twilight Zone: “Mirror Image” [Season 1, Episode 21] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Mirror Image” [Season 1, Episode 21]
Original Air Date: February 26, 1960

Director: John Brahm

Writer: Charles Beaumont 

Starring: Vera Miles and Martin Milner.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Late on a stormy night Millicent Barnes [Miles] is stuck in a station waiting for an overdue bus when strange things begin to happen.  Her suitcase keeps moving, the old man taking tickets claims she keeps asking him when the next bus is due [only she just spoke to him once] and when she see herself in the mirror it is her doing things she isn’t doing!

Final Thoughts: Milner is excellent as the nice guy who tries to put her mind at ease.  The final shot / special effect is haunting.

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Twilight Zone: “Elegy” [Season 1, Episode 20] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Elegy” [Season 1, Episode 20]
Original Air Date: February 19, 1960

Director: Douglas Heyes

Writer: Charles Beaumont 

Starring: Cecil Kellaway, Jeff Morrow, Don Dubbins and Kevin Hagin.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Three astronauts land on a planet with two suns, but in all other aspects (save one) appears to be Earth of the past.  The buildings, signs, way people dress all look right except for the fact that the people are motionless… except for one!

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Twilight Zone: “The Purple Testament” [Season 1, Episode 19] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Purple Testament” [Season 1, Episode 19]
Original Air Date: February 12, 1960

Director: Richard L. Bare

Writer: Rod Serling 

Starring: Dick York, William Reynolds, Barney Phillips and Warren Oates.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Lt. Fitzgerald [Reynolds] believes he has the ability to know who will die before a mission.  Although he shares the information no one believes him.  Is he crazy or a psychic?

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Twilight Zone: “The Last Flight” [Season 1, Episode 18] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Last Flight” [Season 1, Episode 18]
Original Air Date: February 5, 1960

Director: William F. Claxton

Writer: Richard Matheson 

Starring: Kenneth Haigh and Alexander Scourby.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Lt. William Decker [Haigh] lands his WWI fighter plane at an American Air Force base in France no one believes he’s found his way there from 1917.  Decker explains he and another pilot, Alexander Mackaye, were outnumbered in a dog fight and he turned tail and ran leaving his friend to a certain death.

This only adds to the confusion as Mackaye, now a ranking officer is on his way to the airfield!

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Twilight Zone: “Fever” [Season 1, Episode 17] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Fever” [Season 1, Episode 17]
Original Air Date: January 29, 1960

Director: Robert Florey

Writer: Rod Serling 

Starring: Everette Sloan and Vivi Janis.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Franklin Gibbs [Sloan] begrudgingly accompanies his wife, Flora, to Las Vegas, for a two night expense-free trip that Flora won.  Franklin views gambling as a fool’s game until a drunk gives him a silver dollar for a free pull on a slot machine.  Soon Franklin has the fever and is gambling away their life savings… and more.

Final Thoughts: Fever is one of my least favorite Twilight Zone episodes.

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16 Ear-Tugging Facts About “The Carol Burnett Show”

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Kara Kovalchik and Mental_Floss present 16 Ear-Tugging Facts About The Carol Burnett Show.  Here are three of my favorites…

8. HARVEY KORMAN WAS THE FIRST CAST MEMBER HIRED.
The producers wanted a “Harvey Korman-type” for Burnett’s second banana, but didn’t bother to actually ask Korman if he was interested in the job because he was already a regularon The Danny Kaye Show, and most likely he wouldn’t leave a steady job for an unproven new show. Burnett herself spotted Korman in the CBS parking lot one day and “practically threw him over the hood of a car” begging him to join her show. Unbeknownst to her, Kaye’s show was about to get the axe after a four-year run, so Korman cheerfully accepted her offer shortly after that first meeting.

9. TIM CONWAY RARELY FOLLOWED HIS SCRIPT.
Conway had been a frequent guest star on the show and when Lyle Waggoner decided to leave the show in 1974 (he felt that he was being “underused”), Conway was hired to replace him the following year. Conway was legendary for veering off-script and ad-libbing for lengthy stretches, to the amusement of some of his co-stars (Korman) and annoyance of others (Lawrence, who sometimes resented Conway’s disruptions and spotlight-hogging). Lawrence finally slipped her own ad-lib in on one memorable occasion, as Conway rambled on and on about an elephant during a “Family” sketch. Her NSFW remark brought the rest of the cast to their knees and was said to be Dick Clark’s favorite all-time outtake on his Bloopers and Practical Jokes TV show.

16. THERE WAS ONLY ONE CELEBRITY GUEST THAT BURNETT WAS NEVER ABLE TO BOOK.
Over the 11 seasons the show ran, a veritable “Who’s Who” of the entertainment industry did a guest turn, from Steve Martin to Julie Andrews to then-governor Ronald Reagan to Robin Williams to Ethel Merman. The only guest who Burnett dearly wanted to have but never did get was Bette Davis. Davis was willing to appear but demanded more money that the show had budgeted. Joe Hamilton advised his wife that if they gave in to Davis’ demand, it would set an unpleasant precedent.

The Twilight Zone: “The Hitch-Hiker” [Season 1, Episode 16] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Hitch-Hiker” [Season 1, Episode 16]
Original Air Date: January 22, 1960

Director: Alvin Ganzer

Writer: Rod Serling based on the radio play by Lucille Fletcher

Starring: Inger Stevens, Adam Williams and Leonard Strong.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Nan Adams [Stevens], a young woman driving cross-country alone, becomes unnerved when a hitch-hiker continues to approach her for a ride no matter how many times she passes him and no matter what roads she takes.

Final Thoughts: After a string of strong episodes, The Twilight Zone comes up with an average offering.  Not great and not bad… but good.

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The Twilight Zone: “I Shot an Arrow in the Air” [Season 1, Episode 15] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “I Shot an Arrow in the Air” [Season 1, Episode 15]
Original Air Date: January 15, 1960

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Writer: Rod Serling based on an idea by Madelon Champion

Starring: Dewey Martin, Edward Binns and Ted Otis.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When a U.S. spacecraft crash lands on a barren wasteland leaving only four surviving crew members, the Commander of the expedition has his hands full when one of the crew wants to make it every man for himself.

Final Thoughts: Another classic Twilight Zone twist ending.  Madelon Champion met Rod Serling at a party where she suggested her story idea.  Rod Serling bought it on the spot and fleshed it out into I Shot an Arrow in the Air.

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The Twilight Zone: “Third from the Sun” [Season 1, Episode 14] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Third from the Sun” [Season 1, Episode 14]
Original Air Date: January 8, 1960

Director: Richard L. Bare

Writer: Rod Serling based on a short story by Richard Matheson

Starring: Fritz Weaver, Edward Andrews and Joe Maross.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

William Sturka [Weaver] and Jerry Riden [Maross] work at a government security installation on a top-secret space craft.  With the threat of world-wide nuclear war imminent security is tighter than ever.

Security Officer Carling [Andrews] is watching everyone like a hawk which makes it tough on Sturka and Riden since they have a plan to steal the space craft and escape to another planet before nuclear Armageddon.

Final Thoughts: A classic Twilight Zone twist ending!

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Twilight Zone: “The Four of Us Are Dying” [Season 1, Episode 13] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Four of Us Are Dying” [Season 1, Episode 13]
Original Air Date: January 1, 1960

Director: John Braham

Writer: Rod Serling based on a short story by George Clayton Johnson

Starring: Harry Townes, Phillip Pine, Ross Martin and Don Gordon with a cameo by Beverly Garland.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Arch Hammer [Townes, Pine, Martin and Gordon] has the ability, with intense concentration, to change his appearance to look like anyone.  Hammer arrives in town and begins to impersonate various people in order to con their friends and business partners out of cash.

Hammer’s ability to change his appearance makes it easy to convince others that he is who he looks like.  Women and money are ripe for the taking.  Sadly, as this is the Twilight Zone, Hammer’s ability will bring him even more than he bargained for.

Final Thoughts: When this episode was first being prepared it was thought that one actor would play all four characters that Hammer impersonates.  When it was determined that it would take too much time in make-up, it was decided that a different actor would play each part.

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