I wonder if people even understand how amazing The Twilight Zone was. They had to come up with a new story with new characters every week and were creating sci-fi and fantasy episodes at a time when the available special effects were very limited. Yet, nearly everyone agrees that this is by far the best anthology series of it's kind and I don't think I've ever even witnessed anyone try to debate that fact. Not to mention the fact that they managed to make compelling, thought provoking episodes, that consistently surprised viewers with all kinds of twists and turns. Also, this is one of my favorite episodes.
I agree with you, last night I watched The Gift with the alien who came to bring a vaccine to cure cancer. That was the gift. But fear made the townspeople kill the alien and burn the gift except for what was in the gift, but the chemical components of the vaccine was burned in the fire. The best part was the little orphan Pedro, he was kind but he was thought to be odd because he liked to look at the night sky. The kind doctor took him home in the end.
I was born in 59 but I have a sister that's almost 6 years older so every Saturday we watched The Twilight Zone, then The Outer Limits then Bandstand. ❤️
This episode of The Twilight Zone, number 14 in the first season of the series, was broadcast on January 8, 1960. It was early in Fritz Weaver's career, but was not his first on-camera performance. He began work in the mid-1950's, the golden age of live television drama, with roles on The United States Steel Hour and The DuPont Show of the Month among others. He was in the 1957 live television production of Beyond This Place directed by Sidney Lumet, who a few years later would direct the film Fail Safe in which Weaver played a treasonous Air Force officer who comes dangerously close to starting a nuclear war.
Having had the pleasure of working with Fritz Weaver, one of the things that his stage acting made him so good was that on the first day of a rehearsal, he already knew all his lines without needing to refer to the script. This gave him the ability for screen work, to start anywhere in the story and it would be as though they would be using multiple cameras. There was no difference in his expressions or tone of voice.
Serling was a deep thinker about the human condition. I saw him interviewd by Mike Wallace and it was then that I realized what a philosopher and man of action he was. I'm a bigger fan of his now than when the shows were first aired.
Oh please... you've got three meals a day, entertainment at your keyboard & mouse, and an army of police and military people to keep you safe. You're living a life with clean water, clean air, and no real wants. As said in one movie, "Lighten' up, Francis."
@@Easy-Eight "The Obsolete Man" wasn't about security, or entertainment, it was about freedom. If you don't have that, all the other trappings are just a gilded cage.
We have to remember that WW2, with the focus on Naziism, was still fresh in people's memories. It was even more recent to them than Y2K is to us. There had been in most people's memories a time in which fascism could have become the dominant form of government in the world, and non-fascist countries could expect to be invaded and crushed by fascist ones. The only aspect of The Obsolete Man that rings true today: the demise of the classic library. It has a special meaning for me - I came from a home that was variously run by a schizophrenic mother, alcoholic father, or violent alcoholic stepmother. My last two years in high school were in a school so racially troubled that there was a race riot that made national news because the Oakland police refused to come on campus, and I was left with PTSD that prevented me from voluntarily setting foot in a campus environment for 50 years. If not for my education from public libraries my life would have been very different and in a horrible way.
Edward Andrews was a fabulous character actor. He could do it all: comedy, drama, film noir. His voice and face were instantly recognizable. We don't have actors like that any more.
First discovered TZ in the very early 80’s when KTLA5 would run a Thanksgiving day marathon here in the LA market..as kids we would love the scary ones, living doll, to serve man, nightmare at 20,000 feet, etc…this became our family tradition.. Most went over our heads then..This episode in particular.. What I take from it as an adult was they escaped their doomed planet to arrive on a “safe” planet that at the time was embroiled in a Cold War and uncertain fate.. pure genius…TZ has been part of mine and my brothers and sisters lives now for 40 years, and never gets old… I subscribed to your channel, keep up the great work…
Well done video. You captured and explained the intensity of that episode. Like so many Twilight Zone episodes it was thought provoking and intelligent. Only seconds into Andrews’s performance I despised and feared him. That episode is a Gold Standard. Too bad NOTHING on TV now can come close
1:50 Edward Andrews has to be one of the best villain actors of all time. Both Serling and Hitchcock made great use of him; he always looks as if he is up to something sinister.
Sinister is exactly the word I always used (as did my mother independently) to describe Andrews. Easy to hate in his roles but even more so, greatly deserving of admiration for those very same roles. A wonderful actor.
@@sergioreyes298 By all accounts nothing like that in real life as is usually the case. Andrews had 3 kids and was married 30 yrs until his death from a heart attack in 1985. Wonderful actor indeed..
Edward Andrews was a all around actor. He was the doctor to Rock Hudson in the comedy farsce SEND ME NO FLOWERS--I always liked him in the role --besides the overall movie.
I remembered this episode before the narrator told about the script!!! I remember at the time (when it was first shown) exclaiming “I knew it!) right before the twist was pronounced!! What a great show The Twilight Zone was! I’m glad I was alive to see them in their first run!!
The episode beautifully dropped little clues that this wasn't really 1960s America: The strange music Sturka plays, the electric motor (judging by the sound) of the family car, and the sign on the fence: "MINISTRY of Science."
My favorite Twilight Zone that is related to war is the episode where there is a report of a nuclear attack coming, one couple has a bomb shelter, and their friends all try to bust into it.
@@kimerleviccaro1957 No... It was another Serling's episode not directly related to nuclear war but to alien and monsters if I remember. If I remember it was staged in the new and famous "American suburbs". In Brazil suburbs has a totally different meaning. Hmmm maybe you are right. I vaguely remember that there was another episode with a typical American radio broadcast of apocalypse inside a household room. I watched it many decades ago. You are I probably right. Brazil. Brazil. Brazil.
@@kimerleviccaro1957 The episode that I think you are referring to is one where aliens are attacking. All the neighbors turn on each other. At the end, one alien says to the other something like, “That’s all we do- turn a few lights and things on and off and they all kill each other.” The episode I am talking about is- There are 4 couples eating dinner at one of the couple’s homes. It is a party, and they all talk about how much they like the home owner. They then find out that a nuclear attack is coming, and the couple whose home they are at has a bomb shelter. The majority of the episode is the other 3 couples- the really good friends- all trying to break into the shelter. By the end, they all turn on each other including bringing up things like race. When they finally all break in and are about to basically kill each other, the radio tells them that the attack was a false report, so then they are all just standing there going, “Uhhhh”
I saw both of them but I think I’m confusing the two. I’ll have to rewatch them. Thank you. I think the guy with the bomb shelter was a doctor and it was a retirement party for him.
Loved all Serlings shows. Twilight Zone was great and so was night gallery. Mr. Serling never disappointed he brought great suspense, drama and mystery. He left us wondering. Love how he made one wonder... Night Gallery didn't last long on air but I loved what I did get to see. If he had not died so early I Wonder what else he would have given to his audience. ♥️
Yes he passed untimely, being only 50 years of age. Still, it is remarkable that he managed to launch 4 television series (2 anthology based, 2 episodic) given that the medium fought him every step of the way.
@@johngoerger8996 - Rod Serling was probably a Genius and a great Visionary. But unfortunately, he was not a great enough Visionary to realzie that Cigarerretes are defintely bad for you. There was one episode (and probably more than one) where the Actors in the Script praise Cigarettes and Tobacco. I remember that great episode where people are stuck in a Restuaraunt in a Small Town and they think there might be a E.T invader ONe of the characters reveals himself to be a Martian when he pulls out his 3rd Arm. He says how thiere is nothing as great on his planet like a Cigarrette. I wish Serling had realized Cigarettes are not good for you.
@@HoldenNY22 Cigarettes were probably a coping mechanism for him. From what I've read, he never got over his experiences in WWII, which was also evident in his nervous vocal twitches and lip biting. They didn't call it PTSD in those days, but everyone knew what it was.
Excellent episode. Serling was a lucky man. He was in the right time with the best sci-fi writers in a great country during a great mankind's moment of History and benefiting of a totally new and virgin mass media. And there were even more advantages to be a popular but also mass media true intellectual in the 50/60/70. Think in today's culture versus yesterday's culture... Brazil I have the entire collection in Portuguese and English.
With regards to Serling it was more a matter of finding an outlet within the science fiction genre to write then perceived controversial social commentary that producers and sponsors were always censoring him for. A stroke of genius on his part quite honestly.
@@historybuff66You are right in a typical American fashion of approach to those commercial endeavours. However I suspect that it was probably the kind of (not kindness) standard way to be a notorious public figure which Serling certainly would despise. Brazil
This episode also had fantastic music that created tension and drama the music was genius in many episodes that is an often overlooked quality of how good the series was.
I was 14 years old when the Twilight Zone aired its first episode. The actor in the first episode was Earl Holliman. Roughly 16 years later I stood within 20 feet of of Mr Holliman while he waited to do a scene for theTV series Police Woman with Angie Dickinson. I had the opportunity to visit Warner Bros in the mid 70's. Funny how life works.
Richard Matheson (1926 - 2013) was a prolific and very popular writer. He wrote the story, that was the premise for the Steven Spielberg movie, "Duel" (1971). The movie about a mysterious and deranged truck driver. who was obsessed with trying to kill an innocent car driver, played by Denis Weaver. The original version, was a short story published in Playboy in April of 1971.
I once had the good fortune to see and meet Richard Matheson at a sci-fi book fair in Granada Hills, California. He was quite willing to autograph any books that fair attendees brought, so I took with me three of his books that I had (and still have) three short story collections published in the 1960's: Shock, Shock II and Shock III. Shock II contains the story "Mute" which was made into a Twilight Zone episode during that season with the rarely seen one hour episodes
I bought the 1st season, which was all that was available at that time. This episode was in it. I thought it was GREAT! Just yesterday, I saw the whole 5 seasons, but it was more than I wanted to pay. This has made me decide to go back and get it. Thanks! It was my favorite show when I was a Teenager, and it STILL stands out as one of the best shows EVER made. The THOUGHT provoking part is what I think made it so. The CRAP put out today does its' best to tell you what to think based on their sickness, and absolutely discourages ANY thinking for yourself.
Fantastic episode. One of my favorite episode with good acting; special effects, for its time; excellent n writing. Watching it every so often to this day. Was a big fan during its original broadcast n watching it every week. Kudos for ur commentary n upload. New subscriber because of this vid. Anticipating ur next one. Aloha from Hawaii
Serling's series was highly influential to writers and TV imitators. Rod realized that if he created a scenario featuring elements of science fiction or fantasy, he could write just about anything. He cleverly cloaked themes of racism, paranoia, greed, politics and war in a way not done before.
Thank you so much for posting this. This is in my top 25 list of "Twilight Zone" episodes. The writing is brilliant (of course)! The performances are superb! I love that stock music. I was sad to see that this episode will not be airing for the Fourth of July marathon "Rod, White, & Blue" this year! AWESOME CRITIQUE!
As far as it's a great idea and I approve of it and I hate to be the needle here, the ship on that particular episode have USA marks and earthly name on the outside so..........
This episode is a great tale, one that most of us are familiar with, described in the old saying "Out of the frying pan . . . and into the fire." Visionary writing from an amazing human, Rod Serling lives on in our memories.
I love, love, love the original TZ. Great episode, I laughed thinking to myself how the characters happen to have an American accent and know of our planet as Earth! Edward Andrews also played the villain wonderfully on another episode in season 5 'You Drive ' Only just realised that it was the same spaceship as in 'To Serve Man' 'On Thursday we leave for home' and 'People are alike all over' all subsequent TZ remakes pale badly compared to the original. Rod Serling was a brilliant man who died to soon
A great episode; I can still feel the tension as I remember seeing it as a kid. I watched it only once or twice since and felt just as anxious. Wonderful suspenseful episode. Great music and angles matching up with wonderful performances that went just far enough without being unbelievable. I wish tbe series had either lasted long enough to, or had put out a special with the same crew, Serling and writers, either revisiting an episode (though there is risk of that taking away from the original) or, especially, having a sort of duel-sequel where 2 or 3 episodes characters intertwine in some way. Though that might be more doable with Outer Limits (another great show)
Rod Sterling's Twilight zones are fantastic I have the whole collection . I'm almost 70 years old. But I watched them back in the early 60s and I watch them now. They're just as good now as they ever were in the 60s Twilight Zone was always way ahead of its time. Rod Serling was a genius.
I think Death’s Head Revisited is better when it comes to anti-war, but this is a great episode as well. No complaints from me. Great tension and air of foreboding.
Yes, Deaths-Head Revisited is a great anti-war episode as well. I find “Third From the Sun” more interesting to me because of the sci-fi elements but D-HR is very disturbing.
This was always one of my favorite TZ episodes. I think I agree with you - it is one of its finest anti-war episodes, though I would put it neck and neck with A Quality of Mercy, where a gung ho WW2 American army lieutenant finds himself in the body of a Japanese officer at 1942 Corregidor, where he learns the other side of the coin. Richard Bare directed most of the episodes of Green Acres, and he was once asked the difference between directing something as detailed as Twilight Zone and directing Green Acres. Bare remarked, "With Green Acres, the problem was staying awake." No one had THAT problem with Twilight Zone.
I am such a fan of this show! So before it's time and never ceases to amaze and I never ever picked those twist endings. I've watched a number of interviews about it and sure Rod wouldn't be surprised at the still loved history being shown 👍 really enjoyed this 👵🇭🇲
Great analysis. I saw these all when they first hit the air. The moral and ethical what ifs made me think. It is THE big reason Star Trek had such big success. Every story made you think. Is love stronger than hate?
Fritz Weaver was a great actor. This was a fine performance of his. He sometimes plays villains and sometimes heroes. This time he was very sympathetic in this role.
This was a very good episode. And yes, Edward Andrews was excellent as the villain. It's funny, but in a lot of shows, it's really the bad guy who makes the show work. I see in the sitcom McHale's Navy with Joe Flynn doing a marvelous job as Captain Binghamton. A lot of shows would just not be the same without these characters. Edward Andrews was also in the Twilight Zone episode You Drive, which he did an excellent job as the tormented driver who ran away after hitting a kid in a hit and run accident. The best anti-war episode - I don't know. Some others come to mind. A Quality of Mercy with Dean Stockwell as the gung ho young lt. changing places with the Japanese that he wanted to eliminate was pretty good. There was the Purple Testament was also good. William Reynolds plays a lt. who can gets the ability to see who's going to die in a battle. However my favorite has to be Death's Head Revisited from season 3. It takes place at Dachau concentration camp after the war. Oscar Beregi comes back to reminisce of his days there as the sadistic SS Captain who ran the camp. He gets confronted by one of the Jews he killed now the keeper of the camp played by Joseph Schildkraut and he goes insane. I wouldn't say this is necessarily an anti-war episode. Maybe around antisemitism and evil.
This episode was a definite reflection of the times in which it was created. During the late 1950s/early 1960s, humanity was anxious and fear-ridden over the prospect of all-out nuclear war. Rod Serling's use of twist endings would be carried on with, "The Planet of the Apes." (1968).
The best anti-war Rod Serling episode was NOT a TZ episode, but a made for television movie called "Carol For Another Christmas". It plays very much like a TZ episode and was based upon the idea of "A Christmas Carol" taking place in cold-war America. Written by Serling, the ONLY television show ever produced by Joseph Mankeiwicz, with music by Henry Mancini and starring Britt Ekland, Ben Gazzara, Sterling Hayden, Pat Hingle, Steve Lawrence, Eva Marie Saint, and Robert Shaw...but the real star was Peter Sellers with one of his most bizarre characters. It was shown once in 1964 as a means of promoting the United Nations and not shown again until TCM aired it in 2012, which is where I discovered it. The full version is currently on UA-cam.
@@debbieanne7962 I looked Edward Andrews up on Google and it says that he was in 2 episodes of the Twilight Zone. I am sorry. But he appeared in lots of other tv shows and movies.
Totally Agree. These days everyone is too scared to try something new, they keep churning out the same moneymaking, PC stuff. Today is more like written by accountants. Real writing back then, minimal effects.
When I first saw this episode it was definitely a huh? moment for me. The villain, the families were all superb. I thought it was well written and remember thinking this is what sci-fi should be all about. A good compelling story that leaves you thinking about it long after the story is finished. Anyways thanks for this video and stay awesome!
This one was brilliant a great twist but viewers who knew astronomy were aware earth is the third planet from our sun so they could have guessed the twist early on. Audiences in Holland knew Darth Vader was Luke's father since Darth Vader is Dutch for Dark Father.
@@debbieanne7962 Mr. Andrews played a great part in "The Harder They Fall (1956) as a sleazy boxing manager. Not many actors could play scenes with Humphrey Bogart and come out on top!
Edward Andrews was over the top (in a magnificent way of course) as a pervert serial killer in a movie called The Unguarded Moment. It comes from a short story written by actress Rosiland Russell
I also believe that B&W helped provide a feeling of desperation. Those brought up with only color TV do not understand the work that goes into designing the sets and clothing with their colors and patterns so backgrounds and people don’t clash or appear washed out with what they’re wearing or working in.
The story was set in classic Americana. That was real. The cold war was real. Even the characterizations were based on real humans. There were only a few plot devices in that story that were actually fictional.
I never saw this episode, nor any of the “banned” episodes. However, my favorite “Eve of Destruction “ episode is where a man makes a bomb shelter just big enough for his family in case of nuclear war. None of his neighbors prepare for the same eventuality, and as a nuclear war becomes imminent, all his neighbors start bargaining for spots in the cellar and end up almost killing each other in the process. The war is called off,but it shows the true nature of man… willing to kill friends to save themselves. I’ll have to look up the name of that episode. One episode, which I saw only once, has a young Dennis Hopper starting a group who worship Hitler and his warped ideas. Hopper’s acting is the best and most passionate of any I have seen by any other actor on The Twilight Zone.I have a question for someone: I read that there was an episode that was canned for being too politically motivated.Serling liked to inject his own personal ideas into movies but this was deemed to be beyond the pale. Did anyone else ever hear of this? I’m going to Google it. I post again if I find the answer. It was supposed to be a superb episode but “too racy”.( not racist).
Edward Andrews: just one of the excellent actors to appear on this program. Nowadays, with all the technology available for filming, I seriously doubt they could even come close to the quality of the scripts and the fabulous acting of the ‘60’s Twilight Zone.
When I first saw this episode, I could not help but wonder about the Hi-Fi or stereo console in the living room playing the music. When he goes to turn off the music, he pushes in on something that you can not see, and you hear a click. It suggests to me that it was some sort of a cartridge tape machine but not a phonograph. That combined with the telephone made the room seem very futuristic.
Awesome ! I This is a treat for me Ive loved watched the TwilightZone ever since I was 8 when I saw Next stop Willoughby in 1976. I thought I knew about and saw every episode and now heres one Twilight Zone episode I never saw !
My favorite Cold War episode would be Old Man in the Cave. It’s about a dystopian future where humanity has been decimated by the atomic bomb. People are left to survive by the wisdom from an ‘old man in a cave’. It’s a great warning look at what could happen if humanity is not careful.
I saw this episode when I was 8, and I asked my Dad "How are they supplying UPS to a computer without utility service or backup generators" he chuckled.
Why is the computer in the cave? What energy source runs the machine? At the conclusion of the episode there was disappointment - even Rod Serling and his pontificating could not help....
Edward Andrews also did a fine job as a sleazebucket in "Bullitt," especially with the car chase scene, Steve McQueen in the famous green Mustang, Andrews and another bad guy in a gorgeous black Dodge Charger (which of course doesn't stay gorgeous for long)....he also plays, against type, a small part in 'Tora, Tora, Tora' as a good guy, a United States State Department officer who makes the fateful decision to inform FDR about the pending Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, rather than Admiral Kimmel at Pearl Harbor, thereby leaving Kimmel with no warning... an honest but fateful error...
This episode aired in January 1960, near the height of the Cold War with Russia and the nuclear arms race here on Earth. That's what Serling was referring to in the closing narration. That's what made the twist ending so cool: This family risked everything to flee nuclear war on their own planet--only to land on Earth which was also risking nuclear war at the time!
"People are Alike All Over" was the plot to the first Star Trek. Even used the same actress in the same role, with similar costume. They didn't syndicate that one for years because people started noticing. Star Trek lifted the theme music Several episode plots The shape of the ship The uniforms The control, viewscreen and turbolift set styling for the bridge The name Vina The Transporter Flip communicators Tablet computers All from earlier series, movies, comics, novels, novel cover art.
The acting is taut, tense, and well-played in "Third From the Sun," in the classic Twilight Zone series. Rod Serling had a knack for adding social comment to the episodes, making it look believable, and adding a twist ending. The remade TZ series of years later absolutely suck. Except for Night Gallery, which had some evocative programs, though not nearly as subtle as the TZ.
Wow! I'll have to go look this one up! I don't remember seeing it in reruns or as part of one of the marathons over the years and there aren't many episodes I've missed!
The Twilight Zone that most influenced my late blooming nuclear disarmament interest is The Old Man in the Cave, set in a post nuclear apocalypse. It made me wonder, when I watched it a couple years ago, if there would ever be anybody saying afterward, "I'm glad we did that."
We need another round of these anti-nuclear war shows to put some fear back into the public. when this episode aired (Jan 1960) the Doomsday clock was at 7 mins to midnight. In 2022, its 100 seconds to mid-night. We never been closer to global nuclear war.
The astrogator prop on the bridge of this Forbidden Planet, United Earth Federation cruiser is now on ST Strange New Worlds in Captain Pike's quarters as an antique. Probably a replica, but the same 3-D astrogator. It was also used in Lost in Space 1965.
7:04 Agent Carling does not have to turn over the score card from the card game to see the escape plans on the reverse. These are reflected on the glass playing table as he peers down.
A favorite episode of mine, from an enjoyable Richard Matheson short story that I once read decades ago. The episode has a wonderful “you are there” feel to it and is made all the more special by Andrews gently devilish and impish performance. The ambiguous nuances added in are a plus as well-makes the viewer question what society it is that has a different form of land line telephone and automobiles that make a non-internal combustion engine sound.
@@ZilogBob Yes, I realize. It’s been shown on series like “The Prisoner” and others. Here in this episode it’s obviously meant to hint at the notion that this society “seems to be Earth” but is it really? Subtle, expressive way of indicating later near the climax that there are similarities between the two Terran worlds-just not identical.
Even the navigation globe is from Forbidden Planet, along with the power dials on the walls which were in the Krell lab that Morbios used to amplify the effects of the mind machine which created the monster from his ID.
Many viewers note that Fritz Weaver was in the episodes “Third from the Sun” and “The Obsolete Man.” I suspect that Fritz Weaver lobbied for these parts. Weaver was always anti-war, and he spent WW II in a U.S. labor camp as a conscientious objector. The USA had 152 such penal camps during the war, and did not release its prisoners until two years after the war ended. (During the First World War, conscientious objectors were simply imprisoned.)
I wonder if people even understand how amazing The Twilight Zone was. They had to come up with a new story with new characters every week and were creating sci-fi and fantasy episodes at a time when the available special effects were very limited. Yet, nearly everyone agrees that this is by far the best anthology series of it's kind and I don't think I've ever even witnessed anyone try to debate that fact. Not to mention the fact that they managed to make compelling, thought provoking episodes, that consistently surprised viewers with all kinds of twists and turns. Also, this is one of my favorite episodes.
I agree with you, last night I watched The Gift with the alien who came to bring a vaccine to cure cancer. That was the gift. But fear made the townspeople kill the alien and burn the gift except for what was in the gift, but the chemical components of the vaccine was burned in the fire. The best part was the little orphan Pedro, he was kind but he was thought to be odd because he liked to look at the night sky. The kind doctor took him home in the end.
Also a bit prophetic too. I just hope I am wrong
@@55Quirll me too.
Andrews and Weaver's back and forth in their scenes together was a masterclass. Made the episodes tension all the more palpable.
I was born in 59 but I have a sister that's almost 6 years older so every Saturday we watched The Twilight Zone, then The Outer Limits then Bandstand. ❤️
This episode of The Twilight Zone, number 14 in the first season of the series, was broadcast on January 8, 1960. It was early in Fritz Weaver's career, but was not his first on-camera performance. He began work in the mid-1950's, the golden age of live television drama, with roles on The United States Steel Hour and The DuPont Show of the Month among others. He was in the 1957 live television production of Beyond This Place directed by Sidney Lumet, who a few years later would direct the film Fail Safe in which Weaver played a treasonous Air Force officer who comes dangerously close to starting a nuclear war.
This was Fritz Weaver’s very first time acting on camera, since he had been strictly a stage actor before doing this, and he did a really good job.
Great in Fail Safe.
He was also good in the Twilight Zone episode "The Obsolete Man."
Having had the pleasure of working with Fritz Weaver, one of the things that his stage acting made him so good was that on the first day of a rehearsal, he already knew all his lines without needing to refer to the script. This gave him the ability for screen work, to start anywhere in the story and it would be as though they would be using multiple cameras. There was no difference in his expressions or tone of voice.
He was weird.
he also is col cascio in fail safe
Serling was a deep thinker about the human condition. I saw him interviewd by Mike Wallace and it was then that I realized what a philosopher and man of action he was. I'm a bigger fan of his now than when the shows were first aired.
Considering the way things are going in the US right now, "The Obsolete Man" with Fritz Weaver and Burgess Meredith also really stands out to me.
Oh please... you've got three meals a day, entertainment at your keyboard & mouse, and an army of police and military people to keep you safe. You're living a life with clean water, clean air, and no real wants. As said in one movie, "Lighten' up, Francis."
@@Easy-Eight "The Obsolete Man" wasn't about security, or entertainment, it was about freedom. If you don't have that, all the other trappings are just a gilded cage.
@@Easy-Eight
"He who exchanges all of his liberty for a little bit of temporary security soon loses both and deserves neither one."
Benjamin Franklin
We have to remember that WW2, with the focus on Naziism, was still fresh in people's memories. It was even more recent to them than Y2K is to us. There had been in most people's memories a time in which fascism could have become the dominant form of government in the world, and non-fascist countries could expect to be invaded and crushed by fascist ones.
The only aspect of The Obsolete Man that rings true today: the demise of the classic library. It has a special meaning for me - I came from a home that was variously run by a schizophrenic mother, alcoholic father, or violent alcoholic stepmother. My last two years in high school were in a school so racially troubled that there was a race riot that made national news because the Oakland police refused to come on campus, and I was left with PTSD that prevented me from voluntarily setting foot in a campus environment for 50 years. If not for my education from public libraries my life would have been very different and in a horrible way.
Agreed Serling had no love for Statism, whether it came in the form of fascism, Marxism, militarism, or any other -ism.
Fritz Weaver would also appear in "The Obsolete Man".
Edward Andrews was a fabulous character actor. He could do it all: comedy, drama, film noir. His voice and face were instantly recognizable. We don't have actors like that any more.
He was in many tv shows back in the 60's
not unlike Allan Melvin from Bilko and All in The Family and others....everywhere and all the time.
First discovered TZ in the very early 80’s when KTLA5 would run a Thanksgiving day marathon here in the LA market..as kids we would love the scary ones, living doll, to serve man, nightmare at 20,000 feet, etc…this became our family tradition.. Most went over our heads then..This episode in particular.. What I take from it as an adult was they escaped their doomed planet to arrive on a “safe” planet that at the time was embroiled in a Cold War and uncertain fate.. pure genius…TZ has been part of mine and my brothers and sisters lives now for 40 years, and never gets old… I subscribed to your channel, keep up the great work…
Twilight Zone was an exceptional series. This is one of my favorites.
Well done video. You captured and explained the intensity of that episode. Like so many Twilight Zone episodes it was thought provoking and intelligent. Only seconds into Andrews’s performance I despised and feared him. That episode is a Gold Standard. Too bad NOTHING on TV now can come close
*"Up, over, and whammo." One of the best lines in both The Twilight Zone and in television history.*
1:50 Edward Andrews has to be one of the best villain actors of all time. Both Serling and Hitchcock made great use of him; he always looks as if he is up to something sinister.
I agree! He always did a fantastic job that would cause revulsion sometimes, he was so intense, all while bringing it to us as understatement.
Sinister is exactly the word I always used (as did my mother independently) to describe Andrews. Easy to hate in his roles but even more so, greatly deserving of admiration for those very same roles. A wonderful actor.
@@sergioreyes298 By all accounts nothing like that in real life as is usually the case. Andrews had 3 kids and was married 30 yrs until his death from a heart attack in 1985. Wonderful actor indeed..
Edward Andrews was a all around actor. He was the doctor to Rock Hudson in the comedy farsce SEND ME NO FLOWERS--I always liked him in the role --besides the overall movie.
See him in the TZ episode, "You Drive:.
I remembered this episode before the narrator told about the script!!! I remember at the time (when it was first shown) exclaiming “I knew it!) right before the twist was pronounced!! What a great show The Twilight Zone was! I’m glad I was alive to see them in their first run!!
The episode beautifully dropped little clues that this wasn't really 1960s America: The strange music Sturka plays, the electric motor (judging by the sound) of the family car, and the sign on the fence: "MINISTRY of Science."
My favorite Twilight Zone that is related to war is the episode where there is a report of a nuclear attack coming, one couple has a bomb shelter, and their friends all try to bust into it.
And all the neighbors turned against each other, and suspect each other.
@@kimerleviccaro1957 No... It was another Serling's episode not directly related to nuclear war but to alien and monsters if I remember. If I remember it was staged in the new and famous "American suburbs". In Brazil suburbs has a totally different meaning. Hmmm maybe you are right. I vaguely remember that there was another episode with a typical American radio broadcast of apocalypse inside a household room. I watched it many decades ago. You are I probably right. Brazil.
Brazil.
Brazil.
@@KRYPTOS_K5 I just watched the one about the monsters but the people were the monsters.
@@kimerleviccaro1957 The episode that I think you are referring to is one where aliens are attacking. All the neighbors turn on each other. At the end, one alien says to the other something like, “That’s all we do- turn a few lights and things on and off and they all kill each other.”
The episode I am talking about is- There are 4 couples eating dinner at one of the couple’s homes. It is a party, and they all talk about how much they like the home owner.
They then find out that a nuclear attack is coming, and the couple whose home they are at has a bomb shelter. The majority of the episode is the other 3 couples- the really good friends- all trying to break into the shelter.
By the end, they all turn on each other including bringing up things like race.
When they finally all break in and are about to basically kill each other, the radio tells them that the attack was a false report, so then they are all just standing there going, “Uhhhh”
I saw both of them but I think I’m confusing the two. I’ll have to rewatch them. Thank you. I think the guy with the bomb shelter was a doctor and it was a retirement party for him.
Loved all Serlings shows. Twilight Zone was great and so was night gallery.
Mr. Serling never disappointed he brought great suspense, drama and mystery. He left us wondering. Love how he made one wonder...
Night Gallery didn't last long on air but I loved what I did get to see.
If he had not died so early I Wonder what else he would have given to his audience.
♥️
Yes he passed untimely, being only 50 years of age. Still, it is remarkable that he managed to launch 4 television series (2 anthology based, 2 episodic) given that the medium fought him every step of the way.
Cigarettes killed them all
@@johngoerger8996 - Rod Serling was probably a Genius and a great Visionary. But unfortunately, he was not a great enough Visionary to realzie that Cigarerretes are defintely bad for you. There was one episode (and probably more than one) where the Actors in the Script praise Cigarettes and Tobacco. I remember that great episode where people are stuck in a Restuaraunt in a Small Town and they think there might be a E.T invader ONe of the characters reveals himself to be a Martian when he pulls out his 3rd Arm. He says how thiere is nothing as great on his planet like a Cigarrette. I wish Serling had realized Cigarettes are not good for you.
@@HoldenNY22 Cigarettes were probably a coping mechanism for him. From what I've read, he never got over his experiences in WWII, which was also evident in his nervous vocal twitches and lip biting. They didn't call it PTSD in those days, but everyone knew what it was.
@@pcno2832 Spot On (as the British say), Sir!
Excellent episode. Serling was a lucky man. He was in the right time with the best sci-fi writers in a great country during a great mankind's moment of History and benefiting of a totally new and virgin mass media. And there were even more advantages to be a popular but also mass media true intellectual in the 50/60/70. Think in today's culture versus yesterday's culture...
Brazil
I have the entire collection in Portuguese and English.
With regards to Serling it was more a matter of finding an outlet within the science fiction genre to write then perceived controversial social commentary that producers and sponsors were always censoring him for. A stroke of genius on his part quite honestly.
@@historybuff66You are right in a typical American fashion of approach to those commercial endeavours. However I suspect that it was probably the kind of (not kindness) standard way to be a notorious public figure which Serling certainly would despise.
Brazil
As a kid Edward Andrews scared me more in this episode than any monster could.
For such an ordinary looking person, Andrews surely could be menacing.
Rod Serling helped sooo many great writers get their best stuff on television. Contemporary fiction owes him everything.
This episode is so quietly tense, it almost makes me feel like I cant even breathe. Another great one cataloged! :)
Yes 👍, The silence added to the suspense, rather than the hokey, overdone music now
This episode also had fantastic music that created tension and drama the music was genius in many episodes that is an often overlooked quality of how good the series was.
The great Bernard Herrmann did the music. He also did Alfred Hitchcock films. His final work was the music for "Taxi Driver."
I was 14 years old when the Twilight Zone aired its first episode. The actor in the first episode was Earl Holliman. Roughly 16 years later I stood within 20 feet of of Mr Holliman while he waited to do a scene for theTV series Police Woman with Angie Dickinson. I had the opportunity to visit Warner Bros in the mid 70's. Funny how life works.
Richard Matheson (1926 - 2013) was a prolific and very popular writer. He wrote the story, that was the premise for the Steven Spielberg movie, "Duel" (1971). The movie about a mysterious and deranged truck driver. who was obsessed with trying to kill an innocent car driver, played by Denis Weaver.
The original version, was a short story published in Playboy in April of 1971.
He wrote many fine short stories indeed…enjoyed his “I Am Legend” and “The Shrinking Man” novels as well.
@@historybuff66 "Legend" has been made into, what, four movies.
@@emsleywyatt3400 With at least 3 different titles.
I once had the good fortune to see and meet Richard Matheson at a sci-fi book fair in Granada Hills, California. He was quite willing to autograph any books that fair attendees brought, so I took with me three of his books that I had (and still have) three short story collections published in the 1960's: Shock, Shock II and Shock III. Shock II contains the story "Mute" which was made into a Twilight Zone episode during that season with the rarely seen one hour episodes
I bought the 1st season, which was all that was available at that time. This episode was in it. I thought it was GREAT! Just yesterday, I saw the whole 5 seasons, but it was more than I wanted to pay. This has made me decide to go back and get it. Thanks! It was my favorite show when I was a Teenager, and it STILL stands out as one of the best shows EVER made. The THOUGHT provoking part is what I think made it so. The CRAP put out today does its' best to tell you what to think based on their sickness, and absolutely discourages ANY thinking for yourself.
Fantastic episode. One of my favorite episode with good acting; special effects, for its time; excellent n writing. Watching it every so often to this day. Was a big fan during its original broadcast n watching it every week. Kudos for ur commentary n upload. New subscriber because of this vid. Anticipating ur next one. Aloha from Hawaii
Serling's series was highly influential to writers and TV imitators. Rod realized that if he created a scenario featuring elements of science fiction or fantasy, he could write just about anything. He cleverly cloaked themes of racism, paranoia, greed, politics and war in a way not done before.
Or since!
Thank you so much for posting this. This is in my top 25 list of "Twilight Zone" episodes. The writing is brilliant (of course)! The performances are superb! I love that stock music. I was sad to see that this episode will not be airing for the Fourth of July marathon "Rod, White, & Blue" this year! AWESOME CRITIQUE!
4th of July marathon? You mean on KTLA-5? WHOA they still do that.... I caught more than a few TZ episodes that way. In Navy in Long Beach 1983-86.
Imagine if that ship is the ship that crashes into the womans attic in the episode The Invaders.
That's one of my favorite episodes, with Agnes Morehead!
😂🤣😅🤣
Now that would be a far out mind bending episode for sure.
As far as it's a great idea and I approve of it and I hate to be the needle here, the ship on that particular episode have USA marks and earthly name on the outside so..........
Absolutely Love that theory! Too bad rod isn’t around to confirm it.
This episode is a great tale, one that most of us are familiar with, described in the old saying "Out of the frying pan . . . and into the fire." Visionary writing from an amazing human, Rod Serling lives on in our memories.
I love, love, love the original TZ. Great episode, I laughed thinking to myself how the characters happen to have an American accent and know of our planet as Earth! Edward Andrews also played the villain wonderfully on another episode in season 5 'You Drive '
Only just realised that it was the same spaceship as in 'To Serve Man' 'On Thursday we leave for home' and 'People are alike all over' all subsequent TZ remakes pale badly compared to the original. Rod Serling was a brilliant man who died to soon
A great episode; I can still feel the tension as I remember seeing it as a kid. I watched it only once or twice since and felt just as anxious. Wonderful suspenseful episode. Great music and angles matching up with wonderful performances that went just far enough without being unbelievable. I wish tbe series had either lasted long enough to, or had put out a special with the same crew, Serling and writers, either revisiting an episode (though there is risk of that taking away from the original) or, especially, having a sort of duel-sequel where 2 or 3 episodes characters intertwine in some way. Though that might be more doable with Outer Limits (another great show)
Rod Sterling's Twilight zones are fantastic I have the whole collection . I'm almost 70 years old. But I watched them back in the early 60s and I watch them now. They're just as good now as they ever were in the 60s Twilight Zone was always way ahead of its time. Rod Serling was a genius.
What’s your favorite episode?
@@QuintTheSharkerOne of my favorite one's is episode 130 the 7th is made up of phantoms.
Great episode I love the ending EARTH!. When I first watched it as kid I thought WOW!! Don't come here we may not be better off.
I think Death’s Head Revisited is better when it comes to anti-war, but this is a great episode as well. No complaints from me. Great tension and air of foreboding.
Police Squad with Leslie Neilson was also such a program except it was a comedy. You had to pay close attention or you would have missed a gag.
This is my favorite episode, by a long shot.
Yeah, it's 'da bomb'!
Such a great episode!!
Deaths-Head Revisited is the best anti-war episode.
Yes, Deaths-Head Revisited is a great anti-war episode as well. I find “Third From the Sun” more interesting to me because of the sci-fi elements but D-HR is very disturbing.
This was always one of my favorite TZ episodes. I think I agree with you - it is one of its finest anti-war episodes, though I would put it neck and neck with A Quality of Mercy, where a gung ho WW2 American army lieutenant finds himself in the body of a Japanese officer at 1942 Corregidor, where he learns the other side of the coin.
Richard Bare directed most of the episodes of Green Acres, and he was once asked the difference between directing something as detailed as Twilight Zone and directing Green Acres. Bare remarked, "With Green Acres, the problem was staying awake."
No one had THAT problem with Twilight Zone.
I missed the episode title the first time around. "A Quality of Mercy" stands out better in parentheses.
Leonard Nimoy was in A Quality of Mercy. A great episode, but then again most TZ episodes were!
This episode is among my top 5 favorite and I always liked Edward Andrews in any roll on any show or movie he was in
I am such a fan of this show! So before it's time and never ceases to amaze and I never ever picked those twist endings. I've watched a number of interviews about it and sure Rod wouldn't be surprised at the still loved history being shown 👍 really enjoyed this 👵🇭🇲
Great analysis. I saw these all when they first hit the air. The moral and ethical what ifs made me think. It is THE big reason Star Trek had such big success. Every story made you think. Is love stronger than hate?
One of my favorite episodes for the mood and acting as you have well illustrated. Really love the musical score. Have loved this one since my youth…
"Deaths- Head Revisited" is also excellent and timely comment on war. And beautifully filmed in noir style black and white.
Fritz Weaver was a great actor. This was a fine performance of his. He sometimes plays villains and sometimes heroes. This time he was very sympathetic in this role.
I feel that the theme of most TZ episodes is this: "Watch what happens if you get what you want." BTW Andrews is great as usual.
This was a very good episode. And yes, Edward Andrews was excellent as the villain. It's funny, but in a lot of shows, it's really the bad guy who makes the show work. I see in the sitcom McHale's Navy with Joe Flynn doing a marvelous job as Captain Binghamton. A lot of shows would just not be the same without these characters. Edward Andrews was also in the Twilight Zone episode You Drive, which he did an excellent job as the tormented driver who ran away after hitting a kid in a hit and run accident.
The best anti-war episode - I don't know. Some others come to mind. A Quality of Mercy with Dean Stockwell as the gung ho young lt. changing places with the Japanese that he wanted to eliminate was pretty good. There was the Purple Testament was also good. William Reynolds plays a lt. who can gets the ability to see who's going to die in a battle.
However my favorite has to be Death's Head Revisited from season 3. It takes place at Dachau concentration camp after the war. Oscar Beregi comes back to reminisce of his days there as the sadistic SS Captain who ran the camp. He gets confronted by one of the Jews he killed now the keeper of the camp played by Joseph Schildkraut and he goes insane. I wouldn't say this is necessarily an anti-war episode. Maybe around antisemitism and evil.
This episode was a definite reflection of the times in which it was created. During the late 1950s/early 1960s, humanity was anxious and fear-ridden over the prospect of all-out nuclear war. Rod Serling's use of twist endings would be carried on with, "The Planet of the Apes." (1968).
Such a great ending to a movie.
The best anti-war Rod Serling episode was NOT a TZ episode, but a made for television movie called "Carol For Another Christmas". It plays very much like a TZ episode and was based upon the idea of "A Christmas Carol" taking place in cold-war America. Written by Serling, the ONLY television show ever produced by Joseph Mankeiwicz, with music by Henry Mancini and starring Britt Ekland, Ben Gazzara, Sterling Hayden, Pat Hingle,
Steve Lawrence, Eva Marie Saint, and Robert Shaw...but the real star was Peter Sellers with one of his most bizarre characters. It was shown once in 1964 as a means of promoting the United Nations and not shown again until TCM aired it in 2012, which is where I discovered it. The full version is currently on UA-cam.
Maybe one of the Best Anti-Big Government episodes
This is my favorite twilight zone episode!!!
Edward Andrews was a featured actor on several episodes. Usually a villain character.
Remember him on You Drive, what other episodes was he in?
E.A. was very good at comedy
@@debbieanne7962 I looked Edward Andrews up on Google and it says that he was in 2 episodes of the Twilight Zone. I am sorry. But he appeared in lots of other tv shows and movies.
@@sthompson4049 I seem to remember that. Thanks 😊 But it seems that he was a villain on most of the things he was in. Even in comedies.
Totally Agree. These days everyone is too scared to try something new, they keep churning out the same moneymaking, PC stuff. Today is more like written by accountants. Real writing back then, minimal effects.
The Twlight Zone was 1 of the best Si Fi shows on TV at that time. There were also these shows too-Way Out & The Outter Limits.
When I first saw this episode it was definitely a huh? moment for me. The villain, the families were all superb. I thought it was well written and remember thinking this is what sci-fi should be all about. A good compelling story that leaves you thinking about it long after the story is finished. Anyways thanks for this video and stay awesome!
- I was hoping that lovely Ann Francis was on that spaceship ... 😍 💖
9:58 "...it makes you think about what you are watching". And that is why TZ is my all time favorite show.
Great upload, this was one of our favorite episodes for Twilight Zone fans.
This one was brilliant a great twist but viewers who knew astronomy were aware earth is the third planet from our sun so they could have guessed the twist early on. Audiences in Holland knew Darth Vader was Luke's father since Darth Vader is Dutch for Dark Father.
Edward Andrews always seemed like a nervous and dangerous craven little backstabbing man.
Great character acting
@@debbieanne7962 Mr. Andrews played a great part in "The Harder They Fall
(1956) as a sleazy boxing manager. Not many actors could play scenes with Humphrey Bogart and come out on top!
Remember him well in "You Drive" another Twilight Zone classic.
Edward Andrews was over the top (in a magnificent way of course) as a pervert serial killer in a movie called The Unguarded Moment. It comes from a short story written by actress Rosiland Russell
Both Twilight Zone and Hitchcock Presents offered a lot of anti-war, anti-discrimination lessons. "Third From the Sun" is one of my favorite TZ epis.
I also believe that B&W helped provide a feeling of desperation. Those brought up with only color TV do not understand the work that goes into designing the sets and clothing with their colors and patterns so backgrounds and people don’t clash or appear washed out with what they’re wearing or working in.
So many great Twilight Zone episodes it’s hard to choose a favorite but I think Third from the Sun is my favorite if I had to choose one.
One of my favorites; I remember when it was first televised.
I recently found your channel and im binge watching all your videos. Please make more The twilight zone videos i really love this show!!
I love this episode, but I was a kid when I saw it and it scared the crap out of me. It seemed so real, eventhough I knew it was the Twilight Zone.
The story was set in classic Americana. That was real. The cold war was real. Even the characterizations were based on real humans. There were only a few plot devices in that story that were actually fictional.
@@rtqii Wow, I did not know that, now I am freaked out. 😳
I never saw this episode, nor any of the “banned” episodes. However, my favorite “Eve of Destruction “ episode is where a man makes a bomb shelter just big enough for his family in case of nuclear war. None of his neighbors prepare for the same eventuality, and as a nuclear war becomes imminent, all his neighbors start bargaining for spots in the cellar and end up almost killing each other in the process. The war is called off,but it shows the true nature of man… willing to kill friends to save themselves. I’ll have to look up the name of that episode. One episode, which I saw only once, has a young Dennis Hopper starting a group who worship Hitler and his warped ideas. Hopper’s acting is the best and most passionate of any I have seen by any other actor on The Twilight Zone.I have a question for someone: I read that there was an episode that was canned for being too politically motivated.Serling liked to inject his own personal ideas into movies but this was deemed to be beyond the pale. Did anyone else ever hear of this? I’m going to Google it. I post again if I find the answer. It was supposed to be a superb episode but “too racy”.( not racist).
Edward Andrews: just one of the excellent actors to appear on this program. Nowadays, with all the technology available for filming, I seriously doubt they could even come close to the quality of the scripts and the fabulous acting of the ‘60’s Twilight Zone.
When I first saw this episode, I could not help but wonder about the Hi-Fi or stereo console in the living room playing the music. When he goes to turn off the music, he pushes in on something that you can not see, and you hear a click. It suggests to me that it was some sort of a cartridge tape machine but not a phonograph. That combined with the telephone made the room seem very futuristic.
Awesome ! I This is a treat for me Ive loved watched the TwilightZone ever since I was 8 when I saw Next stop Willoughby in 1976.
I thought I knew about and saw every episode and now heres one Twilight Zone episode I never saw !
My favorite Cold War episode would be Old Man in the Cave. It’s about a dystopian future where humanity has been decimated by the atomic bomb. People are left to survive by the wisdom from an ‘old man in a cave’. It’s a great warning look at what could happen if humanity is not careful.
I saw this episode when I was 8, and I asked my Dad "How are they supplying UPS to a computer without utility service or backup generators" he chuckled.
Why is the computer in the cave? What energy source runs the machine? At the conclusion of the episode there was disappointment - even Rod Serling and his pontificating could not help....
My favourite episode!!!
Edward Andrews also did a fine job as a sleazebucket in "Bullitt," especially with the car chase scene, Steve McQueen in the famous green Mustang, Andrews and another bad guy in a gorgeous black Dodge Charger (which of course doesn't stay gorgeous for long)....he also plays, against type, a small part in 'Tora, Tora, Tora' as a good guy, a United States State Department officer who makes the fateful decision to inform FDR about the pending Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, rather than Admiral Kimmel at Pearl Harbor, thereby leaving Kimmel with no warning... an honest but fateful error...
The set lighting really adds to the feeling of "oddness".
This episode aired in January 1960, near the height of the Cold War with Russia and the nuclear arms race here on Earth. That's what Serling was referring to in the closing narration. That's what made the twist ending so cool: This family risked everything to flee nuclear war on their own planet--only to land on Earth which was also risking nuclear war at the time!
The Last Flight showed the impact one person could have. It inspired a plot for a Star Trek TNG episode.
Also Russell Johnson in “Back There”.
REALLY? Which one? Don't tease us like dat, dude.
@@michaelgarwood7076 Yesterday’s Enterprise.
"People are Alike All Over" was the plot to the first Star Trek. Even used the same actress in the same role, with similar costume.
They didn't syndicate that one for years because people started noticing.
Star Trek lifted the theme music
Several episode plots
The shape of the ship
The uniforms
The control, viewscreen and turbolift set styling for the bridge
The name Vina
The Transporter
Flip communicators
Tablet computers
All from earlier series, movies, comics, novels, novel cover art.
I remember the one with Elizabeth Montgomery as he enemy soldier one of my favorite
That’s with Charles Bronson. Awesome.
One my 15 fave episodes! I've watch them all so often
I don't know why, but for some reason this episode always reminds me of the origin of the Fantastic Four.
The acting is taut, tense, and well-played in "Third From the Sun," in the classic Twilight Zone series. Rod Serling had a knack for adding social comment to the episodes, making it look believable, and adding a twist ending.
The remade TZ series of years later absolutely suck. Except for Night Gallery, which had some evocative programs, though not nearly as subtle as the TZ.
Wow! I'll have to go look this one up! I don't remember seeing it in reruns or as part of one of the marathons over the years and there aren't many episodes I've missed!
Another great TZ episode that used props from Forbidden Planet
Excellent video on this classic TZ episode! I agree the acting was just superb!
The Twilight Zone that most influenced my late blooming nuclear disarmament interest is The Old Man in the Cave, set in a post nuclear apocalypse. It made me wonder, when I watched it a couple years ago, if there would ever be anybody saying afterward, "I'm glad we did that."
We need another round of these anti-nuclear war shows to put some fear back into the public. when this episode aired (Jan 1960) the Doomsday clock was at 7 mins to midnight. In 2022, its 100 seconds to mid-night. We never been closer to global nuclear war.
The astrogator prop on the bridge of this Forbidden Planet, United Earth Federation cruiser is now on ST Strange New Worlds in Captain Pike's quarters as an antique. Probably a replica, but the same 3-D astrogator. It was also used in Lost in Space 1965.
7:04 Agent Carling does not have to turn over the score card from the card game to see the escape plans on the reverse. These are reflected on the glass playing table as he peers down.
After decades of watching this show I can’t remember ever seeing this episode.
This has been my favorite episode forever. Next would be "the shelter". I have the futuristic phone Sturka uses in this episode.
There were so many great character actors back then.
Weaver here....also played the 'State Executioner'...in, 'The Obsolete Man'.... with Burgess Merrideth.
Too bad nobody can come close to this today. It would never be allowed.
By whom?
@@emsleywyatt3400 Hollyweird and The Message cult.
One of my favorites with "time enough at last" with Burgess Meredith and "The Obsolete Man" again with Burgess Meredith
A favorite episode of mine, from an enjoyable Richard Matheson short story that I once read decades ago. The episode has a wonderful “you are there” feel to it and is made all the more special by Andrews gently devilish and impish performance. The ambiguous nuances added in are a plus as well-makes the viewer question what society it is that has a different form of land line telephone and automobiles that make a non-internal combustion engine sound.
The landline telephone is a Swedish "Ericofon" which was very new in the 1960s.
@@ZilogBob Yes, I realize. It’s been shown on series like “The Prisoner” and others. Here in this episode it’s obviously meant to hint at the notion that this society “seems to be Earth” but is it really? Subtle, expressive way of indicating later near the climax that there are similarities between the two Terran worlds-just not identical.
Edward Andrews was in his element in this role. He was a master of the smug, officious persona.
Even the navigation globe is from Forbidden Planet, along with the power dials on the walls which were in the Krell lab that Morbios used to amplify the effects of the mind machine which created the monster from his ID.
Matheson also wrote the novel that the movie SOMEWHERE IN TIME (with Christopher Reeve & Jane Seymour) was based on.
Many viewers note that Fritz Weaver was in the episodes “Third from the Sun” and “The Obsolete Man.” I suspect that Fritz Weaver lobbied for these parts. Weaver was always anti-war, and he spent WW II in a U.S. labor camp as a conscientious objector. The USA had 152 such penal camps during the war, and did not release its prisoners until two years after the war ended. (During the First World War, conscientious objectors were simply imprisoned.)
Guest Starring Pac-Man as a lights display.
There is a book that came out a few years ago, maybe five years, which covers all of the Twilight Zone shows.