lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (03/16/85)
NOTE: THIS DOCUMENT IS YEARS OLD. NETWORK ADDRESSES SHOWN ARE NO LONGER VALID. FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE TZ EPISODE GUIDE THAT SAUL AND I DISTRIBUTED MANY MOONS AGO... --Lauren-- =========================== TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE GUIDE =========================== Saul Jaffe (CCIS.JAFFE@RUTGERS) Lauren Weinstein (Lauren@UCLA-Security) Lauren's rating system * ugh. pretty bad. ** has merit. *** good, solid show. **** particularly good. ***** superlative. _________________________________ In this document, comments by Saul Jaffe are preceded by SJ: and comments by Lauren Weinstein are preceded by LW:. ... ... ... FOURTH SEASON Jan-May 1963 ----------------------------- SJ: These episodes are one hour in length. They WERE sold into syndication but none of the networks air the episodes since they only allow half-hour slots for the show. LW: Further investigation on my part seems to indicate that they were indeed made available for syndication at one time, but apparently nobody picked them up. Two things should be noted. First of all, the "networks" never buy syndicated programs. Local stations (be they independents, network affiliates, or network owned and operated) are the entities that buy syndicated programming. Oddly enough, at least two major markets (L.A., and apparently N.Y.) have independent stations which run the half hour shows back to back in a one hour slot. Clearly they COULD in theory run the one hour shows if they wanted to, but either nobody wants to or else there are some sort of legal/logistic complications in doing so, even assuming they are still available for syndication. [MANY OF THESE EPISODES HAVE NOW BEEN PACKAGED FOR SYNDICATION AND ARE BEGINNING TO BE AIRED] -- Lauren ('84) --- IN HIS IMAGE **** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Perry Lafferty Cast: George Grizzard, Gail Kobe, Katherine Squire, Wallace Rooney, Sherry Granato, James Seay, Joseph Sargent, Jamie Forster The first hour installment of THE TWILIGHT ZONE concerns a young man who murders an old woman for no apparent reason. He also discovers all sorts of discrepencies in his memories of the town where he THOUGHT he was currently living. In the end he discovers a horrible truth about himself. LW: I like this one. It does a good job of portraying fear and confusion as our hero finds himself deeper and deeper within a nightmarish situation. By the way, the opening scene of this episode is a REAL winner, something to gladden the heart of many of us. THE THIRTY-FATHOM GRAVE *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Paul Lafferty Cast: Mike Kellin, Simon Oakland, David Shiener, Bill Bixby, Tony Call, John Considine, Conlan Carter, Derrick Lewis, Charles Kuenstle The crew of a Navy destroyer hear strange tapping noises coming from a submarine that sank 20 years before. LW: This was another famous nightmare producing episode. Bill Bixby? He was later of "My Favorite Martian" and several more recent programs, such as "The Magician" and "The Incredible Hulk". THE MUTE *** Writer: Richard Matheson Director: Stuart Rosenberg Cast: Frank Overton, Barbara Baxley, Ann Jilliann, Irene Dailey, Hal Riddle, Percy Helton, Oscar Beregi, Eva Soreny A little girl raised on telepathic communication must adjust to the spoken word after her parents are killed in a fire. JESS-BELLE *** Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr. Director: Buzz Kulik Cast: Anne Francis, James Best, Laura Devon, Jeanette Nolan, Virginia Gregg, George Mitchell, Helen Kleeb, Jim Boles, Jon Lormer Thrilleresque occult yarn about a woman (Francis) who sells her soul to the Devil to recapture the love of a former suitor (Best). Rural witchery from the creator of THE WALTONS. DEATH SHIP **** Writer: Richard Matheson Director: Dan Medford Cast: Jack Klugman, Ross Martin, Fredrick Beir, Sara Taft, Ross Elliot, Mary Webster Sets, props, costumes and stock footage from FORBIDDEN PLANET enhance this tale about three space travelers who discover their own crashed ship and dead bodies when they investigate a strange reflection on a planet surface. LW: This is really a good episode. It has true recursion, and is one of the more memorable episodes. Klugman we know from previous TZ's. Ross Martin played James West's "sidekick" Artemis Gordon in "The Wild Wild West". VALLEY OF THE SHADOW *** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Perry Lafferty Cast: Ed Nelson, Natalie Trundy, David Opatoshu, James Doohan, Suzanne Capito, Dabbs Greer A reporter (Nelson) wanders into a backwoods town and discovers an incredible secret that might cause the end of the world. HE'S ALIVE ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Stuart Rosenberg Cast: Dennis Hopper, Ludwig Donath, Curt Conway, Howard Caine, Barnaby Hale, Paul Mazursky, Bernard Pein, Jay Adler The "he" of this title refers to Adolf Hitler. A young reactionary (Hopper) is guided by a shadowy figure on methods to control and mesmerize the populace. LW: Not too good. MINIATURE ** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Ralph Senesky Cast: Robert Duvall, Pert Kelton, Barbara Barrie, Len Weinrib, William Windom, Claire Griswold, Nina Roman, John McLiam An unhinged man (Duvall) escapes into a fantasy world by visiting a museum's miniature replica of life in the 1890's. PRINTER'S DEVIL **** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Ralph Senesky Cast: Burgess Meredith, Robert Serling, Patricia Crowley, Charles Thompson, Ray Teal, Ryan Hayes, Doris Kemper A dying newspaper is rescued from oblivion by a mysterious fellow (Meredith) whose Linotype machine predicts tomorrow's news. LW: This is a pretty good episode. In fact, most of the episodes that Burgess had anything to do with turned out well. He can really be a sinister fellow in this one ... NO TIME LIKE THE PAST ** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Justus Addiss Cast: Dana Andrews, Patricia Breslin, Robert F. Simon, Violet Rensing, James Yagi, Tudor Owen, Lindsay Workman, Reta Shaw A moody scientist (Andrews) travels into the past to prevent the major catastrophes of history. LW: One of the problems with the third season was that plot elements of previous shows began to repeat, and the one hour format was really too long. This show is an example of both problems. THE PARALLEL ??? Writer: Rod Serling Director: Alan Crosland Cast: Steve Forrest, Jacqueline Scott, Frank Aletter, Shari Lee Bernath, Phillip Abbott, Pete Madsen, Robert Johnson, Morgan Jones Following a routine seven-day space flight, an astronaut is catapulted into a strange parallel universe. LW: The brain cells in charge of remembering this episode seem to be on the blink, I cannot remember enough details to rate it. Oh well. I DREAM OF GENIE *** Writer: John Furia Director: Robert Gist Cast: Howard Morris, Patricia Barry, Loring Smith, Mark Miller, Robert Ball, Jack Albertson, Joyce Jameson, Bon Hastings A genie pops out of an old brass lamp and offers one magic wish to his unwitting liberator. LW: The bulk of the show consists of our hero visualizing the various things he could wish for and what the outcome of each wish might be. Eventually he finds the perfect wish... You may notice a surface similarity with a previous episode ("The Man in the Bottle"), but unlike that episode, this one is tongue-in-cheek and rather humorous. THE NEW EXHIBIT *** Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: John Brahm Cast: Martin Balsam, Will Kuluva, Maggie Mahoney, William Mims, Billy Beck, Robert L. McCord, Bob Mitchell Another episode reminiscent of TV's THRILLER. Much to the bewilderment of a museum custodian (Balsam), wax figures of five notorious murderers come to life and begin a series of killings. OF LATE I THINK OF CLIFFORDVILLE **** Writer: Rod Serling Director: David Rich Cast: Albert Salmi, Julie Newmar, John Anderson, Mary Jackson, Wright King, Jamie Foster, Guy Raymond A heartless, very rich man (Salmi) desires to return to the small town where he was born and start life again. He figures he will end up even RICHER this time, since he already knows where all the big oil fields will be, which stocks will go up, etc. A demon (Newmar) obliges him. LW: This is the TZ adaptation of the classic story "Blind Alley", by Malcolm Jameson. It is very well done. THE INCREDIBLE WORLD OF HORACE FORD ** Writer: Reginald Rose Director: Abner Biberman Cast: Pat Hingle, Nan Martin, Phillip Pine, Ruth White, Vaughn Taylor, Mary Carver, George Spicer, Bella Bruck Toy manufacturer (Hingle) literally becomes a child again when he visits his old neighborhood. ON THURSDAY WE LEAVE FOR HOME *** Writer: Rod Serling Director: Buzz Kulik Cast: James Whitmore, Tim O'Conner, James Broderick, Russ Bender, Paul Langton, Jo Helton, Mercedes Shirley, John Ward, Daniel Kulik Space settlers on a barren world finally get the chance to return to Earth, but the group's leader (Whitmore) protests. Episode plusses: strong performances and FORBIDDEN PLANET hardware. PASSAGE ON THE LADY ANN * Writer: Charles Beaumont Director: Lamont Johnson Cast: Joyce Van Patten, Lee Phillips, Wilfred Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Cecil Kellaway, Alan Napier Disillusioned young couple (Patten, Phillips) book passage on the final voyage of an ancient cruise ship inhabited by elderly folks. LW: Another ship story ... poor, as usual. THE BARD **** Writer: Rod Serling Director: David Butler Cast: Jack Weston, Henry Lascoe, John Williams, Marge Redmond, Doro Merande, Clegg Hoyt, Judy Strangis, Claude Stroud On-target satire. Hack writer Julius Moomer (Weston) conjures up William Shakespeare (Williams) to help him write a television script, but network and sponsor representatives suggest a few changes. LW: This is a funny one! Willy writing TV scripts. Alot of familiar character actors in this episode, and a bit part is played by a young (and relatively unknown) Burt Reynolds! ... ... ...