August 17, 2024: The Twilight rewatch continues with season 2, episodes 17-20!

Season 2, Episode 17, “Twenty Two”

This episode was first broadcast February 10, 1961.

Rod Serling drew his inspiration for this episode from “The Bus Conductor” by E.F. Benson which also inspired a segment in the horror film anthology Dead of Night. He was also partly inspired by a newspaper article about a construction worker who seemingly foretold his own death, informing co-workers he would be dead within days and then dying following a construction accident involving a crane.

Actress Barbara Nichols accidentally fell when she was running down the airplane steps and director Jack Smight liked it so much, he kept it in the cut. Nichols apparently suffered cuts and bruises to her knees and was thankful she wasn’t asked to do another take.

This was the fourth of six episodes shot on video.

This episode was purportedly the inspiration for Final Destination (2000).

Barbara Nichols, who played the seemingly doomed Liz Powell, built a career as a model, pin-up girl, and playing roles as dancers and wise-cracking supporting players. The Twilight Zone was a welcome change for her. According to Nichols: “I told Mr. Sterling I’m always a comedienne. I told him I’d always wanted to do dramatic roles. So he wrote the show for me. I’m happy as a clam.”

Nichols was involved in two serious car accidents, the first of which necessitated the removal of her spleen and the second of which resulted in a tear in her liver that, in turn, led to liver disease and her death at the all-too-young age of 48.

Jonathan Harris, who played the cackling doctor, trained himself to lose his New York accent early in life, learning to speak in the eloquent manner that served him well throughout a career peppered with polished villains, chiefest among them Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space (1965). He beat out both Jack Elam and Carroll O’Connor for the role. Although his character was only meant to appear in five episodes, he proved so popular that he ended up sticking around for the show’s entire run. While he remained good friends with series regular Bill Mumy, he never had the best of relationships with actor Guy Williams who played his adversary on the show.

Harris made many convention appearances following the show’s cancellation, often requesting his booth or table be separate from the other cast members.

Actress Arlene Martel, who played the creepy nurse, is perhaps best known to genre fans as T’Pring in “Amok Time” from the original Star Trek (1967). Apparently, her vulcan make-up and her sinister make-up for this episode were virtually identical.

I was not a big fan of much of this episode and its bargain basement video visuals. There were a number of odd/bad choices like the doctor’s annoying cackle or that unbearably stagey moment where the doctor pulls away the curtain to reveal the nurse standing behind it. And then there’s moment where, at the airport, she bumps into a woman who drops her vase, glances down blankly, and just leaves. What the hell was the point of that?

But having said all that, I really did love the final five minutes which saved this episode for me. Not a Top 10 entry but, in the end, not a bad outing.

Season 2, Episode 18, “The Odyssey of Flight 33”

This episode was first broadcast February 24, 1961.

Rod Serling was inspired to write this episode after receiving a brochure for a Boeing 707 cockpit interior that had been used for stewardess training and was available for production rental.

Rod’s brother, Robert Serling, was an airline pilot and aviation writer for United Press International and is credited as a consultant on this episode as he provided much of the authentic pilot dialogue.

Douglas Heyes was scheduled to direct this episode but, for some reason, was swapped out at the last minute for Justus Addiss. Heyes would never direct another episode of the series.

The brontosaurus sequence was credited to Jack N. Harris. A model was built and later used in Dinosaurs (1960). The sequence cost the production $2500, making it the most expensive footage in the show’s run.

Stephen King used elements of this plot for The Langoliers (1990).

In the previous episode, the protagonist fears room 22 and almost boards the ill-fated flight 22. In this episode, the plane’s occupants end up 22 years in the past and are asked to land on runway 22.

Serling was accused of plagiarism by someone who had sent in a story idea they felt was similar. Serling wrote back “neither the situations, the characters, the story projection or the conclusion have even the remotest similarity. I find it diffiuclt to understand or, indeed, am I able to figure out just what “coincidences” you’re referring to. In my view, these two stories share not one thing in common. […] At least fifteen letter writers each month accuse us of stealing story material from them.” Then, he goes on to add something that pretty much sums up why writers don’t read unsolicited ideas or scripts: “Frankly, it has become impractical to even open up manuscripts because the process carries with it the built-in possibility of having to respond to often violent accusations and with it, the added inconvenience of having to devote time trying to explain to the letter writer that we are a legitimate production unit who have enought trouble getting a show on the air without having to spend the time answering correspondence.” Not to mention the potential legal ramifications.

The accuser submitted 20 plot ideas through his agent. One, “Ah, Youth!”, ended up being purchased, apparently to avoid any legal entanglements. It became the season 5 episode “A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain”.

Actor John Anderson, who played the part of Captain “Skipper” Farver may look familiar because he played the role of Gabriel in season 1’s “A Passage for Trumpet”. He played Abraham Lincoln three times on screen as well as Kevin Uxbridge on Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Survivors”, and MacGyver’s grandfather.

Reflecting back on shooting this episode, Anderson said: “We looked damn serious doing that show, but we had a blast filming that. The guys playing my co-pilots were great. The director had trouble getting us settled because we were having so much fun. When you see me looking out at the dinosaur, I’m really looking at the the poor director. As soon as he’d yell, “Cut”, we were cracking jokes again. We were confined in this little cockpit. Whenever the director said “There’s a dinosaur” we had to pretend that it was out there. I saw the episode recently, and I was amazed I was able to spew out that technicial goggledygook.”

Actress Betty Garded, who played the chatty passenger, would later return in season 3’s “The Midnight Sun” as Mrs. Bronson, an overwrought landlady.

Actor Jay Overholts, who played the passenger on the receiving end of her diatribe, is credited with the most Twilight Zone guest appearances at eight.

Love the premise and, while the dinosaur footage feels humorously dated, I thought it was a pretty strong episode. I thought it would have benefited by our getting to know the passengers or maybe exploring the reactions of those not in the cockpit but, all in all, a solid outing.

Season 2, Episode 19, “Mr. Dingle, the Strong”

This episode was first broadcast March 3, 1961.

The street exterior where Mr. Dingle throws the football was last seen in season 1’s “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”.

This episode marked the second of Burgess Meredith’s four Twilight Zone appearances. His previous guest turn was in the seminal “Time Enough at Last”.

Don Rickles, who played the bullying bettor in this episode, got his start working nightclubs before landing his first role in Run Silen, Run Deep (1958). The movie was a hit and kick-started his onscreen career. The acerbic comedian was a regular on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts and starred in his own short-lived series, CPO Sharkey (1976). He voiced Mr. Potato Head in the first two Toy Story movies.

Nicknamed “Mr. Warmth” by Johnn Carson, Rickles never wrote down his jokes, preferring to come up with them on the spot. He became known as an insult comedian after resonding to a heckler at one of his shows and noticing the audience responded better to his comebacks than his actual show.

On April 6, 1972, mob boss Joe Gallo took in Rickles’ show at the Copacabana in New York. Rickles didn’t hold back, sending a few insults his way. Gallo was so amused that he invited Rickles to join him for dinner after the show. Rickles politely declined. And a good thing he did because Gallo was gunned down by hit men at the restaurant later that night.

Asked to provide some one-liners by the show’s publicity department, Rickles offered the following:

“Serling must do well. I’ve seen him in a convertible space ship.”

“The producer of Twilight Zone liked my work so well he gave me a summer home on Venus.”

“Serling is a brilliant writer – I know this because he gave me a card that said “brilliant writer” in color.”

Rickles reflected back on his time on the show: “Screw the director. I don’t even recall who directed that. The main man I remember was Burgess Meredith. He was one of the greats. I’m telling you he played his part so well that Rod Serling is probably shaking his hand to this day. That alien thing was stupid but what the heck, that was The Twilight Zone. You know what I remember about Meredith? In between takes he was a warm fellow who had a great sense of humor. We shot jabs at each other and he took ‘em as fast as he pitched them. They don’t make men like him anymore.”

Actor James Millhollin, who played the t.v. host, appeared in three episodes of The Twilight Zone, and previously as Mr. Arbruster in “The After Hours”.

This episode would mark actor Douglas Spencer’s (Martian #1) final role. He passed away of diabetes-related complications seven months after the episode aired.

Michael Fox, who played Martian #2, in discussing his work on the show: “I did a few of those. The one that I’m remembered for was the one where I played half of a two-headed monster and that was delightful. I got to know Serling fairly well – he was a charming and most talented man, and one of the few writers who really understood an actor’s problems, I thought.”

I enjoyed the previous comic episode (written by George Clayton Johnson) because the humor was restrained and character-focused, but Serling’s comedy leans into the broad, the silly, and the over-the-top. Not a fan of this one and especially not a fan of the alien designs that, I get it, are dated and intentionally silly, but even so…

Season 2, Episode 20, “Static”

This episode was first broadcast March 10, 1961.

This was the third of Charles Beaumont’s five scripts for the show and the fifth of six episodes shot on video. It was based on the Ocee Ritch story “Tune in Yesterday”.

A gentleman by the name of Fred DeGroter claimed the episode ripped off his story submission “Radio”, and threatened legal action…that went nowhere.

CBS disapproved of the line “Go buy yourself a switchblade” and asked it to be switched to candy or a remote-control toy. Serling ignored the request.

FDR’s address to the nation Ed Lindsay listens to was the first of his presidential fireside chats.

One of the scenes displays a commercial for chlorophyll cigarettes, a parody of the Chlorophyll Rage that saw companies hawking everything chlorphyll cigarettes to chlorophyll-laced toothpaste.

Actor Dean Jagger, who played the morose and perenially-sour Ed Lindsay, apparently spoke with a lisp in real life which disappeared when he was onscreen. He supported Senator Joseph McCarthy’s investigation into possible communist sympathizers in Hollywood and successfully lobbied to have blacklisted director Joseph Losey replaced on “X – The Unknown”, a British science-fiction film he starred in in 1956.

Alice Pierson, who played Mrs. Nelson, was a commedienne on stage and screen. Her final role was her most revered, that of nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched (1964). Only two seasons into the show, Pierson died of ovarian cancer, two weeks after shooting her final episode. She won a posthumous Emmy for her performance. Series star Elizabeth Montgomery and husband/producer William Asher helped her husband, Paul Davis, land a directing gig on the show as he had given up his broadway directing career to look after his ailing wife.

Stephen Talbot, who played the hip young boy, was a child actor who transitioned to documenary film-making, producing many critically-acclaimed pieces for PBS’s Frontline (1992).

This episode marked the first onscreen role for then radio disc jockey Bob Crane who goes uncredited here as the radio disc jockey.

After playing the role of Dr. Dave Kelsey on The Donna Summers Show (1958) for two seasons, Cranee was let go by producers who considered his character “too suggestive”. He eventually landed the role that made him famous, playing the part of series lead Colonel Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes (1965) for which he received two Emmy nominations. While on the show, he divorced his wife of twenty years to marry his series co-star Sigrid Valdis who payed Colonel Klink’s secretary, Hilda.

Following the cancellation of Hogan’s Heroes, opportunities were fewer. In 1975, he headlined his own series, The Bob Crane Show that only lasted a single season.

Three years later, while touring with the play “Beginner’s Luck”, Crane was found dead in an apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona. He had been beaten death and strangled (post-mortem) with an electric cord. His murder was never solved. Crane was good friends with actor Carroll O’Connor (All in the Family), who was a pallbearer at Crane’s funeral.

Some critics feel the episodes that take place on interior sets don’t suffer as greatly from the drop-off in visual (and, in the case of this episode, audio) quality as a result of them being shot on video, but I would disagree as they come across to me as exceedingly cheap-looking, akin to early 1950’s soaps.

“Static” was pretty drab and dismal all-around. Our protagonist, Ed Lindsay, was an antiquated asshole whose incessant grousing just got to be too much for me. While several past Twilight Zone episodes have offered ambiguous endings, this one felt like it was simply slapped on, a TZ-esque-like conclusion that doesn’t really land.

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