FOURTH SEASON Jan-May 1963
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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.
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!
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