This is the transcript of The Twilight Zone Podcast for deaf or hard of hearing fans of The Twilight Zone. I hope it will be of some. Please bear in mind that these notes are made for me to riff on and read from, so the style and cadence may be different from if they were written for an article, and much as I've tried to clean them up they may be rough round the edges in places.

Best Wishes – Tom Elliot

A Quality of Mercy

Introduction:

When tonight's Twilight Zone begins there is a date flashed up on the screen. It might seem like a small thing, but I'm trying to recall when the show has been so specific, so.... intent on making sure that you know the date that the story takes place on. Of course there have been times when a date has been specifically given to the audience in some way, the death of Lincoln comes to mind. But this time, it's right there, from the moment the episode begins.

The date is, August 6th 1945. But why is that significant? Well lets turn to the BBC news for that date, and see why that date lives in infamy:

The first atomic bomb has been dropped by a United States aircraft on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

President Harry S Truman, announcing the news from the cruiser, USS Augusta, in the mid-Atlantic, said the device was more than 2,000 times more powerful than the largest bomb used to date.

An accurate assessment of the damage caused has so far been impossible due to a huge cloud of impenetrable covering the target. Hiroshima is one of the chief supply depots for the Japanese army.

The bomb was dropped from an American B-29 Superfortress, known as Enola Gay, at 0815 local time. The plane's crew say they saw a column of smoke rising and intense fires springing up.

The President said the atomic bomb heralded the "harnessing of the basic power of the universe". It also marked a victory over the Germans in the race to be first to develop a weapon using atomic energy.

President Truman went on to warn the Japanese the Allies would completely destroy their capacity to make war.

The Potsdam declaration issued 10 days ago, which called for the unconditional surrender of Japan, was a last chance for the country to avoid utter destruction, the President said.

"If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on Earth. Behind this air attack will follow by sea and land forces in such number and power as they have not yet seen, but with fighting skill of which they are already aware." Meet our cast of characters. A war weary band of American soldiers on an island in the Phillipines. Surrounding a cave occupied by Japanese soldiers. But far from being hungry for battle, the Americans would sooner let them be...

CLIP: 02:17

Soldier: You don't think they'd expect us to go at that frontally do you?

Sgt Causarano: Well, when air strikes and an afternoon of lobbing shells doesn't accomplish anything you'd better start counting your cartridges, coz we are the bottom of the barrel. I mean when they can't move an enemy with the big stuff, that's when they call out the queen of battle, the ever loving infantry.

Soldier: What do you think? Month? More? Less?

Sgt Causarano: No no no. We got em ringed. They're finished on Okinawa, the trouble with these little bandy legged buzzards is they just don't know when to quit. Look at em. They're in there holed up in that cave, beaten sick, starved. And yet there's no-one in there to tell them that the war's over for them. Those poor guys.

So, rather than creating an episode where the president mulled over the moral implications of dropping nuclear bombs on Japan – which I imagine could have done very well – this time, Serling once again tells the story from the perspective that he had an intimate knowledge of - the soldier with their boots on the ground. While the people in suits all shuffle their papers and decide when they press that big red button, the soldiers are still living and dying on the battlefield.

Tonight's Twilight Zone: A Quality of Mercy.

OPENING NARRATION –

“It’s August, 1945, the last grimy pages of a dirty, torn book of war. The place is the Philippine Islands. The men are what’s left of a platoon of American infantry, whose dulled and tired eyes set deep in dulled and tired faces can now look toward a miracle, that moment when the nightmare appears to be coming to an end. But they’ve got one more battle to fight, and in a moment we’ll observe that battle. August, 1945, Philippine Islands. But in reality, it’s high noon in the Twilight Zone.”

First Broadcast December 29th 1961

Written by Rod Serling but based on an idea by Sam Rolfe

Directed by Buzz Kulik Buzz Kulik is a well known director around these parts at this point, so I won't repeat myself. But a couple of things of note with these opening scenes, of course an appearance by a pre Star Trek Leonard Nimoy. It's a shame he didn't do a Twilight Zone where he played a bigger part, but although he had a good few roles under his belt at this point I think Star Trek was the thing that took his career to the next level so he would take these small parts to pay the bills.

I did actually guest on a Star Trek podcast by my friend Zach Moore last year where we looked at the Twilight Zone episodes featuring Star Trek actors. The name of the podcast is Standard Orbit and I'll place a link to it in the show notes.

Nothing hugely sticking out about Serling's opening narration. A whip pan and some set decoration behind him, but a certain poetry there. “The last grimy pages of a dirty, torn book of war” - we've spoken before about the young Rod Serling eagerly signing up for the Second World War and it's this Rod Serling that came out the other side, the one who knows what a dirty business it is.

So enter Lt Katell played by a young Dean Stockwell. His uniform is crisp and clean, in stark contrast to the dirty and dog eared uniforms of the rest of the platoon. Lieutenant Katell is here to take over the platoon and the first order of business is what to do with the cave of Japanese soldiers.

CLIP: 05:26

Lt Katell: I think we'll have to go to it frontally, just move right in there and wipe em out.

Soldier: Hey lieutenant, you sure you got the right platoon?

Lt Katell: What about it Sergeant, think we can go it alone?

Soldier: Go it alone? Begging the lieutenant's pardon sir but you just inherited a pretty good outfit but we're not that good. This is infantry not kamikaze.

Watkins: I told you he had the wrong platoon, I think he's got the wrong army.

Lt Katell: Your name is what soldier?

Watkins: My name is Watkins. Andrew j Watkins.

Lt Katell: Are you accustomed to talking to an officer lying on your back?

Watkins: Well I'm not accustomed to talking to an officer anyway. You see we lost the last three we had.

Lt Katell: Well you've been assigned another one you've got to learn to live with him. Let's start off with a little reminder, when you talk to an officer you stand up on your own two feet.

Sgt Causarano: We been in the line thirty three days lieutenant, we haven't had much sleep.

Lt Katell: You have my sympathies Sergeant. My job is to lead this platoon. When I tell you boys to jump you'll jump. When I tell you to stand up on your feet you'll stand up. If I tell you to head towards that cave with weapons pointed and bayonets fixed that's exactly what you're going to be doing. Martin Grams Junior in unlocking the door to a television classic writes that Lt Katell was originally scripted to arrive in a jeep, but here he just walks onto set. That may be because it was a set when it was actually filmed, a set that was at Hal Roach studios and had previously been used for another production. So perhaps it just wasn't suitable to drive a jeep onto, but that's just a theory.

You and I will all be at varying places in life and career, but I would wager a good portion of you will have met your own Lieutenant Katell. This is not something that is unique to the military. On the one hand, he is in a position of authority and wants to come in and make his mark. Fair enough he's been given the position, right or wrong. But on the other hand, he does it with no regard for the experience on the ground, he makes his decisions with no regard for necessity. This is all to stamp his authority, build his reputation and deflect from the fact that he looks like a kid who has found his dad's uniform. We've probably all met someone like this in certain aspects of our lives and I find him to be quite authentic in the type of character he is – the person who has either inherited a role or took the fast track to it, but doesn't have that experience on the ground.

Albert Salmi – Sgt Causarano

Now the man who does have the experience on the ground is Sgt Causarano played by Albert Salmi in his second of three Twilight Zone performances. First came Execution, and next will come Of Late I think of Cliffordville. I really liked his performance in Execution, and I also really like what he does here. There's a natural quality and believability to him in this as this war weary Sergeant. There is a certain magnetism to him as an actor I find. He was actually in World War 2 before he became an actor and I think I may have went over his bio in his last episode, but there is one thing that I didn't touch upon because truth be told it passed me by – no research is infallible.

You may remember a while ago now I reviewed a dreadful book called Twilight Zone Curse of the Stars by a writer called Wayne Rollan Melton here on the show. And in that book the author tries to create some mystique around the deaths of famous Twilight Zone actors who died under mysterious circumstances by saying there's some sort of curse attached to The Twilight Zone. Then he goes on to fictionalise the deaths of the actors with supposed Twilight Zone-esque twists and turns. If you are curious about it, please don't buy it. Not only is it really poorly written but it is also just in really bad taste. I think I read the book with a look of disbelief on my face at how bad it was, but what it did do was alert me to this fact that I had missed the first time around about Albert Salmi. A New York Times article from 1990 said the following:

“Albert Salmi, an actor who made a career of portraying cowboys in television westerns like '','' and his wife, Roberta, were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide, the police said today.

Mr. Salmi apparently shot his wife and then killed himself, said a police spokesman, Lieut. Robert Van Leuven. Mr. Salmi was 62 years old; his wife was 55.

A friend who had gone to check on Mrs. Salmi on Monday night peered through a window and saw her body, the police said. Officers forced their way into the house and found her dead on the kitchen floor. Mr. Salmi's body was found in an upstairs den. The police also found two guns that they believe were used late Saturday night or early Sunday. The police said that the couple had been separated and that Mrs. Salmi had been living in the house alone.”

Now obviously we don't know the full story about what happened, what lead up to it and what caused it. But what is interesting is that there seems to be an acceptance of what happened by his children, a level of peace which is nice. Perhaps there is more to this than what appears on the surface and if we were the ones to step into Albert Salmi's shoes then we would understand what that reason is.

After Lt Kattel comes in and tries to stamp his authority there's a really nice exchange here between him and Sgt Causarano played by Albert Salmi where in a few sentences Causarano both pacifies Kattell and also effortlessly relays to him that Causarano's experience far outweighs his...

CLIP: 06:56

Sgt Causarano: Are you asking my opinion Lieutenant?

Lt Katell: I'm willing to discuss it.

Sgt Causarano: Well chronologically lieutenant the first thing you should do is take that gold bar off your helmet and take the one off your collar and put it in your pocket. The Japs may be half beat and half starved but they're not dumb. They're tough and they're shrewd and they got eyes. We lost platoon officers because they made slight motions of commands with their hands and that's what the Japs look for, the guy in command.

Lt Katell: I intended to remove the insignia. Now what about attacking the cave.

What this exchange says to me is, okay, I'll pay you some respect, but listen, you're already making a big mistake just standing there with that thing on your hat so why don't we just dial things back a little and start fresh here. I show you some respect, and you show me some. And then he explains that there's no point in rushing into the cave.

But, unfortunately this moment of mutual respect doesn't last long and the next minute, Katell is back to stamping his authority around the camp.

But where is here, where is this camp. Martin Grams Jr in Unlocking the Door to a television classic writes:

“This episode was set in a locale where Serling himself was after enlisting in the U.S. Army. Following basic training, he went to the Pacific as part of an assault and demolitions team. In 1945, while he was fighting in the Phillipines, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 52. “We notified Rod through the American Red Cross,” recalled his brother Bob, for the premier issue of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine (April 1981). “He asked for emergency leave and was refused.””

- Credit: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic by Martin Grams Junior Martin Grams Jr hypothesises that this lack of compassion, may have contributed to the creation of characters like Causarano, the disgruntled men in the field versus the likes of Katell who doesn't understand the reality of the situation, the things you can't learn in books, but can only learn with experience.

So the divide between the two men is clear, and things are getting heated but is this enough for The Twilight Zone to take notice yet? Well, when Katell makes his position really clear, it does just that.

CLIP: 12:43

Sgt Causarano: What's your pleasure Lieutenant? How many men have to die before you're satisfied?

Lt Katell: Off hand I'd say all of them. No matter who they are or where they are if they're the enemy they get it. First day of the war or last day of the war they get it!

Japanese Soldier: Lieutenant Yamuri you dropped your glasses Sir.

So here's where The Twilight Zone steps in and Lt Katell is placed in the body of Lt Yamuri.

Dean Stockwell – Lt Katell

So there is a certain amount of stiffness, of woodenness in Dean Stockwell's performance but I think that helps here and is the point, because Katell is playing a role. He's trying to be this thing he's clearly not, or if he does have any military smarts, he's just going about it the wrong way with implementing them. So Stockwell makes good choices here and it's kind of interesting to see him as this clean cut young guy, when in a few years time you'd probably more associate him with the more grizzled Sergeant Causarano role.

So I guess who Dean Stockwell is to you will depend on your age because to me he'll always be Al, the wonderful role he had in Quantum Leap, and I think he will be that for a lot of people – perhaps slightly ironic that in this Twilight Zone it's him who is doing the leaping. But when you read his IMDB bio, it starts like this: “Photogenic American child actor of the 1940s, popular due in no small measure to his air of innocence and his beautiful, cherubic face with its dimples and his sparkling eyes, topped with a crown of curls.”

So he did begin his career as a child in the 1940s but then went on to be in virtually everything. While some actors will be confined to either television or film, he effortlessly bounced between the two. And while this is his only appearance in the original Twilight Zone, he also does have more Twilight Zone connections. He was originally supposed to appear in another war episode The Purple Testament but was unable to appear. He appeared in Night Gallery in the episode Whisper, and also appeared in a really good episode of the 80s Twilight Zone that I once spoke to the writer Paul Chitlik about, called Room 2426 which I will get to some day on Twilight Zone Aftermath. So Lt Katell is now in the body of Lt Yamuri and perhaps this is something we look back on now as maybe a little unfortunate, Dean Stockwell being made up to look Japanese. Perhaps they should have used a Japanese actor. You know, it's not up to me to say whether someone should or shouldn't be offended by that, and if they are then I certainly respect that and their reasons. I do think that in the overall context of the show their intentions are certainly good in what they're trying to do and convey with the episode and story-wise it makes sense because the whole point is that it's Katell in the body of a Japanese man – so that is the point. But I think often with this kind of thing, we see it and it does carry with it memories of when it hasn't been done with a particular point, it's just been done because of inequality in casting or it's been done for the purposes of distasteful and racist humour. So it's difficult to untangle that.

So there are probably arguments for and against. There would be ways of filming this with a Japanese actor and showing it was still Katell, maybe to pre-empt what they did in Quantum leap, he could have caught his reflection somewhere and he could see that he was still Katell, it would have taken a second. But on the other hand, to not have Dean Stockwell do it, maybe would have lessened the impact of it being him who has taken this journey, I think it's always going to be preferable to have the same actor illustrate that.

So I don't know what the answer is here, but perhaps it does seem a bit distasteful now, but I do think their intentions were good then – especially in the context of the story and what it was trying to do.

CLIP: 14:45

Lt Yamura: Those are American's in the cave?

Sgt Yamazaki: Yes Sir. We figure there are twenty or thirty of them, most of them wounded. Are you alright Sir?

Lt Yamura: Where are we? Who are you?

Sgt Yamazaki: Who am I sir? Sgt Yamazaki. Are you alright Lieutenant? Are you feeling well?

Lt Yamura: Where are we. I asked you a question. Where are we?!

Sgt Yamazaki: Why Corregidor Sir

Lt Yamuri: When?

Sgt Yamazaki: When Sir? You mean what is today's date? May 4th Sir.

Lt Yamuri: It can't be May, it's August. August 6th. What year?

Sgt Yamazaki: The year 1942.

So not only is Lieutenant Katell out of his own time and in a different body. But he is in a situation which is a mirror image of what he was part of when he was in his own body with his new platoon. But not only is that situation the same, but he is having to face the unshakeable authority of the Japanese Captain played by Jerry Fujikawa. Jerry would show up again in another Twilight Zone, To Serve Man. And he was a fairly regular actor on television with sixty credits to his name from 1950 until his death in 1983.

In The Twilight Zone Companion Marc Zicree says that he feels Dean Stockwell is better when he is playing the Yamura role instead of the Katell role. I'm not sure better is the word, I think clearly he has to bring different things to each performance. As Katell he's stiff putting on this act to mask probably to mask his insecurity that he's not half the soldier that the men in his platoon are. Whereas when he is Yamura, that's when his real journey is, so that facade comes down when he realises that there are wounded American soldiers in the cave.

This is the whole point, to put him in another person's shoes. And this time, the Japanese Captain orders his men to advance on the cave.

CLIP: 21:21

Lt Yamura: What you do to those men in the cave. Will it shorten the war by a week, by a day, by an hour? May I ask the Captain, what is his pleasure? How many must die before he is satisfied?

Captain: Offhand Lieutenant Yamuri I would say all of them. I don't care where they are or who they are, if they are the enemy they are to be destroyed. First day of the war, last day of the war, we destroy them!

There is no scene where Katell tries to stop the attack. There is no sacrifice on his part, nor does there need to be. His lesson is learned purely by him seeing things from another perspective and he is returned to his own time and place and self. No indication of whether what he experienced was real, or some sort of delusion – and again, nor does there need to be.

What is quite curious though is that when Katell returns to his own body and to the point where he would have given the order, the decision is taken from his hands. He learns this lesson but he doesn't then get the chance to say no we're not going to attack them. A call comes in, informing the soldiers that a bomb has been dropped on Japan and the war will soon be over. So Katell's new found quality of mercy will have to be saved for the war that he now hopes will never come. I like that though, that the less obvious route was taken even for just a small moment. And this time, The Twilight Zone didn't so much dish out cosmic justice, but just hold up a mirror as a warning.

Summing Up

I think in these, oh so sophisticated times you could look at an episode like a Quality of Mercy and think it quite simplistic, but herein lies the beauty of it for me. It seems so obvious to say, but the very simple lesson of putting oneself in another persons shoes is one that constantly needs to be taught. Yes it is a simple device, but it's applied so well here that I can, not so much forgive it, but applaud it. I imagine it's probably been done on other shows or in other stories. The segment called Time Out in Twilight Zone the movie is using this device in the same way when Vic Morrow's character jumps into the body of people who he has previously been prejudiced against is one example.

But putting yourself in another person's shoes is not always an easy thing to do. Looking back at past wars with the distance of years is probably easier to do than perhaps applying it now with those who we perceive to be our enemy today. The book of war is a dirty one, especially now. Can we apply Serling's respect for the soldier which is on display here, to those who are not soldiers in that same mode? Those whose attacks are not against others who have chosen to fight?

That's the difficulty, and it's not easy.

But let's remember that Rod Serling was a man who had been on those front lines, who had seen friends wounded and killed and who had came back from the war changed himself. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to give in to hate and use the deaths of his friends and the things that he'd seen to propagate more hate, but he didn't. He came back and channelled that into something positive, something that would hopefully sink into the consciousness of people so that nobody else would have to be in the position that he had been in, on the front line. Rod Serling realised that the people on the ground aren't the ones who we need to direct our anger towards, because they are often just the pawns in someone else's game of chess.

CLOSING NARRATION

The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.' Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, but applicable to any moment in time, to any group of soldiery, to any nation on the face of the Earth or, as in this case, to the Twilight Zone.

Submitted For Your Approval

Now lets read some listener email in, Submitted for your approval...

1 - Hi Tom,

I am a relatively new listener to the podcast (started listening about 3 months ago) and I have integrated your show into my weekly schedule. Thank you for making my Los Angeles work commutes much more tolerable, it has become my traffic therapy over the past few months. As probably one of your youngest viewers, 18, I commend your ability to time and time again appeal to an audience from all ages and locations.

My mother introduced me to the show when I was a young kid with “The After Hours” and for many years that episode would haunt me as I found the premise and the mannequins themselves to be quite creepy. Since then The Twilight Zone has become a comfort to me through many life changes and after watching all episodes multiple times I have determined my top two episodes are “A Stop At Willoughby” and “And When the Sky Was Opened”. Willoughby time and time again caters to the “daydream” like experiences where we picture ourselves in a world that brings us eternal peace and to quote the episode, “A place where a man can live his life full measure”. “And When the Sky Was Opened” leaves me with this eery feeling after each time I finish it. After listening to your episode from way back when, you articulated perfectly that the mystery is that we don’t know what prompted the three astronauts to disappear and with the lack of special effects, it creates an even more thought provoking conclusion.

I live in Pacific Palisades, a small coastal town in Los Angeles that Rod Serling and his family resided in for many years. It’s a small town so I attended the same schools as Rod’s two daughters, much later obviously and my grandmother was actually a friend of Rod’s wife Carol Serling. A couple years ago in our town newspaper she sat down for an interview which I feel like you would find quite fascinating so I will leave it below for you to read. She details their earlier life and Rod’s writing experiences throughout the seasons.

Keep up the great work Tom, I look forward to the next podcast.

Thanks,

Spencer

2 - Hi Tom,

Caught up on the latest episodes and, I have to say, you keep getting better and better. I've always been impressed with the non-episode programs; the interviews, the book reviews, and the story- readings. The review of the TZ play was equally entertaining. I loved the serendipity of linking up with an intelligent, articulate listener of your podcast when you chanced to be planning to record audio anyway. Of course, all of your listeners are intelligent and articulate but James acquitted himself admirably. The background murmur added to the ambiance rather than detracted from it, making me feel like I was having a glass of wine with you. I wish I could have seen the play but I'll settle for this.

The episode podcasts have gotten more expansive and enjoyable, deepening my appreciation for the show. Because of your reviews, I now feel like season 3 is the best of the seasons when I never felt that before. That's because I am gaining respect for episodes I used to think of as average, such as "The Jungle" what with you providing the back story, interspersing bits from the short story, and emphasizing the sound effects. Even unreclaimable episodes like "Once Upon a Time" have provided real entertainment. I got a kick out of your "old-time radio" opening and I always appreciate the trivia and information. I thought I'd add that, after this episode, Buster Keaton also appeared in Samuel Beckett's only film called "Film," a work that befuddled Keaton but adds to his resume a piece written by an eventual Nobel Prize Winner. There is a terrific documentary about the production called "NotFilm" which is worth checking out.

Best,

Al 3 - Hi Tom,

I always enjoy your commentary, especially when your views differ from mine.

You really like The Jungle while I've always thought of it as one of the sillier episodes of Twilight Zone.

Stories about primitive curses can be spooky but this one disappoints. I like the way this episode features jungle noises on the phone and on dark streets - that gives chills down the spine. But the rest of it misses the mark.

First, the nature of curses are muddled. In the outro Serling states that "Some superstitions kept alive by the long night of ignorance have their own special power." Is this a suggestion that it was ignorant beliefs that killed Alan and his wife Doris, rather than an actual curse?

Alan's wife collected several protective amulets, but why would shamans offer protective amulets to people they saw as enemies? It appears that Serling was making distinctions between shamans, who offer protection, and witch doctors, who invoke deadly curses. So are the African shamans at odds with the African witch doctors? Do the primitive shamans want modern cities and dams, while the witch doctors want to remain primitive?

Alan points out that curses result in "slow and painful deaths." But no one who dies seems to suffer much, and being killed by a lion is pretty quick, certainly quicker and less painful than dying from cancer, lung disease, strokes or a heart attack (or, for that matter, dementia or Alzheimer's). Alan mentions all the "healthy men and women" who "just died" from mysterious illnesses, but there's no hint that they suffered much.

If this episode is supposed to be a cautionary tale against modernization, imperialism and colonialization, the witch doctors are doing too little too late. An American company is building a dam in Africa because modern Africans have requested it, so why aren't all the responsible Africans cursed? Why aren't all the inhabitants of the city cursed? In the Old Testament God kills all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah because all of them are responsible. The witch doctors are merely putting one finger in a leak of a dam that's been falling apart for centuries.

Regards,

Steven Mason

San Francisco, California

4 - Hi Tom.

I've enjoyed your podcast and the background details you give to the Twilight Zone episodes. Five Characters in Search of An Exit is one of my favourite episodes. Your treatment of it shows the big questions, but doesn’t answer them. I think this was what Marvin Petal intended in his short story and what Rod Serling intended in his screen adaptation. This episode reminds me of a similar story which aired on Theatre Five, a radio drama series from the United States in the mid-1960s. That episode, Five Strangers, originally aired Dec. 28, 1964, roughly three years after the Twilight Zone episode. It isn’t a retelling of Five Characters in Search of An Exit. Instead, it’s a completely different story, but with a lot of similarities. In Five Strangers, the characters — four passengers and an airplane pilot — are all trying to get to Chicago in a heavy fog. The location of their airport is not identified. This, along with the fog, creates a surreal or dreamlike setting for the story. Like the Twilight Zone episode, the characters in Five Strangers do not know each other. But unlike the Twilight Zone episode, each of these characters has a first and last name, and each has a back story. And while the Twilight Zone episode raises its big questions — Who are we? Why are we here? — at the beginning, this story builds the scene and then raises its big question — What happens next? — at the end.

One other similarity: both episodes lend themselves nicely to a readers’ theatre format. The Theatre Five episode was written for radio, so it functions without the need for visual elements. The Twilight Zone episode, with a small cast and an extremely simple set, requires little in the way of visual elements. The voices and the dialogue tell almost all the story. The one exception is the reveal at the end, and even here, it would only require a couple of additional lines of dialogue to replace the visual element. Thanks again for your podcast.

John Arendt Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

5 - Tom, why is it that Star Trek producers never acknowledge the show's extraordinary debt to The Twilight Zone? Shatner, Nimoy, Doohan, Takei all appeared in episodes of Zone, and Trek lifted many of its ideas, conventions and tech directly from Zone. Beaumont's episode "" alone introduced a version of the Prime Directive, a teleportation device and the society locked into mindless adherence to its foundation, a theme that was the basis of several Trek episodes. In addition, the Trek pilot "The Cage" is a nearly point-by-point version of the Zone episode of (as I recall) the same name. Roddenberry got too much credit. Ever thought about this?

Regards,

Chris Powers

6 - I often tell people that I have probably learned more from watching the Twilight Zone growing up, than even from my own parents. I truly believe this, about myself. There are so many life-lessons woven throughout this series (there’s truly too many to count), that seem essential for young minds to absorb and understand.

I hope this show is shown in classrooms somewhere. I agree with Amy Boyle Johnston (from your interview with her a while back), about the Twilight Zone being a form of existentialism, as opposed to just another sci-fi/fantasy show, and am convinced that this show is responsible for how I turned out as a grown adult.

I was wondering what your opinions on this subject are, and if others had specific stories about such things.

I don’t think television would be where it is today, or for that matter generations of viewers, without the Twilight Zone, without Rod Serling’s creativity and his determination to fight for creative freedom and the ability to convey essential truths about humanity, to humanity.

Thank you so much, Tom, for ensuring the best quality show possible (it really is top-notch), and creating a welcoming, entertaining virtual space for newcomers and fans alike, to properly honor Rod Serling’s work and his memory.

Thanks to new iTunes reviewers: Yoboithatsquid, Snookfan

Thanks to new Patreon supporters: Tony Queretero, Lum Edwards, Jim freyer, Thomas Combe, Loriston Scott, Matt Ellis and Neil Kinnemore

If you want to comment on The Twilight Zone Podcast, please email me at [email protected]

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