Point of trivia: “The Hitch-hiker” by Lucille Fletcher was a radio show back in the late-30s or so. I have a version starring Orson Welles. Serling changed the character to a female for the TZ.
Poor Inger Stevens. I believe she died of a sleeping pill OD, or something like that. Due to the sickening prejudicial climate in the 50s, she for a long time covered up the fact that her husband was black. This is all from memory.
Sir Rhosis
Wow. There’s some very nice pictures of this Inger Stevens person out there. Very nice indeed 
.
As for the episode; I have no clue where it’s going. Maybe I missed something from the beggining. I’m going to have a hell of a time trying to pry my eyes off of the tv tonight. I’m getting really hooked on this marathon.
I don’t believe they’ve shown my favorite yet. Gosh, of course, I can’t remember the title right now. The one with Burgess Meridith as the Banker who loves to read.
Ooooohhhhhh, the one that is coming on right now is a good one. One of the few where I didn’t “see it coming”.
Alright. This is the last episode. The last. No doubt about it. I will watch no more episodes after this. NONE! I’ll throw the tv remote into a fire if I must. I’m heading to bed…right…after…this.
This is the first time I’ve watched The Twilight Zone. I’m curious: so far I haven’t noticed Rod Serling say the now-stereotypical phrase “Submitted for your approval.”[sup]*[/sup] Did he really say that very often, or did it become stereotypical because it’s just a good example of his style?
[sup]*[/sup]On the other hand, his now-stereotypical perpetual cigarette, clipped delivery, and flowery descriptions are very much in evidence. 
“Time Enough At Last” is the Burgess Meredith “banker who loves to read” ep. Written by Serling, based on a short story by Lyn Venable.
What is on now?
Sir Rhosis
This one is “People Are Alike All Over”, starring Roddy McDowall and featuring Susan Oliver, who you may remember from Star Trek’s “The Cage” and “The Menagerie”.
shamrock227, that one is “Time Enough at Last”; not sure if it’s been on yet or not.
Loopus, I think it’s probably a combination of those factors - “submitted for your approval or at least your consideration” was a stock line used in writers’ submissions that Serling adopted for his intro; it probably wasn’t used much, but became iconic.
Thank you! That was really bugging me.
People are Alike All Over is on right now.
Man, it must be pretty cool watching something like The Twilight Zone for the first time. You gotta let us hear some first impressions. What do you think of the show so far?
I’m off to bed now. Thanks to everyone for joining me this New Years and contributing to my thread. The little bits of trivia made for great reading during the commercials. If Sci Fi is still playing episodes tommorrow night, I’ll be back for more later.
'Till then, G’night.
Thank you, Joe, it’s been great fun.
Sir Rhosis
On the West Coast, we’ve just finished “The Odyssey of Flight 33.”
Man, I’d forgotten how many TZ heroes are either pilots or librarians! Exploration or reading. God bless you, 1960s America. 
I seem to remember Edgar Allan Poe defining the purpose of a short story as to create the maximum impact with one emotion. Rod Serling really appears to have taken this definition to heart. Most of these are really well-told stories, and they build up well to that final impact. And that impact appears to be the whole goal of the story.
Many of the episodes seem weird just for the sake of being weird (especially, of the ones I’ve seen so far, “Five Characters in Search of an Exit”) and that really appeals to me. That also seems very Poe-like (What else are “Ligeia” and “MS. Found in a Bottle” but weird for the sake of weird?).
I’m also impressed by how the show doesn’t look very dated. Of course, most of the shows featuring space travel look (understandably) 50s-ish, but any show predicting the future will look bad when the future really comes. Most of the shows set in modern times look and sound fine even for today (although I find it odd that they often refer to airplanes as “ships”).
Of the episodes I’ve seen so far, I really liked the aforementioned “Five Characters.” I also liked “What You Need,” although I thought most of the parting remarks by the old man were unnecessary. I really liked “The Obsolete Man,” except the ending was really over-the-top. I also liked “The Invaders” and was impressed that it worked so well without (almost) any dialogue.
In general there’s quite a bit of over acting in these shows, but that’s another flaw that’s easily forgiven.
In general, I’m sorry I’m only now being introduced to this show. Great stories.
I know I mention this in every Twilight Zone, but it’s for good reason:
If you guys liked the show, you have to ride the The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror. It’s actually more of an experience than a ride and it captures the essence of the Twilight Zone perfectly.
[Shallow Thought for the Night]
Martin Landau used to be very hot. Except when he looks insane. Then he’s only kinda hot.
[/STftN]
I don’t know what ep it was, I’m a little drunk and very tired…the one where he’s a cowboy in black and other stuff happens…
I used to own “the Twilight Zone Companion” and it included all the narrative intros. He said “submitted for your approval” exactly twice (once in “In Praise of Pip” with Jack Klugman and Billy Mumy), once followed by “…or at least your consideration”, and once not. He also once said “respectfully submitted for your perusal”.
(bolding mine)
Thank you! Everyone I know thinks I am either crazy or have a serious hearing problem.
This one that’s on now, Night of the Meek, makes me all weepy every time I see it. I’m weird, I know.
I watched several of these yesterday, and frankly all it did was remind me that the show was almost always a guessing game. You knew there’d be a surprise twist at the end, and it was simply a contest to see how soon you could figure it out. Anything more than 5 minutes meant you weren’t paying attention.
I had the same trouble as the rest of you thinking that the first USAF deep space probe would be manned by little toy robots who’d shoot first and ask questions later. That was a twist ending for the sake of having one, no more.
I was most disappointed in the one where Richard Basehart is a lone spaceman, crashed and injured on a distant planet, and Ground Control says they can’t come to help him because Earth is about to be destroyed by war. He magically meets a humanoid woman, similarly stranded, and all I could think was “Oh, dear God, please don’t let her be named Eve and him tell her his first name is Adam”. No such luck. You did it, you bastards! You did it!
Robert Serling, btw, was not just a pilot but a well-known novelist and historian himself, concentrating on airline themes. He and his brother Rod obviously helped each other quite a bit.
It was a little jarring to see Rod Serling wave that cigarette every time he was on camera. That was virtually required then but virtually prohibited now.
No more weird than the rest of us, shamrock227. “Night of the Meek” is one of the most popular Zone episodes, and with good reason; it’s a great performance by Art Carney, and a wonderfully sentimental (yet not cloyingly so) script by Serling (who wrote it specifically for Art Carney).
For those still following along, here are the next few episodes (times are EST):
2:30: “Long-Distance Call” - Billy Mumy stars in a story about loss and letting go. The script was originally written by William Idelson, a friend of Charles Beaumont’s, and rejected, but subsequently accepted upon Beaumont’s offer to work on the rewrite with Idelson.
3:00: “Walking Distance” - Gig Young as a harried businessman who finds himself in his own childhood hometown, but painfully learns you really can’t go home again. A wistful, melancholy episode, one of my personal favorites.
3:30: “The Rip Van Winkle Caper” - Oscar Beregi stands out in another of the Zone’s twist endings in a tale about an ill-fated heist.
4:00: “A Penny for your Thoughts” - Dick York stars in a funny and interesting what-would-you-do story about a man who suddenly finds himself able to read minds.
4:30: “Nick of Time” - William Shatner turns in a very good performance in a Richard Matheson story about superstitions and taking control of your own destiny.
Ooh! “Time Enough At Last” is on at 10:50 PST!
sets VCR