Re: What Did You Watch? 2024-03-24 (Sunday)

The Twilight Zone S4E17 'Passage on the Lady Anne' - DVR
A woman hopes a trans-Atlantic cruise and holiday in London will halp save her marriage.  (Comcast)
A young American couple, the Ransomes, who are trying to salvage their troubled marriage, insist on booking passage on an old trans-Atlantic cruise liner. But other passengers try to persuade them to disembark immediately.
Trivia:
Because of the large number of well-known actors in this episode, the closing theme featured a credit roll of cast names instead of the usual still frames. The remaining non-cast credits were then done with standard still frames. This was the only episode of the series to ever use a credit roll.
Joyce Van Patten is the sole member of the cast still alive, as of August, 2021.
This was the last Charles Beaumont Twilight Zone screenplay to be actually fully written by Beaumont himself. Around the time this episode was made, Beaumont (then only 34) began suffering from the rapid onset of a degenerative neurological disorder (believed to be either Alazheimer's and/or Pick's Disease) which affected his speech, memory and concentration, as well as causing him to physically age very rapidly. As the disease progressed, Beaumont was soon unable to meet his writing commitments. A number of his writer friends, including Jerry Sohl and William F. Nolan, supported Beaumont by ghostwriting stories with or for him and submitting them in his name, although Beaumont insisted on splitting the fees with his helpers. His last screen credit (also probably ghostwritten) was in 1965, by which time he was too ill to work at all, and he died on 21 February 1967, aged only 38, although his son later recounted that his father "looked ninety-five" at the time of his death.
The Twilight Zone S4E18 'The Bard' - DVR
A would-be writer (Jack Weston) summons William Shakespeare to help him write a teleplay.  With John McGiver, Burt Reynolds.  (Comcast)
Julius Moomer, a talentless, but relentless, self-promoting hack who dreams of becoming a successful television writer, uses a book of magic to summon William Shakespeare to write dramatic teleplays that Moomer will pass off as his own. Shakespeare becomes irritated by Moomer's lack of appreciation and is even more appalled when he discovers the changes wrought on his plays by cynical television executives.
Trivia:
William Shakespeare (John Williams) quotes lines from his plays nine times with a trumpet flourish sounding each time, and most of the time, him telling what play, act, and scene the quote came from. Three from 'Romeo & Juliet,' two from 'Twelfth Night,' and one each from 'Troilus and Cressida,' 'As You Like It,' and 'A Mid-Summer's Night Dream', plus a partial one from 'Hamlet' (cut short when Shakespeare forgets the end of the "To be or not to be" line.
Jack Weston and Marge Redmond (Mr. Hugo's secretary) were married in real life at this time.
Burt Reynolds's character is clearly an amalgam of Marlon Brando and Paul Newman.
Burt Reynolds and Jack Weston would act together again in Fuzz (1972) and Gator (1976).  (This one was just to irritate Ian. :) )
Burt Reynolds appeared on this show only once on a Thursday, the following Saturday he appeared in his regular serious Gunsmoke.
     William Shakespeare: To be or not to be Mr. Moomer, that...
     [Trumpets begin to sound, but are cut short, as he appears to forget his line. He shrugs his shoulders and exits through the door.  From Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1 by Hamlet-not mentioned by Shakespeare]
Narrator: [Opening Narration] You've just witnessed opportunity, if not knocking, at least scratching plaintively on a closed door. Mr. Julius Moomer, a would-be writer who, if talent came twenty-five cents a pound, would be worth less than car fare. But, in a moment, Mr. Moomer, through the offices of some black magic, is about to embark on a brand-new career. And although he may never get a writing credit on the Twilight Zone, he's to become an integral character in it.
The Twilight Zone S5E01 'In Praise of Pip' - DVR
Bookmaker Max Phillips that his sone is dying in Vietnam and tries to save him.  With Jack Klugman.  (Comcast)
A wearied bookie, learning of his grown soldier son Pip dying in South Vietnam, gets to spend one last delightful hour with a ten-year-old version of him at an amusement park.  (IMDb)
In Pursuit of More Trivia!:
The favorite Twilight Zone of Rod Serling's daughter Anne Serling. Watching she noticed several conversations between son Pip and father Pop were almost identical to banter she had with her father. Rod Serling nicknamed his daughter Pop, not Pip, and the final image on screen which fits the narrative was also a personal message to his daughter.
The script originally had Pip stationed in Laos, but the network had Rod Serling change it to Vietnam. Incredibly, CBS didn't want it set in Laos, as that country was at the time the scene of intense fighting and insisted the story be set in the more peaceful location of South Vietnam. This episode was produced about two years before the massive intervention of American forces in South Vietnam.
Bill Mumy's father rarely joined his son on sets, but joined him on this occasion because the two often visited the pier they filmed on. His father recalled being impressed with Jack Klugman who introduced himself to the family and explained that father and son would be extremely affectionate. Mumy joined his own son Seth Mumy on set of Dear God (1996) with Klugman 30 years later.
eatures perhaps the first scene in American television set in the Vietnam War, the opening scene where a wounded Pip is brought into the field hospital. It's also one of the first American TV dramas to mention the conflict in Vietnam and feature a Vietnam veteran, although Route 66 (1960) had added a Vietnam veteran character earlier in the year.
One of only three TZ episodes to feature the line "Submitted for your approval" during Rod Serling's opening narration, which is probably the phrase most closely associated with the show that comes from those monologues.
Essentially a rewrite of Next of Kin (1953), also written by Rod Serling. The main plot thread of "Next Of Kin" features the same characters, virtually all of the same character names, and the same situations and general plot line. The fantasy element introduced in the final third of the story, however, is unique to The Twilight Zone version.
Quote:
Max Phillips: My son is dying in a place called Vietnam. There isn't even supposed to be a war going on, but my son is dying.
The Twilight Zone S5E02 'Steel' - DVR
Two small-time promoters find that their fighter can't meet his opponent in the ring.  With Lee Marvin.  (Comcast)
In 1974, boxing has been outlawed and is performed by mechanical robots. With his next and possibly last fight approaching and his robot in need of repair, he resorts to one last desperate gamble.  (IMDb)
Trivia:
Of the sixteen episodes written by Richard Matheson, this was reportedly his favorite.
Adapted from Richard Matheson's own short story.
This episode was in part inspiration for the film Real Steel (2011).
Chuck Hicks, who played the robot boxer Maynard Flash, was a champion boxer for both Loyola University and the Navy.
What Did You Watch?
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I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky dirty old man.