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


-- 
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky 
dirty old man.