WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:11.839 You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension, 2 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:17.600 a dimension of sun, and a dimension of sight, a dimension of 3 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:22.679 mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance of things and 4 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:52.600 ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone. I spoke earlier in 5 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:58.280 the show about how when season five of The Twilight Zone comes around, it 6 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:03.439 is a time of transition. Many of the directors who have helped to shape 7 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:08.239 the show have moved on at this point and new ones come in. And 8 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:14.480 the same can also be said of writers. And also the great Buck Houghton, 9 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.200 who produced the show for many years, had moved on at this point, 10 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:25.719 and that producer's post became a revolving door. Now Mark zickre in the 11 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:33.280 Twilight's own companion rights, including ninety Years Without Slumbering, six episodes produced by 12 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:40.400 William frug fully one fourths output were written by newcomers to the series. As 13 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:47.959 the results demonstrate, most of them just did not understand the form in previous 14 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.400 seasons. Virtually all the better episodes had running through them a sense of cosmic 15 00:01:53.640 --> 00:02:00.359 justice, of people getting their justice heights, often with a full helping of 16 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:07.079 irony. The fantastic element that was the Twilight Zone was there for a reason. 17 00:02:07.039 --> 00:02:12.439 If the main character was a rotter, it would give him his comeuppance. 18 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:16.039 If he was a decent sort, it would give him a second chance, 19 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:23.039 a magical opportunity to set his life right on the rare occasion that someone 20 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:29.120 in offensive ended up badly, as in time enough at last, there was 21 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:36.159 a deliberate sense of tragedy. A moral code was being applied in the six 22 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:42.639 episodes by the newcomers. Such is not the case. Instead, there is 23 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:50.680 a feeling of things gone tilt. Consequences are often unfairly meted out. Rather 24 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:55.280 than a cosmos in which every action brings about an equal reaction, this is 25 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:01.159 a universe ruled by chaos. Now, these are things that I've always tried 26 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:06.520 to keep an eye on through the years on the Twilight Zone, how this 27 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:12.360 justice is meted out. But these are strong words from Mark Zickrey. It's 28 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.240 always been my belief that when someone says the Twilight Zone doesn't do that, 29 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:23.759 there's usually an example of when it does. The scope is actually broader than 30 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.960 what a lot of people give a credit for, but there is still a 31 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.879 general feel and a way of doing things that does organize itself into a loose 32 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:38.400 formula. And I do think that Mark Zickrey has a point here that some 33 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:45.000 of the Twilight Zone episodes in season five so far, even ones written by 34 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:50.319 Sailing, have felt like they have strayed a bit from that loose formula. 35 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.400 Now, is this necessarily a bad thing or is it just that the show 36 00:03:55.560 --> 00:04:02.000 is naturally evolving. Let's keep that in mind when we meet Sam Forcetman. 37 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:10.560 My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf, so it stood ninety years 38 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:15.000 on the floor, like the man in the song that he sings about. 39 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:20.560 Although we don't know it yet, Sam Forceman believes that his own life is 40 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:26.600 linked to the life of his clock. If it's true, then as long 41 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.920 as the clock keeps ticking, he has nothing to worry about. But as 42 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:36.079 we know, a clock will always stop sooner or later, and this is 43 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:43.439 something that in his advanced years, does start to worry Sam to the point 44 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:48.639 where he suffers from terrible insomnia and it makes him feel that he spent the 45 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:57.399 last ninety years without slumbering. Each man measures his time, some with hopes 46 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.160 and with choice, and with fear. Forstman measures his aladder time where a 47 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:08.040 grandfather's claque a unique mechanism was pendulum swings between life and death, a very 48 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:15.519 special claque that keeps a special kind of time in the Twilights on first broadcast 49 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:20.720 on December twentieth, nineteen sixty three, written by Richard Deroy but based on 50 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:28.160 a story by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Roger Kay. So a pretty 51 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:33.519 standard Whippanta sail in giving his opening narration and a generally expository one which is 52 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:39.360 fine but not a great deal more to say about dar Now, usually I 53 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:43.399 talk about the writer fairs, but I'm going to flip things around and talk 54 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:47.839 about our director tonight, Roger Kay. Like the last episode, this one 55 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:54.680 is directed by one of those Twilight Zone one time as a director who came, 56 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:00.519 made his episode and never returned again. And Roger Kay was born in 57 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:05.600 Egypt in nineteen twenty one, and his directing career wasn't massively prolific, with 58 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:12.240 only twenty five credits to his name between nineteen fifty and nineteen eighty one. 59 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.519 And generally it's made up of episodes of TV shows like Perry Mason, The 60 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:20.879 Untouchables, Black Saddle, but the credit that sticks out to me most of 61 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:28.240 all is that in nineteen sixty two he produced and directed the film The Cabinet 62 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:32.360 of Doctor Klagari. But by the time he arrives here in the Twilight Zone, 63 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:38.560 his career actually more or less ends. He directed an episode of a 64 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:44.360 TV show called Then Came Bronson in nineteen seventy, and then in nineteen eighty 65 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:49.480 one he wrote and directed the French film lapouse e le Privet. I guess 66 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:54.120 maybe he had other things going on in life to take up his time, 67 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:59.040 as he didn't direct again up to his death in two thousand and one. 68 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.240 As we heard at the beginning, Markzick rementions this one as one of those 69 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:10.800 episodes caught up in the chaos of newcomers coming to write for the show that 70 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:15.800 didn't fit into the usual order of things. But the thing is it actually 71 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:20.879 started out as being an episode of the show that was written by someone who 72 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:26.199 very much knew how things worked in the Twilight Turn, and that was George 73 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.480 Clayton Johnson. And in Unlocking the Door to a television Classic by Martin Graham's 74 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:35.319 Junior, he says, I was at dinner with Bake Granitt and Rod and 75 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:40.839 they were discussing how to do a few hour long episodes. I met with 76 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:44.839 Bake Granitt one morning with some people where he told me that the show was 77 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.759 going to make a return to a half hour. By then, I had 78 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:54.920 submitted the script to the show and Bill frug had replaced Bake Granitt. Bill 79 00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:00.240 had purchased the story and hired a writer of his, Richard Deroy, to 80 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:03.319 write the script. It broke my heart that Bill wouldn't let me write the 81 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:11.000 script as an exercise. It was disappointing the storyline in many ways. Well, 82 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.079 I would have found a more clever way to do that. The actors 83 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:18.240 were perfect. I was tempted to have my name removed from the credits, 84 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:22.839 but I never did. I was tempted for them to use a pseudonym I 85 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.800 use instead, but I thought, oh what the hell, let it go 86 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.560 up there now. The pseudonym that he uses was Johnson Smith, and that's 87 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:37.120 what I actually saw credited on my version here. So I'm not quite sure 88 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:41.720 what George Clayton Johnson was referring to. But a nice bit of trivia is 89 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:48.039 that originally he called this episode tick of Time, a nice throwback to the 90 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:54.080 matheson episode Nick of Time Now. Richard De Roy was a waking TV writer 91 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:58.600 at the time and had been so for about a decade, with episodes of 92 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:03.120 things like Studio One and Craft Television Theater, and he came to the Twilight 93 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:09.000 Zone, wrote this episode, and then moved on. And there's nothing in 94 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.320 the rest of his career that particularly stands out to me. Generally, a 95 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:16.759 lot of episodes are television shows that aren't really in the consciousness much anymore, 96 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:22.960 a couple of soap operas. But the effect of his rewrite was actually quite 97 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:28.840 significant, and we'll break that down further later on. Was it an improvement 98 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:33.879 or wasn't it so? Just to set the scene here Before the opening narration, 99 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:39.120 we met Sam Forstman, a man of advancing years who spends a lot 100 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.720 of his time tending to a grandfather clock that's in the house where he lives 101 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:48.720 with his granddaughter and her husband. Even early on, we get the impression 102 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.720 that there is a link between Sam and this clock that goes beyond him just 103 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:58.159 being its owner. And I think we can tell that the episode is suggesting 104 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:03.679 a link between the clock and Sam's mortality. And if you know the song 105 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:07.799 that he's singing when the episode opens. Then you definitely know that's what they 106 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:13.240 are suggesting. What more on that later on? Is that all you're having? 107 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:16.320 I'm not hungry. What about the baby? I'm sure you don't have 108 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:18.639 to worry, Doug. Now, let's not start fighting again. But you're 109 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:22.960 gonna have to face the fact your grandfather is just not a well man. 110 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:28.000 Why don't we at least let mel Avery talk to him. You think I'm 111 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:33.960 crazy, don't you. Mel Avery is a psychiatrist. He's a headshrinker. 112 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:37.720 You don't have to tell me. I know Meel's been a friend of ours 113 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:41.759 for years. He and Doug went to college together. You've met him. 114 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.720 Oh, I've met lots of people. But I don't let them take her 115 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:50.360 with my head, Sam, No one's gonna tinker with your head. All 116 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:54.960 we're suggesting is that you see mel and talk to him. Well, why 117 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:00.320 do I need to see a psychiatrist? Well? Your preoccupation with the clock, 118 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:05.320 For instance, I'm fond of my clock, and that makes me crazy. 119 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:09.559 My, what a strange world we live in. You have to ad 120 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:13.600 Mitchell spend a lot of time with it, sometimes half the night, haha, 121 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:20.120 just because I haven't samily yet and working on the clock relaxes me. 122 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:24.559 That makes me a candidate for the looney Bin. I think this scene, 123 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:31.279 whether by accident or design, highlights something that is quite genuine, that once 124 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:35.360 we reach a certain age, any interests that we have there or maybe a 125 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:41.159 little different, a little out of the ordinary, are now seen as eccentricities 126 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:48.919 or, as Sam says, signs of losing one's marbles, as if once 127 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:54.039 a person reaches old age, their interests shouldn't go beyond gardening. And in 128 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.159 this case, just because Sam is very fond of his clock, they think 129 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:03.919 he's losing his mind. Now, granted he does hold a satan belief about 130 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:09.279 what will happen when the clock stops, but still, I think the point 131 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:15.639 is still here. Other people's perceptions of what you should or shouldn't do with 132 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:20.840 your time when you get older become very, very narrow. So while Sam, 133 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:26.120 Marney and Doug sit at the breakfast table, let's meet the young couple 134 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:31.759 whose house Sam lives in. Marnie Cake is played by Carolyn Keeney, and 135 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:37.480 she was born in Detroit in nineteen thirty but grew up in New Orleans and 136 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:41.000 she got a start in the theater before hitting television screens in the mid fifties. 137 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.639 And I think the thing that sticks out to me on her television resume 138 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:50.759 is that although she was only in one Twilight Zone, she was in that 139 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:58.399 very important episode of Desilu Playhouse, the Time Element, which was written by 140 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:03.919 Rod Sailing and is considered to be essentially the pilot for the Twilight Zone. 141 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:07.960 And although she's still only a young woman in this episode of the Twilight Zone 142 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:13.960 and she's only been on TV and movie screens for a decade, this is 143 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.799 actually one of the last TV appearances she would ever make. She was in 144 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:22.399 an episode of a show called Channing in nineteen sixty four, and then an 145 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:28.320 episode of The Bill Dana Show also in nineteen sixty four, and then an 146 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:33.559 episode of Vacation Playhouse in nineteen sixty five, and then four episodes of Lassie 147 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.559 in nineteen seventy and that's it. But she has done a lot of good 148 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:43.960 in her life as well, because after two and a half years of being 149 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:50.240 addicted to painkillers due to her physician's error, she kicked the habit herself and 150 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:56.360 then helped to found a program for other recovering addicts and In an interview with 151 00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:00.720 Tom Weavers, she talks about her co star Ed Wynn and how he was 152 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:05.320 starting to become more freil with age. She said he would lean on me 153 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.159 and then he would say, oh, but you're pregnant. I don't want 154 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.799 to hate you. I said, but mister Wynne, I'm really not pregnant. 155 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.399 I'm playing pregnant. You can lean on me anytime you want to. 156 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.080 Oh, that's right, that's right, he laughed. He liked that I 157 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.720 had a big old pad on my tummy to make me look pregnant. I 158 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:28.639 had actually just had a baby, so I knew how it felt. So 159 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:33.240 I do remember he had a hard time going up and down the stairs. 160 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:37.519 The director had him do it quite often, and he was getting very winded, 161 00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:41.919 and I said, well, let's take a little time out and take 162 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:46.480 a breath, and so we did. I remember that he was very eager. 163 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:50.360 He had to be pushing eighty, but he was eager and he was 164 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:54.639 interested. I think that's what kept him going, his eagerness and his interest. 165 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:01.559 And Marnie's husband, Doug is played by James Teak Callahan, and there's 166 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:05.799 not a massive amount of information about him out there. He was born in 167 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:11.759 Grand Rapids, Michigan, in nineteen thirty and saved in the Army between fifty 168 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:16.559 one and fifty three and then worked for the United States Postal Service. And 169 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:22.519 then when he was in school, a teacher suggested he try acting and the 170 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.440 rest is history. Now, when I watched this, I actually got and 171 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:31.519 confused with the actor Richard Haird, who I remember from the TV show V 172 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:35.600 from when I was a kid. But then when I looked up Richard haired 173 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:41.480 I discovered that it wasn't actually him. But Richard Head's IMDb bio says that 174 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:46.519 he gets mistaken for the actor Carl Malden, and they do look very much 175 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:50.720 alike. So you have these three actors who are the spitting image of each 176 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:56.799 other, all working in the business at around the same time. So back 177 00:15:56.840 --> 00:16:00.840 in the episode, Sam goes to see the psychiatrist his granddaughter and her husband 178 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:06.639 suggests for him, and what follows is quite a nice scene where Sam really 179 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:11.960 dispels all these suspicions that people have about him, that he feels like the 180 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:15.519 clock is a living thing, and he even gets the doctor to admit that 181 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:22.080 he too has a grandfather clock that is very fond of therefore proving that that 182 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:30.240 is quite normal. So everything goes well until oh there is one thing, 183 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:38.279 doctor, Yes, when my clock stops ticking, I'll die. I really 184 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:44.039 believe that. Oh, there's no doubt about it. Does that make me 185 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:51.480 crazy? Crazy is a big word, but it is a rather strange idea. 186 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.159 If I had a clock like that, I get rid of it. 187 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.919 Oh, either the clock goes or I go that's what you're telling I didn't 188 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:08.000 say that. I'd think you did. Good day, doctor. Now, 189 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:15.799 because psychotherapy featured in this episode, an actual psychotherapist wrote a sailing afterwards, 190 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:21.759 and they said, my objections are not serious, and I submit them in 191 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:26.279 the hope that psychiatrists could be consulted in such programs to present a better image 192 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:33.720 of the psychiatrist and at the same time avoid misleading the population about psychological phenomena. 193 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.440 And he goes on to say, first of all, as a psychiatrist, 194 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:44.559 I would have guessed the patient's obsessional fantasy almost from the outset. Then 195 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:49.039 I would never have recommended to his family that he take the eyeing cure and 196 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:55.119 treat his harmless obsession by urging him to give up the clock. I might 197 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:57.440 have told him it was a crazy notion, but that he could have it 198 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:03.119 if he wished, and would have then aged the family to temper their judgment 199 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:07.160 of this lifelong obsession. And he goes on to say that to remove this 200 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:12.400 lifelong obsession from a person of his age is pretty much impossible. So it's 201 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:18.720 all very interesting, and the ability to let go of one's lifelong beliefs in 202 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:23.160 a nanosecond will certainly figure in the summing up of this episode. So let's 203 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:27.519 put that to one side for now and we'll return to it later. Now, 204 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:32.640 in that meeting, we hear that Sam's parents got the clock the day 205 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:37.319 that he was born, and that he believes when the clock stops ticking, 206 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:41.559 he will die. Now, one of the things that I often neglect here 207 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:45.440 on the Twilight Term podcast is talking about the music in the episodes. But 208 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:52.519 this is an episode where music is very important for two reasons, and both 209 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.079 of those reasons deserve to have some time spent on them. The first reason 210 00:18:56.519 --> 00:19:02.400 is that this is the final episode with a great Bernard Heyman creates the score. 211 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.440 Now, I'm not sure I ever did a bio on Bernard Herman back 212 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:10.359 in the day, so let's do it here. He was born in nineteen 213 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:15.640 eleven to Russian Jewish parents, and the beginning of his musical story is a 214 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:19.400 pretty simple one. His father natured an interest in music from a young age 215 00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:25.599 by taking him to the opera and encouraging him to learn the violin, and 216 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:30.680 Bernard studied at the Juilliard School and had his own orchestra by the age of 217 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:34.759 twenty. But it was a decision he made at twenty three that put him 218 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:41.480 on the path to being a composer and conductor whose work would forever be closely 219 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:47.839 tied to radio, television and film. He became a staff conductor at CBS 220 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:55.759 and specifically the music director at Columbia Workshop, a CBS radio show which was 221 00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:02.599 famous for its experimental format, so he was not only able to consolidate his 222 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:07.640 working methods, but to be experimental in them too, and within nine years 223 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:12.839 he was the head of the CBS Symphony Orchestra, and as well as creating 224 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:18.720 hours of music for radio and television shows, his work in movies too, 225 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:23.759 has made him one of the composers that the likes of Martin Scorsese and Steven 226 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:30.240 Spielberg will always quote as being one of the greatest, and Bernard Herman worked 227 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:37.279 with Orson Wells, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese. He created the music for 228 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:42.200 classics like The Dads Stood Still, Psycho Cape Fear, and many many other 229 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:48.839 movies, and even now after his death in nineteen seventy five, pieces of 230 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:55.160 his music are still used and repaposed for modern projects. But what about his 231 00:20:55.279 --> 00:21:00.839 work for our beloved show. Well, Apart from creating the original twilight Zone 232 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:06.480 theme, which went on to be replaced by the Marius Constant theme, he 233 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:12.440 also created the Outer Space Suite, a series of short, versatile pieces that 234 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:18.960 could be used over and over in different productions. So it wasn't specifically created 235 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:23.000 for the twilight Zone, but the Twilight Zone certainly got its use out of 236 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:29.400 it. But in terms of Twilight Zone episodes, Hayman directly scored seven of 237 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:34.640 them, and they were Where Is Everybody Walking Distance? And The Lonely in 238 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:41.400 season one, then I have The Beholder in season two, Little Girl Lost 239 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:47.599 in season three, and Living Tall and ninety Years Without Slumbering in season five. 240 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:51.799 So this is the final score that he did for the twilight Zone, 241 00:21:52.359 --> 00:22:15.880 and let's have a listen to a small piece of it. So Herman is 242 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:22.240 using as a basis for his music the song My Grandfather's Clock, which was 243 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:29.400 written in eighteen seventy six by Henry Clay Wake and the song is from the 244 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:34.960 viewpoint of a grandchild who sings about his grandfather's clock, which was bought on 245 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.319 the day that his grandfather was born. But in the song, the clock 246 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:45.240 also had a kind of symbiotic relationship with the grandfather. It chimes when he 247 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:49.480 brings his new bride to the house, it sounds an alarm when he's about 248 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:53.960 to die, so that all of his family can gather around, and then 249 00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:00.200 when he does die, the clock stops, never to go again. So 250 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.599 we can see how this song is closely tied to this episode. And the 251 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:11.119 earliest known recording of Grandfather's Clock is by a group called the Edison Quartet from 252 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:15.920 nineteen oh five. But this is a song that has been recorded over and 253 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:22.880 over by numerous artists over the years, more than I can possibly mention. 254 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.960 So let's have a listen to a sampling of some of them, beginning with 255 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:33.079 the Edison Quartet from nineteen oh five, then Larry Hooper in nineteen fifty six, 256 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:38.960 Tennessee Anie Ford in nineteen fifty nine, Cliff Richard and the Peter Crawford 257 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:45.319 Trio in nineteen sixty, and then versions by the Everly Brothers Bare Lives and 258 00:23:45.440 --> 00:24:06.880 Johnny Cash real father Clark by the other Dawnal forter My grandfather's club was solde 259 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:19.000 forgot ninety years. It was taller by habit than the old man himself. 260 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:26.960 Go with ways, not of any ways more. It was bord from the 261 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:33.200 bole of the day that he was born, and was always his treasure and 262 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:41.200 crime. But it's done short, never to go again. When the old 263 00:24:41.759 --> 00:25:00.480 old man died ninety years without slumbering his life second's numbering, it stopped short, 264 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:08.920 never to go again. Wend the old man. It was born on 265 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:19.160 the deal, and it was always his rejoy from it. Shot short point 266 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:34.519 by ninety years without slumbering. Jipp Jicks talk his life second snumbering Jick top 267 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:51.000 Jicks top to stop short never thought his twentyal man. In watching the pendulum 268 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:56.519 swing to and fro many hours he had spent as a boy in childhood and 269 00:25:56.599 --> 00:26:00.440 manhood, the clock seemed to know, and it shared with his and his 270 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:04.119 joint, for it struck twenty four when he entered at the door with a 271 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:12.240 blooming and beautiful bride. But it stopped short, never to go again. 272 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:23.680 When the man it rang an alarm, and the dated off the iron and 273 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:30.640 alarm that four years had been gone, and we knew that his spirit was 274 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:37.240 bloaming for flight, that is, our forward departure had gone. Still the 275 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:44.720 clock kept the tie with the saw and muffled chime as we solidly stood by 276 00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:51.680 his side. But it sh short, never to go again. When the 277 00:26:51.839 --> 00:27:06.680 old bad big haty years without slumbering his life's second sumbery, it star short, 278 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:15.240 never to go again. When the old man and I guess that they 279 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:21.160 didn't have movies in the eighteen hundreds to make sequels of so in this case, 280 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:26.160 the original writer, Henry clay Work, wrote a sequel where a grandson 281 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:33.359 from the original song laments the fact that his grandfather's clock was sold and then 282 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:37.400 scrapped, and in its place is a wall clock, which he despises. 283 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:45.359 Once again, I have wron drew the old edtion the house where my grandfather 284 00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:53.559 spent his ninety There are strangers in charge in the change. They have brought. 285 00:27:53.839 --> 00:28:02.880 Cowen sends me even jeans year old club. When they bled you your 286 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:11.759 speechless fevery the name when we swapped you up case or their bane stuck out 287 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:17.480 ding, Oh, their bane stuck out thing, the bin stuck out ding 288 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:29.599 long brand the sleeve Sinny Stray Strange deves. So this episode is clearly an 289 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:34.880 adaptation of that song made into a television episode. And I can see why 290 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:41.359 George Clayton Johnson was the man to write this episode because he's always been the 291 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:47.279 Twilight Zone writer who seemed to be pondering life and death, trying to reframe 292 00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:52.839 it, take us away from our usual fears of death and presenting it as 293 00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:56.400 just another part of life, as he did in Nothing in the Dark. 294 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:02.440 But speaking of getting the clock, or at least move an it for now, 295 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.640 back in our episode, Sam Forceman has two delivery men bring the clock 296 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:12.519 downstairs, and you may notice that one of them is played by Chuck Hicks, 297 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:18.400 who played the boxing robot Maynard Flash in the episode Steel. But when 298 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:23.200 the clock is put in place, it momentarily stops. And when it stops, 299 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:30.519 Sam stops passing out on the stairs until the pendulum on the clock begins 300 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:34.160 to swing again. But why exactly is Sam wanting to move the clock? 301 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.359 Hello, Grandpa, I thought we'd give a try there, you know, 302 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:45.279 just to see how it looks. What do you think? I don't know, 303 00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:48.400 Sam, take a look for yourself. It sticks out like a sore 304 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:56.480 thumb. I guess it does, Sam. We might as well be honest. 305 00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:03.480 The doctor says the clock should go. The doctor said that. He 306 00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:07.400 says, through being obsessed by the clock. He says, it's bad for 307 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:10.839 you, senile. That's what I really said, isn't it, no grandpa? 308 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:12.400 Yeah, tell me what you're to pump me away? Doesn't it? 309 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:15.559 No Grandpa? He didn't say that. Well, I'm not going to any 310 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:21.000 loony bin. I'll tell you what I am going to do. I'm going 311 00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:30.039 to sell a clop. I think one of the things that I don't really 312 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:37.160 get in this episode is something that the psychiatrist pointed out earlier on Why does 313 00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:41.680 everyone treat Sam's love of this clock as such a big deal. He does 314 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:45.359 seem to love it. He spends hours waking on it. It gives them 315 00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:49.599 something to do, it gives them papers, and it gives them pleasure. 316 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:55.079 So what's wrong with that? Just let the man enjoy his clock. And 317 00:30:55.160 --> 00:31:00.200 if his granddaughter and her husband's concern was that this is a kind of unhealthy 318 00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:07.000 preoccupation. Then I don't think the episode really does a good job of explain 319 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.240 and why they think it's unhealthy. Yes, they send them to see a 320 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:15.119 psychiatrist, but you never really get the sense that they have a major concern 321 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:22.119 around Sam and the clock. It's more that this is an episode based on 322 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:26.119 a song and there needs to be some kind of conflict here that the song 323 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:30.799 just doesn't have. So there's all of this fuss around the clock, and 324 00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:37.200 it just seems to be kind of manufactured to me. But now the decision 325 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:41.640 has been made to sell it. So while Sam arranges to sell his beloved 326 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:48.079 clock, let's meet the man who played him. It was probably about thirteen 327 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:52.200 or fourteen years ago now when I last spoke about Tonight's star ed Wynn, 328 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:57.960 when we spoke about the second Twilight Zone episode One for the Angels. Now, 329 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.160 I'm not sure what I said about and back then, so let's just 330 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:06.240 go over a few things. Now. He would have been about seventy three 331 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:09.799 years old when he filmed that one, so he's about seventy seven years old 332 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.759 when he made this one. So what's he been doing in the meantime? 333 00:32:15.319 --> 00:32:17.920 Well, One for the Angels was released in nineteen fifty nine, and in 334 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:23.920 that same year he starred as Chris Kringle in the television version of Miracle at 335 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:30.400 thirty Fourth Street. He played a fairy godfather in the Jerry Lewis comedy cinder 336 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.680 Feller, a gender swapped reytelling of Cinderella. He was in an episode of 337 00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:39.920 Rawhide, a couple of anthology shows, so he was still chugging along, 338 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:45.720 and following this he still had a couple more years of working them, which 339 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:51.440 included one of his most beloved roles when he played Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins. 340 00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:57.200 And he also played Old Aram in the Bible movie The Greatest Story Ever 341 00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:01.000 Told. And on June nineteenth, nineteen sixty six, at the age of 342 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:07.079 seventy nine, ed left us when he died of a sophogo councer and the 343 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:15.480 marker on his grave reads the year God thanks ed Wynn, and the entertainer 344 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:21.279 read Skelton said that his death is the first time that he made anyone sad. 345 00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:25.400 Now. His co star Carol and Keaney said that Rod Sailing was on 346 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:30.079 set because he was also the producer, and she said he was there and 347 00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:35.279 he was very protective of ed Wynne. He wanted to make sure that ed 348 00:33:35.319 --> 00:33:38.400 Wynn had his chair and wanted to make sure that ed Winn was well taken 349 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:44.279 care of and they didn't wake him too hard. Roger Kay didn't do any 350 00:33:44.279 --> 00:33:47.559 of that, but Rod Sailing was very instrumental in making sure that he was 351 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:52.759 well taken care of. Keenan Wynn, Edwin's son, was also there to 352 00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:58.720 support his dad. I think he was worried about his father because his father 353 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:01.839 was in ill health, and Keenan Wynn was like, now, Dad, 354 00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:07.119 I'm going to be right here. So I'm glad Edwin came back to the 355 00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:10.519 Twilight tone. I only wish that this episode was later in the season, 356 00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:17.239 considering his first episode was the second episode overall, although they didn't know her 357 00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:22.639 at the time, the show was winding down at this point, heading to 358 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:27.360 its end, So I do think this is a nice book end with One 359 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:31.199 for the Angels, and there is a kind of nice mirror effect with the 360 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:36.480 two of them. In his first episode One for the Angels, he died 361 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:40.800 at the end and in this episode he lived, and there is a slightly 362 00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:45.000 different flavor to his performance here. He plays her a little bit straighter than 363 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.400 in One for the angels, and there is a bit of melancholy about it 364 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:53.519 too. And months after the episode was filmed, Edwin sent Rod Sailing a 365 00:34:53.639 --> 00:35:00.199 letter thanking him for the opportunity, and Rod Sailing replied, the wind legacy 366 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:07.440 to Sailing has been an incredible talent of longevity and the dignity and grace that 367 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:13.000 are in most short supply these days. So to Edwin, the kindly neighbor 368 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:16.400 that we wish we all had, we thank you for your services to the 369 00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:22.559 twilight zone. Rest well, sir. So Sam passes on the clock to 370 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:27.719 his granddaughter's neighbor, which seems to be a compromise that everyone can be happy 371 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:32.199 with until the neighbor goes away and Sam is unable to get access to wind 372 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:37.840 up the clock. And we all know what will happen when the clock stops. 373 00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:52.079 Don't worry morning it It's better this way, can I Gampa? Good 374 00:35:52.119 --> 00:36:00.079 night? Sweet? Seemingly resigned to his fate, Sam falls asleep, and 375 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:05.440 when the clock stops, a spiritual version of him leaves his body. But 376 00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:12.119 just as you think he's going to go quietly into the night, Sam, 377 00:36:12.199 --> 00:36:20.440 old friend, it's been a good line, but now it's time to go. 378 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:28.360 Oh, don't let me detain you. How the heck did you get 379 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:37.599 in my bedroom? I don't believe we've been introduced. Your face is familiar. 380 00:36:39.079 --> 00:36:45.920 I'm your spirit. Your time has come sail after all, you are 381 00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:50.480 seventy six. Don't give me that spirit at seventy six? Step and who 382 00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:53.400 says it's my time to go? Have you forgotten what your father told you 383 00:36:54.000 --> 00:37:00.920 and your grandfather about what? Didn't they always tell you that when the cloque 384 00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:06.639 winds down, you'll die. Yes, you know something. I used to 385 00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:09.280 believe that stuff. Well you should have. They told you often that. 386 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:15.119 But that's silly, don't you know? There I do. I've been doing 387 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:21.719 psychiatrist so what So he told me he didn't think I needed the clock, 388 00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:25.079 and he didn't think I was crazy, And you know what, he was 389 00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:30.320 right and we are wrong. So the physical version of Sam decides that he 390 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:34.559 doesn't want to go. He wants to live, and he won't have his 391 00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:39.559 life decided by a clock. In the Twilight Zone, companion Mark Zick's adamant 392 00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:45.199 that George Clayton Johnson's original story was much better than what we got, and 393 00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:52.199 he describes it like this. In the sensitively written original Johnson once again returned 394 00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:57.440 to the themes of old age and fear of death. An old man who 395 00:37:57.480 --> 00:38:01.000 lives with his pregnant granddaughter and her husband, believes he will die if his 396 00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:06.480 clock ever stops. Pressured by the young people to get rid of the clock, 397 00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:10.119 the old man gives it to an antique dealer, but later he changes 398 00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:15.320 his mind and tries to struggle the huge clock home in a child's wagon with 399 00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:22.360 the assistance of a neighborhood boy. It is an exhausting and hazardous ordeal, 400 00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:28.039 made doubly so by the knowledge that a grandfather clock, in order to keep 401 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:34.079 ticking, must remain absolutely upright. When the old man tries to lift the 402 00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:37.119 clock out of the wagon, it falls on top of him, it stops 403 00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:44.239 ticking, and he dies. Several bystanders set the clock upright. At the 404 00:38:44.280 --> 00:38:49.480 same moment that it begins to tick again. The man's granddaughter gives birth to 405 00:38:49.519 --> 00:38:54.400 her baby, The cycle begins anew, and then Zichary goes on to say, 406 00:38:55.039 --> 00:39:00.239 imagine, samforceman has staunchly held to his belief in the face of all 407 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:07.159 logic to the contrary, trumpeted it to a psychiatrist, even attempted breaking and 408 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:10.199 entering in order to keep the clock ticking, and what does he do at 409 00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:15.559 the last possible moment, bladly talk himself out of his most strongly held belief 410 00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:22.199 of over seventy years As forced men, Edwin is about as disarming and lovable 411 00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:27.440 as one could hope for. But not even he can sell this bill of 412 00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:31.920 goods, and George Clayton Johnson said it makes the plot trivial. If you're 413 00:39:31.920 --> 00:39:36.480 going to get involved in his problems, you've got to believe his problems, 414 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:39.920 and if he doesn't believe in them, you feel cheated. And I have 415 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.880 to say I do agree with them on this one. I don't dislike the 416 00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:47.480 episode as much as Mark Zickry does. In fact, I do like it, 417 00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:52.719 but from the sounds of it, the original was just a much better 418 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:58.360 idea, and his observation that Sam just talks himself out of his belief with 419 00:39:58.360 --> 00:40:04.079 with no real reason is accurate too. I think it might play better if 420 00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:07.480 there was some actual trigger for it, like his niece was in the hospital 421 00:40:07.559 --> 00:40:13.360 having the baby and he wanted to be around to see it. That stuff 422 00:40:13.480 --> 00:40:15.239 is in the background, and he does say that he wants to see the 423 00:40:15.320 --> 00:40:20.079 baby, but it just doesn't have any drama to it, and I think 424 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:23.199 from the sounds of it, the original has a real kind of poetry to 425 00:40:23.239 --> 00:40:29.440 it. It's a meditation on life and death and how we face that transition. 426 00:40:30.679 --> 00:40:35.159 The symbiotic relationship between the old man and the clock is kind of the 427 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:39.039 point. And as the song said, it stopped short, never to go 428 00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:45.000 again when the old man died. But then George Clayton Johnson adds this wonderful 429 00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:52.800 extra layer to it, rebase the cycle of life continues. The clock begins 430 00:40:52.840 --> 00:40:58.280 again with a new life. I think that's beautiful, But in this one 431 00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:02.360 Sam just decided that he's not going to die, So it does kind of 432 00:41:02.440 --> 00:41:09.280 render the story a little pointless because the connection between the clock and Sam was 433 00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:14.480 the point. But now we learn that there wasn't a connection after all, 434 00:41:14.920 --> 00:41:19.280 or if there was one, Sam can quite easily break it. But I 435 00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:22.960 guess to play devil's advocate and maybe give it some benefit of the doubt. 436 00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:29.199 Maybe it can be looked at in a different angle. Is this story and 437 00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:32.679 meditation on life and that we are all subject to the ticking of the clock. 438 00:41:34.199 --> 00:41:37.039 But if you look after your clock, you can live a good, 439 00:41:37.079 --> 00:41:40.719 long life. But don't get too preoccupied with it, or you'll miss the 440 00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:45.039 life that is passing you by as you do. Or is it about a 441 00:41:45.079 --> 00:41:50.719 boy who had an idea put in his head by his father and grandfather, 442 00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:57.440 which essentially gave him this unhealthy fixation that stuck with him until he's able to 443 00:41:57.480 --> 00:42:00.760 finally break it in the end. I think there is value in a story 444 00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:05.800 like that, but I do feel that there is more groundwork that needed to 445 00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:08.800 be done if that's the way they were going with it. So I think 446 00:42:08.840 --> 00:42:14.880 I'm always going to prefer the sound of George Clayton Johnson's original story. But 447 00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:19.599 I don't dislike what we've got here. It's probably bottom of the mid tier 448 00:42:19.679 --> 00:42:22.679 for me. If nothing else, I think ed Wynn raised up what is 449 00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:28.559 a flowed story, but flowed or not the story about such a likable man 450 00:42:28.599 --> 00:42:31.960 who decides that he wants to live his remaining years on his own terms. 451 00:42:32.760 --> 00:42:38.039 You know that is nice and sometimes maybe that's enough. Its heart is in 452 00:42:38.119 --> 00:42:44.679 the right place, even if it's journey to the screen took some wrong turns. 453 00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:50.760 Clocks are made by men. God creates time. No men can prolong 454 00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:53.679 his allotted hours. He can only live them. To the fullest in this 455 00:42:53.760 --> 00:43:00.599 world or in the Twilight Zone ninety years without Slumber. You know, as 456 00:43:00.599 --> 00:43:06.199 someone who is discovering some of these episodes for the first time in season five, 457 00:43:06.280 --> 00:43:12.760 it's certainly interesting to come across some quite unusual ones. But as you 458 00:43:12.840 --> 00:43:17.159 know, my friend's over in the after Hours club over a Patreon dot com 459 00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:23.840 slash Twilight's own podcast vote on every episode to say whether it is a top, 460 00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:30.000 middle, or bottom episode. I don't think these results are too surprising. 461 00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:35.960 Five percent said it is a top tier episode, fifty six percent said 462 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:39.480 it was a middle tier episode, and forty percent said it was a bottom 463 00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:44.079 tier episode. You know, I kind of thought it'd be more or less 464 00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:46.800 split between middle and bottom, so I'm not surprised by that at all. 465 00:43:47.280 --> 00:43:52.119 Our friend uncommon Nasa says he hasn't seen it that many times, but ed 466 00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:59.000 Wynn he alone carries it to mid tier. I like the obsessiveness about mortality 467 00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:02.920 angle as a story line. It's different in theme than other episodes for so 468 00:44:04.039 --> 00:44:07.840 late in the series. Our friend and author of the Twilight Zone Haiq, 469 00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:13.760 says, good solid middle tier. We are conditioned in the series to the 470 00:44:13.880 --> 00:44:17.840 idea of objects that have magical powers, So the swave is that this clock 471 00:44:17.880 --> 00:44:22.440 doesn't have magic powers. It's all an obsession on the part of the protagonist, 472 00:44:23.239 --> 00:44:27.800 the suspense of not knowing which it'll be as well done. Will we 473 00:44:27.880 --> 00:44:31.559 watch this pace and die or is he in the grip of madness Alan Knightmare 474 00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:37.360 of twenty thousand Feet or will the officer shoot him to death as he tries 475 00:44:37.400 --> 00:44:40.159 to break into the neighbor's house while he went dark there at the end chat 476 00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:45.199 okay. Our friend Jordan Dollock says, it's nice to see Ed's win. 477 00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:49.639 He does a good job and is pretty engaging. But something about this episode 478 00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:52.719 feels dull to me, like it drags more than usual. It has a 479 00:44:52.719 --> 00:44:57.639 hard time holding my attention. I think I can see that point of view 480 00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:01.079 for sure. Brian from Phoenix says middle Tier. I was initially impressed by 481 00:45:01.159 --> 00:45:06.039 this episode until the end. I like how the grandfather let go of the 482 00:45:06.039 --> 00:45:09.960 superstition that was keeping him from being present and in the moment. I compare 483 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.880 this similar theme to the episode Nick of Time, which also deals with allowing 484 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.760 superstitious beliefs to stand in the way of living your best life. That's an 485 00:45:19.800 --> 00:45:23.880 interesting observation. Maybe that's why it was initially going to be called tick of 486 00:45:23.960 --> 00:45:29.079 Time. Our old friend Steve Badger says, middle tier this one due to 487 00:45:29.119 --> 00:45:34.159 the unexpected ending where the grandfather doesn't die. A nice story which follows the 488 00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:37.159 theme of the song it's based on, but it drags a bit. Edwin 489 00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:42.559 elevates the episode as the Old Man, but he's better in the season one 490 00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:45.920 one for the Angel's episode, as it's a better story in my opinion, 491 00:45:46.440 --> 00:45:51.559 Thank you, Steve. Brian Griffin says, no astronauts or end of the 492 00:45:51.559 --> 00:45:54.119 world scenarios. At least there were not any genies in the bottle or a 493 00:45:54.159 --> 00:46:00.800 genie in the clock middle it is Our old friend All Sharedesman says this is 494 00:46:00.920 --> 00:46:05.440 possibly the waste episode of the series. To me, okay, I dream 495 00:46:05.440 --> 00:46:08.960 of genius waste, but it's a close second. It's as if someone took 496 00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:15.440 an intriguing George Clayton Johnson's story and handed it to Jack Laird for a rewrite, 497 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:20.639 only without the vampires the bottom of the bottom. All come on, 498 00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:22.800 man, don't make me invoke the Bard here. I really don't want to 499 00:46:22.840 --> 00:46:28.280 go there. Okay, thank you, al Our friend Ben Carkem says, 500 00:46:28.440 --> 00:46:31.800 I sort of agree with Zickary's opinion on this one. The original idea sounds 501 00:46:31.840 --> 00:46:37.840 so much better. The ending really let it down. Fortunately, Edwin makes 502 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:42.039 it worth watching Bottom of the Middle tier for me, You and me both 503 00:46:42.079 --> 00:46:45.639 ben Our friend Joe Brown says, the episode begins with what looks to be 504 00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:52.639 a solid idea. A clock gifted a bath clicking time away can cause death 505 00:46:52.679 --> 00:46:57.960 of the receiver if it stops working. The idea made me wonder would the 506 00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:02.920 clock stop waking if the receiver dies first Interesting. I thought the episode could 507 00:47:02.960 --> 00:47:07.320 be a race of sorts see which one outlasts the other, but that's not 508 00:47:07.400 --> 00:47:10.880 what we get. We get a story about aging, and the clock is 509 00:47:10.960 --> 00:47:16.039 just a device for the protagonist to wager against the threat of death. And 510 00:47:16.199 --> 00:47:21.039 Joe says the episode lost it for me when his inner self rises from the 511 00:47:21.079 --> 00:47:24.960 bed and confronts himself and then proceeds to fade away as Sam tells him he's 512 00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:29.880 not ready. I wonder if the director wanted to try this camera trick, 513 00:47:30.239 --> 00:47:32.719 as it is filmed well for the scene, it just doesn't work for the 514 00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:37.840 story. The supporting characters are uninteresting. The daughter is too doting, the 515 00:47:37.920 --> 00:47:42.400 son in law is the voice of reason, and the baby is coming, 516 00:47:42.880 --> 00:47:45.239 so the clock has to go. I don't get that. Me neither. 517 00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:49.280 I would love a grandfather clock, you know. I think they're wonderful. 518 00:47:49.880 --> 00:47:52.480 You know, I'm not quite sure what everyone has against them. Oh when 519 00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:57.480 the next door neighbor just happens to love antiques and the clock now has a 520 00:47:57.519 --> 00:48:00.840 new home, Well, everyone loves her grandfather clock. Joe, you know, 521 00:48:00.039 --> 00:48:05.199 apart from apart from the husband, of course, and Joe goes on. 522 00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:07.800 Everything sets up nicely. This is a good example of why people like 523 00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:14.039 Season five the least. Stories like this that have poor dialogue and rush conclusions 524 00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:17.440 make us yearn for when the Twilight Zone was good. Thank you, Joe. 525 00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:22.119 Okay, so here's a take that I like. I like it when 526 00:48:22.320 --> 00:48:25.119 you know someone champions the underdog a bit sometimes, and our friend Ben Harg 527 00:48:25.239 --> 00:48:29.920 does that. He says ninety years without slumbering his top tier for me. 528 00:48:30.480 --> 00:48:36.119 Although I consider this episode to be a straightforward drama where nothing supernatural or otherwise 529 00:48:36.199 --> 00:48:39.960 twilight zonly a cares. As a boy, Edwin's character was teased by his 530 00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:45.079 father and grandfather into believing that his life was tied to the continued operation of 531 00:48:45.119 --> 00:48:51.119 the clock. When the clock eventually stops, he is forced to recognize that 532 00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:55.719 his beliefs have been rejected by his lived experience. In other words, he 533 00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:00.199 still has a bit of growing up to do. The conversation with his soul 534 00:49:00.599 --> 00:49:06.679 occurs in a dream like state and symbolizes the process of grieving, of internal 535 00:49:06.760 --> 00:49:12.159 negotiation and separation from beliefs he can no longer hold. He is, in 536 00:49:12.199 --> 00:49:16.519 a sense reborn. He is newly able to explore life without an eight foot 537 00:49:16.599 --> 00:49:22.159 tall grandfather clock weighing him down. As for why I consider this a top 538 00:49:22.159 --> 00:49:27.000 tier episode, I just really enjoy the story and the ed Wing character I 539 00:49:27.039 --> 00:49:32.079 can identify with him taking longer than average to shed unexamined childlike beliefs and grow 540 00:49:32.199 --> 00:49:37.119 up. As it slowly dawns on him that his dependence on the clock is 541 00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:44.039 threatening his most important relationships, he makes incremental compromises in favor of those relationships 542 00:49:44.639 --> 00:49:50.400 by moving the clock downstairs and eventually out of the house altogether. He goes 543 00:49:50.440 --> 00:49:53.760 to heroic lengths to keep the clock going. When he is ultimately thwarted, 544 00:49:54.119 --> 00:50:00.039 he calmly lays down and accepts his fate in an act of inspiring courage. 545 00:50:00.559 --> 00:50:05.280 Saying good night to his granddaughter while believing that his death will occur that night 546 00:50:05.760 --> 00:50:09.440 is one of the most beautiful and poignant moments in the entire series. You 547 00:50:09.480 --> 00:50:14.119 know, I really like your take, Ben. I think all it needed 548 00:50:14.360 --> 00:50:17.639 was maybe a little detail for me to kind of go with that more. 549 00:50:19.400 --> 00:50:22.960 I just think that his about face was a bit quick, you know. 550 00:50:22.199 --> 00:50:27.519 I think it needed maybe a bit more drama or a catalyst there, like 551 00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:32.320 maybe his granddaughter is rushed to the hospital to have the baby or something like 552 00:50:32.360 --> 00:50:36.639 that, you know, something that makes them kind of say, okay, 553 00:50:37.079 --> 00:50:38.920 all right, I'm going to stay alive. I just don't think he had 554 00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:42.920 that, But I'm glad that you do, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. 555 00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:46.679 I always think it's nice when someone has a really good take on something, 556 00:50:47.239 --> 00:50:52.440 even if it's not what my take generally is. Okay, Roger Moore 557 00:50:52.559 --> 00:50:54.960 says, I'll make a short and sweete bottom tier Twilight Zone for me. 558 00:50:55.119 --> 00:50:59.880 Thank you, Roger, and our friend Josh Chambers says, I too, 559 00:51:00.039 --> 00:51:02.679 will be brief on this entry. While I'm not exactly a cheerleader for this 560 00:51:02.840 --> 00:51:08.000 episode, I'm just happy to see Edwin make a return to the twilight Zone. 561 00:51:08.440 --> 00:51:12.519 It would have been fascinating to see him play more roles on the show, 562 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:15.679 and I wonder how he would have fared and kick the can you know 563 00:51:15.760 --> 00:51:20.559 that would have made a nice trilogy, you know, the Aging trilogy. 564 00:51:20.599 --> 00:51:24.519 I guess see him. Yeah, have these kind of three different fates. 565 00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:29.599 I absolutely agree. Good call, Josh, Thank you. So if you 566 00:51:29.639 --> 00:51:32.000 want to take part in these polls, maybe get your thoughts read out on 567 00:51:32.079 --> 00:51:37.719 the show like that, then go over to patreon dot com slash twilight Zone 568 00:51:37.760 --> 00:51:42.559 podcast where there's a whole load of things things I can add free version of 569 00:51:42.599 --> 00:51:46.960 the show. Podcasts about Night Gallery, the eighties twilight Zone, the two 570 00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:52.880 thousands twilight Zone, and we are currently going through again Jordan Peel's twilight Zone 571 00:51:52.519 --> 00:51:58.320 and all manner of things. And also a quick reminder that the twilight Zone 572 00:51:58.360 --> 00:52:02.559 Hiku by our friend Chad Ellis Boykin is out in the shops. Pay Perfect 573 00:52:02.639 --> 00:52:09.159 stocking filler for your friends for Christmas, and the audio book will be following 574 00:52:09.559 --> 00:52:15.719 along soon read by yours truly. Now, speaking of the after Hours Club, 575 00:52:15.960 --> 00:52:19.119 I usually give a role call of the new members. There's a few 576 00:52:19.159 --> 00:52:23.039 more this time around because Patreon has changed where you can now become a member 577 00:52:23.079 --> 00:52:28.360 for free. So I'm not quite sure how it works, but I don't 578 00:52:28.360 --> 00:52:34.400 think you get any access to the paid content, but you can kind of 579 00:52:34.440 --> 00:52:37.199 see what's going on. I think maybe comment on things. I'm not too 580 00:52:37.239 --> 00:52:43.039 sure on that, but anyway, you can become a member of the After 581 00:52:43.119 --> 00:52:46.480 Hours Club for free. So there are a lot of new members. I'm 582 00:52:46.519 --> 00:52:51.199 just gonna run through them real quick, and maybe there might be a bit 583 00:52:51.239 --> 00:52:55.440 of crossover. So we have Trevor, dobbyn David Hill, bud garza Oski, 584 00:52:55.480 --> 00:53:00.760 Whoski, d Jenny L. Scott, Melton sih P, Matt Hickey, 585 00:53:01.280 --> 00:53:06.840 I Am not sleepy, very good, Renee Genevekia, Jeffrey Flam, 586 00:53:07.360 --> 00:53:09.599 Jason V. Brock, good friends of the show from back in the day. 587 00:53:09.960 --> 00:53:13.800 I believe he's doing a new Twilight Zone book as well, so maybe 588 00:53:13.800 --> 00:53:17.960 we'll speak to him again in the future. Rosemary Armstrong, kl Pearson, 589 00:53:19.519 --> 00:53:25.559 h Jimmy Titus, mister Tspoon, Tony David Trimbowli, Matt Helm, Slay 590 00:53:25.639 --> 00:53:30.639 Girls from the House of Seven Joys, Okay Kyle Davis, Lucas Malone, 591 00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:37.960 Raven Peterson, Brittna, Jeff Russell, Adam Scriven, Aaron Lawrence, and 592 00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:44.760 Joe Mayer. Welcome one and all to the After Hours Club. Now, 593 00:53:44.840 --> 00:53:47.639 normally I would go over to Road Sailing at this point to tell you what's 594 00:53:47.679 --> 00:53:52.679 coming up next. But things are going to be a little bit different because, 595 00:53:52.880 --> 00:53:55.000 as you know, the twilight Zone podcast, it tends to come out 596 00:53:55.039 --> 00:53:59.800 maybe about once a month, and that is because it takes a lot of 597 00:53:59.840 --> 00:54:04.239 way to go into that. Now leading up to the Christmas period because of 598 00:54:04.639 --> 00:54:09.000 various professional commitments and so on, it's just a very very busy time for 599 00:54:09.079 --> 00:54:14.559 me. So it's going to be difficult to get another twilight Zone podcast out 600 00:54:14.599 --> 00:54:19.960 in November or December. However, that doesn't mean that there's not going to 601 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:24.840 be any twilight Zone podcast because in December, there's actually going to be twenty 602 00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:30.719 four of them, and what that's going to be is a twilight Zone Podcast 603 00:54:30.880 --> 00:54:37.559 adven calendar. So there's going to be twenty four short twilight Zone podcasts about 604 00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:45.280 questions or discussion points that the members of the After Hours Club have suggested. 605 00:54:45.960 --> 00:54:50.960 So these are going to be like five minutes maybe ten of the most podcasts 606 00:54:51.760 --> 00:54:55.960 that I will put out every day in December, so it all goes to 607 00:54:57.039 --> 00:55:00.800 plan, which I think it is. I've got some great questions. Then 608 00:55:01.199 --> 00:55:07.360 that's what it'll be. Twenty four Twilight Zone podcasts, one every day leading 609 00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:12.719 up to Christmas Day. Now, I do have a plan to hopefully put 610 00:55:12.760 --> 00:55:16.280 something out on Christmas Day, but that's going to depend on time. I'll 611 00:55:16.320 --> 00:55:20.199 really have to see how that goes. But it would be nice to give 612 00:55:20.199 --> 00:55:23.280 you this Christmas present on Christmas Day. We will see how it goes though, 613 00:55:23.960 --> 00:55:27.920 So no road sailing to tell you what's coming up next. But there 614 00:55:27.960 --> 00:55:32.239 will be lots of content leading up to Christmas and I hope you enjoy you 615 00:55:32.679 --> 00:55:38.280 and then it will be business as usual again in January. So that's all 616 00:55:38.280 --> 00:56:01.480 for me. I'll speak to you soon. By for now, Fi