Summer Nose-talgia #33: "One Step Beyond" & Pippo the Clown! Scary!

People always get a few shows mixed up in their memories.  Lots of folks conflate episodes of Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Thriller and The Outer Limits, especially the first two because they were (mostly) half-hours and shared a lot of actors.

Whereas Twilight Zone had writer Rod Serling's acerbic gloomy presence looming over its introductions to the dramatic delights to come, One Step Beyond had the far more gentle John Newland -- he directed most of the episodes -- to lead us into what were very often touted as real-life stories of the supernatural.  Genre fans will also note that Newland directed the very good "Errand of Mercy" episode of Star Trek: TOS in 1967.

Despite decent syndicated exposure One Step Beyond never quite achieved the high visibility and genuine cult status of Twilight Zone, but those of us who watched both found ourselves loving quite a few of the episodes.  They were a little nuttier than Twilight Zone, often had an international flair -- not a TZ trait at all -- and then there was that frisson of authenticity that often made them genuinely spooky.

One of the most memorable episodes perfectly combined a straight-up creepy subject matter -- a clown! -- with a gritty urban sensibility which honestly could have come from the Twilight Zone.  You can understand why people think this might be a TZ except if it were it would certainly end up in "best of" marathons on holidays and would be better known.

Christopher Dark & Yvette Mimieux

Shaughnessy as Pippo

Shaughnessy as himself

From 1960,  it's called "The Clown" and stars an 18 year-old Yvette Mimieux in one of her first acting roles; her big break in The Time Machine would come later that same year.  Veteran actor Mickey Shaughnessy played the clown named Pippo, and actor Christopher Dark (a very frequent guest star on TV until his death in 1971 at the age of 51) played Yvette's hot-tempered husband.  There's a short history of clowns at the beginning of the episode, and it's interesting to note that the name Pippo is a traditional clown name used over the years by various performers (even after this episode!).  Enjoy!

Titanic at 100: The Night Gallery!

 

Though many people assume that there must have been an episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone about the Titanic, there never was.  One of the hour TZ episodes had Dana Andrews traveling back in time to prevent various disasters and he ended up on the Lusitania, one of history's other famous sunken ships, but the Titanic never sailed through the Twilight Zone.  However, in Serling's second series The Night Gallery he wrote an episode -- or a segment, each hour contained several stories -- entitled "The Lone Survivor" about a haunted passenger from the doomed Titanic who ends up on...the Lusitania. 

"The Lone Survivor" is John Colicos (left), the great character actor well-remembered as Klingon Commander Kor in the Star Trek TOS episode "Errand of Mercy" and from his role in classic Battlestar Galactica; his performance here is wonderful.  The equally great actor Torin Thatcher -- Star Trek TOS "Return of the Archons" (the one with Landru and the Red Hour) and the wizard in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad -- co-stars as the captain of the Lusitania. 

It's the second segment of the episode; you can forward past the first, unless you want to watch Phyllis Diller in her story, which you might.  She's always fun!



More on Titanic later today!

2009 - 2010 New Year's Eve, TV Style

Although it seems as though New Year's Eve television programming isn't as creative as it used to be -- i.e., when I was programming it -- there still are enough interesting offerings to guide us couch potatoes smoothly into 2010.

First on the list is AMC's classic Three Stooges Marathon, with newly remastered episodes playing starting from early this morning until 6am on New Year's Day (or whenever in your particular time zone -- I'm using Eastern). There's been a dearth of Stooges on television as of late -- I used to watch them on a Boston station but no sign of them recently -- and I'm thrilled to see that AMC seems to have picked up the torch. There is nothing better than one of the best Stooges shorts (I'm thinking for instance of something like "Pardon My Scotch" playing at about 2:30pm today), or lots of other good ones particularly after midnight tonight.

SyFy features a two day-long Twilight Zone Marathon, of course, again borrowing a leaf from the various independent stations who pioneered the TZ Marathon concept back in the 1980s.

USA Network features a marathon of their successful and immensely entertaining Burn Notice (left) series all day today and tonight until 6am Friday, at which time they switch over to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Ick -- from charming rogues to serial rapists, murdered hookers and sexually abused children...don't like that transition much! Nothing like celebrating the New Year with tales of the most unpleasant criminality out there, is there? Creepy.

Comedy Central has South Park all day, culiminating with the SP movie, all ending at 5am tomorrow morning. Logo has a marathon of The Sarah Silverman Show until 3am tonight, TV Guide Network features a day and night of specials about celebrities who died during 2009, including of course several hours on Michael Jackson. History has a string of their Strange Rituals series lined up, with a look at weird rites of passage and other incredible ordeals, if that's your thing.

HBO has a marathon of their Thomas Jane-starring series Hung beginning at midnight tonight. This is probably the most appealing line-up next to the Three Stooges, as Hung is a very watchable show with not only a heavy dose of ribald comedy but with a melancholy wry tone that really captures the mood of the world today. Worth watching if for nothing else than the wonderful performance of Jane Adams as the main character's friend and lady pimp.

If you like your New Year Eve celebration classy and classic, tune into Turner Classic Movies for an all-night marathon of The Thin Man movies. If newer science fiction is more your taste, join BBC America for a marathon of Doctor Who episodes and movies starting at midnight tonight, and culminating on Saturday evening with the final episode of the series starring the wonderful David Tennant (below) as the Doctor. Highly recommended!

Whatever you choose, have a very Happy New Year and here's to a great 2010 from everyone here at The Flaming Nose!

Our Current Masthead Photo -- "The Twilight Zone" Lives On!

Hope you're enjoying our latest Nose photo header, this time of course instantly recognizable as the great William Shatner from the classic Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Shatner is the epitome of the nervous flyer in this iconic half-hour, updated (but not bettered) for the big screen in the infamous 1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie with the talented John Lithgow -- who's now getting on so many award nomination lists for his just-completed role as The Trinity Killer on Dexter -- (right) taking Shatner's role. (Infamous for the scandal and trial surrounding the death of actor Vic Morrow and two young children in a gruesome on location helicopter accident.)

In case you haven't seen the episode lately, you can take a look at it here now! (The terrific photo montage at the top of this post is by Mike Peters, from TVCrazy.net, a neat site with lots of stuff for TV fans.) Enjoy!

"Twilight Zone" 4th of July Marathon on SciFi Channel Today

Before they make their silly and unwelcome name change to SyFy in the near future, you can still enjoy the SciFi Channel today as it presents its 4th of July Twilight Zone Marathon. Long a staple of the network, however they by no means invented the convention of a T Zone marathon. It was a longstanding tradition to hold Twilight Zone-athons on many of the local stations running the show back in the day.

My old station KTLA was famous for running a most excellent Thanksgiving Day festival, and on other holidays also. Twilight Zone was a particularly perfect show for a marathon -- ideal genre, well-told tales, the iconic presence of Rod Serling, complete baby-boomer cultural immersion, lots of episodes, and familiar guest stars who could be promoted. Wonderful!

We did not originate it, however; T Zone was syndicated all over, and the marathon idea sprang up on the East Coast, in Boston, I believe first, though possibly in a different market. I know that we had the show, and in my policy of always giving credit where it's due, our then-Program Director Brooke Spectorsky who had come from WSB (I think...) had done one there and brought the notion to KTLA. We ran with it and it became a beloved tradition.

And so it goes. Nothing is new in television, believe me!

(Sci Fi's marathon actually started yesterday with eps from the 1980's Twilight Zone redo series, but continues today with the originals.)

Nose-talgia Visits The Twilight Zone!

And not Twilight Zone in general, one T-Zone episode in particular is what I'd like to focus on in this Nose-talgia piece. I'm speaking of A Stop At Willoughby, in my opinion one of the best episodes of an exceptionally brilliant television series.

Who can ever forget the pure joy of staying home sick from school and being able to watch a Twilight Zone repeat in the middle of the day. You hear the frantic, almost psychotic music, followed by Rod Serling's flat, ironic, Binghamton New York monotone. "There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone." Wow. One doesn't experience writing that pretty on TV anymore, unless it's HBO.

Brief digression before my Willoughby swoon to mention that fellow Blogger Lisa was part of a genius programming team that invented the Thanksgiving Day Twilight Zone Marathon on LA's indie TV station KTLA. It was to counter program the endless football games, and was an instant ratings winner.

And now for my favorite T-Zone episode, "A Stop At Willoughby", which I've seen something like two or three hundred times. It never gets old, in fact it was quite prescient for the early sixties in predicting the frantic, type A environment of the advertising and media industry that still exists today. Gart Williams is a 38 year old advertising executive who is becoming unhinged at a very rapid pace. His wife is a brass blond shrew, his boss is a spit slinging screamer and his co-workers are gargoyles. The pressure is on at work to land a new account and Gart is failing faster than he can say please pass the Alka Seltzer. In one memorable scene, that I have personally lived through dozens of times in real life (as a media ad exec), the boss bellows, "Push Push Push, Williams!!! Push Push Push". You can practically smell his hot fetid breath through the TV screen.

Every day Gart takes the train home from this nightmare work environment, but there is no rest for the weary there, because his wife is a steel edged social climbing bitch. He'd get more warmth and sympathy from the Frigidaire.

But one night Gart falls asleep on the train and when he wakes up there is a special surprise outside his window. It's Willoughby...a little town stuck in the year 1880...somewhere in The Twilight Zone. In Willoughby it is always summer, and a band plays in the park. Strangers tip their hats and kids play in the grass. Think of the hottest, thirstiest moment you have ever had. Willoughby is the glass of lemonade.

Of course, Gart is transfixed by Willoughby. Of course, when he asks the conductor about the stop, he is met with a blank stare.

One day the work, the wife, the whole mess that makes up Gart's stressed out 20th century life proves too much for him and when the train stops he strolls right off into the sunny streets of Willoughby. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've watched that scene and wanted to go along with him.

The final scene of the episode raises classic T-Zone goose bumps. The train has stopped and the conductor is standing outside in the snow with a couple of policemen. We see Gart's body being loaded into an ambulance, and when the doors to the emergency vehicle close, there is one word painted onto the exterior: "Willoughby".

Nice. I have it on DVD. Think I'll go watch it again, for the 301st time.