The Sign Post Up Ahead: A Twilight Zone Podcast

Patrick Perot and Matt Stokes go through the fifth episode of The Twilight Zone: "Walking Distance." Gig Young plays Martin Sloan, who's just sick of it all. Sick of his successful career as an unspecific 1950s business dad. Sick of all the phone calls. Sick of the hustle and bustle of the big city. Wouldn't it be great if he could just step back in time, back to his lovely 1930s childhood when he was hanging out at the merry-go-round and the bandstand, and everything was fine with the world? He just might get more than he bargained for... "Walking Distance" is one of the most acclaimed episodes of the series, and we have a lot of fun with it, but we find it actually leaves us a little flat, especially when future Twilight Zone episodes will execute much stronger versions of this story. Still, it's fascinating to look back at the late '50s and see that even then, people were nostalgic for a mythic past. "Walking Distance" was written by Rod Serling and directed by Robert Stevens. It originally aired October 30, 1959.  Source: “Writing for Television – Conversations with Rod Serling,” Ithaca College (1972) - https://youtu.be/UzyGwK48wsY   Music credit: "Something Is Coming" by Rural Route Nine. listen on Spotify ( https://bit.ly/3QzvDQE) , Apple Music ( https://bit.ly/3DaYsQl ), or YouTube ( https://youtu.be/EErrn2Zt9mA ).  Listen to Matt's movie podcast, Load Bearing Beams. New episodes out every Friday, a deep-dive into a different movie every week. Listen on Apple Podcast ( https://bit.ly/45fA9IW ), Spotify ( https://bit.ly/3tk7FAr ), or YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod ).  Give Patrick money:  https://ko-fi.com/signpostupahead 

Patrick Perot and Matt Stokes go through the fourth episode of The Twilight Zone: "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine." Ida Lupino plays Barbara Jean, a former movie star whose early-1930s heyday has long since passed. She spends her days sequestered in a screening room of her house, re-watching her own movies... and maybe doing more than that.  Patrick calls this the first "real" episode of The Twilight Zone. And he's right. It's great from beginning to end and has the first legitimately inspired Twilight Zone-esque ending of the series. "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" originally aired October 23, 1959; directed by Mitchell leisen; written by Rod Serling; starring Ida Lupino, Martin Balsam, Jerome Cowan, Alice Frost, and Ted de Corsia as Marty. Buy Patrick a cup of coffee: https://ko-fi.com/signpostupahead  Music credit: "Something Is Coming" by Rural Route Nine. listen on Spotify (https://bit.ly/3QzvDQE), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3DaYsQl), or YouTube (https://youtu.be/EErrn2Zt9mA).  Listen to Matt's movie podcast, Load Bearing Beams. New episodes out every Friday, a deep-dive into a different movie every week. Listen on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/45fA9IW), Spotify (https://bit.ly/3tk7FAr), or YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod). 

Matt Stokes and Patrick Perot go through the third episode of The Twilight Zone: "Mr. Denton on Doomsday." A drunkard used to be the fastest gun in the west, but now all he cares about is the bottle. Actually, being the best shooter around is more blessing than curse. Really makes you think. Anyway, some kind of weird stuff happens.  This episode could use more Satan. "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" originally aired October 16, 1959; directed by Allen Reisner; written by Rod Serling; starring Dan Duryea, Martin Landau, Jeanne Cooper, and Malcolm Atterbury as Prof. Henry J. Fate.  Buy Patrick a cup of coffee: https://ko-fi.com/signpostupahead  Music credit: "Something Is Coming" by Rural Route Nine. listen on Spotify (https://bit.ly/3QzvDQE), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3DaYsQl), or YouTube (https://youtu.be/EErrn2Zt9mA).  Listen to Matt's movie podcast, Load Bearing Beams. New episodes out every Friday, a deep-dive into a different movie every week. Listen on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/45fA9IW), Spotify (https://bit.ly/3tk7FAr), or YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod). 

Matt Stokes and Patrick Perot go through the second episode of The Twilight Zone: "One for the Angels." Ed Wynn plays Lew Bookman, a "pitchman." You know, a peddler. A huckster. A hawker. He sells toys, notions, and trinkets, or, as Larry Burns puts it, "If this stuff's too nice for ya, I've also got some crap." Bookman longs to make the world's greatest pitch and sell all of his wares to the most difficult mark. And he'll get his chance, and perhaps much more than he bargained for, when he meets Mr. Death (Murray Hamilton).  "One for the Angels" originally aired October 9, 1959; directed by Robert Parrish; written by Rod Serling; starring Ed Wynn and Murray Hamilton.   Music credit: "Something Is Coming" by Rural Route Nine. listen on Spotify (https://bit.ly/3QzvDQE), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3DaYsQl), or YouTube (https://youtu.be/EErrn2Zt9mA).  Listen to Matt's movie podcast, Load Bearing Beams. New episodes out every Friday, a deep-dive into a different movie every week. Listen on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/45fA9IW), Spotify (https://bit.ly/3tk7FAr), or YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod). 

Matt Stokes and Patrick Perot go through the very first episode of The Twilight Zone: "Where Is Everybody?" An amnesiac wanders through a town, unable to find a single human being, but always feeling like somebody is just out of reach. Creepy! How well does this episode serve as an introduction to The Twilight Zone? How well does it stand on its own? And how much does it hold up now?  Plus, there's a lot of talk about the space race, the Cold War, and America's obsession with going to the moon. "Where Is Everybody" originally aired October 2, 1959; directed by Robert Stevens; written by Rod Serling; starring Earl Holliman.  Music credit: "Something Is Coming" by Rural Route Nine. listen on Spotify (https://bit.ly/3QzvDQE), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3DaYsQl), or YouTube (https://youtu.be/EErrn2Zt9mA).  Listen to Matt's movie podcast, Load Bearing Beams. New episodes out every Friday, a deep-dive into a different movie every week. Listen on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/45fA9IW), Spotify (https://bit.ly/3tk7FAr), or YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@loadbearingbeamspod).