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Complete CBS Twilight Zone broadcast history -- With alphabetical list of episodes

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Dan Hollis

Complete CBS Twilight Zone broadcast history -- With alphabetical list of episodes

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Posts: 15674

Dec 13 04 2:52 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

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(Note, 9/15/05: Recently, Dan posted a thread featuring an alphabetical list of Twilight Zone episodes along with their seasons and premiere dates. With Dan's kind permission, I have merged that thread into this one, to save space in the "sticky topics" section. To go directly to the list, click here.-J. B. W. Bevis)

This is the first of a set of six posts that list the history of The Twilight Zone as it aired on CBS television between 1959 and 1965. Each post accounts for a full season, including summer reruns, and lists what aired in TZ's regular time slot each week. Unless otherwise indicated, an episode title refers to its premiere. Black is used for premieres, red for reruns, and blue for non-TZ programs.

These lists are based on established premiere dates, New York Times TV listings, and my personal recollections of having watched most of the original TZ run. If anyone has evidence to contradict any of my listings, please post it.

SEASON ONE (Fridays 10:00-10:30 ET)

10/02/59 Where Is Everybody?
10/09/59 One for the Angels
10/16/59 Mr. Denton on Doomsday
10/23/59 The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine
10/30/59 Walking Distance
11/06/59 Escape Clause
11/13/59 The Lonely
11/20/59 Time Enough at Last
11/27/59 Perchance to Dream
12/04/59 Judgment Night
12/11/59 And When the Sky Was Opened
12/18/59 CBS Reports (10:00-11:00): "Iran: Brittle Ally" with Edward R. Murrow, Winston Burdett
12/25/59 What You Need
01/01/60 The Four of Us Are Dying
01/08/60 Third from the Sun
01/15/60 I Shot an Arrow into the Air
01/22/60 The Hitchhiker
01/29/60 The Fever
02/05/60 The Last Flight
02/12/60 The Purple Testament
02/19/60 Elegy
02/26/60 Mirror Image
03/04/60 The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
03/11/60 A World of Difference
03/18/60 Long Live Walter Jameson
03/25/60 People Are Alike All Over
04/01/60 Execution
04/08/60 The Big Tall Wish
04/15/60 A Nice Place to Visit
04/22/60 Playhouse 90 (9:00-10:30): "Journey to the Day" by Roger O. Hirson
04/29/60 Nightmare as a Child
05/06/60 A Stop at Willoughby
05/13/60 The Chaser
05/20/60 A Passage for Trumpet
05/27/60 CBS Reports (10:00-11:00): "Who Speaks for the South?" (about public school integration) with Edward R. Murrow
06/03/60 Mr. Bevis
06/10/60 The After Hours
06/17/60 The Mighty Casey
06/24/60 Mr. Denton on Doomsday (rerun)
07/01/60 A World of His Own
07/08/60 Time Enough at Last (rerun)
07/15/60 Democratic National Convention (7:30-11:00)
07/22/60 Third from the Sun (rerun)
07/29/60 Walking Distance (rerun)
08/05/60 And When the Sky Was Opened (rerun)
08/12/60 The Hitchhiker (rerun)
08/19/60 The Last Flight (rerun)
08/26/60 The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (rerun)
09/02/60 The Four of Us Are Dying (rerun)
09/09/60 A Nice Place to Visit (rerun)
09/16/60 The Lonely (rerun)
09/23/60 Execution (rerun)

Season 2 began the following week.

The original "There is a fifth dimension" opening was used exclusively through 05/13/60 (premiere of "The Chaser"). The alternate Season 1 opening, featuring a human eye that turns into the setting sun, was used exclusively from 05/20/60 through 07/01/60 (premieres of the last five episodes and the rerun of "Mr. Denton on Doomsday"). The closing upward pan to the starlit sky was also changed on 05/20/60 from animated miniature suns to simple points of light, but the original sky was preserved for "Mr. Denton on Doomsday." The "fifth dimension" opening and original sky returned when summer reruns began on 07/08/60 and remained throughout the summer. All series theme music was composed by Bernard Herrmann, although the two different openings used different versions of more or less the same theme. The inclusion of Marius Constant's theme with some Season 1 episodes at present is the result of their being rerun on CBS the following season; they all premiered with Herrmann's theme. There were 36 new episodes in the first season, 12 of which were repeated before the next season began.

There was a Republican National Convention (nominating Nixon) the week of July 25. Unlike the Democrats (nominating Kennedy), who took Monday through Friday, the Republicans took only Monday through Thursday. So only the Democrats pre-empted TZ.

TZ Companion includes a story about "The Purple Testament." William Reynolds and Richard L. Bare, the episode's star and director respectively, were involved in a plane crash on 02/12/60, the episode's premiere date. They survived, but this was not immediately known.

This much is verified by The New York Times, including the date. A possible inconsistency arises from a quote by Reynolds in TZ Companion, in which he says that producer Buck Houghton withheld the episode that night in respect for two potential casualties. Yet all other evidence points to the premiere going as scheduled, including the list of premiere dates in TZ Companion itself. I see one possible explanation that incorporates both sides of a seeming conflict. TZ aired at 10 PM in both the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones. It may be that "The Purple Testament" had already aired in the east when Houghton made his decision, pre-empting the premiere in the west three hours later. If that's the case, then "The Purple Testament" may never have been seen in the west until its Season 2 rerun.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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Edited 4 times by Dan Hollis Feb 14 13 10:56 PM.

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Dan Hollis

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Dec 13 04 3:01 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

SEASON TWO (Fridays 10:00-10:30 ET)

09/30/60 King Nine Will Not Return
10/07/60 The Man in the Bottle
10/14/60 Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room
10/21/60 Nixon-Kennedy Debate (10:00-11:00)
10/28/60 A Thing About Machines
11/04/60 The Howling Man
11/11/60 Eye of the Beholder
11/18/60 Nick of Time
11/25/60 CBS Reports (9:30-10:30): "Harvest of Shame" (about migratory farm workers) with Edward R. Murrow
12/02/60 The Lateness of the Hour (videotape)
12/09/60 The Trouble with Templeton
12/16/60 A Most Unusual Camera
12/23/60 The Night of the Meek (videotape)
12/30/60 A Stop at Willoughby (rerun)
01/06/61 Dust
01/13/61 Back There
01/20/61 The Whole Truth (videotape)
01/27/61 The Invaders
02/03/61 A Penny for Your Thoughts
02/10/61 Twenty-Two (videotape)
02/17/61 A Passage for Trumpet (rerun)
02/24/61 The Odyssey of Flight 33
03/03/61 Mr. Dingle, the Strong
03/10/61 Static (videotape)
03/17/61 The After Hours (rerun)
03/24/61 The Prime Mover
03/31/61 Long Distance Call (videotape)
04/07/61 A Hundred Yards over the Rim
04/14/61 The Mighty Casey (rerun)
04/21/61 The Rip Van Winkle Caper
04/28/61 The Silence
05/05/61 Shadow Play
05/12/61 The Mind and the Matter
05/19/61 Arthur Godfrey Show (9:30-10:30)
05/26/61 Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
06/02/61 The Obsolete Man
06/09/61 Where Is Everybody? (rerun)
06/16/61 Perchance to Dream (rerun)
06/23/61 I Shot an Arrow into the Air (rerun)
06/30/61 Escape Clause (rerun)
07/07/61 A World of Difference (rerun)
07/14/61 The Fever (rerun)
07/21/61 The Purple Testament (rerun)
07/28/61 Elegy (rerun)
08/04/61 Mirror Image (rerun)
08/11/61 One for the Angels (rerun)
08/18/61 The Big Tall Wish (rerun)
08/25/61 The Chaser (rerun)
09/01/61 Nightmare as a Child (rerun)
09/08/61 A World of His Own (rerun)

Season 3 began the following week.

Since TZ was facing budgetary problems during Season 2, only 29 episodes were produced, six of which were videotaped instead of filmed. Reruns of four Season 1 episodes were interspersed among the new episodes to help pad out the season, and the summer reruns started a month earlier than in the previous season. All reruns were Season 1 episodes, none of which had been rerun during Season 1.

The new opening sequence, featuring Marius Constant's theme, was used for all episodes aired between 09/30/60 and 09/08/61. It combines visual elements of both Season 1 openings (the clearing mist from the first opening and the setting sun from the second). Constant's theme was also heard under the closing credits for all of the new episodes and most, but not all, of the reruns. "A Passage for Trumpet," "The After Hours," and "The Mighty Casey" all retained Herrmann's closing theme from their original telecasts. I can't recall any other Season 1 episode that still had Herrmann's theme, and I specifically recall hearing Constant's theme at one time or another for every other Season 1 episode repeated during Season 2 except "Where Is Everybody?" and "A World of His Own" (but I'm not ruling out the possibility that these two featured Constant's theme). Somehow theme combinations never heard on CBS have arisen in later years. For example, "Nightmare as a Child" has the Constant opening on Sci Fi and Image Entertainment, but where Sci Fi has the Constant closing (as did the CBS rerun), Image Entertainment has the Herrmann closing.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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Dan Hollis

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Dec 13 04 3:05 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

SEASON THREE (Fridays 10:00-10:30 ET)

09/15/61 Two
09/22/61 The Arrival
09/29/61 The Shelter
10/06/61 The Passersby
10/13/61 A Game of Pool
10/20/61 The Mirror
10/27/61 The Grave
11/03/61 It's a Good Life
11/10/61 Deaths-Head Revisited
11/17/61 The Midnight Sun
11/24/61 Still Valley
12/01/61 The Jungle
12/08/61 Come Again to Carthage (Robert Crean's play about a nun who examines her life choices)
12/15/61 Once Upon a Time
12/22/61 Five Characters in Search of an Exit
12/29/61 A Quality of Mercy
01/05/62 Nothing in the Dark
01/12/62 One More Pallbearer
01/19/62 Dead Man's Shoes
01/26/62 The Hunt
02/02/62 Showdown with Rance McGrew
02/09/62 Kick the Can
02/16/62 A Piano in the House
02/23/62 The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank
03/02/62 To Serve Man
03/09/62 The Fugitive
03/16/62 Little Girl Lost
03/23/62 Person or Persons Unknown
03/30/62 The Little People
04/06/62 Four O'Clock
04/13/62 Hocus-Pocus and Frisby
04/20/62 The Trade-Ins
04/27/62 The Gift
05/04/62 The Dummy
05/11/62 Young Man's Fancy
05/18/62 I Sing the Body Electric
05/25/62 Cavender Is Coming
06/01/62 The Changing of the Guard
06/08/62 The Odyssey of Flight 33 (rerun)
06/15/62 The Private World of Darkness (rerun)
06/22/62 King Nine Will Not Return (rerun)
06/29/62 The Trouble with Templeton (rerun)
07/06/62 Dust (rerun)
07/13/62 The Howling Man (rerun)
07/20/62 A Most Unusual Camera (rerun)
07/27/62 People Are Alike All Over (rerun)
08/03/62 Nick of Time (rerun)
08/10/62 The Silence (rerun)
08/17/62 The Night of the Meek (rerun)
08/24/62 Money Talks (Professor John R. Coleman on major economic issues in the USA)
08/31/62 A Hundred Yards over the Rim (rerun)
09/07/62 The Whole Truth (rerun)
09/14/62 The Invaders (rerun)

This temporarily marked the end of regular Friday night telecasts of TZ. On 09/21/62, Fair Exchange debuted in the 9:30-10:30 time slot. It was a sitcom about an American family and an English family whose teenage daughters live with each other's parents as exchange students. It was unusual for a sitcom in being an hour in length, and it lasted only three months, although it resurfaced in a half-hour format in the spring of 1963.

Season 3 featured a new opening sequence beginning with a swirling disk that looks like a distorted target. The Constant theme continued as heard in Season 2 until "Little Girl Lost," when decidedly different instrumentation of the same theme was heard. The new instrumentation continued through the end of the new episodes in the opening credits, but the original instrumentation returned to the closing credits with "The Trade-Ins." Some of the late Season 3 episodes now exist in two forms, one with the original closing instrumentation and one with the new instrumentation. I can't remember which form was heard on CBS.

For almost all of the Season 3 episodes (I think "The Dummy" is the only exception here), the closing theme is shorter than that of Season 2 due to the movement of the producer, writer, and director credits from the end to following the first commercial. (The two exceptions to this credit move are "The Grave" and "Nothing in the Dark," which I assume from production numbers had been produced during Season 2.)

Season 3 featured 37 new episodes, the most for any single season of TZ. They ran without any reruns interspersed and with the series pre-empted only once. The summer rerun period also had only one pre-emption. All reruns were Season 2 episodes except for "People Are Alike All Over" from Season 1, and all reruns used the Season 2 opening sequence. No Season 3 episode was ever rerun until the series entered syndication.

Three of the reruns deserve extra analysis:

"The Private World of Darkness" is better known as "Eye of the Beholder." According to TZ Companion, "The Private World of Darkness" was the script's original title, and it became the title again when the episode was rerun on 06/15/62. The New York Times and TV Guide listed this as the title, and Rod used it in his preview the week before. Both titles are used in different versions of the episode as it now survives on Sci Fi and home video. Ironically (and I have only my memory to guide me here), neither title was seen on the two CBS telecasts. The closing credits strangely began running after the title was supposed to appear, with a noticeable chop off of the beginning of the theme to indicate that the credits were "joined in progress." I have a theory that Rod was never completely satisfied with either title, and its cut from the closing credits may have been an intentional consequence.

"People Are Alike All Over" was the only Season 1 episode rerun following Season 3. It oddly began with the Season 2 credits, which leads me to believe that it was prepared for a rerun following Season 2. When it turned out not to be needed, perhaps because the new episodes were ready earlier than expected, it was held over for another summer.

The closing narration for "The Whole Truth" has long bothered me because it refers to Chavez Ravine (a. k. a. Dodger Stadium) as the home of the Dodgers, but this wasn't true until April 1962, fifteen months after the episode premiered. From 1958 to 1961, the Dodgers played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Although Dodger Stadium was under construction in 1961 and known to be the future home, I can't believe that Rod would write a narration for future consideration when there wasn't that strong a likelihood the episode would ever be televised again. I had a theory that he rewrote and re-recorded the narration years later when the series was syndicated, but that was before I learned of its CBS rerun. I'm now guessing that a new narration was prepared for the September 1962 telecast, when Dodger Stadium was in its first year of occupancy. After all, if an episode title change could be made for "Eye of the Beholder," why not a narration change as well? It may be impossible to prove or disprove my theory unless someone can unearth a copy of the 1961 telecast. A published script might help, but too many radical changes from script to screen in other episodes occurred for this to be absolute proof.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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"We're sober men and true!" -- "You had to go have him!"

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Dan Hollis

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Dec 13 04 3:16 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

SEASON FOUR (Thursdays 9:00-10:00 ET)

01/03/63 In His Image
01/10/63 The Thirty-Fathom Grave
01/17/63 Valley of the Shadow
01/24/63 He's Alive
01/31/63 Mute
02/07/63 Death Ship
02/14/63 Jess-Belle
02/21/63 Miniature
02/28/63 Printer's Devil
03/07/63 No Time Like the Past
03/14/63 The Parallel
03/21/63 I Dream of Genie
03/28/63 The Thirty-Fathom Grave (rerun)
04/04/63 The New Exhibit
04/11/63 Of Late I Think of Cliffordville
04/18/63 The Incredible World of Horace Ford
04/25/63 In His Image (rerun)
05/02/63 On Thursday We Leave for Home
05/09/63 Passage on the Lady Anne
05/16/63 Death Ship (rerun)/Project Mercury Highlights at 9:30
05/23/63 The Bard
05/30/63 Jess-Belle (rerun)
06/06/63 Mute (rerun)
06/13/63 Valley of the Shadow (rerun)
06/20/63 No Time Like the Past (rerun)
06/27/63 Printer's Devil (rerun)
07/04/63 The Incredible World of Horace Ford (rerun)
07/11/63 The New Exhibit (rerun)
07/18/63 In His Image (rerun)
07/25/63 I Dream of Genie (rerun)
08/01/63 He's Alive (rerun)
08/08/63 Passage on the Lady Anne (rerun)
08/15/63 Death Ship (rerun)
08/22/63 The Bard (rerun)
08/29/63 Of Late I Think of Cliffordville (rerun)
09/05/63 On Thursday We Leave for Home (rerun)
09/12/63 Printer's Devil (rerun)
09/19/63 The Thirty-Fathom Grave (rerun)

Season 5 began the following week.

Season 4 resumed the series after a hiatus of about 3+ months. It was comprised exclusively of one-hour episodes, even in reruns, and it ran on Thursday nights, the first time the series was ever seen on any day besides Friday.

When I made this post, I had no current information about 03/28/63, except that it was not an episode premiere. The NY Times was on strike at the time, and all that survives in the research archives is an abbreviated edition printed for the western USA that doesn't include TV listings. I am indebted to David Jessup for the research that gives a rerun of "The Thirty Fathom Grave" for that date.

The listings for 05/16/63 are peculiar. The week's listings printed the previous Sunday feature a repeat of "Death Ship" at 9:00. The listings for that day, though, substitute at 9:30 a half hour of highlights of the Project Mercury mission of astronaut L. Gordon Cooper earlier that day. TZ is still listed at 9:00 in the complete listings, but it's now absent in the highlights that would be the only source of the episode title. It's a very educated guess that the Times mistakenly left the TZ listing in after having to edit the section for the sake of Project Mercury. I can't completely discount a half-hour TZ rerun at 9:00, but it seems unlikely. I have no clue as to what really aired 9:00-9:30, although additional CBS news programming is a possibility.

I compiled these listings on the assumption that pre-emptions of TZ occurred on a network basis. For the most part it's a safe assumption, but David Jessup provided the research to prove that at least one exception occurred. The 06/20/63 rerun of "No Time Like the Past" was pre-empted in New York for the Shakespeare in the Park presentation of "Antony and Cleopatra" from 7:30 to 10:15.

Season 4 marked some firsts in addition to the one-hour format and move from Fridays:

The departure of producer Buck Houghton, replaced by Herbert Hirschman, who in turn was replaced by Bert Granet.

The series title on screen as "Twilight Zone" without "The."

New opening credits beginning "You unlock this door with the key of imagination" with appropriate visuals.

All of Rod's opening narrations with just a solid gray background, done so because they were produced around his new personal schedule.

Previews for the following week that included clips of the upcoming episode.

No downward pan from the sky during the opening credits, just a dissolve to the first scene.

No upward pan to the sky during the closing narration, just a fade to black.

No still photo from the episode under the closing credits, just a starlit sky.

Character names in the closing credits next to the actors who played them. (This actually first occurred with the six Season 2 videotaped episodes, but it didn't happen again until Season 4.)

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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Dan Hollis

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Dec 13 04 3:26 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

SEASON FIVE (Fridays 9:30-10:00 ET)

09/27/63 In Praise of Pip
10/04/63 Steel
10/11/63 Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
10/18/63 A Kind of a Stopwatch
10/25/63 The Last Night of a Jockey
11/01/63 Living Doll
11/08/63 The Old Man in the Cave
11/15/63 Uncle Simon
11/22/63 Assassination of John F. Kennedy (2:00-Tuesday morning)
11/29/63 Probe 7 - Over and Out
12/06/63 The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms
12/13/63 A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain
12/20/63 Ninety Years Without Slumbering
12/27/63 Ring-a-Ding Girl
01/03/64 You Drive
01/10/64 The Long Morrow
01/17/64 The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross
01/24/64 Number 12 Looks Just Like You
01/31/64 Black Leather Jackets
02/07/64 Night Call
02/14/64 From Agnes - with Love
02/21/64 Spur of the Moment
02/28/64 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
03/06/64 Queen of the Nile
03/13/64 What's in the Box
03/20/64 The Masks
03/27/64 I Am the Night - Color Me Black
04/03/64 Sounds and Silences
04/10/64 Caesar and Me
04/17/64 The Jeopardy Room
04/24/64 Stopover in a Quiet Town
05/01/64 The Encounter
05/08/64 Mr. Garrity and the Graves
05/15/64 The Brain Center at Whipple's
05/22/64 Come Wander with Me
05/29/64 The Fear
06/05/64 CBS Reports (8:30-10:00): "D-Day Plus Twenty Years: Eisenhower Returns to Normandy" (tour of invasion site with Eisenhower)
06/12/64 Steel (rerun)
06/19/64 The Bewitchin' Pool
06/26/64 A Kind of a Stopwatch (rerun)
07/03/64 In Praise of Pip (rerun)
07/10/64 Uncle Simon (rerun)
07/17/64 Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (rerun)
07/24/64 Probe 7--Over and Out (rerun)
07/31/64 The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms (rerun)
08/07/64 The Long Morrow (rerun)
08/14/64 You Drive (rerun)
08/21/64 The Fear (rerun)
08/28/64 It's a Big World (9:30-10:00): Curtain raiser for World Golf Championship coverage
09/04/64 Number 12 Looks Just Like You (rerun)
09/11/64 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (rerun)
09/18/64 The Jeopardy Room (rerun)

So ended the original run of TZ -- or so it was thought, as the series wound up seeing the light of CBS one more time the following spring. On 09/25/64, the premiere of Gomer Pyle, U. S. M. C. filled the 9:30 time slot previously allocated to TZ. All reruns were Season 5 episodes.

Season 5 saw the return of TZ to Friday nights as a half-hour show, although airing half an hour earlier than in Seasons 1-3. Nevertheless, some of the innovations for Season 4 continued into Season 5, specifically the opening credits, absence of downward pan from sky and upward pan to it, series title as "Twilight Zone," and producer Bert Granet, although after 13 episodes he was replaced by William Froug. Character names in closing credits continued for a few episodes but only a minority of them. The still photos under the closing credits reappeared, Rod once again was seen amongst episode scenery, and previews for the following week again lacked clips. It's ironic that the opening credits, the only ones used for two different seasons of original episodes, are perhaps the most popular, while the episodes that follow them are on average generally considered inferior to those of the first three seasons.

Coverage of the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy pre-empted all other programming on all stations from about 2:00 PM on Friday 11/22/63 through the following Monday night and into the wee Tuesday morning hours. "Night Call" is the episode that was scheduled to premiere on 11/22/63 as listed in TV Guide and the NY Times.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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Dan Hollis

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Dec 13 04 3:35 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

SEASON FOUR REVISITED (Sundays 9:00-10:00 ET)

05/16/65 On Thursday We Leave for Home (rerun)
05/23/65 No Time Like the Past (rerun)
05/30/65 The New Exhibit (rerun)
06/06/65 Jess-Belle (rerun)
06/13/65 In His Image (rerun)
06/20/65 The Hollow Crown (9:00-10:00): History of English monarchy as taken from literature
06/27/65 The Bard (rerun)
07/04/65 Of Late I Think of Cliffordville (rerun)
07/11/65 Printer's Devil (rerun)
07/18/65 I Dream of Genie (rerun)
07/25/65 The Incredible World of Horace Ford (rerun)
08/01/65 Mute (rerun)
08/08/65 He's Alive (rerun)
08/15/65 Valley of the Shadow (rerun)
08/22/65 Passage on the Lady Anne (rerun)
08/29/65 The Thirty-Fathom Grave (rerun)
09/05/65 Death Ship (rerun)

TZ was no longer on the CBS schedule in the fall of 1964. Gomer Pyle, U. S. M. C. replaced it on Fridays. Meanwhile, the 9:00-10:00 Sunday hour was filled by two sitcoms: the new My Living Doll and the former NBC series The Joey Bishop Show. My Living Doll had a distinct TZ flavor to it with regard to title (obvious), stars (Bob Cummings and Julie Newmar), and premise (Newmar as a robot named Rhoda with whom Cummings lives, and whom he passes off to the outside world as a real woman). After 12/13/64, though, these sitcoms were shifted to other nights and were cancelled after summer reruns. The Sunday hour was filled with various specials, three of which starred Fred Astaire, until 01/31/65. On that night, the hour police drama For the People premiered. It starred William Shatner as a New York district attorney.

For the People was last telecast on 05/09/65. A week later, CBS brought back the hour episodes of TZ to fill the 9:00-10:00 slot through 09/05/65. That was the last time TZ in its original form was seen on CBS. Perry Mason was moved to its slot for the fall premiere of its final season the following week, and TZ began airing in syndication less than a month later.

TV Guide claimed in May that 17 TZ episodes would air in 1965, but only 16 did. The 06/20/65 pre-emption might have accounted for this discrepancy. The two missing episodes were "Miniature" and "The Parallel," the only two episodes that weren't repeated in 1963. TZ Companion gives the story of how "Miniature" was involved in litigation because someone claimed (falsely, it was eventually ruled) it plagiarized a script he submitted. So it was neither rerun nor released for syndication until the 1984 TZ Silver Anniversary celebration.

As for "The Parallel," it might have been scheduled for 06/20/65 before the special "The Hollow Crown" replaced it. Nevertheless, there was adequate cause not to air it in 1965: its reference to President Kennedy that's too vital to the plot to be removed. It's acceptable in syndication where the series is acknowledged to be dated, but it could have been considered poor taste to remain in a nominally current series. That doesn't explain its lack of a 1963 rerun, though, where perhaps it was coincidentally the choice for omission when only a certain number of Thursday nights were available for reruns.

So ends my report on this topic unless new information comes to light. I'll be happy to respond to comments, though, and I invite anyone with the proper facilities to incorporate this history into a main TZ site.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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James B W Bevis

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Dec 13 04 7:11 PM

a.k.a. "Beev"

Thanks, Dan!

It's good to see this history again. I have made this topic a sticky topic.

If you post here, please read the new message board rules (effective July 4, 2009). Thanks.

BEWARE: Many Cafe posts reveal story endings or key plot twists without prior warning. There is no rule against this. But if you are courteous enough to post "spoiler warnings"--especially when you post in a thread unrelated to the story you are "spoiling"--many people will appreciate it.

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TZRider

#7

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Zone Elite

Posts: 2453

Dec 13 04 8:46 PM

Thanks for all that great info, Dan!

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cadwallader

#8

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Posts: 1175

Dec 16 04 4:15 AM

my thanks as well. great stuff.

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lazyboyx51

#9

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Posts: 3428

Dec 16 04 7:25 PM

Wow! Thanks Dan, that's amazing.

Courtesy of Dr. Moreau

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Anthony

#10

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Posts: 472

Jan 3 05 12:09 PM

How did you find out about this complete broadcast history?

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Dan Hollis

#11

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Posts: 15674

Jan 3 05 12:45 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

QUOTE (Anthony @ Jan 3 2005, 12:09 PM)

How did you find out about this complete broadcast history?

It's not so much that I "found out" about it. It's more that I compiled it. I don't believe any other history like my own exists beyond listing only premiere dates. As to how I compiled it:

1. I started with listing the premiere dates as published in TZ Companion, but available elsewhere as well, including some old TV Guides that I saved.

2. I looked at TV listings in archived issues of The New York Times for the weeks when TZ episodes did not premiere. I started with microfilms, but I then learned of a Web site for my local library system that could pull images of whatever pages I requested.

3. I have some recollections of the original run from having seen it from the ages of ten through fourteen. At that age I was very impressionable and such a fan of the show that memories of it have remained with me, enforced by such resources as TZ Companion and the members of this forum and others devoted to TZ. I relied on such memories to tell me that "Night Call" was pre-empted on the night of JFK's assassination (I also still have the TV Guide for that week), and that Constant's theme was never used before the beginning of Season 2.

4. The Times listings and a great reference book entitled The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh (updated every few years with a new edition), gave me details of programming for the extended periods of September-December 1962 and September 1964-May 1965 when TZ was off the CBS schedule.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
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"We're sober men and true!" -- "You had to go have him!"

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Anthony

#12

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Posts: 472

Jan 3 05 12:47 PM

Very Cool

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kanamit

#13

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Posts: 2239

Feb 1 05 1:40 AM

Congratulations, Dan! A most informatively researched list.
But just remember not to sing out loud in front of Anthony.

http://aperfecttool.net/

http://www.myspace.com/50840465

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LeenZone

#14

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Zone Legend

Posts: 11473

Feb 1 05 8:01 AM

The one thing I remember about the posting from the board is:

12/18/59 CBS Reports (10:00-11:00): "Iran: Brittle Ally" with Edward R. Murrow, Winston Burdett

The reason TZ was never broadcast on my birthday

Interesting topic don't ya think?

Good job. Okay Dan, you win post of the year 2004. Congratulations!

Leen

Head 'em up, move 'em out!

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king Nine

#15

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Posts: 242

Apr 29 05 7:17 PM

Very interesting!! This could be the reason some episodes don't have the next weeks' trailer(video or audio) on the Definitive editions as the TZ would not be shown the following week.

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archivist

#16

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Posts: 16

Jul 21 05 7:15 PM

Dear folks – finally joined your board today, and am leading off with a note I originally sent to the 5D board months ago, about the time it went dark. Hope this adds some useful info; if nothing else it explains my handle.

+++

Around 25 years ago, I was involved in primary research toward organizing the Ithaca College Rod Serling Archives. At that time it consisted of a basic collection of scripts and films given to the college by Carol Serling. Of course, in 1979 there was little readily available information about the series, so I started digging through The New York Times and other sources to try to put the collection in some kind of order.

Notes I took at the time and on file here now may help plug some of the holes in Dan Hollis’ excellent network broadcast history. I’m pleased he caught the spring/summer 1965 repeats; those startled me when I found them.

3/28/63: The Thirty-Fathom Grave (repeat)

6/20/63: No Time Like The Past (repeat) (outside of New York City)

Caveat: I do not remember what my specific source was for these dates. As Dan mentions, there was a NYC newspaper strike in March ’63. I may have used either the Ithaca NY papers or others available at the College at that time.

I do confirm the double rerun of Printer’s Devil (it ended up with four network runs). Thirty-Fathom Grave also had four runs, while most of the other hours had three.

All best – David Jessup

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Henry Bemis

#17

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Posts: 6207

Jul 21 05 9:20 PM

Welcome Archivist!

RIP Phyllis Diller (1917-2012)

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James B W Bevis

#18

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Posts: 15447

Jul 21 05 9:54 PM

a.k.a. "Beev"

Welcome, archivist!

It's a privilege to have you here. Glad you found us and thanks for the info!

If you post here, please read the new message board rules (effective July 4, 2009). Thanks.

BEWARE: Many Cafe posts reveal story endings or key plot twists without prior warning. There is no rule against this. But if you are courteous enough to post "spoiler warnings"--especially when you post in a thread unrelated to the story you are "spoiling"--many people will appreciate it.

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LeenZone

#19

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Zone Legend

Posts: 11473

Jul 22 05 10:55 AM

Archivist! user posted image

We've heard of these archives before. Are they readiliy available to the public? i.e. could anybody go to the library there and read them? How does that work? Every time I go to Ithaca I think about doing this, but it's usually in the summer or holidays like Thanksgiving. My daughter is an English major at CU. She will be a senior this year. Just wondering.

Glad you are back. I'd like to hear more about this.

Leen

Head 'em up, move 'em out!

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Dan Hollis

#20

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Posts: 15674

Jul 22 05 1:47 PM

Gilbert and Sullivan State Trooper

Welcome aboard, David, and

Thank you!!

I wasn't holding out much hope that anyone would be able to fill in the blanks of my research, but you've done so and more. Accordingly, I have edited the posts that begin this thread to include your updates and acknowledge you at the same time.

It particularly makes sense that "No Time Like the Past" was repeated right after Season 4, even though the New York pre-emption caused this not to be reported by the NY Times. My NYC edition of TV Guide also carried a handful of Connecticut stations, including the CBS affiliate on Channel 3 in Hartford. It's likely that it listed TZ and "No Time Like the Past" on 06/20/63 for Hartford but Shakespeare for NYC, yet I mentally kept a recollection of the "No Time Like the Past" rerun based only on the listing, not on watching the rerun.

Thanks to Dr. Moreau for surprising me with this signature. It beats peach brandy!
user posted image

"We're sober men and true!" -- "You had to go have him!"

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Complete CBS Twilight Zone broadcast history -- With alphabetical list of episodes

Complete CBS Twilight Zone broadcast history -- With alphabetical list of episodes