~The Prime Mover~

Air date: 3/24/61
Written by: Charles Beaumont

"Portrait of a man who thinks and thereby gets things done. Mr. Jimbo Cobb might be called a prime mover, a talent which has to be seen to be believed. In just a moment, he'll show his friend and you how he keeps both feet on the ground--and his head in the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Jimbo Cobb............Buddy Ebsen
Ace Larsen.............Dane Clark
Kitty Cavanaugh...Christine White
Big Phil Nolan.......Nesdon Booth
Sheila...............Jane Burgess
Trucker.............Clancy Cooper
Croupier................Joe Scott
Hotel manager......Robert Riordan
Desk clerk..........William Keene

"Some people possess talent, others are possessed by it. When that happens, a talent becomes a curse. Jimbo Cobb knew, right from the begining. But before Ace Larsen learned that simple truth, he had to take a short trip through the Twilight Zone."

~Long Distance Call~

Air date: 3/31/61
Written by: William Idelson and Charles Beaumont

"As must be obvious, this is a house hovered over by Mr. Death, that omnipresent player to the third and final act of every life. And it's been said, and probably rightfully so, that what follows this life is one of the unfathomable mysteries, an area of darkness which we the lliving reserve for the dead--or so it is said. For in a moment, a child will try to cross that bridge which separates light and shadow, and of course he must take the only known route, that indistinct highway through the region we call the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Billy Bayles..........Billy Mumy
Grandma Bayles.......Lili Darvas
Chris Bayles.......Philip Abbott
Sylvia Bayles.....Patricia Smith
Shirley............Jenny Maxwell
Dr. Unger...........Henry Hunter
Mr. Peterson........Reid Hammond
Attendant..............Lew Brown
Fireman #1............Bob McCord
Fireman #2............Jim Turley
Nurse.................Jutta Parr

"A toy telephone, an act of faith, a set of improbable circumstances, all combine to probe a mystery, to fathom a depth, to send a facet of light into a dark after-region, to be believed or disbelieved depending on your frame of reference. A fact or a fantasy, a substance or a shadow--but all of it very much a part of the Twilight Zone."

~A Hundred Yards Over The Rim~

Air date: 4/7/61
Written by: Rod Serling

"The year is 1847, the place is the territory of New Mexico, the people are a tiny handful of men and women with a dream. Eleven months ago, they started out from Ohio and headed west. Someone told them about a place called California, about a warm sun and a blue sky, about rich land and fresh air, and at this moment almost a year later they've seen nothing but cold, heat, exhaustion, hunger, and sickness. This man's name is Christian Horn. He has a dying eight-year-old son and a heartsick wife, and he's the only one remaining who has even a fragment of the dream left. Mr. Chris Horn, who's going over the top of a rim to look for water and sustenance and in a moment will move into the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Christian Horn...Cliff Robertson
Joe................John Crawford
Mary Lou.............Evans Evans
Doctor..................Ed Platt
Martha Horn........Miranda Jones
Sheriff.....Robert L. McCord III
Charlie...............John Astin

"Mr. Christian Horn, one of the hardy breed of men who headed west during a time when there were no concrete highways or the solace of civilization. Mr. Christian Horn, family and party, heading west, after a brief detour through the Twilight Zone."

~The Rip Van Winkle Caper~

Air date: 4/21/61
Written by: Rod Serling

"The time is now and the place is a mountain cave in Death Valley, U.S.A. In just a moment, these four men will utilize the services of a truck placed in cosmoline, loaded with a hot heist cooled off by a century of sleep, and then take a drive into the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Farwell.........................Oscar Beregi
DeCruz.........................Simon Oakland
Brooks.............................Lew Gallo
Erbie...........................John Mitchum
Man on road...................Wallace Rooney
Woman on road.................Shirley O'Hara
Brooks's stunt double...Robert L. McCord III
DeCruz's stunt double.........Dave Armstrong

"The last of the four Rip Van Winkles who all died precisely the way they lived, chasing an idol across the sand to wind up bleached dry in the hot sun as so much desert flotsam, worthless as the gold bullion they built a shrine to. Tonight's lesson...in the Twilight Zone."

~The Silence~

Air date: 4/28/61
Written by: Rod Serling

"The note that this man is carrying across a club room is in the form of a proposed wager, but it's the kind of wager that comes without precedent. It stands alone in the annals of bet-making as the strangest game of chance ever offered by one man to another. In just a moment, we'll see the terms of the wager and what young Mr. Tennyson does about it. And in the process, we'll witness all parties spin the wheel of chance in a very bizarre casino called the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Col. Archie Taylor...Franchot Tone
Jamie Tennyson.......Liam Sullivan
George Alfred......Jonathan Harris
Franklin...........Cyril Delevanti
Man #1...............Everett Glass
Man #2................Felix Locher
Man #3................John Holland

"Mr. Jamie Tennyson, who almost won a bet, but who discovered somewhat belatedly that gambling can be a most unproductive pursuit, even with loaded dice, marked cards, or in his case some severed vocal cords. For somewhere beyond him a wheel has turned and his number came up black thirteen. If you don't beleive it, ask the croupeir, the very special one who handles roulette--in the Twilight Zone."

~Shadow Play~

Air date: 5/5/61
Written by: Charles Beaumont

"Adam Grant, a nondescript kind of man found guilty of murder and sentenced to the electric chair. Like every other criminal caught in the wheels of justice he's scared, right down to the marrow of his bones. But it isn't prison that scares him, the long, silent nights of waiting, the slow walk to the little room, or even death itself. It's something worse than any punishment this world has to offer, something found only in the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Adam Grant......Dennis Weaver
Henry Ritchie....Harry Townes
Paul Carson.......Wright King
Jiggs.......William Edmondson
Carol Ritchie.....Anne Barton
Coley.........Bernie Hamilton
Phillips..........Tommy Nello
Priest..........Mack Williams
Judge...............Gene Roth
Attorney............Jack Hyde
Jury foreman....Howard Culver
Guard..............John Close

"We know that a dream can be real, but who ever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings, or are we simply parts of someone's feverish, complicated nightmare? Think about it, and then ask yourself, do you live here, in this country, in this world, or do you live instead...in the Twilight Zone."

~The Mind And The Matter~

Air date: 5/12/61
Written by: Rod Serling

"A brief if frentic introduction to Mr. Archibald Beechcroft, a child of the twentieth century, a product of the population explosion, and one of the inheritors of the legacy of progress...Mr. Beechcroft again. This time act two of his daily battle for survival. And in just a moment, our hero will begin his personal one-man rebellion against the mechanics of his age, and to do so he will enlist certain aids available only in the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Archibald Beechcroft...Shelley Berman
Henry...................Jack Grinnage
Rogers..................Chet Stratton
Landlady...................Jeane Wood

"Mr. Archibald Beechcroft, a child of the twentieth century, who has found out through trial and error--and mostly error--that with all his faults it may well be that this is the best of all possible worlds. People notwithstanding, it has much to offer. Tonight's case in point...in the Twilight Zone."

~Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up~

Air date: 5/26/61
Written by: Rod Serling

"Wintry February night, the present. Order of events: a phone call from a frightened woman notating the arrival of an unidentified flying object, and the check-out you've just witnessed with two state troopers verifying the event, but with nothing more enlightening to add beyond evidence of some tracks leading across the highway to a diner. You've heard of trying to find a needle in a haystack? Well, stay with us now and you'll be part of an investigating team whose mission is not to find that proverbial needle, no, their task is even harder. They've got to find a Martian in a diner, and in just a moment you'll search with them, because you've just landed in the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Ross.....................John Hoyt
Haley..............Barney Phillips
Avery....................Jack Elam
Trooper Dan Perry.....Morgan Jones
Trooper Bill Padgett...John Archer
Olmstead...............Bill Kendis
Ethel McConnell........Jean Willes
Peter Kramer............Bill Erwin
Rose Kramer.........Gertrude Flynn
George Prince..........Ron Kipling
Connie Prince...........Jill Ellis

"Incident on a small island, to be believed or disbelieved. However, if a sour-faced dandy named Ross or a big, good-natured counterman who handles a spatula as if he's been born with one in his mouth, if either of these two entities walks onto your premises, you'd better hold their hands--all three of them--or check the color of their eyes--all three of them. The gentlemen in question might try to pull you into...the Twilight Zone."

~The Obsolete Man~

Air date: 6/2/61
Written by: Rod Serling

"You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future, not a future that will be but one that might be. This is not a new world, it is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the superstates that preceded it, it has one iron rule: logic is an enemy and truth is a menace...This is Mr. Romney Wordsworth, in his last forty-eight hours on Earth. He's a citizen of the state but will soon have to be eliminated, because he's built out of flesh and because he has a mind. Mr. Romney Wordswoth, who will draw his last breaths in the Twilight Zone."

Cast:

Romney Wordsworth...Burgess Meredith
Chancellor..............Fritz Weaver
Subaltern................Joseph Elic
Guard....................Harry Fleer
Man #1..................Barry Brooks
Man #2...............Harold Innocent
Woman....................Jane Romeyn

"The Chancellor--the late Chancellor--was only partly correct. He was obsolete. But so was the State, the entity he worshipped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete. A case to file under 'M' for mankind...in the Twilight Zone."