Entertainment Alternate History

[YRABNNRM]

We always discuss alternate history for politics or government so what are some things that you can think of in other parts of history that could've ended up differently? No need for full-fledged time lines or anything (although I'd have no problem if someone wanted to go ahead and write one), just headlines or whatever.

Here's some I can think of right now; mine will mostly deal with movies and sometimes television and are all based off of actual possibilities....

*Note: I'm just posting these chronologically because it's easier to read, it's not supposed to be a time line and the events aren't supposed to correspond with each other.

1962: The cinematic adaption of Ian Fleming's DR. NO is released starring Carey Grant.

1974: Martin Scorsese directs THE GODFATHER: PART II. The film is considered one of the greatest of all time but ultimately inferior to the original and loses out on the 1974 Academy Award for Best Picture to CHINATOWN.

1977: STAR WARS: THE ADVENTURES OF LUKE STARKILLER is releases in theaters. The film is a box-office bomb and the studio never remakes the money used to produce it. The film develops a cult following.

1981: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is released in theaters, starring Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones. The film is a modest success and spawns one less successful sequel.

1989: George Lucas releases the first of the STAR WARS prequels starring River Pheonix as Anakin Skywalker and Kenneth Branagh as Obi-Wan Kenobi. The film launches a successful trilogy which is hailed by fans to be as good as the first.

1989: Bill Murray is cast as Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's BATMAN. Fans and critics complain that Murray is horribly miscast in the role. Warner Bros. fires Burton after the film fails to preform to expectations at the box-office.

1999: THE SOPRANOS debuts on HBO, starring Ray Liotta as Tony Soprano and Lorraine Bracco as Carmela Soprano. The show is praised all around, although some feel that it's a little to close to GOODFELLAS, where Liotta and Bracco also played the husband and wife of a family involved with the mafia. The show runs for four seasons before Liotta leaves.

1999: David Chase's MADE IN NEW JERSEY debuts on Fox network television, starring Anthony LaPaglia as mob boss Tony Soprano. The show is universally praised, although some complain that it pushes the boundaries of what can be shown on network television. The show lasts for three and a half seasons before ending abruptly due to creative differences between David Chase and Fox.

That's all I have for now. Just think how interesting the entertainment world would be if some of these were reality...

[YRABNNRM]

Here's one I forgot about....

1987: Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock-opera THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA debuts on stage in London's West End. The musical stars Steve Harley as The Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine and is directed by Trevor Nunn. The show bombs financially, and critics cite it as "camp", "cheesy", and "over the top" among other things. The show runs for one year.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Chris Farley is rushed to the hospital and survives after a massive drug and alcohol overdose.  Now that would be awesome

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

1968 - NBC decides to take a gamble sticks with its original decision to air the third season at 7:30pm on Mondays instead of moving it to 10pm Fridays.  Laugh-In producer George Schaltter makes good on his threat to take his show to another network if he doesn't retain the 8pm time slot.  Laugh-In reappears on ABC in January 1969 where it continues to be a success, but Nixon never gets to say "Sock it to me?"

After five seasons, NBC decides that Star Trek needs considerable refreshing, plus Shatner and Nimoy are making expensive contract demands.  Thus for the sixth season Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise are gone.  Instead, the show is based on space station K-9 on the border of the Organian Treaty Zone with the Klingons, with Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Chekov transferring over.  McLean Stephenson takes command as Commodore Blackwell.  Yeoman Janice Rand from the first season comes back as an Ensign (explained in continuity by her having been at Starfleet Academy during season 2 to 5).  But the rest of the cast are new characters, including a not entirely honest Klingon merchant/spy.  After the eighth season, the show is finally canceled due to low ratings.  No movies or followup series are ever made.

One other effect was that K-9 on Doctor Who ended up being named FIDO instead.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

1965 - Charles Manson is cast to join the new show The Monkees

[YRABNNRM]

1965 - Charles Manson is cast to join the new show The Monkees

haha

That's a good one.

[PBrunsel]

The Twilight Zone is not canceled in 1964.

January 1964: The Twilight Zone is not canceled by CBS, but the format of the show will be changed. Rod Serling announces that he will act as head writer and host, but will allow guest hosts to, “Add a wonderful type of randomness to the show.”

September 1964: The first episode of the sixth season of The Twilight Zone airs: “The Hangman Commeth”. Starring Burgess Meredith as a corrupt sheriff in an Old Western town in 1887, the townsfolk are encouraged by a strange man, known to them as “Hangman”, to stand up to the Sheriff. The climax reveals that “Hangman” is the ghost of the old sheriff, whom Meredith’s character had killed years before. The episode, hinging on the ideals of justice and karma, excited audiences. Critics for the New York Times declare, “Mr. Serling’s carnival of the macabre seems to have risen from the grave of bad writing.”

October 1964: Richard Matheson and Rod Serling begin the final work on what is to be The Twilight Zone’s first two part episode: “The Most Dangerous Game”. It is to be based off of the short story by Richard Connell, and will feature William Shatner as Sangar Rainsford, a wealthy hunter, and Richard Kiel as General Zaroff, a Cossack who likes to hunt human beings. It is set to premier in May 1965.

December 1964: Jimmy Stewart appears in “The Crowntree Inn”, the story of Charles Bachelor (Stewart), the keeper of The Crowntree Inn, and the resident of a Victorian town, he is sick of Christmas, which he feels happens everyday in his hometown. However, he begins to panic when people, animals, trees, and buildings begin to disappear around him everyday. In the end it is revealed that the town was a family’s miniature Christmas village, and the holiday season was over.

January 1965: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” airs, with Don Knotts portraying the title role with Patricia Crowley portraying his overbearing wife. Knotts will receive an Emmy for his portrayal of the wimpy, yet loveable, Mr. Mitty. Also, his hilarious portrayal of a sharpshooter will be ranked as on of the “Top 100” TV moments of all time.

February 1965: Filming finally begins for “The Most Dangerous Game”, with Rod Serling looking forward to the two part episode, in which Burgess Meredith will be a co-host, the first in The Twilight Zone’s history.

March 1965: Rod Serling gives up smoking, claiming that, “I need to revive myself, like my show.”

April 1965: “The Political Animal” airs, with Ronald Reagan both guest hosting and starring as Governor Samuel Parsons, an extremely proud, xenophobic and racist man whom fires a Black janitor (Bill Cosby), whom, in a speech that many claim to be one of the most moving made on The Twilight Zone, tells the Governor that God will “knock ya’ down a few pegs.” It turns out that the janitor was right, as the Governor turns into a stray dog, revived and hated by all, but taken in by the Janitor. The Governor, after returning to his human form, becomes a kind, accepting, opened minded man, and learned, as Reagan concluded the episode, “If a stray dog deserves to be taken in with kindness, how much more should a man be treated by his fellow brothers? A question that should be pondered, both in and out of The Twilight Zone.

May 1965: The Twilight Zone closes its sixth season with “The Most Dangerous Game.” The episode’s portrayal of hunting human beings appalls some CBS affiliates. However, none choose to boycott the program, and William Shatner’s (portraying the hunter Rainsford) star continues to rise.

October 1965: “Saltpepper to Bullets” airs as the first episode of The Twilight Zone, with Susan Cummings portraying the wife of a Confederate solider who finds a portal to the future, and tries to bring back rifles from 1965, but finds out that brining modern technology to the future has disastrous affects on the future. This episode will serve as the basis of the Turtledove novel, "The Guns of the South."

November 1965: In what some call the most inspiring Twilight Zone, “The Handshake”, an Israeli General and Palestinian nationalist must work together to stop a Soviet plan to assassinate the President of the United States (portrayed by Henry Fonda in a cameo appearance) as he visits Jerusalem. Rod Serling ends the episode by claiming, “Our humanity should be what unites us.”

December 1965: “What the Dickens!” portrays Frank Gorshin as a modern day Ebenezer Scrooge who is changed by the ghost of Charles Dickens (portrayed by Bill Erwin) on Christmas Eve. A joke made about the future (Gorshin recoils in horror to find out that Ronald Reagan is president in 1984) actually comes true. This episode is remembered a fairly lighthearted episode, and becomes a favorite amongst television’s “Christmas episodes.”

January 1966: Judy Garland, in “The Final Curtain Call”, portrays a television soap opera star that is haunted by a dream portraying her death. In reality, the scene is not her physical death, but the death of a career when it is discovered she is having an affair with the director and her character must be “killed off” in the show.

March 1966: “The Corner Window” airs, with Alan Napier, Raymond Bailey, and Al Lewis portraying three old men whom are bedridden in a nursing home. The oldest of the three (portrayed by Napier) lies by the corner window, telling his friends of what he sees. Lewis then begins to poison the other two so he may see out of the window. When he finally gets the bed by the window, he sees nothing but a brick wall.

April 1966: “The Mark of the Beast” airs with Jay Adler portraying a former New York City taxi cab driver who refuses to swear allegiance to the new dictator of the United States, General Benjamin Franklin Morton (portrayed by Howard Duff) in the form of branding “BFM” on his forehead. This leads to an On-Air confrontation between the two, in which the old cabby humiliates the new dictator, leading to his eventual fall. Adler’s greatest line is, “The real beastly mark is not a brand of our ‘leader’s’ initials, but the acceptance of a dictator, and that is the real brand we need to be ashamed of.”  The USSR takes offense to this (especially Duff’s slight Russian accent) and tries to have CBS issue an apology. It never happens, and the episode becomes an instant favorite. 

May 1966: Bill Cosby and Burgess Meredith portray two angry poker players in “Soul’s Hand”, as they play for their souls against the Devil, portrayed once again by Robin Hughes, who had played Satan in “The Howling Man”.

June 1966: An unknown actor, one Martin Sheen, gains much acclaim by portraying President John F. Kennedy in, “The Sun over Miami”, one of two “alternate history” Twilight Zones. The episode involves the Cuban Missile Crisis turning into an atomic war, with President Kennedy trying to keep the nation united. Louis Lindley, Jr., portrays the extremely anti-Communist General Curtis LeMay while Barry Atwater plays Secretary of State Dean Acheson, trying as hard as he can to evacuate American cities. Twilight Zone fans applaud this episode and request more “alternate history” episodes. Sheen will receive an Emmy for his portrayal of Kennedy.

If anyone finds this interesting I will continue (no that is not a threat!).

[YRABNNRM]

Great job! Keep it up, it's quite interesting; I love "The Twilight Zone".

Did you write those summaries yourself or are they based off of other stories?

[PBrunsel]

The Twilight Zone Renewed: 7-9th Season

July 1966: Rod Serling announces that he will be leaving The Twilight Zone in September to begin writing for a new show he has begun formulating, “City Hall.” It is to be a show about a fictional New York City Mayor and the problems he faces as the city’s chief executive and also as the father of an alcoholic wife and “hippy” teenage daughter.

August 1966: Richard Matheson is named as the new head writer of The Twilight Zone. In what is probably run as proof that he is up to the job, “How Time Flies”, written by Matheson, airs. A bored and cynical high school history professor, Harry Diamond, (played by Roy Roberts) makes a deal with Death (portrayed by Edward G. Robinson) that he will die, but be reincarnated into the body of Orville Wright, so that he may, “Experience history firsthand.” However, Mr. Diamond discovers too late that he has changed history forever, for he can not fly the Wright Airplane.

September 1966: As The Twilight Zone begins it’s eight season, Rod Serling begins casting for “City Hall”. The Twilight Zone is hosted by Luther Adler, who also stars as a former bootlegger and rum runner who must win a stock car race against an old rival, or he will be killed by the mob. “Rum Racing” is not a major hit, but Adler gives it some novelty. Serling as focused in on two talented actors for the role of the young, liberal, New York City Mayor John McGovern: Robert Redford and Martin Sheen. The choice will be announced in January 1967.

October 1966: “The Solider and the Vampire” airs, and it becomes an immediate “Halloween classic.” Based off of an Old Russian story of a solider (portrayed by Michael Forrest) must try to trick (and eventually fight) a vampire who has killed his youngest sister and terrorized his native village. The vampire is memorably played by Barry Morse. The final fight scene includes the graphic killing of the vampire, thus leading to several parents groups (and the all powerful Catholic League of Decency) to call for the show to be pulled from the airwaves. CBS, looking at ratings, decides that the show must go on. However, this will not be the last time that The Twilight Zone will have a run in with such groups.

November 1966: In what some call the funniest Twilight Zone of all time, and perhaps the most heartwarming, Jim Backus plays an eccentric toy maker in “Whilst to Tinker.” The toy maker creates a robot that will help him build toys, but the robot has the mental capabilities of an infant, and simply begins to make messes. In the end, the toy maker begins to treat the robot like a son, and the robot even says his first word, “Daddy.” California Governor-elect Ronald Reagan makes a cameo appearance as the Mayor of the little town where the story takes place.

December 1966: John Wayne appears in his first Twilight Zone episode. “The Bells on Christmas Day” tells the story of Marine Sergeant Paul Prescott (Wayne), who is embittered towards his late mother, whom he feels treated him poorly as a child. On Christmas Day in Saigon, South Vietnam, Prescott is sent back in time to a different Christmas in his mother’s life. This “time travel” occurs every time the church bell rings. Prescott learns by the end of his ordeal that his mother was truly a kind hearted woman who instilled values in him that made him the leader he is today. Look magazine acclaims, “John Wayne can play a repenting son as well as a cowboy! Who would have thought?”

January 1967: Robert Redford, a 31-year old actor who has been on the Twilight Zone once before, is named as the lead character, Mayor John McGovern, in Rod Serling’s new political drama, City Hall. Martin Sheen, the other man that Serling was considering for the role of McGovern, will be given the role of  Harry Longabaugh (The Sundance Kid) in the 1969 gilm epic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

February 1967: “Mummy’s Helper” airs, the first color Twilight Zone, with Stafford Repp playing a museum curator who unwittingly gives his own blood and soul to a possessed mummy. The story is attacked by TIME magazine as, “Rediculously juvenile and not up to snuff with most Twilight Zone stories.” Richard Matheson does admit that the story was not of the best quality, but he declares, “The new color format did justice to the episode.”

March 1967: The first part of the two part episode, “Triangle of Fear” airs. Taking place in 1767, slave ship Captain Richard Hale (played by John Collum) and his entire slave ship becomes cursed by an African medicine man, leading to death, disaster, and ultimate bankruptcy for Captain Hale. Rod Serling, making a special guest host appearance, ends the episode by orating the lesson of, “If men can be bought and sold as commodities, than no man, free or slave, can control their own fate. Whether by a medicine man’s curse or an auctioneer’s block, all men are controlled by others as long as any are viewed as property; a lesson to be revered in our world, and the Twilight Zone.”

April 1967: Dana Andrews portrays a haggard defense attorney in “The Law is Blind”. Andrews’ duty is to defend a blind World War II veteran (played by David White) accused of shooting a man on a moving train car. At first the case seems open and shut, for a blind man could never shoot another man, let alone on a moving train car. However, Andrews discovers the veteran has telekinetic powers, and thus can see through a “mind’s eye” and shoot quite well.

May 1967: In closing its eight season, The Twilight Zone airs “Something in the Air,” the chilling tale of an air born disease which devastates the world, and how a small group of survivors in Los Angeles must work together to survive, and escape a gang of human beings, mutated by the sickness. At the end of the episode it is announced that the ninth season of The Twilight Zone will be hosted by Burgess Meredith.

September 1967: The ninth season of The Twilight Zone airs and inaugural season of City Hall airs. Robert Redford will gain much acclaim and win several Emmys portraying the tough, progressive, and witty New York City Mayor John McGovern. “City Hall” will air for 16-years, with Rod Serling as the head writer. With his successes in television, he is in excellent health. After passing a routine physical in late September 1967, his doctor declares, “He could live to be 100. Rod is as healthy as a man can be.”

The Twilight Zone episode that airs the same night that City Hall debuts is entitled “The Curse of David”, the story of how a Jewish glass store owner (portrayed by Byron Morrow) uses an enchanted Star of David medallion to humiliate, and finally show the error of their ways to, a group of Hitler Youths who constantly vandalize his shop. The episode is hailed a piece of literary gold.

October 1967: In “Heaven’s Lott”, John Wayne returns to The Twilight Zone, playing a recently deceased used car salesman, who was known for his dishonesty, who in death must use his own “spiritual capital” to buy his way into Heaven. “Honest Peter” Saint (played by Gary Merrill) can only sell him a “used paradise” in the end, as the dishonest salesman begins judgment for his Earthly misdeeds. Burgess Meredith warns viewers to, “Be as honest, trustworthy, and kind as you can be, or you may have to speak to the checkered-suited saint, death’s used car salesman in the Twilight Zone.”


To answer Andrew:

A few of these are based off of short stories I have read, but most are of my own creation. My brother tells me I could be a screen writer, but Hollywood is not where a face like mine's belongs.

[YRABNNRM]

I love it. Please post more!

[Bacon King]

I love it. Please post more!

^^^

[PBrunsel]

A shorter installment today.

November 1967: In “Today’s Miserables” the classic Hugo novel is given a Twilight Zone twist. Jack Klugman plays a murderer on death row that is visited by a man calling himself his guardian angel (Dick York). The angel offers the man a second chance at life, but he must go back in time and stop his 6-year old self from giving into the pressure to steal a freshly backed loaf of bread from an elderly neighbor. “This,” York tells the convict, “Is what began your slip to death row.” Klugman is able to stop his former self from stealing the bread, and he lives his life again as an honest man. When he dies an old and happy man, the former death row inmate sees the angel and asks him, “What are you doing here? I kept my end of the bargain.” “Yes you did,” York tells him with a smile, “Now it is your turn to change the life of another inmate.” This episode is applauded the world around for adding a clever twist to a classic story.

December 1967: Joe Maross portrays the ghost of a milkman in, “One Last Delivery.” The milkman, while making the last delivery of the day (one that he had forgotten about), dives in front of a bus that has lost control to save the life of a little girl. In Heaven, he is troubled because he doesn’t know whether he saved her or not. The angle who carried the good milk man to Heaven (Ross Martin) tells him that not only did he save the little girl, but the entire neighborhood is honoring him with a memorial statue. “For saving the little girl?” asks the Milkman? “No,” the angle responds, “For never missing a delivery.”

January 1968: “Klan of Men” airs, the story in which an old farmer named Bill McClaine (played by the legendary “down home” actor Arthur Hunnicut) witness a murder being committed by members of the local Ku Klux Klan in 1922. The men murdered were: a white preacher, a black carriage driver, and a black youth who’s, “only crime was being black at the wrong place at the wrong time.” The Exulted Cyclops of the area (portrayed by Clegg Hoyt) threatens to, “make your life worse than a ns,” if he tells the judge what happened. The night before the trial (where McClaine has agreed to lie to the judge) he is visited by the ghost of one of the murdered men, a white preacher (played by Jim Hutton). The preacher takes McClaine through a time traveling journey, showing him how, “this clan of murdered men has helped you far more than the Klan of murderers.” In the end McClaine tells the judge what happened, and is murdered as he rides home by members of the Klan. His spirit is picked up by the preacher, and the two walk to Heaven, knowing they have both served justice well.

February 1968: “Doublespeak” airs; the comedic story of Senator Roscoe Wilmington (George C. Scott) who is cursed by “the wild winds of democracy” to say both the, “political and correct answer” all the time. Senator Wilmington’s “honesty” leads to the passage of a bill he opposes! “Politics,” Burgess Meredith concludes, “Is a winding, twisting, and amazing path, which requires an astute mind to understand, unless you live in the Twilight Zone.”

March 1968: In an adaptation of an Irish story, “I am who I am”, Dorothy Adams plays an Irish woman whose husband has gone into town and will not return until the next morning. That night, there is a disturbance in her barn. The woman leaves her home to check the barn, and finds that the cow is dead, being slashed by razor sharp claws. Fearing a wild beast is near, she runs inside to find a horrible ghoul on the other side of the pot she had been boiling her laundry in. “Who are you?” she asks. “I am who I am,” the ghoul responds, “Nothing more, nor less.” After asking two more times and receiving the same response, the ghoul reaches for the woman. She responds by yelling an old Gaelic phrase, which turns out to be the name of the ghoul. The ghoul responds by crying blasphemies and running into the night.

April 1968: Caesar Romero, in “Parlor of the Dead”, plays a snake oil salesman in the Old West who finds his way into a hotel parlor filled with the dearly departed. He discovers that his “cure-alls” led to all their deaths. Romero’s, “look of pure terror,” as the dead crowd him at the end of the episode, is almost not scene as the Catholic League of Decency tries to pull the episode due to it, “Portraying a grizzly murder, something that TV should never show.”

May 1968: In, “The Unseen Screams”, Martin Sheen portrays a doctor with little faith in the unseen. However, when a patient he visits in bed every day for two weeks (played by Jimmy Stewart) tells him that a demon is what is causing him to be sick, and then the man shows no physical signs of illness, Sheen must face off with an unseen spirit to rid the man of his afflictions, and save his own body from possession. The episode is remembered as a fan favorite, and is nominated for an Emmy.

[YRABNNRM]

Fantastic!

I'd love to see all of these episodes, especially "Today's Miserables" since Les Miserables is my favorite novel.

You're really doing a great job, PBrunsel.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Fantastic!

You're really doing a great job, PBrunsel.

Couldn't agree more. I'd be interested to see what happens in the next season of the Twilight Zone. *Insert Twilight Zone Theme*

I have thought of another few Entertainment Alternative Histories, here they are:

1995: Warren Beatty is cast to play disgraced former President Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone's new film, Nixon. The film recieves lukewarm reviews at the box office, primarliy because many people can't see a liberal actor playing Richard Nixon. Warren Beatty fails to gain an Academy Award nomination for best Actor, which Anthony Hopkins got in real life.

1996: Tom Hanks is cast to play Jerry Maguire in the film Jerry Maguire. The film does terribly at the Box office.

[PBrunsel]

I'm back with more!

The Twilight Zone: Seasons 10-12

June 1968: John Wayne and Don Knotts portray two Old West characters in, “The Laughing Depot.” Wayne portrays a big, strong, cocky cowboy and Knotts plays a weak, small, and sickly snake oil salesman in Arizona Territory, 1885. The two are hired by a wacky eccentric Mayor (portrayed by William Shatner) to try to find out if ghosts of clowns killed in a train crash are really haunting the towns only train depot. While waiting for the clown ghosts to appear, Knotts and Wayne grow drunk by drinking the heavily alcoholic snake oil. When the ghosts appear to begin their haunted circus, the duo applauds, laugh out loud, and show no fear, because, to quote Wayne, “A drunks got no one to fear but his wife.” The clown ghosts, haunted by their inability to perform one last time, thank the two for their audience, and go on to, “The big top in the sky.” After the night ends, the Mayor asks the two if their really were ghosts. “Ghosts?” asks Knotts, “There were no ghosts, but that depot is one heck of a circus.”

July 1968: “Still in Saigon” airs, with Burt Reynolds, in an odd dramatic performance, portraying a U.S. Army Colonel who allowed the rape of three Vietnamese women. The episode focuses on the theme of how guilt never leaves a person, and how it can lead a man to suicide. Reynolds is applauded for his memorable performance of a guilt stricken soldier, but The Pentagon calls the episode, “Untrue propaganda that just feeds the wrong notion that the U.S. is the villain in Vietnam.” Richard Matheson refuses to apologize for making the episode, but he does agree to make a more “pro-troops” episode to appease viewers who support the Vietnam War.

August 1968: Warren Stevens portrays an old magician in, “The Final Trick.” The magician Stevens, after 50-years performing fake tricks, is forced to do battle with a real sorcerer (portrayed by veteran actor Shepherd Strudwick) to save the life of his former manager (Phillip Abbott), whom, unbeknownst to Stevens, was a real sorcerer who had known the sorcerer Strudwick has known for thousands of years, and has been in battle with for almost as long. The episode is a “flight of fantasy” but still many Twilight Zone viewers applauded it as a fine episode.

September 1968: The Twilight Zone Begins its 11th Season with a bang, a three part episode about the battle between Heaven and Hell and its effect on a small town. “From Hell to Hedgeworth” stars Jack Lemon as the preacher for the small North Carolina town of Hedgeworth and how he must do battle with the forces of Satan (portrayed by Jack Nicholson) as a portal between the realms has been opened in a nearby mine shaft. Guest appearances of Gladys Cooper as a nun, Dick York as the mine owner, and Russell Johnson as Lemon’s clerical assistant, but these appearances, though adding to episode, are dwarfed by the spectacular performances by Lemon and Nicholson. Part III of the episode concludes on the “final confrontation” between the pastor and the Devil in the mine shaft. Their argument over the fate of mankind and why a Devil must exist is considered by many to be one of the finest dialogues in American Television history.

October 1968: “The Violin” tells the mysterious story of an old Jewish couple in Poland in 1944 (Arthur Hunnicut and Jeanette Nolan) who are taken by the Nazis to a concentration camp, after years of hiding, where the old man dies. However, by playing a violin the old woman can communicate with him in the afterlife, and by doing this she is able to escape the camp and make it to Allied Territory.

November 1968: “What Cost Peace?” airs, and is considered as controversial as “Still in Saigon.” Ed Nelson, who has starred in several Twilight Zone episodes, portrays an anti-war college professor who teaches that, “There has never been a good war or a bad peace.” One night, a man comes into the professor’s office and offers him, “Peace in our time.” The professor, after some coaxing that involves using his own teachings, accepts the deal, and the bargainer shakes hands, revealing himself to be the grisly spirit of Adolph Hitler (portrayed for a second time by Curt Conway). The next morning, the professor finds the world much different. It is a world where appeasement (not a “bad peace” as Hitler had told him the night before) had trumped the calls of war against Nazi aggression, and now Europe is under the heal of the Nazi Regime, and the US is braced for a nuclear showdown with its Cold War rival. The professor, discovering the flaws of his own philosophy, tries in vain to revoke the deal, and as the bombs are fired, he declares, “I was wrong!” Burgess Meredith states at the end of the episode, “The best way to ensure a safe world is to balance the powers of war and peace, something that a college professor could have remembered in The Twilight Zone.”

The next day, college campuses from Ohio to California (already upset over the election of former Vice-President Richard Nixon as the next president) take to the streets, calling for a cancellation of The Twilight Zone. CBS, delighted by the free publicity, announces it will renew the show once again in May. Both “Still in Saigon” and “What Cost Peace?” will be controversial episodes argued to this day.

December 1968: In another “peace” based episode, Denise Alexander portrays an heiress who must use her position as the President of the United States’ mistress to stop him from executing a Christmas Day strike on Havana, Cuba. “The ideals of ‘peace on Earth’ and ‘goodwill towards men’ should not be recognized for one day or even twelve,” Burgess Meredith tells the audience, “But everyday these values should be shown, both here and in The Twilight Zone.”       

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

No way CBS would have allowed Still in Saigon to run in 1968.    Maybe Still in Salerno set during the invasion of Sicily, but not Still in Saigon.  The absolute rule of 1960's Sci-Fi TV is that commentary on current events not allowed other TV programs was allowed, but only under the guise of allegory to a historical or future setting.

[PBrunsel]

No way CBS would have allowed Still in Saigon to run in 1968.

Ernest, that actually is correct. The very "rule" you stated about 1960s Sci-Fi is something I should of remembered. Also, I think including "rape" in a 1960s television show is way too much for the time. The Catholic League of Decency would have had a strong case after Still in Saigon aired. I will tie them into the show's eventual demise, and also Mr. Matheson's own frustatraion with the direction of the show.

Secondly, what does everyone think of my episode discriptions? Are they half decent, for I fear their quality is diminishing.

[YRABNNRM]

Secondly, what does everyone think of my episode discriptions? Are they half decent, for I fear their quality is diminishing.

Still fantastic; I really wish I could see some of those episodes.

[Lief 🗽]

Secondly, what does everyone think of my episode discriptions? Are they half decent, for I fear their quality is diminishing.

As a big Twilight Zone fan, I think they're awesome.

[PBrunsel]

January 1969: The Catholic League of Decency sends another petition to CBS to cancel The Twilight Zone. They site the episode “Still in Saigon” as, “Enough reason to end a television show that celebrates the grim, macabre, and disgusting.” CBS, though once laughing off such criticisms, have found that “Still in Saigon” has caused a massive amount of backlash since it aired in July 1968. The episode is banned from running again, much to the dismay and objections of Richard Matheson. Matheson decides to have an interview with TIME magazine of the subject of the banning of the episode and on the future of The Twilight Zone.

For the first new episode of the year 1967, Adam West plays a museum security guard who brings down a crafty antiques thief (Burt Reynolds in his second Twilight Zone appearance) who can walk through any type of matter. The episode, “The Matter of Thieves,” is considered very humorous, and most viewers call for West and Reynolds to costar in more episodes. Look Magazine declares, “The two fellows have an odd chemistry while acting. It must come from both believing their cooler than the other guy.”

February 1969: “The Raven Revisited” airs, telling the story of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, with a slight twist. John Astin (sporting with a Poe like mustache and all black) portrays George Lance, the owner of a local aviary, a lover of birds and of his lovely fiancé, a charming school teacher named Lenore Walton (portrayed by Sherry Jackson). Lenore dies in an auto accident while returning from teaching and George goes nearly crazy, reading “The Raven” over and over again during the following weeks. One night during a massive thunderstorm, George finds that every time he reads the word “nevermore”, a massive raven flies down to rest on his chair. Through a series of signs, he finds out that the spirit of his lost Lenore has entered the bird. The raven helps George rebuild his life and become a respected man in the world of bird studies. The episode is applauded as a very warm heated tale that does much to, as The San Francisco Chronicle acclaims, “To dispel the rumors that The Twilight Zone works only in the darkness of society.”

However, this warm reception of “The Raven Revisited” is dwarfed by Richard Matheson’s stormy interview with TIME magazine. Known as a gifted writer, he has taken great offense to the banning of “Still in Saigon” from airing ever again by CBS executives. Matheson declares that such acts “Are against the ideals of freedom of speech and expression.” He attacks the CBS executives as, “Far too sensitive to popular opinion,” and that “Still in Saigon”, “Explored a new type of television in which we don’t run from the present.” He also declares that he has no interest in writing for another season of The Twilight Zone.

This interview angers the executives of CBS so greatly that they declare they will not renew The Twilight Zone for a 12th Season any longer. Despite the outcry against such a decision, the executives hold tight to their decision. It seems that once September 1969 comes, the Twilight Zone will see its end.   

March 1969: In, “Switch Hitter,” Sammy Davis, Jr., plays a professional baseball player who switches places with a constant heckler (Bill Cosby). The heckler learns the pressures of professional sports, while the baseball player finds out about the importance of, “Loving the game, not the fame.” Frank Sinatra makes a guest appearance as a sports announcer, delighting Twilight Zone fans. This episode is so well received, that CBS executives declare they will, “Reconsider our previous cancellation decision.”

April 1969: “The Darkest Days”, stars William Keene as a small town Mayor trying to keep his town together during, “The day the sun ran out of steam.” The portals of people turning to ice, and the eventual death of humanity, truly meets the title of a very grim episode. Bert Granet, the man whom Matheson has tapped to replace him if a new season is issued, wrote the episode that many feel was truly an interesting, if not quite disturbing, scenario for humankind.

May 1969: “By the Liar’s Ghost” premiers with Jack Lemon portraying a defense attorney who uses a spirit medium to help prove his client innocent. The biggest problem with this is that the victim’s ghost (portrayed by Frank Gorshin in his second Twilight Zone appearance) is a horrendous liar. “I can’t believe people can take their flaws beyond the grave,” Lemmon declares at one point of the episode.

June 1969: George Grizzard portrays a Confederate soldier in, “Last Message at Appomattox.” Gizzard’s character is that of Private Walker, a regular solider, who is given a message by “the dandiest looking fellow I’ve ever seen” as he and the Army of Northern Virginia flee the Union Army in April 1865. This dandy (portrayed by Ted Knight) gave Private Walker a letter he must get to General Lee (portrayed by George E. Stone) before he thinks of surrender. The letter outlines a plan of victory, but also a view of the world if the South wins the war. After seeing a glimpse into the future, Lee decides to take a third path: allowing the South to lose the war, but also using his knowledge gained to help Reconstruction succeed.

This episode is applauded as a truly well written and acted performance, convincing CBS to change its mind and reauthorize The Twilight Zone for another season. Matheson, however, will not return. He wishes to return to free lance writing so that his creative genius “Will not be crushed by calls of ‘indecency’ from those who wouldn’t know a good script if it bit them.” 

[Wakie]

Here are several things that actually almost were:

1939 - Gone with the Wind: Starring Gary Cooper as Rhett Butler and Paulette Goddard as Scarlett O'Hara.  Director Victor Fleming decides to stay truer to the novel and retains the scenes of Frank Kennedy turning to the Ku Klux Klan after Scarlett is attacked.  The film is called "a remake of Birth of a Nation".  Years later it is criticized for promoting racism.

1972 - The Godfather: Starring Jack Nicholson as Michael Corleone, Orson Welles as Vito Corleone, Robert De Niro as Sonny Corleone, Paul Newman as Tom Hagen, and Diane Keaton as Kay Adams.  The film is considered the single greatest combination of acting talent on one screen in history.

1976 - Rocky: Starring Robert Redford as Rocky Balboa.  The film is a success.  Although some question the casting of Redford in the role of Balboa he pulls it off.  When approached about doing a sequel Redford outright refuses saying, "a second Rocky movie would be an artistic and commercial disaster".

1977 - Star Wars: Starring William Katt as Luke Skywalker, Jodie Foster as Princess Leia, and Burt Reynolds as Han Solo.  Although the movie is an exciting commercial success the critics argue there is no chemistry in the cast.

1980 - WarGames: Starring Michael O'Keefe as David Lightman, Gene Hackman as John McKittrick, and John Lennon as Stephen Falken.  The movie was originally written with John Lennon in mind to play Prof Falken and, in order to get him to do the movie, the studio gives in to his "artsy" demands.  The result is a film which is panned by critics and is largely ignored.  Michael O'Keefe's performance is considered wooden and Gene Hackman is the only redeeming quality of the movie.  The long term result is a generation less enthralled by computers and a slower entry into the Information Age.

1983 - Risky Business: Starring Tom Hanks as Joel and Meg Ryan as Lana.  The movie enjoys limited commercial success and when Hanks later stars in the movie Bachelor Party he is referred to as the "Hooker Movie Actor".  Meg Ryan is unable to bring any sense of steamy sensuality to the role of Lana and it basically destroys her career.

1990 - Pretty Woman: Starring Sylvester Stallone as Edward Lewis and Daryl Hannah as Vivian Ward.  The film is called an example of the worst on-screen chemistry of all time.

1993 - Philadelphia: Starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Andrew Beckett and Robin Williams as Joe Miller.  Throughout filming Daniel Day-Lewis starves himself to gain the appearance of an AIDS victim and turns in the greatest performance of his career.  He easily wins the academy award.

[Wakie]

Some other movies that "almost were".  All of these castings are actual actors who auditioned for or were offered the parts and turned them down ....

1931 - Dracula: Starring Lon Chaney as Dracula.  Lon Chaney's last great role and the one for which he is remembered.  Bela Lugosi goes on to remain a basic B-level actor but has a happier life for not being typecast.

1942 - Casablanca: Starring Ronald Reagan as Rick and Rita Hayworth as Ilsa.  The movie is remembered as one of the greats of all time and dramatically helps Ronald Reagan's acting career.  So much so that he never enters politics.

1949 - Rebels Without Cause: Starring Marlon Brando.  A meager, somewhat unimpressive adaption of Dr Robert Lindner's non-fiction work about the analysis of a young criminal.  James Dean's fame and legacy are significantly diminished.

1955 - East of Eden: Starring Montgomery Clift as Cal Trask.  The movie is panned and Clift's performance is called "that of a maladjusted neurotic".

1965 - Dr Zhivago: Starring Peter O'Toole as Zhivago, Sophia Loren as Lara, Audrey Hepburn as Zhivago's wife, and Marlon Brando as Victor Komarovsky.  A great success, O'Toole wins Best Actor, Brando wins Best Supporting Actor, and the character of Lara is remembered as a dirty slut.

1967 - The Graduate: Starring Warren Beatty as Benjamin, Sally Field as Elaine, and Judy Garland as Mrs Robinson.  Prevents Beatty from doing Bonnie and Clyde but still launches his career.

1969 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Starring Jeremy Brett as James Bond.  Brett's performance is fantastic and he becomes the new Bond for years to come.

1970 - Patton: With John Wayne in the title role.  The movie is panned as being just another John Wayne glorification of war movie.

1974 - Blazing Saddles: Starring Richard Pryor as Bart and Gig Young as the Waco Kid.  Pryor steals the movie with a brilliant performance which includes a lot of improved lines.  Gig Young nearly destroys the picture by repeatedly showing up drunk on the set and eventually has his part minimized.

1979 - Kramer v Kramer: Starring James Caan and Jane Fonda.  Still a success.

1985 - Rambo First Blood Part II: At the studio's request John Travolta is added as a sidekick for Rambo and finds his career reignighted as an action hero.

1986 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Starring Johnny Depp as Ferris.  Kicks off Depp's career sooner although he struggles to do serious parts (not just comedy).

[gorkay]

Great stuff, everybody. I was particularly touched by the mention of Lon Chaney, who was one of the greatest silent-movie actors ever (and not just in horror roles-- he was very versatile and was excellent in everything he did). His one and only talkie performance, in the remake of "The Unholy Three," was a triumph, and proved that he could have made the transition with ease. He would have become an even bigger star in the talkies had he survived.

One notable "almost" casting you left out was Errol Flynn as Rhett Butler and Bette Davis as Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind." And for all the rest of you silent-movie buffs out there, here's one of my most treasured what-ifs:

1924- Eric von Stroheim's epic eight-hour-long film version of Frank Norris's novel McTeague is screened for Louis B. Mayer and other MGM executives. Most of the executives think that the film, while brilliant, is just too long. Mayer, however, exclaims that it is too great a work of art for a single minute to be cut and plans its release in three parts over the course of the next year. The film, renamed "Greed," is a sensation despite its length, and is proclaimed a masterpiece immediately. Over the years it takes its rightful place high on the list of the greatest films ever made.

(In case you don't know, IRL Stroheim submitted an eight-hour version of "Greed" to MGM, who demanded that it be cut to a more manageable length. Stroheim edited it down to about four hours and suggested it be released in two parts. Mayer refused, fired Stroheim, and had the film edited down further, to about two and a half hours. The remainder of the footage was destroyed to retrieve the silver content in the film stock. The two-and-a-half-hour "Greed" is considered a masterpiece by most critics, and is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen, but those few who were fortunate enough to see the full eight-hour version said that it was an unparalleled cinematic masterpiece.)

[Robespierre's Jaw]

1965 - Charles Manson is cast to join the new show The Monkees

I'll elaborate on this some more.

1968: After the Monkees' successful album The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees, Charles Manson decides to leave the Monkees and embark on a solo career. After no success as a solo artist, in mid 1969, Manson forms his own band called The Family. The Family's first album Helter Skelter was a huge success.