And When the Sky Was Opened
- Episode aired Dec 11, 1959
- TV-PG
- 25m
Three astronauts return to Earth after seemingly having made an encounter that dooms them and their craft to erasure from existence itself.Three astronauts return to Earth after seemingly having made an encounter that dooms them and their craft to erasure from existence itself.Three astronauts return to Earth after seemingly having made an encounter that dooms them and their craft to erasure from existence itself.
- Major William Gart
- (as James Hutton)
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
- Investigator
- (uncredited)
- Mr. Harrington
- (uncredited)
- Officer
- (uncredited)
- Girl in Bar
- (uncredited)
- Bar Patron
- (uncredited)
- Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRod Serling wrote a scene for the crash landing of the spaceship in the original script, but it was determined to be too expensive to film. The script was subsequently modified, and the crash was described by Mr. Serling in the opening narration.
- GoofsMajor Gart was hospitalized with a broken leg, established early in the show. Near the end he jumps out of the hospital bed and runs to the door, but nothing seems to be wrong with his leg and no cast is visible.
- Quotes
Rod Serling - Narrator: [Closing Narration] Once upon a time, there was a man named Harrington, a man named Forbes, a man named Gart. They used to exist, but don't any longer. Someone - or something- took them somewhere. At least they are no longer a part of the memory of man. And as to the X-20 supposed to be housed here in this hangar, this, too, does not exist. And if any of you have any questions concerning an aircraft and three men who flew her, speak softly of them - and only in - The Twilight Zone.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: And When The Sky Was Opened (2020)
One of series' spookiest entries. It's fascinating to watch the byplay between the fun-loving astronauts spiral away from flyboy hijinks into the nervous hysteria of brave men caught up in the inexplicable. Some fine group performances, especially Rod Taylor's whose mounting panic reminds me of Kevin Mc Carthy's unhinged doctor in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The brief shot of this cool professional coming unglued while posed against a cosmic starscape could serve as an icon for the entire series. Note also the clever touch of posing Charles Aidman against a faintly blinking neon, implying that his stay on earth is shaky at best. Speaking of the bar scene, watch the busty babe's amusing what's-his-line-gonna-be reaction to Taylor's aggressive approach. It's this contrast between the seemingly normal and the emerging paranormal that heightens the show's effect. One teasing question presented is how much our sense of reality depends not only on what our five senses tell us, but on how much we can agree on. That is, a reality composed not only on what we've seen, but on what we can agree on having seen. Put the two in conflict and worlds, like Taylor's, come apart.
Outstanding episode. One of the series' best.
- dougdoepke
- Jul 3, 2006
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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![Jim Hutton and Rod Taylor in The Twilight Zone (1959)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTYxNjg3NzYxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTY1OTEyMjE@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR44,0,90,133_.jpg)