The Twilight Zone (1962)

 

In our last post on the Twilight Zone episodes that aired in 1961, we focused on show creator Rod Serling's growing sense of burnout in having written the majority of scripts over the program's first 2+ seasons, as well as hosting and overseeing production. This trend continued throughout the remainder of Season 3 episodes that aired in 1962, with Serling and his writers frequently recycling past themes or borrowing heavily from other works. The last two episodes of Season 3 are a case in point, as they collectively seem to rehash Frank Capra's holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life. In "Cavender Is Coming" (May 25, 1962) clumsy, chronically unemployed Agnes Greb is assigned a bumbling guardian angel who has yet to earn his wings. His assignment is to improve her life, which he decides can best be accomplished by making her independently wealthy. But, predictably, his efforts backfire as Agnes learns that those who attend her lavish parties have no interest in her, and when she tries to return to her former life where she at least had friends, no one recognizes her, as if she never existed, much like George Bailey's experience in It's a Wonderful Life when he wishes he had never been born and his guardian angel Clarence decides to show him what that would be like. The other half of It's a Wonderful Life shows up in the season-ending episode "The Changing of the Guard" (June 1, 1962) wherein elderly boys school English teacher Ellis Fowler is forced into retirement by the board of trustees, prompting him to consider his life an utter waste. He plans to commit suicide during the Christmas holidays, exactly as George Bailey did in Capra's feature film, but Fowler's hand is stayed by a vision of a series of former students who tell him that lessons they learned from him spurred them to heroic, selfless lives, allowing him to claim at least a partial victory in being a contributor to their success. After returning home from his vision, Fowler sits down to his holiday dinner and comments to his housekeeper that he has had "a a very good, very full, very rich life." What would be another way to describe it? Ah, yes, a wonderful life.

Serling's choice of title for the season's final episode, "The Changing of the Guard," was either prophetic or teasing, depending on exactly when Serling chose it, because, as Marc Scott Zicree details in The Twilight Zone Companion, the series was late in finding a sponsor for Season 4, and CBS decided to replace it in the fall lineup with a new program, Fair Exchange. Serling seized the opportunity to take a break from television by accepting a teaching position at his alma mater Antioch College, and producer Buck Houghton, with the show's future very much up in the air, accepted a lucrative offer from Four Star Productions. Though the series was revived in January 1963, the same month that Serling's teaching position ended, it was expanded to 1 hour, Houghton did not return, and Serling was less involved in writing and producing it, though he did continue as host. In Zicree's opinion, the revived Twilight Zone was a different show. We'll have to wait for our post on the 1963 episodes to see if these changes were an improvement, but it appears obvious that something needed to be done to keep the series from constantly repeating itself.

One area where the program did not repeat itself was in the use of stories by renowned science fiction author Ray Bradbury. According to Zicree, Serling was a great admirer of Bradbury's work, and when the series was about to launch in 1959 he was at one point expected to be a major contributor like scriptwriters Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson. But the first script Bradbury submitted to Serling was never produced. In fact, the only Bradbury story ever used on the series was the May 18, 1962 episode "I Sing the Body Electric," adapted for television by Bradbury himself. The story of a built-to-order robotic (yet humanly empathic) grandmother for the three children of widower George Rogers seems a bit disjointed because it tries to wed the peculiarity of simulated humans with the psychosis of one of Rogers' daughters who blames her mother for dying and therefore abandoning her, which she then transfers to the robotic grandmother. After this hurdle is jumped, the story has a brief and odd tacked-on ending in which we rush through the children's youth into their college years, at which point the grandmother says she has to leave because her work is done. The children ask her what will happen to her, and she describes being disassembled, having her mind or soul rest in a kind of collective unconscious with other returned grandmothers so that they can each learn from the others' experiences, and then at some point she hopes that technology will advance far enough to allow her to become fully human. Zicree describes the difficulty the Twilight Zone crew had in bringing this story to the screen. An initial version was produced in October 1961 but was considered unsatisfactory. It was rewritten and even recast in parts for another version in February 1962, but that version had to be retooled even further before it finally aired. Zicree also offers an explanation of why Bradbury wasn't used for more Twilight Zone episodes, according to a 1975 interview with Serling: his stories were too expensive if not impossible to render visually, and his characters spoke in poetic dialogue that Serling and company couldn't see an actual human ever saying. If anything, Bradbury's work proved too imaginative even for The Twilight Zone.

Too much imagination was not the problem with a number of the 1962 episodes authored by Serling. A case in point is "Showdown With Rance McGrew" (February 2, 1962), Serling's somewhat petty diatribe against fake TV cowboys. The story's simplistic sermon is that modern-day actors portraying rough characters from the old west are actually self-absorbed, feckless cowards who would shake in their boots if they had to face the notorious historical legends they pretend to defeat each week on television. "One More Pallbearer" (January 12, 1962) is likewise tedious in its claustrophobic tale of eccentric millionaire Paul Radin who attempts to exact revenge on three persons from his past whom he thinks unnecessarily humiliated him, summoning them to his underground fallout shelter that he has rigged with closed circuit TV to make it appear that the world is experiencing a nuclear apocalypse, all in an effort to get his victims to expose themselves as selfish , hollow people who care only about their own survival. Naturally, the scheme backfires and Radin is the one exposed and doomed to the fake catastrophe he tried to summon up against his victims. But the whole story is founded on the flimsy premise that all three victims, Radin's former army commander, minister, and teacher, would accept his invitation to come to his mansion after having no contact with him for years. "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" (February 23, 1962) is no more convincing or entertaining in its yarn about a rural young man who appears to die and is about to be buried when he emerges from his coffin during his funeral and pronounces that he is not dead. His suspicious neighbors come to believe that he must be possessed by the devil since the town doctor insists that his examination of Myrtlebank unquestionably showed that he was deceased. The citizens try to drive Myrtlebank out of town until he reasons with them that if he is not possessed then they have nothing to fear, but if he is possessed, they had better be nice to him or he will exact vengeance on them. The tacked-on narration from Serling then says that Myrtlebank's son became a U.S. Senator whose shrewd negotiation skills were considered devilish. It's a weak jab at everybody's favorite punching bag--politicians--in an attempt to exonerate ourselves from having elected them.

There are plenty of other 1962 episodes that are fair to middling, in part because of the high bar already established in prior years for The Twilight Zone. But every once in a while the series would reconfirm its status as one of television's most adventurous programs. "To Serve Man" (March 2, 1962) is rightfully regarded as one of the series' best episodes. It begins with an earth visitation by aliens from the planet Kanamit, who claim to come in peace for the purpose of improving life on earth for all humans. True to their word, they quickly eliminate war, famine, and pestilence on earth while also setting up an exchange program for earthlings to visit their planet. However, one of the aliens leaves behind a manual that a team of U.S. Government code-crackers initially have trouble deciphering. When they finally unlock the title, "To Serve Man," the United Nations agrees to the Kanamits' program of earthly improvements. But there is a twist at the end, of course, when one of the code-crackers finally solves that the manual is actually--spoiler alert--a cookbook, which explains why the aliens were so intent on removing all dangers to the human race. Not only does the episode provide a nice shock at the end, but it also makes us humans question our treatment of animals in order to optimize their suitability as our food. One of the code-crackers learns too late the purpose of the alien manual and is whisked into their spaceship for his trip to Kanamit and eventual consumption. Needless to say, it is not a happy journey. As we learn more about animals' intelligence and capacity for understanding how we treat them, our exploitation of them for food becomes harder to justify.

Serling obviously believed that animals deserved more credit and better treatment than they typically received from humans, as also evidenced in the episode "The Hunt" (January 26, 1962). In this story elder coon hunter Hyder Simpson is saved from eternal perdition by his four-legged hunting partner Rip after both perish on a late night hunting trip and wind up walking down a country road to their final resting place. At the first gate they reach, the gatekeeper invites Simpson to enter but refuses admittance to Rip, claiming there is another place for dogs. Rip knows the gatekeeper is up to no good and growls at him, and Simpson can't imagine a heaven that doesn't allow dogs, so he refuses to enter, and after walking a little farther down the road meets a man who says he is an angel and confirms that the first gate Simpson went to does not lead to heaven. A dog is also the hero in "Little Girl Lost" (March 16, 1962) when little girl Tina Miller one evening gets sucked into a portal to another dimension which opens in her bedroom. Her parents can hear her but cannot find her. In a panic her father calls his physicist friend Bill, who confirms the existence of the portal. Meanwhile, the family dog Mac runs through the portal and helps guide Tina back toward its entrance so that her father can reach in and pull her back to three-dimensional reality. In both episodes Serling suggests that dogs have a sense that humans sometimes lack about what is best for them.

In fact, humans do not come off looking very good whenever they encounter other beings in The Twilight Zone. In "The Little People" (March 30, 1962) a pair of astronauts have to crash land on another planet to make repairs to their ship sustained in a meteor shower. While Commander William Fletcher works on repairing the ship, navigator Peter Craig discovers a race of miniature people who treat him like a god because they fear his size and power relative to theirs. Tired of being second in a ship of two astronauts, Craig's discovery feeds his desire for power, and he cruelly and arbitrarily destroys portions of the small civilization just to keep them in line. When Fletcher has completed repairs to their ship, Craig insists on staying behind because he feels his life as a god to the little people is a dream come true. But shortly after his partner leaves, Craig discovers that another rocket ship has crash landed on "his" planet, and its inhabitants are as large to him as he is to the little people. Needless to say, his dream world of infinite power quickly disappears. "The Gift" (April 27, 1962) is another story about earthlings' hasty judgment and lack of perspective. When a UFO crashes near a small Mexican village, the local police rashly engage its occupant in armed combat, forcing the alien who calls himself Williams to defend himself and kill one of the police. As he seeks medical help and a chance to explain his mission, Williams earns the friendship of a young star-gazing orphan and a doctor sworn to help those in need. Unfortunately, all the other citizens of the town are driven by fear, and Williams is hunted down and killed, while the gift he brought to earth is destroyed before the earthlings can discover that it was a formula that would have provided a cure for cancer. Apparently Serling shared the belief that comic strip artist Walt Kelly would immortalize a few years later in his 1970 Earth Day strip for Pogo: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

The Actors

For the biography of Rod Serling, see the 1960 post on The Twilight Zone.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 3, Episode 16, "Nothing in the Dark": Gladys Cooper (three-time Oscar nominee, appeared in Rebecca, Kitty Foyle, Now, Voyager, The Song of Bernadette, and My Fair Lady and played Margaret St. Clair on The Rogues and Harriet Vey on The Doctors) plays shut-in Wanda Dunn. Robert Redford (shown on the left, starred in Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President's Men) plays wounded policeman Harold Beldon. R.G. Armstrong (Police Capt. McAllister on T.H.E. Cat and Lewis Vendredi on Friday the 13th) plays a demolition contractor.

Season 3, Episode 17, "One More Pallbearer": Joseph Wiseman (shown on the right, starred in Detective Story, Viva Zapata!, Les Miserables (1952), Dr. No, and The Valachi Papers and played Manny Weisbord on Crime Story) plays eccentric millionaire Paul Radin. Katherine Squire (Gertrude Harper on Valiant Lady, Emma Simpson Winters on The Doctors, and Raney Wesner on Search for Tomorrow) plays his former teacher Mrs. Langsford. Trevor Bardette (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his former Army commander Col. Hawthorne. Gage Clarke (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Gunsmoke) plays his former minister Rev. Hughes.

Season 3, Episode 18, "Dead Man's Shoes": Warren Stevens (shown on the left, starred in The Frogmen, The Barefoot Contessa, Deadline U.S.A., and Forbidden Planet, played Lt. William Storm on Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, and was the voice of John Bracken on Bracken's World) plays homeless alcoholic Nathan Edward Bledsoe. Richard Devon (Jody Barker on Yancy Derringer) plays mobster Dagget. Joan Marshall (Sailor Duval on Bold Venture) plays dead mobster's girlfriend Wilma. Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The Big Valley) plays derelict Sam. Ben Wright (voice of Roger Radcliff in One Hundred and One Dalmations, Wolf in The Jungle Book, and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid, was the narrator in Cleopatra, and appeared in Judgment at Nuremberg, The Sound of Music, and Munster, Go Home!) plays derelict Chips. Ron Hagerthy (Clipper King on Sky King) plays Dagget associate Ben.

Season 3, Episode 19, "The Hunt": Arthur Hunnicutt (shown on the right, starred in The Red Badge of Courage, The Last Command, The Cardinal, and Cat Ballou) plays coon hunter Hyder Simpson. Jeannette Nolan (starred in Macbeth (1948), The Big Heat, Tribute to a Bad Man, and The Reluctant Astronaut, did voicework for Psycho, The Rescuers, and The Fox and the Hound, and played Annette Devereaux on Hotel de Paree and Holly Grainger on The Virginian) plays his wife Rachel. Orville Sherman (Mr. Feeney on Buckskin, Wib Smith on Gunsmoke, and Tupper on Daniel Boone) plays neighbor Tillman Miller. Charles Seel (Otis the Bartender on Tombstone Territory, Mr. Krinkie on Dennis the Menace, and Tom Pride on The Road West) plays local minister Rev. Wood. Robert Foulk (Ed Davis on Father Knows Best, Sheriff Miller on Lassie, Joe Kingston on Wichita Town, Mr. Wheeler on Green Acres, and Phillip Toomey on The Rifleman) plays a roadside gatekeeper.

Season 3, Episode 20, "Showdown With Rance McGrew": Larry Blyden (shown on the left, played Joe Sparton on Joe & Mabel and Harry Burns on Harry's Girls) plays TV cowboy Rance McGrew. Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart and Howard Buss on Picket Fences) plays his director Cy. Arch Johnson (starred in Somebody Up There Likes Me, G.I. Blues, and The Cheyenne Social Club and played Gus Honochek on The Asphalt Jungle and Cmdr. Wivenhoe on Camp Runamuck) plays the real Jesse James. Bill McLean (Dave on The Jim Backus Show) plays the TV prop man. Robert Stevenson (played bartender Big Ed on Richard Drum and Marshal Hugh Strickland on Stagecoach West) plays the TV bartender.

Season 3, Episode 21, "Kick the Can": Ernest Truex (shown on the right, played Grandpa McHummer on Jamie, Mr. Remington on Mister Peepers, Jason McCauley on The Ann Sothern Show, and Pop on Pete and Gladys) plays rest home resident Charles Whitley. Barry Truex (son of Ernest Truex) played his son David. Russell Collins (appeared in Niagara, Miss Sadie Thompson, Raintree County, and Fail-Safe and played Owen Sharp on Many Happy Returns) plays Charles' life-long friend Ben Conroy. John Marley (starred in Cat Ballou, Love Story, and The Godfather) plays the rest home superintendent Mr. Cox. Earle Hodgins (Lonesome on Guestward Ho!) plays rest home resident Mr. Agee. Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank Miller on Gunsmoke) plays rest home resident Carlson. Marjorie Bennett (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays rest home resident Mrs. Summers. Burt Mustin (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Leave It to Beaver) plays rest home resident Carlson. Anne O'Neal (appeared in In Old California, The Sombrero Kid, Open Secret, and Runaway Daughters and played Nana on Professional Father) plays rest home resident Mrs. Wister. Eve McVeagh (starred in High Noon, The Glass Web, and Tight Spot and played Miss Hammond on Petticoat Junction) plays the rest home night nurse.

Season 3, Episode 22, "A Piano in the House": Barry Morse (starred in When We Are Married, Mrs. Fitzherbert, Daughter of Darkness, No Trace, and The Shape of Things to Come, hosted Presenting Barry Morse, and played Lt. Philip Gerard on The Fugitive, Mr. Parminter on The Adventurer, Alec Marlowe on The Zoo Gang, Prof. Victor Bergman on Space: 1999, and President Johnny Cyclops on Whoops Apocalypse) plays despised theatre critic Fitzgerald Fortune. Joan Hackett (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Defenders) plays his wife Esther. Philip Coolidge (appeared in I Want to Live!, North by Northwest, The Tingler, Because They're Young, and Inherit the Wind and played Chester Cooper on The Farmer's Daughter) plays junk shop proprietor Throckmorton. Cyril Delevanti (Lucious Coin on Jefferson Drum) plays the Fortunes' butler Marvin. Don Durant (Johnny Ringo on Johnny Ringo) plays playwright Gregory Walker. Muriel Landers (appeared in Pillow Talk and Doctor Doolittle and played Rosa on Life With Luigi and Mildred Cosgrove on The Joey Bishop Show) plays party guest Marge Moore.

Season 3, Episode 23, "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank": James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard and The Dukes) plays young man presumed dead Jeff Myrtlebank. Ralph Moody (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Rifleman) plays his father. Sherry Jackson (shown on the right, played Terry Williams on Make Room for Daddy) plays his fiance Comfort Gatewood. Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe Carson on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, Red Connors on Hopalong Cassidy, Judge Roy Bean on Judge Roy Bean, Doc Burrage on The Rifleman, and J.J. Jackson on Cade's County) plays the town physician Doc Bolton. Dub Taylor (starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie & Clyde, and The Wild Bunch, played Cannonball in 53 western films, and played Wallie Simms on Casey Jones, Mitch Brady on Hazel, and Ed Hewley on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays suspicious town resident Peters. Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on Lawman, Sam Watkins on The Real McCoys, the autopsy surgeon on Perry Mason, Simon Benjamin on The Young Marrieds, and Judge Irwin A. Chester on Peyton Place) plays suspicious resident Strauss.

Season 3, Episode 24, "To Serve Man": Lloyd Bochner (Chief Inspector Neil Campbell on Hong Kong and Cecil Colby on Dynasty) plays U.S. Government code-cracker Michael Chambers. Susan Cummings (shown on the left, played Georgia on Union Pacific) plays his assistant Patty. Richard Kiel (starred in The Phantom Planet, Eegah, The Longest Yard, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and Pale Rider and played Moose Moran on Barbary Coast) plays a visiting alien Kanamit. Hardie Albright (appeared in This Sporting Age, The Song of Songs, White Heat, The Scarlet Letter, The Pride of the Yankees, and Angel on My Shoulder) plays the U.N. secretary general. Bartlett Robinson (Willard Norton on Wendy and Me and Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays a U.S. Army colonel. Carleton Young (starred in Dick Tracy (1937), The Brigand, Thunderhead - Son of Flicka, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and played Harry Steeger on The Court of Last Resort) plays another U.S. Army colonel. Theodore Marcuse (starred in Hitler, The Cincinnati Kid, and Harum Scarum and played Von Bloheim on Batman) plays the Russian U.N. delegate Gregori. Jerry Fujikawa (appeared in King of Marvin Gardens, Chinatown, and Farewell, My Lovely and played Matsu on Mr. T and Tina) plays the Japanese delegate to the U.N.

Season 3, Episode 25, "The Fugitive": J. Pat O'Malley (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Frontier Circus) plays old man Ben. Susan Gordon (appeared in Attack of the Puppet People, Tormented, The Five Pennies, and Picture Mommy Dead) plays his apartment building neighbor Jenny. Nancy Kulp (see the biography section for the 1962 post on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays her aunt Agnes Gann. Stephen Talbot (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Leave It to Beaver) plays Jenny's friend Howie Gutliff. Johnny Eimen (Monk on McKeever and the Colonel) plays another friend pitching in a baseball game. Wesley Lau (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays a man looking for Ben. Paul Tripp (host of children's shows Mr. I. Magination and On the Carousel and co-creator of Tubby the Tuba) plays his partner.

Season 3, Episode 26, "Little Girl Lost": Robert Sampson (shown on the far left, played Sgt. Walsh on Steve Canyon, Father Mike Fitzgerald on Bridget Love Bernie, and Sheriff Turk Tobias on Falcon Crest) plays father Chris Miller. Sarah Marshall (shown on the near left, starred in The Long, Hot Summer, Lord Love a Duck, and Dave and played Evelyn Winslow on Miss Winslow and Son) plays his wife Ruth. Tracy Stratford (Maria Massey on The New Loretta Young Show) plays their daughter Tina. Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays their physicist friend Bill.

Season 3, Episode 27, "Person or Persons Unknown": Richard Long (shown on the right, starred in The Stranger, Criss Cross, All I Desire, and as Tom Kettle in 4 Ma and Pa Kettle features, and played Red Randolph on Bourbon Street Beat and 77 Sunset Strip, Jarrod Barkley on The Big Valley, Professor Everett on Nanny and the Professor, and Ernie Paine on Thicker Than Water) plays banker David Andrew Gurney. Shirley Ballard (Miss California 1944, wife of actor Jason Evers, script supervisor on Mad Max and continuity supervisor on Water Under the Bridge and The Sullivans) plays the woman he thinks is his wife Wilma. Joe Higgins (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Rifleman) plays bank security guard Jim. Frank Silvera (Don Sebastian Montoya on The High Chaparral) plays psychiatrist Dr. Koslenko. John Newton (Bill Paley on Search for Tomorrow and Judge Eric Caffey on Law & Order) plays bank employee Cooper. Harry Swoger (see "Dead Man's Shoes" above) plays bartender Sam. John Brahm (directed The Lodger, The Brasher Doubloon, The Mad Magician, and Hot Rods to Hell as well as multiple episodes of Medic, M Squad, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, Naked City, The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) plays a mental patient who thinks he is Winston Churchill. Robert McCord (Capt. Amos Fry on Yancy Derringer) plays a delivery van driver.

Season 3, Episode 28, "The Little People": Claude Akins (Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J and the Bear and on Lobo) plays astronaut Cmdr. William Fletcher. Joe Maross (shown on the left, played Fred Russell on Peyton Place, Capt. Mike Benton on Code Red, and Dr. Blakely on Dallas) plays his navigator Peter Craig.

Season 3, Episode 29, "Four O'Clock": Theodore Bikel (shown on the right, starred in Moulin Rouge, The Defiant Ones, A Dog of Flanders, My Fair Lady, and The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! and played Marin Dimitrov on Falcon Crest) plays snooping moralist Oliver Crangle. Moyna MacGill (starred in Miriam Rozella, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Green Dolphin Street) plays his landlady Mrs. Williams. Phyllis Love (appeared in So Young, So Bad, Friendly Persuasion, and The Young Doctors) plays doctor's wife Mrs. Lucas. Linden Chiles (Charles Hanson on East Side/West Side, Paul Hunter on James at 16, and Edward Nichols on Santa Barbara) plays FBI Agent Hall.

Season 3, Episode 30, "Hocus-Pocus and Frisbee": Andy Devine (shown on the left, starred in A Star Is Born(1937), Stagecoach, Pete Kelly's Blues, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won and played Deputy Marshal Jingles P. Jones on Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock and Hap Gorman on Flipper) plays general store proprietor Somerset Frisby. Dabbs Greer (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Gunsmoke) plays customer and friend Scanlan. Howard McNear (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Andy Griffith Show) plays customer and friend Mitchell. Clem Bevans (appeared in Sergeant York, Saboteur, The Yearling, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Harvey) plays customer and friend Pete. Milton Selzer (Parker on Get Smart, Jake Winkelman on The Harvey Korman Show, Abe Werkfinder on The Famous Teddy Z, and Manny Henry on Valley of the Dolls) plays a visiting stranger driving a car. Peter Brocco (appeared in The Prisoner of Zenda, , Spartacus, Our Man Flint, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and played Peter the waiter on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and Mr. Spencer on The Young Marrieds) plays one of the aliens on the spaceship.

Season 3, Episode 31, "The Trade-Ins": Joseph Schildkraut (shown on the right, Oscar winner, starred in Orphans of the Storm, The King of Kings, Viva Villa!, Cleopatra (1934), The Life of Emile Zola, The Shop Around the Corner, and The Diary of Anne Frank) plays old husband John Holt. Alma Platt (Mrs. Henehan on These Are My Children) plays his wife Marie. Noah Keen (Det. Lt. Carl Bone on Arrest and Trial) plays new body salesman Mr. Vance. Edson Stroll (Virgil Edwards on McHale's Navy) plays the model for Holt's new body. Theodore Marcuse (see "To Serve Man" above) plays card hustler Farraday. Terence de Marney (Case Thomas on Johnny Ringo and Counsellor Doone on Lorna Doone) plays a poker player.

Season 3, Episode 32, "The Gift": Henry Corden (shown on the left, played Carlo on The Count of Monte Cristo and Babbitt on The Monkees, did voicework on The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and Return to the Planet of the Apes) plays small Mexican town police officer Sanchez. Vito Scotti (Jose on The Deputy, Capt. Gaspar Fomento on The Flying Nun, Gino on To Rome With Love, and Mr. Velasquez on Barefoot in the Park) plays telegrapher Rodolpho. Geoffrey Horne (appeared in The Strange One, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Bonjour Tristesse and played Dr. Frankel on The Doctors and Rick Meade on The Edge of Night) plays alien visitor Williams. Cliff Osmond (appeared in The Raiders, Kiss Me, Stupid, The Fortune Cookie, and The Front Page) plays bar owner Manolo. Paul Mazursky (5-times Oscar nominee, co-wrote and directed Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Harry and Tonto, and Enemies, A Love Story, wrote and directed An Unmarried Woman, directed Next Stop, Greenwich Village, Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, and Scenes From a Mall, co-created The Monkees, appeared in Blackboard Jungle, Deathwatch, A Star Is Born (1976), and Carlito's Way, and played Phil Brooks on Once and Again and Norm on Curb Your Enthusiasm) plays an army captain.

Season 3, Episode 33, "The Dummy": Cliff Robertson (shown on the right, starred in Picnic, The Naked and the Dead, Gidget, PT 109, The Devil's Brigade, Charly, and Three Days of the Condor and played Rod Brown on Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers, Shame on Batman, Dr. Michael Ranson on Falcon Crest, and Hal Malloy on The Lyon's Den) plays ventriloquist Jerry Etherson. Frank Sutton (appeared in Marty, Town Without Pity, and The Satan Bug and played Eric Raddison on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and Sgt. Vince Carter on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) plays nightclub manager Frank. John Harmon (hotel clerk Eddie Halstead on The Rifleman) plays nightclub owner Georgie. Ralph Manza (Al Bonacorsi on The D.A.'s Man, Mike Costello on General Hospital, Jay Drury on Banacek, Ambulance Aide Stanke on A.E.S. Hudson, Padre Guardiano on Mama Malone, Bud on Newhart, and Father Lewis on Days of Our Lives) plays nightclub doorman Ralph. Sandra Warner (iconic cover model on 12 Martin Denny exotica LPs and played Pat Smith on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) plays showgirl Noreen. George Murdock (Capt. Krupnick on No Time for Sergeants, Fred Devon on It Takes a Thief, Cavanaugh on Banacek, Dr. Salik on Battlestar Gallactica, Lt. Ben Scanlon on Barney Miller, Laslo Gabov on What a Country, and Judge Andrew Walker on Days of Our Lives) plays dummy turned human Willie.

Season 3, Episode 34, "Young Man's Fancy": Alex Nicol (starred in The Redhead From Wyoming, Heat Wave, and The Man From Laramie and played Van Lorn on The Law) plays 34-year-old mama's boy Alex Walker. Phyllis Thaxter (shown on the left, starred in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, The Sea of Grass, The Breaking Point, and Superman) plays his new bride Virgina Lane. Helen Brown (appeared in Holiday Affair, The Goldbergs, and Shane) plays Alex's late mother Henrietta. Wallace Rooney (Andrew Winters on The Doctors and Tim Butterfield on Lou Grant) plays realtor Mr. Wilkinson. Rickey Kelman (Randy Towne on The Dennis O'Keefe Show and Tommy MacRoberts on Our Man Higgins) plays Alex as a boy.

Season 3, Episode 35, "I Sing the Body Electric": David White (Larry Tate on Bewitched) plays widower George Rogers. Veronica Cartwright (shown on the right, starred in The Birds, The Children's Hour, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Alien, The Right Stuff, and The Witches of Eastwick and played Jemima Boone on Daniel Boone, Molly Hark on Tanner '88, A.D.A. Margaret Flanagan on L.A. Law, Cassandra Spender on The X-Files, Valerie Shenkman on Invasion, and Bun Waverly on Eastwick) plays his daughter Anne. Charles Herbert (appeared in The Colossus of New York, The Fly, Houseboat, and Please Don't Eat the Daisies and played David Barker on The Donna Reed Show, Peter McCauley on Men Into Space, and Rickey Selby on The Clear Horizon) plays his son Tom. Doris Packer (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays their Aunt Nedra. Vaughn Taylor (starred in Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays a robot salesman. Josephine Hutchinson (appeared in The Story of Louis Pasteur, Son of Frankenstein, Tom Brown's Schooldays, and North by Northwest) plays the children's robot "grandmother." Judee Morton (appeared in Zotz! and The Slime People and played Dr. Smithson on General Hospital) plays Rogers' college-age daughter Karen.

Season 3, Episode 36, "Cavender Is Coming": Carol Burnett (shown on the left, regular cast member on The Garry Moore Show, host of The Carol Burnett Show and Carol and Company, and played Celia Howard on Stanley, Eunice Higgins on Mama's Family, Verla Grubbs on All My Children, and Theresa Stemple on Mad About You) plays chronically unemployed Agnes Grep. Jesse White (appeared in Harvey, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Bad Seed, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and The Reluctant Astronaut and played Mickey Calhoun on Private Secretary, Jesse Leeds on Make Room for Daddy, and Oscar Pudney on The Ann Sothern Show) plays inept angel Harmon Cavender. Howard Smith (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Hazel) plays Cavender's superior angel Polk. John Fiedler (appeared in 12 Angry Men, That Touch of Mink, The World of Henry Orient, Kiss Me, Stupid, Girl Happy, The Odd Couple, and True Grit and played Emil Peterson on The Bob Newhart Show and Woody on Buffalo Bill) plays Polk's assistant angel. Sandra Gould (Mildred Webster on I Married Joan and Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched) plays Agnes' neighbor. Frank Behrens (husband of actor Amzie Strickland) plays theater manager Stout. Donna Douglas (see the biography section for the 1962 post on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays a party guest. Maurice Dallimore (Willie Shorthouse on Fair Exchange) plays a party guest. Albert Carrier (appeared in Tender Is the Night, Fitzwilly, and Scarface) plays a French masher party guest. Barbara Morrison (appeared in From Here to Eternity, Don't Knock the Twist, and Papillon) plays a matronly party guest.

Season 3, Episode 37, "The Changing of the Guard": Donald Pleasence (shown on the right, starred in Look Back in Anger, Dr. Crippen, The Great Escape, Fantastic Voyage, You Only Live Twice, THX 1138, The Eagle Has Landed, and 5 of the first 6 Halloween films and played Det. Insp. Harry Yates on The Scarf) plays boys school English Professor Ellis Fowler. Liam Sullivan (Major Mapoy on The Monroes, Dr. Joseph Lerner on The Young and the Restless, Dr. Wallace on General Hospital, and Mr. Willis on Knots Landing) plays the school headmaster. Tom  Lowell (appeared in That Darn Cat!, The Gnome-Mobile, and The Boatniks and played Billy Nelson on Combat!) plays former student Artie Beechcroft. Russell Horton (Junior Hocker on Petticoat Junction and voiced Kat's Father on Kenny the Shark and the Trix rabbit in Trix cereal commercials) plays former student Bartlett. Buddy Joe Hooker (Chester Anderson on Leave It to Beaver and was stunt coordinator on Dexter, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Common Law, Lauren, Rake, and TURN: Washington's Spies) plays former student Dickie Weiss. Darryl Richard (see the biography section for the 1962 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays former student Thompson. Jimmy Baird (Pee Wee on Fury) plays a current student.