Third from the Sun
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| “Third from the Sun” | |||||||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||||||
 Fritz Weaver and Joe Maross in Third from the Sun |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 14 |
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| Written by | Rod Serling (story by Richard Matheson) | ||||||
| Directed by | Richard L. Bare | ||||||
| Guest stars | Fritz Weaver : Will Sturka Joe Maross : Jerry Riden Edward Andrews : Carling Denise Alexander : Jody Sturka |
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| Production no. | 173-3615 | ||||||
| Original airdate | January 8, 1960 | ||||||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||||||
"Third from the Sun" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a short story of the same name by Richard Matheson.
Contents |
[edit] Opening narration
| “ | Quitting time at the plant. Time for supper now. Time for families. Time for a cool drink on a porch. Time for the quiet rustle of leaf-laden trees that screen out the moon. And underneath it all, behind the eyes of the men, hanging invisible over the summer night, is a horror without words. For this is the stillness before storm. This is the eve of the end. | ” |
[edit] Synopsis
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2008) |
A scientist (Fritz Weaver) who works at a nuclear plant making H-bombs knows that the world will soon end. His family and his friend, a pilot (Joe Maross), plot to steal an experimental spaceship and escape with their families to a planet eleven million miles away. They are almost stopped by a government agent (Edward Andrews) who suspects what the scientists intend to do. The two men overpower the agent and are able to take off. Once up in space, they wonder what their new home will be like. From radio broadcasts, they know it is called Earth.
[edit] Closing narration
| “ | Behind a tiny ship heading into space is a doomed planet on the verge of suicide. Ahead lies a place called Earth, the third planet from the sun. And for William Sturka and the men and women with him, it's the eve of the beginning in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
[edit] Production
The experimental spaceship shown is the saucer-shaped cruiser seen in MGM's 1956 film Forbidden Planet. For the episode, the full-size lower underside with retractable stairs was modified, along with a smaller command/pilot center, surrounded by wall elements of the Krell laboratory from the film. The ship was also used in several subsequent episodes.
[edit] See also
- "Probe 7, Over and Out", another Twilight Zone episode with a similar plot.
