Cold Reading (The Twilight Zone)

"Cold Reading"
The Twilight Zone (1985 series) episode
Scene from Cold Reading
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 18c
Directed by	Gus Trikonis
Written by	Martin Pasko Rebecca Parr
Original air date	February 14, 1986
Guest actors
Dick Shawn : Nelson Westbrook Larry Poindexter (as Lawrence Poindexter) : Milo Trent Janet Carroll : Marilyn Cavendish Joel Brooks : Jack Holland Annette McCarthy : Carla Ralph Manza : Sol Kevin Scannell : Announcer Mike Pniewski : Page Paul Keith : Paul Loomis Thomas Bellin : Ed Winter Jon Melichar

"Cold Reading" is the third and final segment of the eighteenth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

“

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, where radio was king and the special effects were as big as your imagination. All recorded live in the studios of...the Twilight Zone.

”

Plot

Milo Trent, an aspiring radio drama actor back in the '30s, is invited as a last-minute replacement to a famous weekly show, Dick Noble, African Explorer. The show is a creation of famous writer Nelson Westbrook, who often does rewrites on the fly while in the studio with the actors. But, when Westbrook accidentally wishes for realistic special effects while holding an ancient voodoo artifact, he gets what he wanted--and more.

As the actors in the studio read out their lines, the exact things happen to them--first there is a storm inside the studio, then African tribesmen appear, followed by monkeys, parrots, rifles in the distance, etc. Realizing very well that their safety is in peril, Westbrook feverishly rewrites the show so nothing drastic happens, writing around a plane crash and an earthquake amongst other things.

With all hazards averted, the cast brings the show to an ending and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The relief turns out to be rather premature, as the show host announces next week's episode: "Invaders from Mars". Westbrook, unable to stop the host, yells, "NOOOOOO!!" right before a flying saucer crashes into the soundstage.

External links

The Twilight Zone (1985) episodes

Season 1	"Shatterday" "A Little Peace and Quiet" "Wordplay" "Dreams for Sale" "Chameleon" "Healer" "Children's Zoo" "Kentucky Rye" "Little Boy Lost" "Wish Bank" "Nightcrawlers" "If She Dies" "Ye Gods" "Examination Day" "A Message from Charity" "Teacher's Aide" "Paladin of the Lost Hour" "Act Break" "The Burning Man" "Dealer's Choice" "Dead Woman's Shoes" "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" "The Shadow Man" "The Uncle Devil Show" "Opening Day" "The Beacon" "One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty" "Her Pilgrim Soul" "I of Newton" "Night of the Meek" "But Can She Type?" "The Star" "Still Life" "The Little People of Killany Woods" "The Misfortune Cookie" "Monsters!" "A Small Talent for War" "A Matter of Minutes" "The Elevator" "To See the Invisible Man" "Tooth and Consequences" "Welcome to Winfield" "Quarantine" "Gramma" "Personal Demons" "Cold Reading" "The Leprechaun-Artist" "Dead Run" "Profile in Silver" "Button, Button" "Need to Know" "Red Snow" "Take My Life...Please!" "Devil's Alphabet" "The Library" "Shadow Play" "Grace Note" "A Day in Beaumont" "The Last Defender of Camelot"

Season 2	"The Once and Future King" "A Saucer of Loneliness" "What Are Friends For?" "Aqua Vita" "The Storyteller" "Nightsong" "The After Hours" "Lost and Found" "The World Next Door" "The Toys of Caliban" "The Convict's Piano" "The Road Less Traveled" "The Card" "The Junction" "Joy Ride" "Shelter Skelter" "Private Channel" "Time and Teresa Golowitz" "Voices in the Earth" "Song of the Younger World" "The Girl I Married"

Season 3	"The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon" "Extra Innings" "The Crossing" "The Hunters" "Dream Me a Life" "Memories" "The Hellgramite Method" "Our Selena Is Dying" "The Call" "The Trance" "Acts of Terror" "20/20 Vision" "There Was an Old Woman" "The Trunk" "Appointment on Route 17" "The Cold Equations" "Stranger in Possum Meadows" "Street of Shadows" "Something in the Walls" "A Game of Pool" "The Wall" "Room 2426" "The Mind of Simon Foster" "Cat and Mouse" "Many, Many Monkeys" "Rendezvous in a Dark Place" "Special Service" "Love is Blind" "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich" "Father and Son Game"