Probe 7, Over and Out (29 Nov. 1963)
"The Twilight Zone" Probe 7, Over and Out (original title)

Colonel Cook stranded on another planet with no hope for rescue meets a woman who is the sole survivor from another planet.

Director:

Ted Post

Writers:

Rod Serling (creator), Rod Serling

Stars:

Richard Basehart, Antoinette Bower, Harold Gould

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Richard Basehart	...	Adam Cook
Antoinette Bower	...	Eve Norda
Harold Gould	...	General Larrabee
Barton Heyman	...	Lieutenant Blane

Storyline

Colonel Cook stranded on another planet with no hope for rescue meets a woman who is the sole survivor from another planet.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | survivor | spaceship crash | end of the world | biblical allegory | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 November 1963 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cook's home world is 4.3 light years from Earth, which would put it in the Alpha Centauri system.

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Goofs

Cook mentions that's he's 4.3 light-years from his home base, but when he talks on his radio, the replies to him are instantaneous. In reality, his message would take 4.3 years to reach the base and another 4.3 years for the reply to reach him - a total of almost 9 years per message.

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Quotes

Narrator: [Closing Narration] Do you know these people? Names familiar, are they? They lived a long time ago. Perhaps they're part fable, perhaps they're part fantasy. And perhaps the place they're walking to now is not really called 'Eden.' We offer it only as a presumption. This has been the Twilight Zone.

User Reviews

The Twilight Zone-Probe 7, Over and Out

By season 5 I imagine that Rod Serling was running low on ideas and so PROBE 7, OVER AND OUT feels like one of those cases where even a genius was taxed with spitting out something on schedule. I do think, though, that the casting of Richard Basehart(and, to a certain extent, the haunted face of his commander, General Larrabee, portrayed by television character actor Harold Gould(Rose's long-term boyfriend on THE GOLDEN GIRLS)does adds value to the episode and he's burdened to carry it for large portions on his own. Sure the plot(and end result)are a bit old-fashioned and will probably induce eye-rolling from the more contemporary among us, but I do believe Basehart well establishes in his performance his plight, the desperate attempt to find a friend, a companion, on some seemingly humanoid-less planet which seems to support the fundamentals needed for survival. Gould doesn't stretch into theatrics, his military general holding back the horror Planet Earth is facing as war has broken out between countries behind a defeated calmness, his supposed quiet strength delivering bad news to Basehart as he lies unconscious outside after being hit in the head with a stone, this letting the viewer know that Adam Cook is not alone. When he first arrives, the planet seems to remain in a perpetual nightfall and Cook feels condemned to a "dungeon" existence. As you can expect, the story predictable and tired, Cook makes contact with a humanoid woman who seems to be identical in most respects to earth's race, except her language differs in a more primitive fashion. Sure Serling sermonizes on mankind's inability to communicate without fear or violence, commenting on the Cold War age they were a part of at the time. It ends with Cook and Norda trying to break the communication barrier, naming their new planet--you guessed it--Earth.