"The Twilight Zone" The Mighty Casey (1960)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Alvin Ganzer
Robert Parrish

Writer:

Rod Serling (writer)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

17 June 1960 (Season 1, Episode 35)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A down-and-out baseball team's fortunes are lifted by a mysterious but seemingly unbeatable young player. |

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Narrator | Narration | Robot | Character Name In Title

Cast

Rod Serling	...	Narrator (voice)
Jack Warden	...	Mouth McGarry
Abraham Sofaer	...	Dr. Stillman
Robert Sorrells	...	Casey
Alan Dexter	...	Beasley
Don Kelly	...	Monk (as Don O'Kelly)
Jonathan Hole	...	Team Doctor
Rusty Lane	...	Commissioner

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

The title is based upon "Casey at the Bat", a baseball poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer and later popularized by vaudeville renditions.

What About Steroids?

This is a decent enough episode about a baseball team that must resort to a robot to get the job done. Of course, when the whole cheating thing comes into play, the game is diminished and it becomes about the people in charge and their decisions. It's about what happens when we inject humanity into the equation. When Casey begins to mow down the hitters he is indeed a robot. This is a rock and a hard place. He can't pitch because he's not human--how do we make him human. Like in the Wizard of Oz, we give him a heart. In Damn Yankees there is a song, "You Gotta Have Heart." That's a baseball movie. Of course, once we get a heart, we begin to see that there are others around us that we need to be concerned about. Suffice it to say, those who get their wishes too easily don't always profit very much. This is no exception. But it leaves you with hope that cheating can win out in the end.