Third from the Sun (8 Jan. 1960)
"The Twilight Zone" Third from the Sun (original title)

Two families of Government employees plan to steal a spaceship and travel to another planet just prior to World War III. They must also deal with a stooge who wants to stop them.

Director:

Richard L. Bare

Writers:

Rod Serling (teleplay by), Richard Matheson (based on the short story by),

Stars:

Fritz Weaver, Edward Andrews, Joe Maross

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Fritz Weaver	...	William Sturka
Edward Andrews	...	Carling
Joe Maross	...	Jerry Riden
Denise Alexander	...	Jody Sturka
Lori March	...	Eve Sturka

Storyline

Two families of Government employees plan to steal a spaceship and travel to another planet just prior to World War III. They must also deal with a stooge who wants to stop them.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | escape attempt | government agent | based on short story | spacecraft | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 January 1960 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Olancha Dunes, Olancha, 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

The title refers to the position of our planet Earth in its order revolving around the sun. Earth comes after Mercury and Venus, whose orbits are closer to our sun.

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Quotes

Narrator: [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.

User Reviews

Perhaps I'm the only one to notice, but....

...when we first see the ship behind the security fence, it looks suspiciously like the ship used in "Forbidden Planet". When the "good guys" are fighting off the "bad guys" so they can get out of Dodge or wherever, the ramp up which they have to climb looks suspiciously like the one that the "Id Monster" from "Forbidden Planet" had to climb.

Finally, when they're well out into space and we can see the interior of the ship...surprise! It IS the same "control deck" as in "Forbidden Planet"! All that's missing is Robby the Robot.

This isn't the first time the "Forbidden Planet" set has been used for other films and TV episodes. In the George Pal "The Time Machine", we can see the "Astrogator's Station" (the large hemisphere containing the means by which the ship is steered). The very Astrogator's Station at which Leslie Nielsen sat before he became Dr. Rumack in "Airplane", and Lt. Frank Drebbin...