Stopover in a Quiet Town

Episode aired Apr 24, 1964
TV-PGTV-PG
25min

8.2/10

S5.E30

A hung-over couple awaken to find themselves not only in a strange house, but in a deserted town, where nothing is as it should be.A hung-over couple awaken to find themselves not only in a strange house, but in a deserted town, where nothing is as it should be.A hung-over couple awaken to find themselves not only in a strange house, but in a deserted town, where nothing is as it should be.A hung-over couple awaken to find themselves not only in a strange house, but in a deserted town, where nothing is as it should be.A hung-over couple awaken to find themselves not only in a strange house, but in a deserted town, where nothing is as it should be.

Director
- Ron Winston
Writers
- Earl Hamner Jr.
- Rod Serling(creator)
Stars
- Barry Nelson
- Nancy Malone
- Denise Lynn(uncredited)

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Karen Norris and Denise Lynn in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Nancy Malone, Barry Nelson, and Denise Lynn in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Barry Nelson

Bob Frazieras Bob Frazier

Nancy Malone

Millie Frazieras Millie Frazier

Denise Lynn

Little Girlas Little Girl
(uncredited)

Karen Norris

Motheras Mother
(uncredited)

Rod Serling

Narratoras Narrator
(uncredited)
…

Director
- Ron Winston
Writers
- Earl Hamner Jr.
- Rod Serling(creator)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

After drinking too much at a party, Bob and Millie Frazier awaken in a strange bed, in a strange house in a strange town. They're still dressed in the clothes they wore to the party but their memories are fuzzy. Bob was too drunk to drive so Millie was behind the wheel and she vaguely remembers a shadow falling over them. They soon realize that everything in the town is fake: the telephone in the house isn't wired; the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen are only a façade; even the trees are fake. The town is deserted and Millie begins to wonder if they're dead. They keep hearing a child laughing and begin a search. They're not prepared for what they encounter. —garykmcd / edited by Rob

little girl town house party train 7 more

Trivia
The abandoned town in which the Frazers find themselves is the same location used for The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960). As the actors move through the 'town', they traverse several of the old themed 'street' sets which were then standing on the old MGM backlot, including the New England street, the "St Louis" street, and the western town.

Goofs
At the car, when they discover there is no engine, Nancy sits on the curb, there are two people sitting on a bench in the background

Quotes
[closing narration]
Narrator: The moral of what you've just seen is clear. If you drink, don't drive. And if your wife has had a couple, she shouldn't drive, either. You might both just wake up with a whale of a headache in a deserted village - in The Twilight Zone.

Connections
Featured in Half in the Bag: Hereditary (2018)

Soundtracks
Twilight Zone Theme
(theme song)
Composed by Marius Constant
(seasons 2-5)

Top review

7/10

Stopover for a 25 minute PSA on not drinking and driving ?

Well, for whatever its worth, I liked it. A book I have on the Zone rated this one very poorly. It seems like many of the 5th season episodes suffer from bad reviews, at least partly out of suspicion that the show was out of gas with fresh ideas. True enough, this one is probably too reminiscent of "Where is Everybody" from season 1.

Still, I feel this one is completely emblematic of the show's core entertainment values ... suspense, fish out of water characters, distorted realities, a surprising twist, etc. One of the common critiques about this one is the "unlikability" of the characters. They certainly have a short emotional band width here ranging from whiny to grouchy to hysterical. Then again, who wouldn't ? Hung over and with no footing in reality ... can you blame them ?

To me, though, their unlikability is part of the show ... they appear to be your typical no-kids-yet, self-interested, self-obsessed, urban (yuppie equivalent of the time) couple. Not liking them means we are more likely to be entertained by, than be saddened by their likely fate in some alien child's toy chest.

It's a good story. OK, it's not one of the best, but, because it checks most of the boxes for Zone entertainment criteria, I find it very entertaining and will stop what I'm doing to watch it, despite having seen it so many times.

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