Where Is Everybody? 

Mike Ferris finds himself alone in the small Oakwood town and without recollection about his name, where he is or who he is. Mike wanders through the town trying to find a living soul. The tension increases and Mike has a breakdown.

Director:

Robert Stevens

Writer:

Rod Serling

Stars:

Earl Holliman, James Gregory, Paul Langton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Earl Holliman	...	Mike Ferris
James Gregory	...	Air Force General
Paul Langton	...	Doctor
James McCallion	...	Reporter #1
John Conwell	...	Air Force Colonel
Jay Overholts	...	Reporter #2 (as Jay Overholt)
Carter Mullally Jr.	...	Air Force Captain (as Carter Mullaly)
Garry Walberg	...	Reporter #3 (as Gary Walberg)
Jim Johnson	...	Air Force Staff Sergeant

Storyline

A man finds himself walking down a country road, not knowing where nor who he is. He comes across a diner with a jukebox blaring and hot coffee on the stove - only there's no one there. A little further down the road, he comes to the picturesque town of Oakwood, and finds, it too, seems deserted. The only sounds he hears are a clock tower, and a pay phone ringing. At the local movie theater, an ad for Battle Hymn (1957) leads him to believe he's in the Air Force. In spite of no people to be found, he can't shake off the feeling, he's being watched.

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Plot Keywords:

mannequin | sensory deprivation | tank | deprivation | town | 

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Genres:

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

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Buck Houghton is listed as this program's producer, this was actually the pilot show for The Twilight Zone (1959), and at that time, William Self was producer. It was Self's job to shop the show around to the networks. It's possible that without him, the show might never have gotten off the ground. Houghton's credited as producer of this episode, as by the time it aired, Self was no longer connected with the series.

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Goofs

When Ferris is in the phone booth, he tries to get the operator but then hangs up the phone. He then scans the Town Square. The camera pans counter-clockwise and the receiver is nowhere in sight.

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Quotes

Rod Serling - Narrator: [closing narration] Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in the void that is sky, up there is an enemy known as isolation. It sits there in the stars waiting, waiting with the patience of eons, forever waiting... in the Twilight Zone.

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (1995)

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Soundtracks

Turkish Delight
(uncredited)
Music by Eric Cook

User Reviews

Welcome to the Twilight Zone!

Our episode starts when a man Mike Ferris finds himself alone on a dirt road dressed in a U.S. Air Force flight suit, having no memory of who he is or how he got there. He finds a diner and walks in to find a jukebox playing loudly and a hot pot of coffee on the stove, but there are no other people besides himself. He accidentally knocks over and breaks a clock, upon which the jukebox stops playing. Ferris leaves the diner and walks toward a nearby town; he sees a parked truck with a driver, but both turn out to be mannequins. Like the diner, the rest of the town seems deserted, but the he seems to find evidence of someone being there recently. He grows unsettled as he wanders through the empty town, needing someone to talk to but at the same time feeling that he is being watched. In a soda shop, he notices an entire spinning rack of paperback books titled The Last Man on Earth, he grows upset and leaves. As night falls, the lights in the park turn on, leading him to a movie theater, the marquee of which is illuminated. He remembers he is an Air Force airman from the advertised film, Battle Hymn. When the film suddenly begins onscreen, he runs to the projection booth and finds nobody there, then becomes even more paranoid that he is being watched? As another reviewer on here stated Serling seemed to have a fascination with people stuck in situations they couldn't get out of or couldn't find the answers to. This is one of many and plays out really good with a nice performance by Earl Holliman who is great at slowly losing it threw out the episode. The final twist is fun and executed well, and overall we have a great start to a great series.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1959 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, CBS Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1