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The Twilight Zone: Stopover in a Quiet Town (1964)
A Startling Episode: Experience of Watching It May Last a Lifetime
I recall watching this episode as a child when it was first broadcast. TV was so different then -- it didn't take much to suspend your disbelief -- and programs such as this seemed so real. I remember being totally drawn in and absorbed by the unfolding mystery of all of the fake components of the town, and I felt great empathy and pity for the couple as I watched their initial relief in boarding the train turn to fear and worry when they discover that it only travels in a loop. Serling achieves a heightened sense of claustrophobia that engenders much allegorical thinking vis-à-vis feeling "trapped." Finally, I was deeply shocked by the disturbing ending. The memory of it still creeps me out 45 years later. This was TV at its best -- what an imagination, Mr. Serling, thanks for all the fun...