Thursday, August 5, 2010

TZ Repeat: "And When the Sky Was Opened" (8/05/1960)



50 years ago tonight, one of my favorite episodes of all time enjoyed its summer repeat. It was originally aired on 12/11/1959 (see my previous entry here). I won't recount the story here (just click on the preceding link), but I will mention (again) that this was the episode that got me hooked --- for life, it seems --- on The Twilight Zone.

Funny side story --- I discovered the series in syndication in the early 80's. Our family didn't have a VCR (that would come a few years later), but what I did have was a tape recorder. So I taped as many episodes as I could once I'd become hooked. (I still remember that big box o' tapes in the corner of my bedroom). I didn't catch "And When the Sky Was Opened" until a subsequent airing, but I have vivid memories of listening to that tape over and over again. I have this, and several other episodes, memorized almost word-for-word because of the hours I spent listening to my tape recordings.

I also think this is why I developed such a passion for the music used in the series, since my focus was allocated exclusively to the audio. But that's a topic for another time. But if you're curious, Leonard Rosenman's brilliant score for this particular episode is easily obtainable...





Next week: Another Top 10 favorite of mine is repeated. Thumbs up, so to speak...


1 comment:

Brian Kirk said...

I also taped the episodes onto cassettes tapes in the years before my family finally got a vcr. I think the local PBS station was the one showing the episodes at 10:30 on school nights. I was in middle school and my mom was gracious enough to let me stay up to watch and tape the shows. I listened to them over and over. I love your site, by the way!