Long Distance Call
| "Long Distance Call" | |||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||
 Bill Mumy in "Long Distance Call" |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 58 |
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| Directed by | James Sheldon | ||
| Written by | Charles Beaumont and William Idelson | ||
| Featured music | uncredited | ||
| Production code | 173-3667 | ||
| Original air date | March 31, 1961 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Philip Abbott: Chris Bayles |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||
"Long Distance Call" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
A boy communicates with his father's European-immigrant mother using a toy telephone that she gave him on his birthday before she died. When grandma tells him she's lonely, the boy, Billy, runs out in front of a car. The driver, who barely manages to swerve out of the way, reports that Billy said someone told him to try to kill himself. Later, his mother grabs the phone out of his hands and "hears" the grandmother on the other end; she is convinced that she is hearing the dead grandmother. His father, of course, thinks Billy is just pretending. His mother takes the phone away and Billy attempts to drown himself. One of the paramedics says he doesn't believe Billy's chances are very good. His father goes into Billy's room, picks up the toy phone, and begs his mother to give Billy a chance to experience life. Suddenly, the paramedics are able to revive Billy.
[edit] Episode notes
Five weeks into The Twilight Zone's second season, the show's budget was showing a deficit. The total number of new episodes was projected at twenty-nine, more than half of which (sixteen) had already been filmed by November 1960. CBS strongly suggested that in order to trim the production's $65,000-per-episode budget, six episodes should be produced and telecast in the cheaper videotape format, eventually transferred to 16-millimeter film for future syndicated rebroadcasts. The studios of the network's Television City, normally used for the production of variety shows and live drama, would serve as the venue. There would be fewer camera movements and no exteriors, making the episodes more akin to soap operas (and the network's Playhouse 90 anthology), with the videotaped image effectively narrowing and flattening perspective. Even with these artistic sacrifices, the eventual total savings amounted to only $30,000, far less than the cost of a single episode. The experiment was thus deemed a failure and never attempted again.
Even though the six shows were taped in a row, through November and into mid-December, their broadcast dates were out of order and varied widely, with this, the final one, shown on March 31, 1961 as episode 22. The first, "The Lateness of the Hour", was seen on December 2, 1960 as episode 8; the second, "Static", appeared on March 10, 1961 as episode 20; the third, "The Whole Truth" was broadcast on January 20, 1961 as episode 14; the fourth was the Christmas entry, "Night of the Meek", shown as the 11th episode on December 23, 1960 and the fifth, "Twenty-Two" was seen on February 10, 1961 as episode 17.
This was also the final episode sponsored by General Foods (Sanka, S.O.S Soap Pads), which ended its two-year primary sponsorship of the series. Beginning with the March 14th episode, the series' new alternate sponsor was Liggett & Myers, for Oasis cigarettes.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure Park contains a toy telephone from the episode "Long Distance Call" with a card saying "Perfect for the children's room and those late night calls from Grandma."
[edit] See also
[edit] Popular Culture
A replica of the little boy's toy telephone is on display in one of the gift shop windows at the Hollywood Tower Hotel in Disney's California Adventure park. The red toy telephone is described as "perfect for the children's room and those late night calls from grandmom."
[edit] References
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0
