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{{Infobox Television episode |
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| Title = Long Distance Call |
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| Series = The Twilight Zone |
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| Image = [[Image:Long Distance Call.jpg|250px]] |
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| Caption = [[Billy Mumy]] in "Long Distance Call" |
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| Season = 2 |
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| Episode = 58 |
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| Airdate =[[March 31]], [[1961]] |
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| Production = 173-3667 |
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| Writer =[[Charles Beaumont]] and [[Bill Idelson|William Idelson]] |
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| Director =[[James Sheldon]] |
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| Guests =[[Philip Abbott]] : Chris Bayles <br> [[Lili Darvas]] : Grandma Bayles <br> [[Patricia Smith (actress)|Patricia Smith]] : Sylvia Bayles <br> [[Billy Mumy]] : Billy Bayles <br> [[Jenny Maxwell]] : Shirley <br> Reid Hammond : Mr. Peterson <br> Henry Hunter : Dr. Unger <br> Lew Brown : Fireman <br> Jutta Parr : Nurse (uncredited) <br> Robert McCord : Rescue Worker (uncredited) <br> James Turley : Rescue Worker (uncredited) |
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| Music = uncredited |
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| Episode list = [[List of Twilight Zone episodes]] |
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| Prev = [[The Prime Mover]] |
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| Next = [[A Hundred Yards Over the Rim]] |
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}} |
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"'''Long Distance Call'''" is an episode of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. |
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==Opening narration== |
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In the dining room, Billy Bayles is seen from the back, as he speaks on the toy telephone, while Chris Bayles and his dying mother slowly walk upstairs. A cutaway to another part of the dining room reveals [[Rod Serling]] walking into view: |
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{{cquote|As must be obvious, this is a house hovered over by Mr. Death, that omnipresent player to the third and final act of every life. And it's been said, and probably rightfully so, that what follows this life is one of the unfathomable mysteries; an area of darkness which we the living reserve for the dead, or so it is said. For in a moment, a child will try to cross that bridge which separates light and shadow- and, of course, he must take the only known route, that indistinct highway through the region we call the Twilight Zone.}} |
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==Synopsis== |
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A boy communicates with his father's [[Europe]]an-immigrant mother, who had recently died, using a toy telephone that she gave him before her passing. The boy, Billy, runs out in front of a car. The driver, who barely managed 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. 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 the grandmother to give Billy a chance to experience life. Suddenly, the paramedics are able to revive Billy. |
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==Closing Narration== |
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{{cquote|A toy telephone, an act of faith, a set of improbable circumstances, all combine to probe a mystery, to fathom a depth, to send a facet of light into a dark after-region—to be believed or disbelieved depending on your frame of reference. A fact or a fantasy, a substance or a shadow, but all of it very much a part of the Twilight Zone.}} |
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==Preview for Next Week's Story== |
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{{cquote|Next week, you'll ride up-front in this wagon on a trek west. Your itinerary is across the Great Plains, over the Rockies to a point in New Mexico. And you'll ride alongside Mr. [[Cliff Robertson]] in a strange tale of a handful of American pioneers who made a detour in time and found themselves one afternoon on the fringe of the future. Our story is called "[[A Hundred Yards Over the Rim]]." And, believe me, it's quite a view. I hope we'll see you then.}} |
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==Episode notes== |
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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 in the cheaper videotape format and then transferred to 16-millimeter film. The studios of the network's [[CBS Television City|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, 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. |
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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 (The Twilight Zone)|Static]]"'', appeared on [[March 10]], [[1961]] as episode 20; the third, ''"[[The Whole Truth (The Twilight Zone)|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. |
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==See also== |
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*[[List of The Twilight Zone episodes]] |
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==References== |
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*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360 |
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*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090 |
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==External links== |
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*{{imdb title|id=0734587|title=Long Distance Call}} |
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*[http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone/long-distance-call/episode/12642/summary.html TV.com episode page] |
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[[Category:1961 television episodes]] |
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[[Category:The Twilight Zone episodes]] |
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[[nl:Long Distance Call]] |
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