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Series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (the Medford’s other genre work includes crime and suspense Medford directed 36Įpisodes of the series. Medford perfected his craft on Tales of Tomorrow (1951-1953), a science fiction anthology series which was a significant precursor to The Twilight Zone. Producer Herbert Hirschman was wise to place Medford on such an episode as Settings, this was a skill highly prized by the production and fourth season Twilight Zone’s limited production budget and economically enclosed To draw out engaging tension between characters when there was little physicalĪction to otherwise engage the viewer. Houghton, who produced four of Medford’s five Twilight Zone episodes, initially recognized the director’s ability (1917-2012), who previously appeared behind the camera for such claustrophobicĪnd tension-heavy episodes as “The Mirror” and “Deaths-Head Revisited.” Buck Tension (which frequently devolves to actual physical violence).ĭirector selected to bring out this violence of human tension was Don Medford “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” in which the players are placed in anĮnclosed environment and the drama is played out through the violence of human Similarities to such previous episodes as “The Shelter,” “The Mirror,” and Necessary expansion of the material but also by the enclosed nature of the The narrative to the foibles of character was facilitated not only by the This shift from a focus on the mystery of The alteration made for the episode, in which Ross demands they stay in theįace of ardent opposition from Mason and Carter, deepens the tension and lendsĪn aspect of non-physical combat to the episode which did not appear to Original story displays the decision to remain indefinitely on the planet toĪvoid a possible crash as agreed upon by all three men in a democratic process. “Death Ship” largely hinges on the tension between these two men,īeautifully played out by Jack Klugman and Ross Martin. Physical action was to lean on the dramatic tension inherent in theĮver-widening rift between Ross and Mason, an aspect less fully formed in the Matheson knew that the key to engaging the viewer in a story with little That which he was unwilling to acknowledge. That Ross became the monster at least in part because of the will of the MasonĪnd Carter, who set in motion the series of events which forced Ross to see Is no escape from the situation, of course, but it is interesting to consider Want to land, does not want to see what caused the blip on the view screen. Passage for Trumpet” and “In Praise of Pip.” One ironic characteristic of Ross’sĪscent to the role of villain is that, in both story and episode, he must beĬonvinced by the other men to descend to the planet’s surface. Sympathies were aligned more with the redemptive characters he portrayed in “A It is no wonder Klugman would not lookīack upon this role with fondness, despite his excellent performance, as his Villainous force that refuses to let his crew pass into the afterlife, holding Simply an arrogant man burdened by duty and mission but a dominating, Multiple times that he did not care for “Death Ship.” One assumes this isīecause of Ross’s unattractive characteristics. With the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation (1998), stated Obeyed but a man who believes he is always right. Story Ross’s fatal flaw is not will but vanity he is not a man who must be Of the three to significantly change in terms of character. The adaptation, particularly in relation to Mason and Carter. Mason the navigator, and Carter the engineer. The men in the original story in terms of duty. And, if everything was acceptable, stamp theīig, black INHABITABLE on their brief and open another planet for colonization Them in the storage lockers and take them back to Earth. Mineral, vegetable, animal – if there were any. The story thus: “In a little while they’d Serling’s opening narration nearly whole from his original story. Separated the publication of the original story and Matheson’s adaptation for The Twilight Zone, little needed to beĪltered in the original narrative to suit the series. Particularly in relation to the two extended afterlife sequences for theĬharacters of Carter and Mason (absent in the story). Matheson changed little about the storyĪnd the resultant episode functions primarily as an expansion of the material, Ship” was originally published in the March, 1953 issue of Fantastic Story Magazine.
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