Twilight Zone – The Changing of the Guard… #5

I’m going to write about my top 10 favorite TZ episodes in the next few weeks…Most of the Twilight Zones are like songs to me…to be enjoyed over and over. The Twilight Zone is not really an ordinary TV show. It’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE. This is my personal choice for #5 on my list.

This is a heartwarming episode. I would think any teachers out there would really like this one.

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: Professor Ellis Fowler, a gentle, bookish guide to the young, who is about to discover that life still has certain surprises, and that the campus of the Rock Spring School for Boys lies on a direct path to another institution, commonly referred to as the Twilight Zone.

Professor Ellis Fowler has been teaching at the Rock Spring School for Boys for a great many years. In fact, he taught the grandfather of one of his current students. Just before Christmas however, he’s told by the headmaster that his contract will not be renewed for the new year.

H is despondent, he returns home convinced that his life has been wasted and decides to end it all. He gets his gun and goes to the school in front of a statue and pulls it out. He gets ready to shoot but before he can do it, his is visited by some very special students who give him cause to reconsider. Will it be enough?

Donald Pleasence plays Professor Ellis Fowler and he was only 43 years old when he played the professor.

Rod Serlings Closing Narration: Professor Ellis Fowler, teacher, who discovered rather belatedly something of his own value. A very small scholastic lesson, from the campus of the Twilight Zone.

Cast

  • Donald Pleasence as Professor Ellis Fowler
  • Liam Sullivan as Headmaster
  • Philippa Bevans as Mrs. Landers
  • Tom Lowell as Artie Beechcroft
  • Russell Horton as Bartlett
  • Buddy Hart as Boy
  • Darryl Richard as Thompson
  • Donald Pleasence as Professor Ellis Fowler
  • Liam Sullivan as Headmaster
  • Philippa Bevans as Mrs. Landers
  • Tom Lowell as Artie Beechcroft
  • Russell Horton as Bartlett
  • Buddy Hart as Boy
  • Darryl Richard as Thompson

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

25 thoughts on “Twilight Zone – The Changing of the Guard… #5”

  3. I just literally listened to the perfect background music as I’m about to read your post: “A Saucerful of Secrets” by Pink Floyd! There are passages in this track where you could perfectly imagine Rod Serlings say something like, “While increasingly being absorbed by the music he didn’t realize he had entered a space commonly known as the Twilight Zone.” 🙂

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    1. It had one of the best endings a Twilight Zone could have…. I had high school teachers that taught for years at that same school…now they only seem to stay a couple of years if that.

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      1. I had teachers that my parents had- which was common then- and later taught with the same ones when I first started. those times have changed for sure.

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      2. Yes it was…it pissed me off becasue he was still viable. He was still teaching and doing well…but yes about the war(s) was another lesson.

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      3. The young always want to displace the old. Everyone has a desire to make their mark. There are just those stubborn ones that refuse to benefit from that which came before them.

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