Twilight Zone – Black Leather Jackets

★★1/2 January 31, 1964 Season 5 Episode 18

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode is a weak one but it does contain some science fiction for sci-fi fans. It is not the worse episode of the series but certainly not the best. Most of the time I do not question TZ logic but on this occasion, I had to. Aliens are on the planet and are trying to blend in with the rest of society. Do you think it’s wise to be three leather jacket motorcycle-riding beatniks moving in a residential neighborhood in the early 60s? Would the term “sore thumb” be used in this case?

I knew the leading lady looked familiar. It was Shelley Fabares who played Ellen Tillman who would 3 decades later star in the TV series Coach. She and Lee Kinsolving who plays Scott bumped this up from a 2. Denver Pyle is also in this episode but really doesn’t have much to do. Earl Hamner Jr admitted in an interview later that this episode was bad. He was not as proud of it as most of the other episodes of The Twilight Zone that he wrote.

From IMDB trivia: 

In “The Twilight Zone Companion” (1983), Marc Scott Zicree described this episode as “It Came from Outer Space (1953) meets The Wild One (1953).”

When the real estate agent’s sign is shown in close-up, its phone number is “485-412,” not the standard 7 digit number it should have been. This was presumably done to avoid accidentally using a real number without resorting to the usual 555 prefix.

The close-up of the Invasion Commander’s eye resembles the logo of CBS which produced this show. It is the “All-Seeing Eye” of the Illuminati, also known as the “Eye of Providence” of the Free Masons. It is unclear if CBS is an adept of either practice.

The street is the same as the one in the season one episode “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”.

All exteriors were shot in Universal’s back lot. As the bikers enter town at the beginning of the episode, they drive right past the town square made famous in Back to the Future (1985).

This show was written by Rod Serling and Earl Hamner Jr.

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

Three strangers arrive in a small town; three men in black leather jackets in an empty, rented house. We’ll call them Steve, and Scott, and Fred, but their names are not important; their mission is, as three men on motorcycles lead us into the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Three leather-clad motorcycle-riding young men arrive in a small town where they rent a house on a quiet residential street. The neighbors aren’t too sure about them but they are certainly exotic, certainly in the eyes of young Ellen Tillman. The three men leave the house unfurnished and move in with several large crates. As Ellen and her father interact it becomes clear they are something very special indeed. Ellen and Scott begin spending time together while the two others continue with their plans

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

Portrait of an American family on the eve of invasion from outer space. Of course, we know it’s merely fiction—and yet, think twice when you drink your next glass of water. Find out if it’s from your local reservoir, or possibly it came direct to you….from the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Lee Kinsolving … Scott
Michael Forest … Steve
Tom Gilleran … Fred
Michael Conrad … Police Officer/Alien
Shelley Fabares … Ellen Tillman
Denver Pyle … Stuart Tillman
Irene Hervey … Martha Tillman