Tag: Earl Hamner Jr

★★★★1/2  January 26, 1962 Season 3 Episode 19

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

Some may question my rating and that is fine but this one to me is great. This is a lighter episode and a very pleasant one. Earl Hamner Jr. who wrote and created The Waltons wrote this episode. It’s among my favorites. It resolves it self and if you are a dog fan…you should like this one.

Hyder Simpson, played wonderfully by Arthur Hunnicutt, takes off with his dog Rip…hunting at night. After treeing a racoon they fall into the water and find themselves on the bank the next morning. They soon run into neighbors burying what Hyder thought was their dog didn’t notice him or Rip. There is a good reason for this…Hyder and Rip had passed on the night before and didn’t know it. That is when the story really begins.

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

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration: 

An old man and a hound-dog named Rip, off for an evening’s pleasure in quest of raccoon. Usually, these evenings end with one tired old man, one battle-scarred hound dog, and one or more extremely dead raccoons, but as you may suspect, that will not be the case tonight. These hunters won’t be coming home from the hill. They’re headed for the backwoods—of The Twilight Zone.

Summary

Hyder Simpson and his wife Rachel have been married for 50 years. They are simple country folk who live in a small cabin in the mountains. One evening after dinner, Hyder and his dog go off raccoon hunting. When the dog jumps into a fast moving stream Hyder jumps him to rescue him. He wakes up the next morning having apparently spent the night in the woods. When he gets home however, he and his dog are invisible to everyone around them, Rachel is dressed in black and it’s apparent that he’s died. Thus begins Hyder’s journey, one that presents him with choices.

Cannot find a video clip that doesn’t give the ending away. 

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

Travelers to unknown regions would be well advised to take along the family dog. He could just save you from entering the wrong gate. At least, it happened that way once—in a mountainous area of the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling… Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Arthur Hunnicutt…Hyder Simpson
Jeanette Nolan…Rachel Simpson
Titus Moede…Wesley Miller
Orville Sherman…Tillman Miller
Charles Seel…Reverend Wood
Robert Foulk…Gatekeeper
Dexter Dupont…Angel