Number Twelve Looks Just Like You – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

We have now gone over every episode of the Twilight Zone. For those who have not seen every episode and you get curious or want an episode guide…please go here https://powerpop.blog/twilight-zone-episodes

If only one person watched an episode because of this series…I did my job. THANK YOU once again to all the readers who have followed me through this journey. Even if you just checked a few out. Thank you for agreeing and disagreeing…that is what this was all about. I started this on April 11, 2021, and now over a year later, we are finishing this up.

When I started this I thought I would end up not liking the show as much but the opposite has happened…I like it even more. I found some episodes that at one time I thought were only so-so…much better than I remembered. My appreciation grew for them after watching them again. Out of 156 shows…I only rated four shows under a 3…and my rating of 3 was an average good show. That ratio is a great run for any show.

The 5th season’s episodes are at the bottom of this post…. are there any that you disagree with the rating? Lisa brought up the interaction of the blog and that is what made me want to finish it. Some people found different meanings from episodes than I did and some episodes take on a new meaning for me now.

Now for the 5th season review. By the 5th season, Rod Serling was burned out and not as involved as before. The season was uneven but it still had some classic episodes such as Nightmare At 20,000 Feet, In Praise of Pip, Living Doll, Ring-a-Ding Girl, Number Twelve Looks Just Like You, The Masks, Stopover in a Quiet Town, and I Am the Night – Color Me Black. It also had the creepy Come Wander With Me, Night Call, and Caesar and Me.

For one reason or another, Jim Aubrey [then president of CBS] decided he was sick of the show. He claimed that it was too far over budget and that the ratings weren’t good enough. In truth, Twilight Zone was still rated well, although not in the top ten but doing well, and the show was on budget.

To sum Jim Aubrey up…he had contempt for smart shows. Two of his successes were Gilligans Island and The Beverly Hillbillies… a quote from Mr. Aubrey: “The American public is something I fly over”

Executives have said his formula was “broads, bosoms, and fun” so The Twilight Zone didn’t have a chance. This is another quote by the magnificent Aubrey: Feed the public little more than rural comedies, fast-moving detective dramas, and later, sexy dolls. No old people; the emphasis was on youth. No domestic servants, the mass audience wouldn’t identify with maids. No serious problems to cope with. Every script had to be full of action. No physical infirmities.

ABC wanted the Twilight Zone but they would have had to change the name because CBS owned it. Serling said no. Daily Variety reported that Serling considered the odds of a sixth season unlikely…and then. Rod Serling: I decided to cancel the network.

The Twilight Zone is still watched and admired by new generations. Many science fiction works are judged against it. SNL, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and songs have referenced the show. It’s now in our pop culture and will never leave.

After the Twilight Zone, Rod Serling did another TV program called The Loner. The Loner was a terrific 1965 western program that hit on social issues set in the old west. In 1969 He did The Night Gallery but he didn’t have control over that like he did with the Twilight Zone. He later said he regretted not keeping more control. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes.

Right before he passed away he did the promos for Fantasy Park in 1975.

From Wiki

In May 1975, Serling was admitted to a hospital after experiencing a mild heart attack. One month later, he was re-admitted for a coronary bypass operation. Complications arose after ten hours of open-heart surgery, and he died on June 28, 1975, in Rochester, New York. In all, he had lived fifty years, six months, and three days.

***Just a note…on Saturday I will be posting the precursor to the Twilight Zone and…I picked the show for the current ongoing TV Draft that will appear in a few weeks***

Season 5
Total	Episode	Date	Episode	Stars
121	1	Sept 27, 1963	In Praise of Pip	5
122	2	Oct 4, 1963	Steel	4.5
123	3	Oct 11, 1963	Nightmare at 20,000 Feet	5
124	4	Oct 18, 1963	A Kind of a Stopwatch	4
125	5	Oct 25, 1963	The Last Night of a Jockey	3.5
126	6	Nov 1, 1963	Living Doll	5
127	7	Nov 8, 1963	The Old Man in the Cave	4.5
128	8	Nov 15, 1963	Uncle Simon	3.5
129	9	Nov 29, 1963	Probe 7 – Over and Out	4
130	10	Dec 6, 1963	The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms	4
131	11	Dec 13, 1963	A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain	3.5
132	12	Dec 20, 1963	Ninety Years Without Slumbering	4
133	13	Dec 27, 1963	Ring-a-Ding Girl	5
134	14	Jan 3, 1964	You Drive	4
135	15	Jan 10, 1964	The Long Morrow	4
136	16	Jan 17, 1964	The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross	4
137	17	Jan 24, 1964	Number Twelve Looks Just Like You	5
138	18	Jan 31, 1964	Black Leather Jackets	2.5
139	19	Feb 7, 1964	Night Call	4.5
140	20	Feb 14, 1964	From Agnes – With Love	3
141	21	Feb 21, 1964	Spur of the Moment	4
142	22	Feb 28, 1964	An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge	5
143	23	Mar 6, 1964	Queen of the Nile	3.5
144	24	Mar 13, 1964	What’s in the Box	3.5
145	25	Mar 20, 1964	The Masks	5
146	26	Mar 27, 1964	I Am the Night – Color Me Black	5
147	27	Apr 3, 1964	Sounds and Silences	2
148	28	Apr 10, 1964	Caesar and Me	3.5
149	29	Apr 17, 1964	The Jeopardy Room	4.5
150	30	Apr 24, 1964	Stopover in a Quiet Town	5
151	31	May 1, 1964	The Encounter	4.5
152	32	May 8, 1964	Mr. Garrity and the Graves	5
153	33	May 15, 1964	The Brain Center at Whipple’s	4
154	34	May 22, 1964	Come Wander with Me	4.5
155	35	May 29, 1964	The Fear	4.5
156	36	Jun 19, 1964	The Bewitchin’ Pool
	Season 5	Review	Twilight Zone Season 5 Review

★★★★★ January 24, 1964 Season 5 Episode 17

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

“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Personally, I think this is one of the most important Twilight Zone episodes ever made. It could have been made now.

This one is deeply disturbing and not in a monster or twist sense…it tackles an issue that still is going strong. Did Rod Serling have a crystal ball or did he see where everything was going? This episode takes place in the 21st century and yes, it is very relatable now. In a time now where our cars, houses, and clothes look the same you could see this coming and with plastic sugery it is essentially here. On our phones, computers, tv’s, and magazines we are hit with a barrage of advertising aimed at beautifying ourselves. We are obssessed with celebrities looking perfect and mimicking them. We can lose our identity if we are not careful as a whole.

There is a line in the episode where the lead character says “Is that good being like everybody? Isn’t that the same as being nobody?” and that line speaks volumes. The episode is about when a person turns 19, he or she must choose which body and face they want to go through life with. All the choices are basically models and they are forced to go through with this operation. However, it’s not only the body and face that is changed, it’s their outlook and personality. They are always shallow and happy because no deep thoughts are allowed. The lead character Marilyn Cuberle is billiantly played by Collin Wilcox and you feel like she is alone in the world.

The episode is not about beauty. It’s not about if you are beautiful you are automatically shallow. I think people have misread it through the years. It’s about conforming to the social norm. There is the social price that we pay for not conforming, but I would rather pay it with intrest than go along with the crowd. In a world where everything is beautiful, nothing is.

*** I apologize for interupting here but this is a personal reflection on what this episode means to me. The quote at the top “Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson is the most important quote I’ve ever read. I found it in high school and later on I was wrote up at work (I don’t work at that place now) because I had it on my computer desktop. I was not “part of the team” with thoughts like that. ***

IMDB Trivia: All the characters are named after conventionally beautiful film stars of the day: Lana for Lana Turner, Marilyn for Marilyn Monroe, Grace for Grace Kelly, Rex for Rex Harrison, Eva for Eva Marie Saint, Valerie for Valerie Allen.

Three separate characters – Uncle Rick, Dr. Rex, and Dr. Sigmund Friend – were identical in appearance, but were distinctly different as portrayed by Richard Long. Uncle Rick was kindly and down-to-earth; Dr. Rex was eerily good-natured, with some peculiar mannerisms; and “Sigmund Friend” was a Freud-like, ominous and shadowy character with a thick German accent.

This episode is reported to be the inspiration for “Uglies”, a 21st Century series of young adult science fiction novels by Scott Westerfeld.

When Marilyn shows her mother Lana a picture of herself (Lana) before her own “Transformation,” the picture is of Collin Wilcox with a different hairstyle. Wilcox was herself twenty-eight years old when she made this episode (and just two years younger than Suzy Parker), but the premise made it possible for her to be credible as a nineteen-year-old.

This episode is based on Charles Beaumont’s short story, “The Beautiful People”, which first appeared in the September 1952 issue of the science fiction magazine “If”.

This show was written by Charles Beaumont, John Tomerlin, and Rod Serling

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:

Given the chance, what young girl wouldn’t happily exchange a plain face for a lovely one? What girl could refuse the opportunity to be beautiful? For want of a better estimate, let’s call it the year 2000. At any rate, imagine a time in the future where science has developed the means of giving everyone the face and body he dreams of. It may not happen tomorrow, but it happens now, in The Twilight Zone.

Summary

As Marilyn Cuberle approaches her 19th birthday she faces a momentous decision. Like everyone else in this futuristic society, she must choose which look she will adopt in the transformation process. Here, all men and women look like one of a series of approved faces, all are beautiful or handsome. Marilyn doesn’t want to change her appearance and is happy to look different from anyone else. Everyone assures her that she is under no obligation to undergo the transformation – but they go out of their way to make it difficult for her to say no.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

Portrait of a young lady in love – with herself. Improbable? Perhaps. But in an age of plastic surgery, body building and an infinity of cosmetics, let us hesitate to say impossible. These, and other strange blessings, may be waiting in the future, which, after all, is The Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Collin Wilcox…Marilyn Cuberle
Suzy Parker…Lana Cuberle / Eva / Doe / Grace / Jane / Patient / Number 12
Richard Long…Uncle Rick / Dr. Rex / Sigmund Friend / Dr. Tom / Tad / Jack / Attendant
Pam Austin…Valerie / Marilyn (after transformation) / Number…

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Twilight Zone Season 5 Review

Twilight Zone – Number Twelve Looks Just Like You