A Stop at Willoughby

Infobox Television episode
Title = A Stop at Willoughby
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = James Daly in "A Stop at Willoughby"
Season = 1
Episode = 30
Airdate = May 6 1960
Production=173-3629
Writer =Rod Serling
Director =Robert Parrish
Guests =James Daly : Gart Williams
Howard Smith : Mr. Misrell
Patricia Donahue : Jane Williams
Jason Wingreen : Train conductor
Mavis Neal Palmer : Helen
Music = Nathan Scott
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = Nightmare as a Child
Next = The Chaser

"A Stop at Willoughby" is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone". Rod Serling cited this as his favorite story from the first season of the series.

Opening narration

ynopsis

Gart Williams is an advertising executive who has grown exasperated with the stress of the business life and whilst being unable to sleep properly at home, constantly drifts off for short naps on the train during his daily commuting and dreams of a peaceful place called "Willoughby." Set in the year 1888, Willoughby exudes a peaceful, stress-free lifestyle long gone. After he finally snaps at his workplace, and after being rebuffed in a plea for help to his selfish, uncaring and cold hearted wife, he exits the train while in his dream so he can live in Willoughby. In reality, he jumped off the train to his death. His body is eventually loaded into a hearse owned by Willoughby & Son Funeral Home.

Closing narration

Preview for Next Week's Story

Influence

The "Bradbury account" is a reference to seminal science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who wrote the "Twilight Zone" episode "I Sing the Body Electric".

In the story, the main character, Gart Williams works in New York but resides in the Connecticut town of Westport, which is a real town. Writer Rod Serling himself actually lived in Westport and commuted back and forth to New York City briefly in the latter part of the 1950s before he relocated out to the west coast. Also: in the scenes the train conductor walks down the aisle and reads off the list of upcoming town stops, all of which exist in real life, and are read in the correct order if one takes the Metro North Commuter Railroad (New Haven Line) from New York City's Grand Central Station.

Willoughby is also a real city in Northeast Ohio. Rod Serling lived for a time in Canton, Ohio, and if he traveled to New York by train would have ridden through the town (which did indeed have its own stop). The town square still looks today much as it did over a hundred years ago, right down to the statue honoring local Civil War soldiers.

Gart Williams' train ride home shows snow and wind swirling at the windows, hinting at a dark, coldness that is his life. In contrast, Willoughby is set in mid-July, a warm sunny summer's day, to contrast the mood of both times and places.

An episode of the TV series "thirtysomething," first broadcast on May 14, 1991, is titled "A Stop at Willoughby." It loosely explores the same theme as the Twilight Zone episode of the same name.

Williams gets up from his desk, smashes the mirror in the bathroom. When he comes out, the telephone on the right of the desk is hung up in the opposite position.

When Williams is leaving the train into Willoughby for the last time, the song Oh! Susanna can be heard in the background.

Themes

The theme of a man working in the business world, and the work environment becoming increasingly stressful (to the breaking point) is a familiar theme in the Twilight Zone. This theme is similarly explored in "Walking Distance", "A World of Difference", "The Brain Center at Whipple's" and two Serling teleplays from before and after "The Twilight Zone": "Patterns" and the "Night Gallery" episode "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar".

External links

*
* [http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone/a-stop-at-willoughby/episode/12614/summary.html TV.com episode page]
* [http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_zone/video/video.php?cid=621774886&pid=V6pL48KW_mj8yWropsNRgD_Lu4eR68g3&play=true&cc=0 Full video of the episode at CBS.com]

References

*Zicree, Marc Scott: "The Twilight Zone Companion". Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). "Trivia from The Twilight Zone". Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
*Grams, Martin. (2008). "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic". Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

Twilight Zone links

*The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
*Episode List
*Season 1