Long Distance Call

Long Distance Call

Infobox Television episode
Title = Long Distance Call
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = Billy Mumy in "Long Distance Call"
Season = 2
Episode = 58
Airdate =March 31, 1961
Production = 173-3667
Writer =Charles Beaumont and William Idelson
Director =James Sheldon
Guests =Philip Abbott : Chris Bayles
Lili Darvas : Grandma Bayles
Patricia Smith : Sylvia Bayles
Billy Mumy : Billy Bayles
Jenny Maxwell : Shirley
Reid Hammond : Mr. Peterson
Henry Hunter : Dr. Unger
Lew Brown : Fireman
Jutta Parr : Nurse (uncredited)
Robert McCord : Rescue Worker (uncredited)
James Turley : Rescue Worker (uncredited)
Music = uncredited
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = The Prime Mover
Next = A Hundred Yards Over the Rim

"Long Distance Call" is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".

Opening narration

In the dining room, Billy Bayles is seen from the back, as he speaks on the toy telephone, while Chris Bayles and his dying mother slowly walk upstairs. A cutaway to another part of the dining room reveals Rod Serling walking into view:

ynopsis

A boy communicates with his father's European-immigrant mother, who had recently died, using a toy telephone that she gave him before her passing. The boy, Billy, runs out in front of a car. The driver, who barely managed to swerve out of the way, reports that Billy said someone told him to try to kill himself. Later, his mother grabs the phone out of his hands and "hears" the grandmother on the other end; she is convinced that she is hearing the dead grandmother. His father, of course, thinks Billy is just pretending. Billy attempts to drown himself. One of the paramedics says he doesn't believe Billy's chances are very good. His father goes into Billy's room, picks up the toy phone, and begs the grandmother to give Billy a chance to experience life. Suddenly, the paramedics are able to revive Billy.

Closing Narration

Preview for Next Week's Story

Episode notes

Five weeks into "The Twilight Zone"'s second season, the show's budget was showing a deficit. The total number of new episodes was projected at twenty-nine, more than half of which (sixteen) had already been filmed by November 1960. CBS strongly suggested that in order to trim the production's $65,000-per-episode budget, six episodes should be produced in the cheaper videotape format and then transferred to 16-millimeter film. The studios of the network's Television City, normally used for the production of variety shows and live drama, would serve as the venue. There would be fewer camera movements and no exteriors, making the episodes more akin to soap operas, with the videotaped image effectively narrowing and flattening perspective. Even with these artistic sacrifices, the eventual total savings amounted to only $30,000, far less than the cost of a single episode. The experiment was thus deemed a failure and never attempted again.

Even though the six shows were taped in a row, through November and into mid-December, their broadcast dates were out of order and varied widely, with this, the final one, shown on March 31, 1961 as episode 22. The first, "The Lateness of the Hour", was seen on December 2, 1960 as episode 8; the second, "Static", appeared on March 10, 1961 as episode 20; the third, "The Whole Truth" was broadcast on January 20, 1961 as episode 14; the fourth was the Christmas entry, "Night of the Meek", shown as the 11th episode on December 23, 1960 and the fifth, "Twenty-Two" was seen on February 10, 1961 as episode 17.

Trivia

The fifth season episode, Night Call, also deals with a phone call from beyond the grave. Writer Richard Matheson based it on his own short story "Long Distance Call" but had to change the title in deference to the earlier Twilght Zone episode of the same name.

The episode is referenced in the exit hallway of the Disney ride The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which includes a replica of the toy telephone, and a card reading, "Perfect for the children's room and those late night calls from grandma."

References

*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

External links

*imdb title|id=0734587|title=Long Distance Call
* [http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone/long-distance-call/episode/12642/summary.html TV.com episode page]

Twilight Zone links

*The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
*Episode List
*Season 2


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