A World of His Own

"A World of His Own"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 36
Directed by Ralph Nelson
Written by Richard Matheson
Production code 173-3634
Original air date July 1, 1960
Guest appearance(s)

"A World of His Own" is episode thirty-six of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It was the last episode of the show's first season and essentially comedic in tone. It originally aired on July 1, 1960 on CBS.

Plot

Coming home, Victoria West (Phyllis Kirk) spots her husband, playwright Gregory West (Keenan Wynn), through the window sharing a drink in his study with Mary (Mary La Roche), an attractive, affectionate blonde. When Victoria barges into the room, Mary is nowhere to be found.

Gregory explains to his wife that any character that he describes into his dictation machine will appear according to his description. To make the character disappear, all he has to do is cut out that portion of the tape and throw it into his fireplace. He demonstrates this, first with Mary and then with an elephant in the hallway. Gregory discovered this talent when a male character he had put a great deal of effort and attention into approached him as a real flesh-and-blood person with his own independent will, shook his hand, and thanked him.

Believing none of this (despite seeing and hearing the elephant), Victoria tells Gregory that he is insane and she is going to have him committed. In response, Gregory pulls a section of tape from his safe and explains that it contains her description. Victoria snatches the tape away from him and throws it on the fire to prove he is insane, and promptly begins to feel faint. "You don't mean you were telling the truth?! You were right!" she cries, and disappears as the flames consume the tape. Frantic, Gregory rushes to his dictation machine and begins to re-describe Victoria. He quickly reconsiders and instead describes Mrs. Mary West as his wife. Mary reappears and mixes her husband a drink.

Rod Serling begins his closing narration, only to find himself part of Gregory's storytelling (see below).

Quotations

Opening narration

The home of Mr. Gregory West, one of America's most noted playwrights. The office of Mr. Gregory West. Mr. Gregory West—shy, quiet, and at the moment, very happy. Mary—warm, affectionate.

... And the final ingredient: Mrs. Gregory West.

Finale/closing narration

Rod Serling then appears on the set and says, "We hope you enjoyed tonight's romantic story on The Twilight Zone. At the same time, we want you to realize that it was, of course, purely fictional. In real life, such ridiculous nonsense could never—"

"Rod, you shouldn't!" interrupts Gregory, who walks over to his safe and pulls out a tape marked "Rod Serling". "I mean, you shouldn't say such things as 'nonsense' and 'ridiculous'!" he continues as he throws the tape into the fire.

"Well, that's the way it goes," observes Serling in a resigned tone as he fades away.

Nevertheless, as Gregory joins Mary in a drink, Serling's voice comes in at the epilogue as usual.

Leaving Mr. Gregory West—Still shy, still quiet, very happy... and apparently in complete control of The Twilight Zone.

Production notes

Although Serling appeared on-screen at the end of most first season Twilight Zone episodes to plug the following week's show, this is the only episode in the first season in which Rod Serling appears on-screen within the episode itself (i.e., not in a separate "coming next week" segment) and directly interacts with a character from the episode. This is also one of only three episodes of the entire series where Serling appears on camera at the conclusion of the episode—the other were "The Obsolete Man" and "The Fugitive." From the second season onward, Serling began to appear on-screen at the start of each episode.

At the end of the first season, Kimberly-Clark discontinued their alternate sponsorship of the series. A new sponsor began alternating with General Foods that summer, Colgate-Palmolive, primarily on behalf of Colgate Dental Cream, as well as some of their other products (including "Veto" deodorant).

Other Twilight Zone credits

Mary La Roche also starred as Annabelle Streator in the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll".[1]

See also

Further reading

References

External links

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