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One More Pallbearer (Aired January 12, 1962) AUDIO ONLY
Throughout the 1950s, Rod Serling had established himself as one of the hottest names in television, equally famous for his success in writing televised drama as he was for criticizing the medium's limitations. His most vocal complaints concerned the censorship frequently practiced by sponsors and networks. "I was not permitted to have my Senators discuss any current or pressing problem," he said of his 1957 production 'The Arena', intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. "To talk of tariff was to align oneself with the Republicans; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats. To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited." Twilight Zone’s writers frequently used science fiction as a vehicle for social comment; networks and sponsors who had infamously censored all potentially "inflammatory" material from the then predominant live dramas were ignorant of the methods developed by writers such as Ray Bradbury for dealing with important issues through seemingly innocuous fantasy. Frequent themes include nuclear war, mass hysteria, and McCarthyism, subjects that were strictly forbidden on more "serious" prime-time drama. THIS EPISODE: January 12, 1962. "One More Pallbearer" - Wealthy Paul Radin tries to get three people from his past to apologize to him by offering them shelter from a staged and phony nuclear war scenario. Rod Serling, Joseph Wiseman, Katherine Squire, Trevor Bardette. Lamont Johnson (Director). 25:01.