Season 1, Episode 22: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
 

Season 1, Episode 22: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street

Airdate: 04/03/60
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Ron Winston
Starring: Claude Atkins, Barry Atwater

Following a power cut on an average street in America, the neighbours begin to hypothesise on the cause. Gradually the residents’paranoia builds to fever pitch.

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The first ep I saw in HD, and as with a lot of Twilight Zones with a message, it still is as relevant now as it was when it was written.

I think the only hill it has to climb really was when the young boy starts talking about Aliens in his comics and so on as a catalyst for the whole situation. Perhaps slightly hard to swallow that they'd really take any notice of that, but I guess they don't at first.

Anyway, a minor detail in what's a great, and slightly depressing episode when you think how true it is, episode. Truly deserving of its classic status and Serling's closing narration is one of his less cryptic ones, a firm and direct message.

I'm curious to see the 80's version, I might check that out soon.

I've skipped a few episodes to watch this one.A classic example of paranoia and the threat of Communism in the eary '60's in the USA.
The threat of Alien invasion relates to the threat of infiltration from the USSR.

A classic installment!

The first time I saw this, I was really taken aback by the way it finished but, on repeated viewings, it says so much about the US in 1959 and what it must have been like to live under the threat of MAD. Surprisingly tense and well performed with some excellent writing and direction.

The Monsters are due on Maple Street
 

Serlings message is loud and clear "prejudice can't be confined to the Twilight Zone".....chilling

It was chilling.:nod:

Wicker Man
 

Summerisle smiles on you i see lol

There probably was an element of 'in order to defeat those pesky Russians, we must band together when things become difficult rather than turn on each other'. It's a shame no one told that to Sen Joseph McCarthy!

Although I know it will never happen, I would love to see Spielberg's take on this episode.

This is one of the episodes that doesn't date: a savage indictment of mob mentality. I love how the hysteria escalates so rapidly and how quickly people can turn on friends and neighbours that they've known for years until violence ensues. What's even more remarkable is that was shown only a few years after Joseph McCarthy destroyed careers and lives in a similar way.
That's frightening

It is this episode I rewatch the most, I reckon. There is some make-up design that is rather dated and unintentionally comical, but even this doesn't kill the power of the episode.

Superb writing. Great stuff.

Agree 100%. Having not seen the first season before the BD came out (only saw the 80's ones) I'm already going through them again and this really is one of the best episodes I've seen so far. Very rewatchable.

I love the fact that Serling went to science fiction because he wanted to be able to comment on political issues, but would previously be shut down by the commercial sponsors. Here he could say what he really thought, and nobody could complain because it was about aliens. This episode is fantastic. The HUAC anti-Communist with hunts are such a blight on American history, and particularly Hollywood history. Fascinating that Serling would be so brazen in his criticism of McCarthy.

I luv this episode! It wears its political message on its sleeve possibly more than any other Twilight Zone episode and is such a classic example of 1950/60s paranoia. The characters are so sheep-like it's brilliant. It's like a 30 minute version of The Thing!

I havnt seen this 1 yet, it it worth all the praise its getting

This one is often compared to The Shelter, which to be honest I've always preferred, but this is a good one.