The Lonely (The Twilight Zone)

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Lonely
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = Jack Warden and Jean Marsh in The Lonely
Season = 1
Episode = 7
Airdate = November 13, 1959
Production = 173-3602
Writer = Rod Serling
Director = Jack Smight
Guests = Jack Warden (Corry)
Jean Marsh (Alicia)
John Dehner (Allenby)
Ted Knight (Adams)
James Turley (Carstairs)
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = Escape Clause
Next = Time Enough at Last

“The Lonely” is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".

Opening narration

ynopsis

In 2046, an inmate sentenced to solitary confinement on the desert planet Ceres-XIV is visited by a spacecraft that regularly brings him supplies and news from the Earth. Captain Allenby has been trying to make Corry's stay humanely tolerable by bringing him things to take his mind off the loneliness. On this trip, however, Allenby tells Corry not to open a certain crate that has just been delivered until after the transport crew leaves. Upon opening the special container, Corry discovers that Allenby has left him with a feminine robot, named Alicia, to keep him company. At first, Corry detests it, rejecting Alicia as a mere machine; synthetic skin and wires inside. However, when Corry sees that Alicia is in fact capable of crying, he begins to fall in love with it.

When the ship returns, Captain Allenby brings news that Corry has been pardoned after a review of past murder cases. Corry, it seems, can return home to Earth immediately. Corry is delighted, until he learns that there is only room for 15 pounds of luggage, far too little for his robot companion. He frantically tries to find some way to take Alicia with him, arguing that it is not a robot, but a woman, and insisting that Allenby simply does not know it as he does. At that point, just as the rest of the transport crew is surprised at the sight of Alicia, Allenby suddenly draws his gun and shoots the robot in the face. The robot breaks down, malfunctioning, its face a mass of wire and broken circuitry, and Corry's illusion is presumably broken. He then takes Corry back to the ship, assuring him he will only be leaving behind loneliness.

Closing narration

Preview for Next Week's Story

Radio adaptation

An audio adaptation of "The Lonely", featuring Mike Starr as Corry, was produced for radio in the mid-2000s; it was released on CD by CBS Consumer Products in 2007 as part of "The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas Vol. 4".

Trivia

*The first of many episodes (including “I Shot an Arrow Into the Air”, “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” and “The Rip Van Winkle Caper”) to be filmed on location in Death Valley. Unprepared for the terrible conditions they would face, the crew suffered extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion and director of photography George Clemens even collapsed, falling from a camera crane while filming continued.
*In 2007, "The Lonely" was produced for the stage by [http://www.4letterentertainment.com 4 Letter Entertainment]
*Coincidentally, Jack Warden would star in another episode of this season featuring a robot, "The Mighty Casey", also written and narrated by Rod Serling.

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

External links

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* [http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-237/epid-12591 TV Tome episode page]