Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music and Entertainment
Rockin’ with Rod

Rockin’ with Rod

Last updated on: July 9, 2024 at 4:28 pm by Chase Padusniak

0 Comments

Rockin’ with Rod 2024-07-09T16:28:00-04:00 Chase Padusniak

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mr. Serling, WWII and spinner of yarns
Source: Flickr user meltwater
License

I saw another list. The internet is a tyranny of lists. At first, I enjoyed participating, ranking my own taste against that of, well, everybody else. But now, now I’ve seen too many lists, had my heart broken one too many times. This list was about TV shows. Nearly every winner premiered in the last 25 years, with a hefty weighting toward the more contemporary. Where’s the fun in that? Has nobody ever heard of Ernie Kovacs? I’m only 30, for God’s sake.

Faced with another defeat, I had to see if anything I liked was actually any good. Where better to start than the original Twilight Zone (1959-1964). I grew up with the News Years’ and July 4th marathons. Sure, it’s a hodgepodge of morality tales, sometimes so thick with allegory Rod Serling felt the need to offer an interpretation in the closing narration. You know, for good measure. Sure, it’s in black and white and wasn’t made by HBO. But was it so paltry it couldn’t make a top 50 list? “The Dummy” seeped into my developing brain so thoroughly that images of Willy’s face haunted me for years. Occasionally, my brain, no apparent reason to be seen, screeches “it’s a cookbook!” How bad can a show that induces such childhood trauma be?

Looking for a place to begin my quest, an episode I’d never seen caught my eye, “Night Call” from season five. Directed by Jacques Tourneur of Cat People (1942) and Out of the Past (1947) fame, “Night Call” is replete with tension from beginning to end. Elva Keene (Gladys Cooper) is an elderly, disabled woman who lives alone in a cabin in the country. More than this, she is lonely, only ever seeing her daytime aide. Elva waits and waits by her phone; it’s her only connection to the world.

That is, until one night during a storm when her phone rings—no voice on the other side. The calls become more and more frequent even as the caller becomes bolder and bolder. “Hellllooo,” it rasps over and over. “Who are you?” Elva screams. The disembodied caller sounds like a zombie creaking out its first words after decades of dusty sleep. Eventually it even seems to know her name, who she is.

Her little cottage seems to grow dimmer and dimmer, more masked by shadow; Elva succumbs to hysteria.

But that’s just the thing: she’s not hysterical, not really. She reacts exactly how many elderly people would. I’ve seen it with, I regret to say, my own eyes: a growing loneliness. As her aide keeps jabbing, she needn’t pick up the phone. But what else is there to do? Who would harass someone otherwise so alone? Why? And why give up the one connection she has to the outside world? Elva must know; the voice must account for itself. Elva begins calling the phone company like she’s praying the Liturgy of the Hours. They must know.

The original short story by Richard Matheson (who also co-wrote the teleplay with Serling) ends differently, but that’s no matter. “Night Call” is The Twilight Zone at its best; it distills this creepy feeling down to its bare essence. It offers just enough realism to feel plausible, for me to imagine just such an old woman having just such an experience. But the terror feels preternatural, something unknowable pervasive. Plus, the moral ain’t half bad.

Maybe I’ll make a series of this—who’s to say? Me, I guess. There’s much Twilight Zone to be watched, and I need to see why my taste, it seems, is so bad.

Religious Art

Previous Post

July 1, 2024

Disappearing Accidents

Next Post

July 16, 2024 Longlegs' Short Game

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Do The Right Thing was a terrible movie, with a terrible message, a man owns ..."

Frank Holzhauser

Do the Right Thing: What Can ..."

"NOT the experience of those who actually lived through those years. Let's not forget that.Too ..."

captcrisis

54: Let the Good Times Roll

"Your accurate assessment of where the Blockbuster and the studios have ended up reminded me ..."

Dave G.

Jaws: Ad Fontes

"Another Dementia experience: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkbxNibXiLx_ak8IuhZiutd2Fxe7_KAon&si=VhOYNUIBV3CTlyDf"

Ame

Dementia: Silent Nightmare

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Culture Politics Reviews Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Psalm is often read at funerals: "Even though I walk through the valley..."?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalm 51 Psalm 137 Psalm 90 Psalm 23