Writer and director Marc Zicree discussed The Twilight Zone, his Space Command project, and the state of sci-fi television. Zicree commented on his work with Twilight Zone alums Bill Mumy ("It's a Good Life") and Veronica Cartwright ("I Sing the Body Electric"). Mumy appears in Space Command and Cartwright is set to play in Zicree's upcoming show, Sweet Haven. Zicree suggested The Twilight Zone's enduring legacy was due at least in part to the optimism of Rod Serling. He was funny, warm, and believed we could create a better future, Zicree revealed. He spoke about the time he visited Serling's office and found a box of unmade Twilight Zone scripts. Zicree is working to produce episodes from these scripts, as well as finish a new batch of classic episode commentaries.
"Through the pandemic... we kept all of our studio employed on full salary, and we even did a two-hour Space Command episode where our actors shot their own scenes in their own homes so they weren't endangered at all," he continued. Zicree said Space Command was inspired by Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek series, which suggested we could create a future worth living in. Crowdfunding and investors allowed Zicree to raise more than $2.5 million from which he has been able to open his own studio and create seven hours of Space Command. There are seven more hours of Space Command planned for production, he noted. Zicree also reported he is building a spaceship set and two 8-foot tall alien creatures for his show in a move to be less reliant on digital visual effects.
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Open Lines followed in the latter half of the program. Joe in Monterey, California, talked about the time he worked at a film editing company in the 1960s. The company did commercials and was working on a spot for Camay, he recalled. The person who sang the jingle was none other than Frank Sinatra, Joe reported, noting Sinatra had a really good voice on the track. "He pulled back on his contract... we never released it," he added.
Carl from Boston, Massachusetts, asked George if he believed Bigfoot is interdimensional since there are reports of the creature mysteriously vanishing into thin air. "I do think it is a physical creature," George replied, though he admitted he could not rule out the possible interdimensional nature of Bigfoot. Carl also commented on Stargates which he thinks ancient civilizations had knowledge about, as well as time travel. "I've put in evidence of time travel into the system — that's all I've got to say," Carl said cryptically.
Terry in South Carolina related an account recently told to him by a friend. According to Terry, his friend's daughter and her nephew were heading to a store in a remote area when they spotted a creature crossing the road. She described the beast as at least 7-feet tall and covered in hair, Terry recalled, noting she admitted the sight of it frightened her. A couple of days later, another of Terry's friends posted on social media about seeing what she described as a "big bear" moving along the same road. "Limbs had been crushed where it went into the woods," Terry explained, informing George he is going to go looking for it.
The final half hour featured a replay of mechanical engineer Matthew Stein discussing power grid issues
News segment guests: Kevin Randle / Christian Wilde / Tim Binnall