Wow...thanks to all who posted re: "Dial Double Zero" and related topics. I was especially heartened by the information provided by dandelion re: how and when it aired. I'll pass this information along to a woman -- now in Australia -- who saw Dial Double Zero some 20+ years ago when she was in school in the U.S. (there is a small community of people still haunted from seeing this chilling episode decades ago!). I know she has tried to contact the library at the old school to no avail, but the specifics you have provided can only help the search. Thanks a bunch!

"The premise of the story was that a phone switchboard was gaining intelligence over time... "

I'm late getting in on this one, I know, but your original plot description about the switchboard "waking up" reminds me of a classic S.F. story called "Dial 'F' for Frankenstein", I think by Arthur C. Clarke.

Since "Dial Double Zero" was inquired about again, I'm bumping this one up. Wouldn't it be nice if "The Story of a Writer" was released on video...so we could ALL see it?

I would love to have my own copy of this. Make it so, Dandelion!

You have a lot of faith in my abilities, don't you?

Please don't shatter my world view and tell me this faith is misplaced!

Hello to all.

I'm new to this board. I landed here after a google search for "Dial Double Zero" turned up this page. I believe I belong to that small community of people still haunted by it.

I also saw it in school in the early 80's, in White Oaks Elementary School, Fairfax County, Virginia. It was during a semester (in 82) where we also heard Welles' "War of the Worlds" original broadcast.

In fact, I remember this was one of my earliest contacts with Bradbury, if not the first.

I vaguely remember the plot line of DIal Double Zero, but the title and the chilling feeling have remained with me for over twenty years.

-R

Before adding to my statement concerning "The Twilight Zone" pilot, I'd like to go on record as considering myself a Christian. Otherwise it won't have much significance.

If Jesus Christ Himself descended right through the ceiling, pointed an admonishing finger at me, told me in a stern tone in no uncertain terms that "Where is Everybody?" is word-for-word the same story as "Here There Be Tygers" and if I don't swear to it I will not go to Heaven...well, to tell the truth, I'd probably be terrified and agree on the spot...
BUT I STILL WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT!

By the way, you'll never convince Ray on any subject once it becomes "set" to him. Sometime around 1948, if not earlier, he got the idea that "a writer shouldn't go to college." If I had listened to him, (instead of my dad) I would have missed out on one of the most valuable experiences of my entire life! You could tell Ray this (and other things about his "set" subjects) till you morph into a small blue pyramid. He doesn't argue, just basically acknowledges the existence of your statement and repeats his own original one.

I may have posted elsewhere regarding the Robert Redford "Twilight Zone" episode, "Nothing in the Dark." It DOES bear strong resemblances to both "There Was an Old Woman" and "Death and the Maiden." (Even if Satan, or Michael Moore, or one of their friends, pointed this out...I would STILL have to agree...that's how much resemblance there is--in fact, the phrase "there was an old woman" appears in the closing narration.) Even more incriminatingly, the episode appeared about two years after the magazine version of "Death and the Maiden" and about two years before the book appearance--in other words, PERFECT timing for anyone to have read the magazine version, partly forgotten it, and not have a book in which to check it!

Okay, here comes the interesting part. (Drumroll please.) "Nothing in the Dark" was written NOT by Serling, but by George Clayton Johnson! Johnson freely admits the Bradbury resemblance/connections, and has never been ANYTHING but the very best of friends with Bradbury--who, had Serling written this story (or even one a heck of a lot less like Bradbury's work--see above and elsewhere for my take on THAT--) would have been crying for blood!

This goes to illustrate that Ray's problem with Rod was almost entirely personal, NOT artistic or professional. Not saying Rod never ripped ANYONE off. A man named Gomberg had a very good case that Rod may have stolen from him the idea for the award-winning "A Storm in Summer," filmed twice and also staged as a play. There was also a "Night Gallery" episode with some resemblances, but I haven't seen it or compared it to Gomberg's story. Again, not saying no one has any case against Serling, just that I don't think Bradbury has much of one.

Details on this animosity in all works I've seen on Serling are sketchy at best. Maybe when Sam Weller's Bradbury biography comes out more light will be shed on the whole subject.

[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 10-15-2004).]

Seems to me there is some confusion. According to Ray, as well as the book, A Critical History of Television�s The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964, "Where is Everybody?" bore an uncanny resemblance to Ray's story "the Silent Towns" from THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. "Here There Be Tygers" was a completely different story that Ray submitted as an adapted teleplay that Serling's Production Compnay passed on persumably because of the production expenses necessary with all the special effects required by the story.

"The Silent Towns," was that the one with Genevieve and Walter Gripp? Okay, I see a little more resemblance to that than to "Here There Be Tygers"--especially the bit with the telephone--but there are still as many differences as similarities. So I am in no danger of eternal damnation if I see virtually NO resemblance between "Where is Everybody?" and "Here There Be Tygers"?

Interesting insights from the Philadelphia Inquirer's review of Weller's bio of Ray, including:

**One can assume that the intent of Sam Weller's authorized biography of Ray Bradbury is to illuminate the life of one of the 20th century's most prolific and admired writers. Weller, a Chicago literature professor, made more than 50 trips to Los Angeles over four years to interview Bradbury.

He calls himself a Bradbury fan, which underscores the major fault with this book. Instead of investigating, Weller just retells the grand old man's tales.

Consider the plagiarism charges that Bradbury levels at his friend Rod Serling. Bradbury says Serling admitted that the 1959 Twilight Zone pilot came from a story in Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. But Weller neglects to mention that, throughout his career, Bradbury successfully sued writers for plagiarism. He never sued Serling.

Weller uses the phrase "according to Ray" as if this were enough to make something factual. Although he had unfettered access to Bradbury's personal files, he doesn't cite any evidence to back up this particular claim of Bradbury's. Moreover, at a Web site, Weller has written that he did not visit the Serling archive in Wisconsin, just 150 miles from his home, to check out Serling's side of the story.

Both Bradbury and Serling were known for keeping nearly every piece of paper that crossed their desks. Weller did not even interview Serling's widow, who is alive and well in Southern California - although she plays an integral part in the story he recounts from Bradbury's memory.

Bradbury, 84, can hardly be faulted for lapses of memory; it is Weller whose duty it was to check the facts... .**

from -- http://www.timesleader.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/books/11863205.htm

The reviewer, Bonk Johnston, a daughter of mine, is writing a book on Serling's contrubution to modern culture.

Well, you certainly came to the right place to air your grievances.

"According to God" was good enough for Moses, was it not?

Professors are reasonably expected to check out facts in books they write, prophets are not.

The book review marshals facts to make further points -- and it also praises The Bradbury Chronicles as a seamless read.

In places, however, Ray's own published are not consistent with the biography, as the full review shows. The reviewer offers an interesting insight into this... if you read the full review.

The Serling "thing" has always intrigued me as well. Don't hold your breath for clarification of a happening which will never come directly from the source. Serling is dead and Bradbury is unwilling.

Or.....you COULD hold your breath until the "unauthorized" biography comes out. Either way, you're still left with "He said" and "He said" and "According to".

[This message has been edited by grasstains (edited 06-19-2005).]

David, am I to understand that this reviewer is your daughter? Your daughter is a GENIUS!

Although history and biography are big interests of mine, Rod Serling is strictly a creative influence to me. That is, I would like to make my own literary contributions inspired by him and Ray rather than writing factual accounts of their lives, although I do look forward to reading them. (I have the one Bradbury and two Serling biographies. Haven't read 'em yet.) I am VERY interested in your daughter's work and wish her well with it!

Could you PLEASE do me a BIG favor and add your post to this same thread on the NEW Bradbury board? I have bumped the thread up with my latest contribution on my long rant on this subject, and the particular thread can be found here: https://raybradburyboard.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=888101480...441023331#3441023331 Thanks!