Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
On Thursday We Leave for Home (The Twilight Zone)
On Thursday We Leave For Home is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.
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Details
Episode number:118
Season: 4
Production code: 4868
Original air date: May 2, 1963
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Buzz Kulik
Music:stock
Cast
Captain William Benteen:James Whitmore
Colonel Sloane:Tim O'Connor
Al: James Broderick
Synopsis
A civilization stranded on a hot asteroid is finally rescued after thirty years. However, the leader of the civilization, Captain Benteen, has trouble letting go of his people. He tries to convince them not to return to Earth and then he tries to destroy the rescue ship. Eventually he is left behind and comes to his senses moments too late.
Trivia
- James Whitmore's character shares the same last name and rank as Captain Frederick Benteen, who was one of the commanding officers at the Battle of the Little Bighorn and is discussed at length in Serling's The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms
Themes
An examination of the corrupting influence of power. Similar themes are visited in The Little People and It's a Good Life.
Critical Response
- "Our shows this season were too padded. The bulk of our stories lacked the excitement and punch of the shorter dramas we intended when we started five years ago and kept to for a while. If you ask me, I think we had only one really effective show this season, 'On Thursday We Leave for Home'... Yes, I wrote it myself, but I overwrote it. I think the story was good despite what I did to it."
- Rod Serling quoted in The Twilight Zone Companion
References
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
Back to: The Twilight Zone, Episode List, Season 4
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