Thanks to my buddy NYMarkie, I own the complete set of 'The Twilight Zone' episodes. And yet I went through the New Year's marathon schedule and programmed my DVR to pick up a couple of them for me. (You ever find yourself watching a show as it's broadcast, even though you own it on DVD? I know Joe Bua is like me in doing that with 'Doctor Who' when those episodes are on BBC-A.)I tuned in just as "Walking Distance" was about to begin. This episode, starring Gig Young as 36 year old advertising executive Martin Sloan.is probably the best example of what 'The Twilight Zone' really was about at its heart. (Martin Sloan looks older than 36 - but considering his state of mind at the beginning of the episode, that's probably what accounts for his aging within the show. In real life, Gig Young was 46 at the time.)
Martin Sloan travels back to Homewood, NY, where he grew up, and finds himself back in the town at the same time as when he was a boy there. Learning a painful lesson from the experience, Martin headed back to NYC with a fresh outlook to begin life anew as vice-president in charge of media at his ad agency.
Which got me to thinking....
I'd love to see a scene next year in 'Mad Men' in which Harry Crane, as media exec for SCD&P, gets to meet his counterpart at another company and have it turn out to be Martin Sloan. I'm sure they can find an actor out there who looks like Gig Young at that age, be it 36 or 46....
BCnU!
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