CBS airs the eighth episode of Rod Serling’s anthology series The Twilight Zone. Burgess Meredith (Batman, Rocky) stars in a script written by Serling, adapted from a short story by Lynn Venable. This episode will later be considered, by both fans of the show and critics of television and drama in general, to be one of The Twilight Zone’s all-time classic episodes.
Henpecked at home and unappreciated at work, bank teller Henry Bemis sneaks down to the bank vault to read on his lunch breaks. His wife resents his bookworm tendencies, and the bank manager doesn’t take too kindly to his reading habits either. One day during his lunchtime reading break, Henry falls asleep, only to be awakened by the sound of the end of the world: an atomic bomb. Protected in the bank vault, Bemis is the only survivor, and he can find no other living human beings. Helpless and on the verge of suicide, Bemis then realizes that he is now the last custodian, and consumer, of the world’s books.
teleplay by Rod Serling
based on a short story by Lynn Venable
directed by John Brahm
music by Leith Stevens
Cast: Burgess Meredith (Henry Bemis), Vaughn Taylor (Mr. Carsville), Jaqueline deWit (Helen Bemis), Lela Bliss (Mrs. Chester)
LogBook entry by Earl Green