Favorite Scene from one of The Twilight Zone episodes

[@CheersNE]

"You've been looking behind, try looking ahead." I needed that.

[@kenonash9356]

The best part of this episode was dear old dad, still giving good advice over the distance of time. One of the best scripts written by Rod Serling himself.

[@fredsawyer9845]

Brings a tear to my eye every time and makes me think of my Dad and my time as a boy during the summer

[@Roger85able]

More Merry go rounds....

[@johnjarou2357]

@@fredsawyer9845 me too fred

[@macjig5148]

Everybody at some time wants to go back and live those young years one more time. Remembering that Jr. High flame and the relationship that was so innocent and yet so mature at the same time. Remembering mom and dad as those heroes who did everything and could do anything. The boyhood friends, holding her hand for the first time, the summer fishing trips at the Thousand Islands; all things we want again in the midst of adulthood struggles but, alas, will never have. Only one summer per customer. Mine came in the sixties never to be had again. One of life's sad realities. Long live those good memories.

[@rockyracoon3233]

The line from the Wonder Years finale says it best, "The memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul."

[@bobthebuilder914]

I can never go home to 1973, with both parents alive, and my biggest worry was collecting a complete set of baseball cards. This episode haunts me, and is my favorite. Now I have as many friends who have died, as who are still alive. I am in the middle ground, and it is slipping away. Thank you for posting.

[@Scripturegirl.]

I wish I COULD GO BACK 2 2002, WHEN MY LATE GRANDMA was ALIVE. :,0(

[@Scripturegirl.]

MY LATE GRANDMA DIED IN JULY OF 2002. R.I.P. GRANDMA.!!. :,0(

[@JustAnnie51]

I feel the same

[@hankberumen1399]

bobthebuilder914 I can totally relate; well said my friend

[@eddiemunster4094]

Same here my Mom passed away when I was 6 in 1978 my Father in 1984 how time passes 😢

[@RedTango]

This is one of the most beautiful and haunting moments ever created for TV. It just so sums up the human condition- the yearnings for what was, the safety and security of childhood, the struggle to find happiness with our choices in life. I've been watching these episodes for years, never tired of them.

[@patriciagullickson9591]

RedTango nobody can play it nowadays....the acting is so Superior...and of course the music !!!

[@fredsawyer9845]

So true and well said . In so many of the Twilight Zone episodes there was a subtle message or a hidden lesson for us . Serling was a genius

[@briancoleman1835]

You are so on point thank you I dream for those days again

[@boblackey1]

@@patriciagullickson9591 I think you are correct. I can't think of two actors working today who could do this scene with the tenderness Gig Young and Frank Overton do here. Just can't see Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks matching this. We just don't have actors like that today.

[@improcat1]

@@boblackey1. You are so right. One of my favourite episodes, it touched on something very deep. Great acting with haunting mood and soundtrack. You could never see anything like this on TV today, now it's just churned out piles of rubbish...talent not required anymore.

[@rxonmymind8362]

"This is HIS summer. Just as it was yours once... Don't make him share it. That line was profound and have always stuck in my mind.

[@jamesbloomfield8038]

Really does stick with me as I'm getting older

[@zombienomicon9682]

it sums up the awfulness of the boomer. perpetual adolescents who cling to the stage long after the universe wants them to move on.

[@abrahamissacjocab2544]

💖💖💖 Me Too

[@abrahamissacjocab2544]

@@jamesbloomfield8038 I'm 42 and I can remember the first time like it was only yesterday 💖💖💖

[@abrahamissacjocab2544]

Willoughby is just (PROFOUND)... IT'S One of the best but that line in specific will go down as one of the best I've ever heard 💖💖💖

[@jaymorgenthal9479]

I was stuck in a rut after my wife died more than 14 years ago. Then I saw this episode and this scene and I cried for an hour on and off .Now i’m happily with another person in my life almost 7 years. thankful for Rod Serling for turning my life around by making me stop looking behind me and instead look ahead.

[@Paddy_Roche]

I pray you are still at peace Jay, I am still stuck where you were.

[@barnabuscollins5038]

I hope you've found your own peace of heaven since then man. I

[@laurencelevine3955]

I lost my wife eleven years ago. I’ve remarried and keep going.

[@angelworlds9588]

Jay you gonna make me cry.

[@angelworlds9588]

@@Paddy_Roche Prayer and patience is the answer while keeping yourself busy helping others. Before you know it a door will open and your new life will begin. PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens

[@paulkersey1007]

When we are young, all we think about is growing up. When we are grown up, all we want is to go back to a certain time in our lives where we had peace and find a reprieve from all that is the now.

[@basilmarasco1975]

So true. What's wrong with us?

[@paulkersey1007]

@@basilmarasco1975 I think if Rod Serling was alive and he was to answer your question I think he would sum it up to it being just the evolution of man. Or human beings and that is just the process of life. I think very few people in this world have the luxury of being able to return back to a simpler time before the world burdens us. And I think that in the scene it's really to say that you can't change your past but you should look towards the future.

[@basilmarasco1975]

@@paulkersey1007 Yes. An objective, non-sentimental look at the past life shows that it was just another challenging time, for the grown-ups of that era, if not for the kids. I am *really* glad to have been too young for the draft during the Vietnam War, for just one example.

[@fromthesidelines]

*"Martin Sloan, age thirty-six, vice-president in charge of media. Successful in most things but not in the one effort that all men try at some time in their lives-trying to go home again. And also like all men, perhaps there'll be an occasion, maybe a summer night sometime, when he'll look up from what he's doing and listen to the distant music of a calliope, and hear the voices and the laughter of the people and the places of his past. And perhaps across his mind there'll flit a little errant wish, that a man might not have to become old, never outgrow the parks and the merry-go-rounds of his youth. And he'll smile then too, because he'll know it is just an errant wish, some wisp of memory not too important really, some laughing ghosts that cross a man's mind, that are a part of the Twilight Zone."*

[@paulkersey1007]

@@basilmarasco1975 For a lot of people, this scene is so relatable because the pressures of the world: bills, family, jobs, demands, etc have run our lives. We live a rat race and the world is unfortunately unforgiving. Most of us can not stop to enjoy what they work hard for being because it's always something.

[@tiffanyd.4832]

I have seen "The Walking Distance" at least 30 times and this scene makes me cry everytime, it is so brilliant.

[@TheUsualSuspekt]

I'm seriously glad to know its not just me.

[@matthewbosco9190]

Tiffany D. Yea me too plus I’m some form or way I’m like Martin Sloan too I miss my past everyday I wish I had what he had a chance to go back just once to feel nostalgic and meet my father just once I wish I could have had at least one conversation with him before he passed away I never got to know my father this episode this character super super lucky he got to do what a lot of us wish a thousand times a chance to revisit the past

[@paulfischbach474]

It is easily my favorite episode and makes me cry like a child every time. Bernard Herrmanns music is so dark and beautiful. I’m so glad as others said that we aren’t alone.

[@TomTimeTraveler]

Me, too. The BEST TZ episode of all time. Great writing, casting and acting.

[@dianehenkel9088]

I tear up too. It’s one of the best Twilight Zone episodes.

[@jerseyirish]

It's summer, June 2021. I am 36 going on 37 next month. A few days ago I took a short trip to my childhood neighborhood - Little Ferry, New Jersey. I parked, walked around my old stomping grounds on Liberty Street. I hoped to fall into the Twilight Zone and fall into a time warp like Mr. Sloan. But alas, this is real life. Everything I knew is gone. The old Chinese restaurant up the block is now a new-age burger spot. What was the empty, deserted lot across the street where I used to go sledding in the icy winters is now a Dunkin Donuts and Laundromat. What was Sal's Pizza, owned and operated by actual Italian immigrants is now Craig D's. The Garden State Deli where my dad would go every morning to get his newspaper and egg sandwiches/bagels is now a Subway. Mr. Serling was right, you can't go back. We all need to look ahead.

[@DaDitka]

I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago. I lived near a small farm town in north central Illinois when growing up. It was about an hour or so west of Rockford, IL. The last time I went there to visit friends and family, I drove around the places where I used to hang out. And like you, many of the places I knew were no longer there. The big one for me was that there used to be an RPG and board game store in Rockford called Tomorrow is Yesterday. It was a favorite place to go when I had a little money to spend on a West End Games Star Wars RPG or some miniatures. When I last was there, they had converted the place into a comic book store. No more RPGs or board games or even the used book section off to the side. Now, I always knew that the past on many levels was gone, but it was at that moment when it really, really hit me. Friends and family in the area were either dead or had moved away. Pizza places I used to haunt are gone. Even my old junior high school building was now just an open lawn, with my old high school now massively expanded to include junior and grade school. That was then, and that was "his time" (referring to my younger self). Now it's just a ghost of a memory. But I won't let this stop me from living the remaining years of my life. However many there may be. I am a two-time cancer survivor. Maybe number 3 will get me. Maybe it won't. But that's in the future as well. In the meantime, let's keep going. I wish you all my best.

[@boneeatingsilicate580]

My favorite Mexican restaurant in okc lost forever in the Twilight Zone

[@hijodelaisla275]

LOL - "actual Italian immigrants" - as opposed to imaginary ones?

[@hijodelaisla275]

LOL - "actual Italian immigrants" - as opposed to imaginary ones?

[@brainliberius9530]

I grew up in Garfield NJ, and had an aunt and uncle in Little Ferry. We used to spend holidays in your neck of the woods. Although it was over 30 years ago, still feels like yesterday.

[@RodSerling.]

This was always my dads favorite episode. He would cry while watching it. So glad he taught me about the Twilight Zone

[@tinasan3870]

You are so lucky to have had a dad who would cry in front of you.....

[@billking1751]

@@tinasan3870 Tell me about it. When i was about 25, and went to stay with my father for awhile in another state, because me and my wife, had just broken up, i once was about to tell my father, that i had always thought, of him as someone i looked up to as a child, and wanted to be like. Just as i was starting that off, he told me, "🤬OH I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT PUNK SH*T, THAT OLE GAY SH*T! So i said, "Okay, fine." Then he said, ooohh go ahead and finish what you were going to say. I said, "naw, that's alright." Later on, about a couple months later after that incident, and a couple others, i said TO MYSELF, "I'm getting out of here, and dude, you're going to miss me before i miss you." And didn't see, write, nor talk to him for a good 14 years, and another 10 years after that. He was later sorry for saying that, and a few other things, concerning the way he treated his by then only son. So, after apologizing to me, shortly before his passing, i felt bad about it. Sometimes parents need to understand that's what they are like it or not, and understand the power of words, and actions.

[@TSM8088]

If The Twilight Zone had ended after only one season, it would still be the greatest series ever to have aired on television. Serling's work is recognized to be more than just a "TV show." Rather, it is a series of profound essays on human self-reflection and discovery, each episode a masterwork of poetry, prose, and concerto combined. I believe "Walking Distance" to be the artists's best work in every sense. It is Mr. Serling's Opus.

[@PennPearson]

Great comment and I agree completely. This show was a masterpiece and deeply moving, as were many of the Twilight Zone episodes.

[@MustafaJackson]

Agreed.

[@fredsawyer9845]

I agree , although the Changing of the Guard was another masterpiece he did ...That one was very touching as this was

[@marcychan168]

I love the Twilight Zone still do since we all seem to be living in it at the moment God bless you all my Brothers and Sisters Have a Merry and Joyous Christmas Be safe God and Jesus love you 🙏❤and Peace

[@basilmarasco1975]

@@fredsawyer9845 Yes, the episodes with thoughtful endings (i.e., not necessarily horrific or creepy or scary) were some of the best, like "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby", "The Hunt", "The Changing of The Guard", "Mute", "A Hundred Yards Over The Rim", and a few others.

[@KenPotter]

Rod Serling was a genius.

[@RodSerling.]

Even that’s an understatement. One of a kind

[@redfox574]

@@RodSerling. twilight zone is extremely good, its almost scary 😂

[@Nklassen08]

Definitely, he’s a genius.

[@octopibingo]

We spend our adult lives trying to get home.

[@williammorse8330]

yes, and we wind up going in circles.... alas!

[@Tejaye777]

Like me.I wish I could go back to my past.

[@vanreliant5584]

I can't go back, but I have a memory full of good times to revisit in my mind. Sadly many people's childhood was not good at all, which doesn't even leave them happy memories to remember.

[@mikesmallarz5269]

How true

[@Cole-ek7fh]

eh, i just worked hard to make a new home with traditional values i learned as a kid.

[@mikep.918]

Just one of the best episodes, it encapsulates a longing so many of us have to turn back..unaware when those summers were ours, they would pass so quickly..and yet memories are always within "walking distance"..i miss you grandfather

[@globalspiritualrevolutionmedia]

This is my very favorite TZ Episode! Every single time I watch this episode I cry - not for sadness - but remembering the pure joy of my childhood - the purity of life and when America was Truly America🇺🇸

[@pintificate]

Serling was a true genius. This is one of his best. And I'm sure he's still out there, hovering somewhere between the pit of our fears and the summit of our knowledge . . . somewhere . . . in the mystical realms of the Twilight Zone

[@shogun0127]

he's rotting in his grave

[@joantrezza]

Well spoken!

[@markcoleman9892]

Wishing he was here to add share his perspective on current times... although The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street makes a respectable substitute.

[@JustAnnie51]

I find myself living so much in the past,, this episode says it all,, for me at least. I couldn't wait to grow up, now, I want to go back to the 70's,, just can't look ahead to much these days

[@ridethestorm1948]

I'm the same way JustAnnie51. The burden of being a grown up weighs heavy, I hate it! Life as a kid was adventurous.

[@bestofthebest7823]

I have to agree with JustAnnie51 and many others in this thread. I travel back to the late 50s and 60s in my dreams often. I was surprised to see so many in here with the same thoughts. Guess I am not alone. Yes, this has to be the best scene and probably my all-time favorite episode of The Twilight Zone.

[@robertsvorinich890]

I feel the same way. You can't go home again

[@pinkbeatle2012]

Yeah the human tragedy of adulthood.

[@Bethechange67]

You feel that way partly because you don’t belong in this world. It is chaos and corruption and some of us just can’t tolerate it!

[@ChicagoSouthDan]

"Maybe you haven't been looking in the right place. You've been looking behind you, Martin. Try looking ahead." I've always liked those lines. I got the impression at the end of the episode that he would try to do that. Like a lot of Twilight Zone fans, this is one of my favorite episodes.

[@PennPearson]

It is my favorite, by far. This was the most moving scene. I think Serling wrote the script and obviously it came from deep within him. The acting, by Gig Young and Frank Overton, was excellent. The music was done by Bernard Hermann, who did a lot of the music for Alfred Hitchcock's movies, including "Marnie" and the great "Vertigo".

[@stuartsharman3055]

Gig Young was just fantastic, in this, my all time favourite episode. I had a dream something like this when I was twenty years old, or thereabouts. I time travelled back to 1960 and tried to stop my parents getting married, but i failed. It did not have, a happy ending. But it ended with me wanting to relive my childhood, and change things so that i could have the love of my parents that i felt i never had.

[@martinwimmer9262]

My Father died of a massive coronary when I was 11 and he didn't have a chance to say goodbye. Every time I watch this, I feel as if Frank Overton is my Father speaking to me.

[@RonaldVaughan]

This,and LITTLE GIRL LOST.

[@Kazyman]

This was one of my faves, along with, 'The Trouble With Templeton,' 'After Hours,' 'In Praise of Pip,' 'The Hitchhiker,' and a handful of others. Serling had the knack for bringing the vibe to us with each moment which allowed us to FEEL what was transpiring. From the casting, to the direction and even the lighting....suPERB. Another incredible show from that time is, 'One Step Beyond,' with John Newland as host. Amazing.

[@ketank344]

the background music, along with the conversation, makes this scene even more powerful

[@fromthesidelines]

Bernard Herrmann.

[@henryottis295]

I know that I speak for a lot of people when I say that I wish I could thank Rod Serling for all of the enjoyment and thought provoking moments his creation has given me. God bless you Rod.

[@georgefarrell6988]

I relate this episode to this quote, “At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went out to play for the last time and no one knew it.” I think about that quote a lot and this episode reinforces the notion that one can never truly go home again.

[@JimBischoff1184]

😢😭

[@Bootmahoy88]

We can't go home again, because home is right here, right now, not back when. Nowhere but here, while you're reading this comment. Either live it or let it go by unnoticed.

[@SarahH671]

Man, I love the twilight zone but we can all agree this is the best episode. It made me cry the first time I saw this scene, and it still does. Rod Serling and his show are the best things on earth.

[@martinsloan8170]

His father, showing love, telling his son to live his life to fullest.

[@st.charlesstreet9876]

Very well said.

[@kathleenking47]

At least, he recognized him..

[@PabluchoViision]

This episode has the quality of a dream… Just as we might see a dead parent in our dream, and that parent will talk to us, give us a message of love or encouragement. Sometimes, it’s a parent who during their lifetime didn’t give such messages. These experiences can be very moving, can really fill a hole within us.

[@socco69]

This is the only episode of any TV show ever, that brings tears to my eyes. It did so when I was younger and does so even more now. For anyone with an attachment to the past, or their childhood in particular, this hits so many nerves. I probably suffer to some extent with nostalgia and envy not just the beauty and simplicity of my childhood in comparison to life today but in general, the era of those times as opposed to the present. Not that the world was perfect back then, but as a child, one's innocent perceptions of it bring it close to perfection. The Father's humble words of advice, his paternal humility and loving concern for a son, adrift out of time and place, creates a lump in my throat and an incredible wave of emotion. It is sad yet very beautiful and in some ways reassuring........it tells me others have felt this way, travelled the same road and that lamenting the passing of years may be very personal but not exclusive. It's extraordinary that 25 short minutes of television from half a century ago can still have such an emotional impact on so many.

[@strattt10]

Very well said. My favorite episode. Hits home!

[@jamesbaxterfromax]

I'm usually quite strong and cold when I watch film and television but this absolutely wrecks me and has me in tears, the whole episode pretty much has me bawling, the topic of entering your past and not getting to go back there must be an emotional trigger for me

[@curttuckfield5565]

The episode for very nostalgic people who want to go back to their childhood.

[@paulleckner8235]

In your mind, you can visit, but you can't stay there.

[@katherinkeegan8601]

So is the other episode "Kick the Can"

[@Mr.Goodkat]

@@katherinkeegan8601 Kick the Can was more about how there's no actual law in the universe preventing you from playing those games you so much enjoy (like kick the can) and "you grow old because you stop playing" sort of adage, different than the message of Walking Distance.

[@CaesarInVa]

This is such a beautifully written and acted scene....so poignant and touching. The background music adds an inexpressible sense of lament to the moment. Father giving future son final words of wisdom and future son realizing just how wise and right his father was. I remember watching this episode on rerun late one summer's evening in the summer of 75 or so. I was only 14 or 15 at the time, but as I sat there in the living room's late night darkness, I felt I was part of the scene. I could feel the central character's melancholy and his desire to go back to happier times...and realized that, as I sat there in our family home in the suburbs just outside Washington, DC, that these were MY happy times. As an adult, there were so many times when I realized, too late, that my father was, more often than not, like Martin's father here, correct in his counsel; yet I was too stupid and arrogant, to confident in my false belief of knowing better than my father, to listen to his wise and prudent guidance. Sometime in my early 30s, I awakened bolt upright one morning at around 3am to the thought "Did you think your father would lie to you???". In that late night epiphany, one of my rare moments of clarity and understanding, I realized that he was only trying to give me the benefit of his hard learned experiences. Although he died only a year or two after that realization, I did have the opportunity to thank him for all he had done for me and all that he had tried to do....and apologize for being such a block-headed ass. He looked kindly at me and said "That's ok. Its what most kids do". Dad was a master of the understatement. That precious moment of mutual respect and acknowledgement between father and son was over 30 years ago. I'm 62 now and would just like to say, once more....thanks Dad. You were the best father a kid could ever have. I love you.

[@williammorse8330]

Fatherly advice... priceless... in an age that mocks fathers and their crucial role in holding things together.... a very powerful scene...

[@Dayman90]

I know people pick episodes like Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Time Enough at Last, and The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street as their favorites but to me, this is my personal favorite.

[@Scripturegirl.]

I Own monsters r due on maple street, and my pastor, literally lived on..MAPLE STREET.

[@allansilverwood7091]

Willoughby

[@howiecricket52]

I'd love to be able to talk to my mom, dad, & baby sister, all in Heaven now, just to tell them that I love them so much, but, I do believe that they know that. I still have my other sister, and we enjoy our visits, she lives not too far away.

[@paulleckner8235]

You just did!

[@mustafajuventino9964]

I hope you and your sister are doing well

[@cristabelle1207]

Rod Serling was nothing less than GENIUS

[@martinsloan8170]

The love of a great father never fades. Spend time with pop before it's too late.

[@Filthy_Larry]

Mine died when I was 11

[@geo386]

I relate to this so much now that I am older (near 60). This just tugs at the heart strings and how much I miss the carefree days of my youth. I was moving and discovered a photo of myself around age 8 or 9 with my favorite dog watching from our gated fence. It's true you might only have that one Summer, the first love or just the care free feeling of innocence. We often would like to believe that life and its journey would go on forever. I have come to realize that there is and ending and life is finite. We must embrace and appreciate the here and now. I would however would enjoy a chance to see my younger self, even if it was just for one more day. 😢

[@robertdegeorge9199]

all men have a need to...go home again,...but they realize that it's not their home anymore,..it belongs to another boy or girl,.....and its time to just move on...this episode is my favorite, and rod serlings favorite too.

[@Cinemabuff97]

What you just said adds more to this episode, and it's meaning and message. The words you just typed are truly haunting as they resonate with me deeply, and give me that realization that I have to move forward.

[@imissmycerealasmr1681]

Nostalgia is hard. I long for the days of past but at the same time look towards the future as with my kids. The thought of living in the 80s again as a kid. Playing outside, Nintendo, He-Man, transformers and morning cartoons. No responsibilities and more concerned with toys and having fun. Ahhhh to dream a dream :)

[@adamdude58]

I just started watching this series, and this episode in particular hit me like a ton of bricks. Almost like a psychedellic experience. I dont know how to describe it, but there is something very special about this episode. I cant wait to see what else im in store for..

[@johnjarou2357]

oh yeah,the original twilight zone series was one of a kind. even the fact that it was filmed in black and white gives it a certain feel. if you're just now starting to watch the series you're in for some great viewing.

[@georgepowell6345]

You said it! "Walking Distance" is indeed special.

[@JimBischoff1184]

Watch the episode “The Hunt” !

[@lancecampbell4323]

A great episode that resonates more and more the older I get. Another fabulous Frank Overton performance, one of the most underrated actors of all time

[@wonmoss0206]

One of the most poignant moments on television. I'd love to have another conversation with my late Pop.

[@neldanelson1029]

John Moore my

[@map3384]

Me as well.

[@DonaldGerbino]

If you like this see the movie frequency, it's really intense ,pulled at my heart

[@danabrown4628]

I think many of us would. My father has been gone thirteen years last February and I wish I could a conversation with him again.

[@davidpoole7067]

You're lucky. There are those who do not miss their dads.

[@hectorsalcido4106]

My favorite T.Z. ever, simply unforgettable, they should show this episode in psychology classes, why is it that we always yearn for the past?

[@JackTheripper911]

Maybe because it reminds us of comforting times. when we were young and innocent, when life was easier and you didn't care. its easier to look back and find happiness rather than look forward and face uncertainty.

[@hectorsalcido4106]

Makes sense..

[@calvinjackson538]

We can't yearn for a future we know nothing about. Its nothing but a blank wall. So all we can do is look back over the ground we have covered and most of us see some great times that happened and we want to go back to them. For me, I yearn to see my parents again, they way they were when I was 6.

[@bubbastill2040]

I think it's when we let the negative start to overwhelm the positive in our lives that makes us temporarily forget all the good in our lives.Fortunately we can always choose to remember........like the old song says, "Try to remember and if you remember then follow,follow.follow"/peace and love and all good things to you and all!

[@basilmarasco1975]

Because it's now a safe place. We know everything that happened there.

[@jillibeens57]

The greatest gift and greatest curse mankind has, is memory.

[@PacRimJim]

Such simple words. So simple, yet so profound. A father's last advice on the battlefield of life.

[@79SteelyMatt]

This is the best TZ episode ever and this scene is one of the greatest scenes that was ever put on film period-movies or television-completely magical-whenever I am sick over the years or even a little sad I put on this episode and this scene just gets me everytime-Serling's masterpiece and the score is majestic.Rod Serling was the most incredibly talented man I have ever come across in my lifetime-an American icon.

[@ryanowens4943]

Makes me cry everytime... His old man telling him maybe things aren't so bad. Classic

[@P38DLightning]

This is by far my most favorite episode of any show I have ever watched.

[@JimKF]

I know we all have our favorite TZ episodes. I have several, but Walking Distance (written by Rod Serling) is at the top of the list. I think most people in my generation have that fantasy of going back in time to our youth. This scene always gets to me, emotionally. Maybe because I wish I could talk to my dad one more time.

[@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253]

Mine's "When The Sky Was Opened". I love the mistique and the way reality shifts around the main characters. No sadness, no emotions, other then terror. Reality just corrects itself. Mercilessly, coldly, without care or human touch. Love it. There is something infinitely realistic about it all.

[@johcafra]

Frank Overton and Gig Young...and Rod Serling and Bernard Herrmann...and the crickets in the background. And that's all.

[@howielisnoff]

This is one of the best written and acted scenes from the Twilight Zone. I would have liked the older Martin and his dad to hug as they say goodbye to each other and go back to their lives.

[@mias4696]

Very emotional episode and the music really captured the sadness of missing a wonderful childhood if we are blessed enough to have had one. My favorite episode.

[@thomasmcdaniel6264]

I have watched this on my DVD numerous times. A good friend told me a few years ago...with this great analogy. Our cars have a small rear view mirror, and a larger windshield. We can occasionally look at those things behind us, but our focus should be what is in front of us. Martin learned this from his father.

[@apollo-ec2pm]

Hi, Thomas. when looking thru your rearview mirror as your move, you're looking back into the past, and when you're looking thru your windshield, you looking at the future. Take care.

[@st.charlesstreet9876]

I love this scene so much. I wished I could talk to my Dad. GREAT Twilight Zone! Will be in my Heart Forever ❤️

[@lilybond6485]

I started watching The Twilight Zone when I was a kid. Many of them served somewhat as a learning experience. They made an impact to me. This one was # 1 on the list.

[@Reoko77]

Such a powerdul scene that echos even till today.

[@1946nova]

Walking Distance I believe is the most poignant teleplay ever written and coupled with the haunting musical score if once seen will stay with you forever - especially among "Baby Boomers". I too, think about how 1959 was really not so different from 1935 - and compared to 2013 is terrifying. The soliloquy written by Serling in the final scene is again, haunting, "to go home again". Oh, to spend just one day again in 1954 Falls Church, Virginia walking the railroad tracks to the State Theater.

[@simplimusiclover7912]

“I’ve been living in a dead run and I was tired” anyone over 40 with kids…job…get’s it and why it hits home with so many!

[@terrytragianopoulos9345]

You can watch TZ episodes 100x and they never get old This is one of them A testament to the genius and Art of Rod Serling who I consider the Shakespeare of Television

[@matthewbosco9190]

This episode touched me I too yearn to go home back to the past where it all made sense everyday I wish I could go back relive some classic nostalgia and see my father and just have at least one one conversation with him just one before I have to go i never knew my father he died when I was 8 seeing this episode touched me

[@IamZardoz]

Still hard to believe Frank Overton was only 49 when he died. This was his best role but he was great in Fail Safe, To Kill a Mockingbird and on 12 OClock High as well.

[@57highland]

He also did well in the TZ episode "Mute" (season 4, the hour-long episodes). He plays the good dad in that one too, though quite a different situation.

[@chess1458]

Hard to believe Gig Young was actually older than Frank Overton

[@russellcampbell9198]

Yes, he always looked a lot older than his years. Loved his voice.

[@danielstadden1149]

Star Trek "this side of paradise" died a month after it aired.

[@LordZontar]

@@danielstadden1149 Yes. Star Trek, The Virginian, and Bonanza were his last three television appearances.

[@ChicoEdge]

Such powerful writing from a time when CGI and Michael Bay's explosions couldn't be done on a weekly tv show. How painful it must have been for the father to see his grown-u son unhappy and unable to "look forward" in his life.

[@grantchow13]

This episode and “ Next Stop Willoughby” are my favourite Twilight Zone episodes because it’s basically the same storyline. It’s true you can’t go home again, and you only get one childhood…

[@fromthesidelines]

And then Rod did it again with "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar", on "NIGHT GALLERY".

[@Commanderbacon2012]

I watched this episode for the first time tonight. This scene made me cry. Well done.

[@antarcticorb9197]

Pure unfiltered genius...

[@Cupcakes76]

If I recall, Rod Serling did an interview around the time this episode aired and he said something along the lines of “You can never truly go home” which was referring to how he would like to return to his younger years. I still believe to this day that Walking Distance was based off of that feeling he had

[@fromthesidelines]

Of course. The merry-go-round was a staple of the park he played in as a youth in Binghamton, New York.

[@timothyschumacher7707]

Yes Rec Park (Recreation Park) was indeed wakking distance from his childhood home. Still is… word is he used to drive the streets once in a while… Class of ‘43 saw a large portion of young men go straight into WW2. Wow.

[@timothyschumacher7707]

Walking not wakking (sorry)

[@fromthesidelines]

That's okay.

[@gaynorpatterson2915]

You’re right. His daughter Jodi confirmed this episode had a personal connection to him.

[@TSM8088]

Sometimes it's hard not to look behind and to wonder if those truly were the best days, if somehow they might still exist somewhere... I'll try to look for tomorrow's Merry-Go-Rounds, ice cream sodas, comic books, and games in the park, but it's hard some days... Anyway, Happy Father's Day Pop.

[@jamessilva7991]

Yes. I sometimes wonder if the past is still out there and perhaps someday there will be a way to recapture it. I would settle for just being able to view the past as if you were watching a video. You couldn't interact or change anything. That would be good enough for me but most likely it would never be possible.

[@DaDitka]

@@jamessilva7991 I wouldn't mind that, either. For me, there were bad times, but there were good times as well. I wouldn't mind at all watching the good times.

[@jeffreygrossi2800]

Agree! This is one of my top Twilight Zone episodes.! Still gives chills and a valuable lesson about life.

[@splerth3771]

Scene never fails to choke me up- Kudos to writer Rod Serling, actors Gig Young, Frank Overton, and composer Bernard Herrmann for THE most beautifully haunting musical score ever written for television.

[@retroray58warby98]

Gig Young brings to this role a world weariness and a yearning for the past that is so powerful. One of my favourite episodes of not just ‘The Twilight Zone’ but of any television show. RIP Mr Young and Mr Serling.

[@martindavis205]

I loved the Zone but this was by far my favorite episode. I was born in 55 and spent summers in Marthas Vineyard our house was a block from the beach. We walked barefoot and could be unsupervised to the Flying Horses and had plenty of candy on circut ave,skimmed rocks and swam all day.My life since was never easy if I could just go back for 1 hour.

[@jameswarrick778]

When we're young we try so hard to hurry and grow up, when we're finally grown at some point we spend our time reminiscing wanting to go back.

[@brianyoung7854]

My favorite twilight zone episode, and this scene is so powerful , especially for those of us that long for simpler times and the way things “used to be.” For me , it was coming of age in the 1980s, An amazing time I still long for …When his father says , “Maybe there’s only one summer to every customer “ it hits me in my chest every time .

[@georgevincent1834]

Deeply moving with terrific acting. Serling was beyond genius.

[@marcus10]

I cried at this one. AND I NEVER CRY because of movie/series.

[@Scripturegirl.]

Long distance call..MAKE'S ME CRY.!!.

[@hanoc101]

Scripturegirl1990 That's a good one. A really creepy episode.

[@Scripturegirl.]

The 1ST time I CRIED AT the MOVIE THEATER..BRIDGE 2 TERIBITHIA. I cried 4 ABOUT 2 HOUR'S STRAIT..EVEN AT HOME, when I was on the phone that NITE..I COULDN'T STOP CRYING.

[@cristabelle1207]

+marcus10 what's even sadder is the player here (GiG Young) killed himself and his wife, at a relatively young age

[@marcus10]

Scripturegirl1990 Well, it is quite similiar with "My Girl", so I was not that shock with that one. But it was definetly sad.

[@767Robson]

I watch this and it does make me feel like I'd want to go back for a visit to the past. I'm 65 now but to go back to when I was 8, what a thrill it'd be. Alot more simple of a world I think it was where people really talked to each other. Now all are on their cell phones.

[@handyandy5929]

I think The Twilight Zone is easily one of the greatest, most profound shows ever to be made or will ever be made. Thanks for sharing this.

[@keithdanish7973]

I first watched this episode at age 12. Now at 70 I'm happy that there still are carousels and ice cream sodas to look forward to. .Don't look back!

[@marklisa9967]

One of the most brilliant scenes in the history of TV.

[@jeff-crankyxer1931]

I always well up when I watch this episode and especially this sequence, and now this story hits me even harder with the recent passing of my mom (both of my parents are gone now).

[@JohnPiperBoots]

** WALKING DISTANCE ** The Twilight Zone - a masterpiece and emotionally charged must watch this episode!! Have your kleenex standing-by because it's message speaks to the deepest depths of ALL humanity at the core. The hardest heart will become "thawed." RIP Mr Barr - Gig Young great job on The Walking Distance. Semper Fi USMC '75 - '81

[@elusiv3butterfly]

This one hits me in the gut every single time. Best episode hands down.

[@swissarmytenor]

Frank Overton (Pop) had great roles in (among others) "Fail Safe" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" with wonderful casts. A great actor. He passed unexpectedly of a heart attack, age 49, in 1967.

[@MustafaJackson]

As improbable as it is to have a favorite TWILIGHT ZONE episode, WALKING DISTANCE is my favorite. I want to thank two amazingly talented men, Rod Serling and Bernard Herrmann who collaborated on this television production to create a Masterpiece.

[@Dion1957]

That's Frank Overton as the Father. A really good actor. Also in "Fail Safe" and "To Kill a Mocking Bird"

[@timchristopherson572]

Dion1957 Also the TV Series "Twelve O'Clock High"...

[@brucedavis3816]

Yea i guess we all have our walling distance moment. I tried going back to my old college ironically at about the same age as the caracter in the story. Fortunately I didn't remember going there i still recognized the place but realized that part of my life was over. I know everyone who watches this video has experienced this sometime in there lives thats why your watching this video right now.

[@lynnblack3536]

Wonderful. That little child in us...longing to be heard..seen....loved...and play .without judgement.

[@D.N..]

""Don't look back, but look ahead .!! "' Dad gives him wonderful advice 😌

[@timlove1]

My favorite episode! Hands down!

[@Scripturegirl.]

+Tim Love👐🏼 👇 1-5-1962.

[@Miketheman926]

+Tim Love Mine too,You have good taste

[@PennPearson]

I agree. In fact, it was the best episode of any series that I have ever seen on TV.

[@georgepowell6345]

Mine, too.

[@BillyBronco73]

Rod Serling understood the human condition. His writing was touched with genius.

[@Narnian78]

This was a wonderful episode and one of the most moving from Twilight Zone.

[@luvs2cover]

It's like he was talking to me wow

[@chuckstephens7992]

Agreed, best scene in the Twilight Zone story lines, done by two really good actors.

[@AsYourCruiseDirector]

Thanks for posting my favorite scene as well, from my favorite episode. No one else could have performed these roles like Gig Young and Frank Overton.

[@NoOne-sc1ox]

"You've been looking behind you Martin try looking ahead."

[@peace-yv4qd]

I sometimes wish I could go back in time and spend just one day with my family and tell them how much I loved them. They're all gone now. And I regret that I didn't say the words that now I wish I had.

[@jamessilva7991]

I feel the same way. Actually I would settle with having them back for an hour.

[@danabrown4628]

Oh, how I wish I could do that! This episode so reminds me of Thornton Wilder's play, "Our Town", in which the nostalgia of returning to one's past is explored.

[@jdollinter]

Somewhere I read a bio about Mr. Serling and how he grew up in a town like this in Upstate NY and it had a permanent old Merry Go Round when he was a child and after the horrors he witnessed in WW2 he found himself getting nostalgic for that ideal place where he was so happy and safe as boy. It's another "you can't go home again" lesson with a twist and I also found it to be one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing this. JD

[@jameshersonjr3905]

Rod Sterling was a paratrooper in WWII and fought in the Pacific. What a brilliant man and true American.

[@aftdel]

The era made the scene. The formality, being so well dressed...no hugs or kisses or oversentimentality, not even a handshake when they say goodbye. Yet the writing, acting , and subtle facial gestures all convey the incredible depth and fierce intensity of the emotions of both father and son. Truly brilliant and magical....impossible to imagine this scene recreated today without it being ruined and gutted of subtlety and texture.

[@patfreeman53]

This is one of my favorite episodes. I had a great childhood, and often will buy nostalgic things that remind me of those days of being carefree, running and playing. But life does go on. As an adult I got to spend time with my children as they went through those years and now for the last 6 years, have enjoyed every single moment with my grandson. My memories are my most cherished possessions. I don’t live in the past, but enjoying those memories are better than watching any tv show or movie.

[@boneeatingsilicate580]

Life in the corporate world had me feeling the same many times over..the Willoughby episode was even more brutal on this topic

[@antisocialsocialist5716]

No doubt one of the best scenes in TW history!

[@Scripturegirl.]

U mean t.Z.

[@Scripturegirl.]

Antisocial Socialist I AM A CONSERVATIVE.!!.

[@riddlemethis34]

This episode made me cry automatically

[@dianehenkel9088]

Walking Distance is my favorite Twilight Zone. When Martin gets advice from his Dad, I cry because my Dad is dead. To be able to see and talk to your Dad one more time is something I would wish to have happen. Rod Serling understood. He was definitely a genius.

[@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253]

Yeah... It helps remembering all the worst things about our fathers, once they pass. It numbs this profound pain somewhat. Fathers are just human beings, after all.

[@dianehenkel9088]

@@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253 I don’t think his father had done things wrong, that’s why Martin wanted to go back to where his life was simpler and he wasn’t all alone. He had parents to talk to, give advice or just be there for him.