The Whole Truth - Twilight-Tober Zone

"The Whole Truth" has a good enough concept in there with some good actors trying to make it work, but it suffers from several different issues that tank a once promising premise by the end. Come find out the truth on this episode in the Twilight Zone.
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"The Whole Truth" is episode 50 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on January 20, 1961 on CBS. It was one of six episodes shot on videotape in a short-lived experiment aimed to cut costs.
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[@ChannelAwesome]

What did everyone think of The Whole Truth? Watch more Twilight-Tober Zone here - bit.ly/TwilightToberZone Follow Walter on Twitter - twitter.com/Awesome_Walter Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome

[@trinaq]

It was a decent offering, but it wasn't the most memorable outing for this show.

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

4:17 - 4:27/In regards to the topical humor of using Kruschev as the twist ending, this aspect is due mainly to the staff at TZ milking an actual visit by the Russian Premier 2 years prior to the airing of this episode. Serling & company must have figured adult audiences would get a kick out of having America's biggest challenge be relegated to truth-telling. Kruschev indeed visited the United States around 1959. So many comedians and TV writers probably saw opportunities in joking about his visit!

[@Lesley_RedRhody]

“The pen is blue… The pen is blue! THE GODDAMN PEN IS BLUE!!” As much as Walter loves Batman and The Twilight Zone, it’s refreshing to see him give his honest opinion whenever he feels that an episode isn’t quite up to par. It makes his appreciation for the greats that much sweeter. 💚🤗🤗💚

[@jlev1028]

Fun Fact: In the radio drama, Harvey sold the cursed car to an unnamed emir instead. Honestly, I think it works better than having an actual person of importance suddenly appear out of the blue.

[@adamantium_1]

I listen to the radio version on Spotify

[@Briaaanz]

I suspect Rod possibly pushed the weaker scripts to the videotape episodes so CBS would get feedback and think that the videotaping was the reason, not the scripts

[@HououMinamino]

If he actually did that, it was a really smart move.

[@nitorishogiplayer3465]

There were severe limitations to shooting locations and budget for those episodes so those limited what the writing could have done.

[@strangebrew1231]

22 would be a really good episode if it were on film

[@jamesgarrett8833]

Just wow “The Whole Truth” was an inspiration for the Jim Carrey movie, “Liar Lair” just like the season one episode, “A World of Different” was an inspiration for the other Jim Carrey movie, “The Truman Show”

[@anubusx]

The 1980's Twilight Zone episode Special Service also served as an inspiration for it.

[@claytonrios1]

Never trust a used car salesman. It's like trusting Todd Howard!

[@Olorin-gc8zo]

Amen, Nerevarine. Amen.

[@ryhi5]

IT JUST WORKS

[@trinaq]

"Liar Liar" did this premise a WHOLE lot better than this episode, but maybe it was because that they weren't limited for time, and it was played more for comedy.

[@RmnGnzlz]

Having like 100,00 times more budget also helps a little.

[@jbcatz5]

Having an emotional aspect to it as well, with the family angle and the protagonist going through character development, helps. Fletcher is someone also in a stereotypically untrustworthy profession where his inability to lie hampers his ability to do his job, but learns the toll his lies take on a personal level.

[@melissacooper4282]

And his inability to lie came from a birthday wish of his young son. I can understand why the boy made that wish. His father was constantly breaking his promises to him.

[@jbcatz5]

Melissa Cooper Max even tells Fletcher he’s the one who looks bad when he lies. Fletcher’s lies hurt.

[@ctmdarkonestm]

Having Jim Carrey makes a world of difference

[@NyGeL_Derey]

"Forced to tell the truth" and "Can't lie" are two separate things

[@Omar-wq9dz]

Apparently, this episode was the inspiration for the Jim Carrey movie, Liar Liar

[@trinaq]

Interesting, that movie popped into my head as soon as I knew the premise too!

[@daniellavaladez7820]

And ironically, Liar, Liar handled the premise far better than what inspired it

[@jlev1028]

Thank you for telling us information already found in this video. -_-

[@monterrang1]

the episode perhaps needs more context, back then Nikita kroutchev was pretty much known for his stance against Stalin to the point of pretty much bashing his politics & crimes over his grave when he was put in power. Because of that, the west perceived Nikita as a leader that couldn't lie, the same way as the protagonist does in this episode... so basically this episode is kinda joking on kroutchev himself

[@davevannatta985]

I love this TZ episode. It's not one of the big episodes, but it's a nice deviation

[@ericjanssen394]

Funny TZ episodes are usually painful, even by early-60's sitcom standards--you can just picture Rod Serling trying to tell a joke--but the "live TV" look helps, and the twist punchline is a perfect out-of-left-field stinger enough to redeem it. It wouldn't have been a TZ episode with any other ending.

[@MaverickChristian]

It's nowhere near the best Twilight Zone episode, but I did find it entertaining.

[@mrfish3961]

😬 👍

[@trinaq]

Another example of a movie arguably being better than the Twilight Zone episode it was inspired by. It had a lot of potential, but it was squandered here.

[@Jai137]

Which are the other movies?

[@melissacooper4282]

@@Jai137 I think Trina Q was referring to Liar Liar starring Jim Carrey.

[@dynomar11]

@@melissacooper4282 oh. Then I disagree.

[@Jai137]

@@melissacooper4282 I know about Liar Liar. The thing is Trina is saying ng it's 'another example' meaning there were other movies which were inspired by TZ but better. I wanted to know which ones.

[@wjzav1971]

They really broke suspension at the end with Chrustchev buying a shitty car from a small used car salesman on his American visit. Like, yeah, that totally sounds something the leader of a superpower would do.

[@MrSadisticLlama]

Eh the Excuse they pull kinda makes sense, with him showing off super shitty American Handiwork and craftsmanship to maybe "show off"

[@jodhod1498]

@@MrSadisticLlama It's still so far out of the left field, it might as well have been supernatural.

[@MrSadisticLlama]

@@jodhod1498 I also agree, or maybe just have the dude buying it be just a plain old mayor or whatever. Weird Soviet angle.

[@kali3665]

Jack Carson was never one of my favorite comedians, but he's not bad here. I did get the impression that he's not really into the material, however. And I don't care what people say: the twist at the end is funny. I love the musical sting they play whenever Harvey is about to pull one of his scams. I presume that sting is part of the CBS library since there's no credit for music, and, unfortunately, it's one of the few episodes the DVDs couldn't provide an isolated music track, but it works. We all know that Twilight Zone really doesn't do comedy very well, but this one is fine. Since this is one of the infamous videotaped episodes, it looks like crap, and no way does that "car lot" look anything more than fake studio mockup, but it's never going to look better, so we really can't complain too much. Still, you really wished that the producers had waited a few more months to be able to do this on film. Guys, if you HAD to do one more taped episode, you should have done Back There or The Silence - neither one had any exterior shots! My favorite moment is when his assistant Irv (Arte Johnson) has finally had enough of Hunnicut's bs, and slams him. And then Irv grabs a sign and lays it across Hunnicut's unconscious body, "Not Guaranteed. In Poor Condition." Right on! You can complain about how it comes across, but, seriously, it's Arte Johnson. What did you expect?

[@jlev1028]

To be fair, Krushchev traveling to the country simply to buy something from a carlot isn't the weirdest thing he's done. In 1959, he took a two-week tour in California and Washington DC and wanted to go to Disneyland even though that should've been seen as a symbol of Western decadence and consumerism to him.

[@johnhaladay5541]

Not to mention the thousands of Ukrainians he starved to death during the 1930s while serving as Stalin's lackey.

[@melissacooper8724]

I've heard that Disneyland wouldn't let Krushchev in.

[@Liverpool5095]

​@@melissacooper8724Nah that's not true. That lie was created way after the fact.

[@v1de0gamr23]

"Not Guaranteed In Poor Condition" Me too sign, me too...

[@adamdebord1897]

This episode was interesting because it wasn’t a parable the way the most famous ones are, and similar to “Liar Liar” it seems like it was trying to be a comedic episode. Decide for yourself if it succeeded, but the era specific Khrushchev/Kennedy ending results in it not being as timeless as the stronger, more memorable episodes.

[@Josephlunar824]

This is honestly feel more like a comedic episode

[@Eddie_King]

Twilight -tober zone is the best excuse to watch the Twilight Zone

[@ottobaron6392]

If you are an old car enthusiast, you can definitely enjoy this. I love the vintage iron assembled on the lot, as well as the Limousine at the end.

[@renezescribe1229]

As a TV show and vintage car fan, there is another factoid worth mentioning: the concept of a haunted car will come back as a full sitcom, just a few years later, with Jerry Van Dyke purchasing a "1928 Porter" who is actually his mom (My Mother the Car) and, would you know it, that very same car can be seen behind the comedians, further back in the lot...

[@ottobaron6392]

@@renezescribe1229 For the fun of it, I wrote a followup titled "My Mother-in-law, the hearse!" About a man who is glad when his mother in law dies, but then, because the devil has a crush on her, he allows her to come back as a 1959 Cadillac Funeral coach, to further torment him.

[@julieporter7805]

In the 80's they condensed episodes to 15 minute lengths combining into two episodes. This might have been better that way

[@LunaGirl196]

That terrible punch killed me XD

[@christopheredwards788]

That 👊 was weak!

[@KyleRobots]

Reminds me of how I use to punch in middle school

[@jojuXVI]

Whey you said "it one of the worst punches i've ever seen" i thought it was a punchline not an actual punch hahahaha

[@chrisazylum6624]

I think I remember reading about this episode! Next time The Invaders!

[@MrMac-0]

John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States hours before this episode originally aired. Jack Carson's final line was one of the rare times that a current president was actually mentioned during a Twilight Zone episode.

[@battleblitz2581]

3:21 That one crackhead friend that's always in a mood you can never explain.

[@georgiajacobs2206]

I love twilight I have watch all episodes and I continue to watch still

[@darthmelsie]

Excuse me, I think you mean the BEST punch thrown on screen?

[@Zeldarw104]

Watch this episode just for the great comedic actor Jack Carson who died aged (52) -- gezzzz.🕊️😑 He also starred in -- Cat On a Hot Tin Roof & Mildred Pierce, among other movie classics films.🌹

[@EM10gamer]

3:04 I mean, my man doesn’t look like he knows how to punch…I can cut them a bit of slack there, but yeah, it’s pretty bad.

[@MandleRoss]

I have seen a guy throw a punch like that in real life. It was back in high-school but still.

[@battleblitz2581]

3:01 When that one bad thing ruins the rest of your already crappy day.

[@CommanderOfTheSun]

That old man is from Every Which Way But Loose. He's the guy that gives that mother her driver's license, funny enough.

[@jimrogers2390]

I loved this episode, it was different. More of a light hearted comedic episode. The actor who played Hunnicut really played the dodgy car salesman well.

[@moonprincesst.s.h.4ever115]

I love this episode; it is one of my favorites.

[@kimawhitehawkjordan7714]

Putting the poor condistion sighn while passed out made me laught

[@heidifedor]

This was one of the comic episodes.

[@ItWILLbeWONDERFUL_THERE]

Jack Carson.... I THINK he was in the movie Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford .

[@wstine79]

"I CAN'T LIE!" This is a decent episode, but "Liar Liar" made better use of this premise.

[@trinaq]

Ditto, plus they had less time constraints and a bigger budget.

[@gianinabadami5341]

Comindiable, wstine79...on using the Liar Liar line 😀

[@Kiku91]

Okay, I thought I never saw any of the TZ episodes growing up but this one looks eerily familiar...

[@nickonite]

Funny enough. Same.

[@PapaTaurean]

Did he think he was a door? It looked like halfway through that punch the guy was like "am I throwing a punch or knocking on a door? Oh too late!!"

[@F1989C]

I was about to say.... Wasn't that idea used in a Jim Carrey film called liar liar? lol

[@leonhoneycutt1915]

It is so wierd hearing my last name said over and over again throughout the video, I thought my name was safe but all bets are off in the Twilight Zone.

[@v_the_engineer]

You weren’t kidding about that punch. Yikes

[@Oppeldeldoc1]

It may not be great, but Arte Johnson can make me watch almost anything.

[@toshirodragon]

Gods yes! Arte Johnson was the best!

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

Amazing

[@Unownshipper]

I think what I'm finding is that I'm a sucker for a fine actor and that a charismatic performance can salvage for me what for others is a foundering script. Let's not mince words, like the rust buckets on the car lot, this episode isn't going anywhere: it establishes its location, protagonist, and premise and is happy to do donuts around the set for the rest of the run time. Despite that, I found this to be another fun one. I love Jack Carson (he was in a bunch of my favorite films: Arsenic & Old Lace, Mildred Pierce, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, etc.) and I could watch him read the dictionary; he was a fine character actor especially in his comedic roles. He makes this proto-"Liar Liar" work in my book. The selling of the car to Nikita Khrushchev is a bit wild and does come out of nowhere, but it's amusing in its strangeness. As is the mention of JFK. Once again I didn't actually mind the videotape look too much. I felt it oddly fit as the cheap quality it gave the episode matched the essence of two-bit jalopy-hawker Harvey Hunnicut; still this isn't viable for the long-term and I am gonna be glad when we can leave these videotaped episodes in the rearview mirror.

[@wakeangel2001]

I thought this would be a court story when I saw that title, but I guess if it's one group of people more known for lying that lawyers it would be used car salesmen

[@meganparrish807]

Heh, I've seen worse punches thrown on The Cisco Kid, but that show was charming enough to give it a pass.

[@mrfish3961]

😬👍👍

[@meganparrish807]

@@mrfish3961 You know this 😬 is not this 😁 right? Thanks anyway.

[@jbar19]

Another very good episode with one of the best twist endings ever. This episode would be fantastic if it were remade with more Contemporary characters

[@ThePkmnYPerson]

I'm surprised you like Long Distance Call. I felt that one had a lot of the same flaws you said The Whole Truth has but worse. Perhaps you'll change my mind when you get to the LDC review.

[@kali3665]

I liked Long Distance Call too. I think it's because there's enough going on that you can ignore the flaws. And the father's call to "Grandma" does touch the heartstrings.

[@Shyradder]

Long distance calls slow pacing works for it, it builds atmosphere and tension, this is a comedy episode it just doesn't fit. I quite like long distance call definitely one of the creepier episodes, the part where the wife like picks up the phone and hears grandma breathing on the otherside gives me genuine chills I haven't had in a while

[@melissacooper4282]

What I find most disturbing about Long Distance Call was where the dead Grandma had manipulated young Billy to kill himself so that he could come stay with her!

[@kali3665]

@@melissacooper4282 It should be - it's a horror story. And it was co-written by Charles Beaumont, who specialized TZ horror stories.

[@ArnoldStark123]

Walter that wasn't a punch it was a slap 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CrossJeniel]

Good episode

[@slyfox2022]

Yoooo that punch tho...😂😂😂😂

[@KyleRobots]

I feel like the Kruschev thing might have been to make the network happy, like 'SEE? I did a rah-rah America is the best story!' And I forget if the car was to either show as a current car to show how shoddy american manufacturing is, or if the joke was that as broken down as it was, it was oppulent enough for a Soviet...

[@Liverpool5095]

It was basically the producer taking the opportunity to kiss the ass of the American government.

[@bartholomewceremony6981]

This is a great episode. 3/1/22. 9 pm

[@Axterix13]

Without knowing when episode was made, the Khrushchev twist works better. At least for me... Kennedy + Khrushchev tends to make one think of the Cuban Missile Crisis, so then the sale of this car helped resolve that, thanks to Khrushchev having to be truthful. Though that would work better if Khrushchev had visited the US shortly before that, rather than four or so years prior. But anyway...

[@crh1985]

I heard that they recorded 2 endings only for the line for the president

[@JJ-sh3by]

Dark toons idea: The GLOB from gumby

[@jrcarter9175]

3:03 Yeah, that punch was terrible.

[@Fafnd]

That was probably one of the top 5 worst twists on the show.

[@TheCreepypro]

kind of funny how the twist worked out

[@johnmckay1961]

I enjoyed this episode, not the best in the Twilight Zone, but fun none the less.

[@TheSpiralCurse]

An example of the Radio drama doing this story better, Henry Rollins kills this role

[@aquaskull2624]

The simpsons did an episode where marge was a car salesman and was way to honest, not because of magic, but because she's Marge. Forgot which one it is.

[@Merit2397]

In all honesty, if I had to tell what "The Whole Truth" was about, it's a low-quality episode that's so low budget in terms of it being shot on tape, that I have to wonder if that was done on purpose just enforce the fact that Jack Carson's character was a sleazy car salesman who sold cheap run-down cars, only to tell the truth about it. All in all, this episode doesn't really "trod out the strings" for me personally.

[@handlethis009]

Jack Carson ⭐

[@ThenewTchannel]

Shame, really. The idea of a person whose entire life and career depends on lies suddenly being unable to lie is a very interesting one. Gravity Falls covered this idea in the "Truth-ache" segment of the Bottomless Pit episode

[@Merit2397]

Is it just my imagination, or dose Harvey Hunnicut's assistant look ALOT like Rick Moranis?

[@melissadahl7561]

This one doesn't have enough of a twilight zone quality for me. Like...sure there there's a power that makes a guy tell the truth but...if played straight and that's all, it just doesn't hit for me, and yeah...like with most of the video taped ones, it looks really distracting. I don't think I've seen this one at all, or at least not all the way through, which says something about it.

[@stefanmule5855]

Please review trolls world tour Nine lives and Alexander and the bad day movie with Steve carell as nostalgia critic

[@jlev1028]

Could you stop spamming the same comments on every damn video?

[@stefanmule5855]

@@jlev1028 sorry I just really want the nostalgia critic to review these movies.

[@michaelsmyth3935]

Look at the television schedule when this was first run.....sure you want to skip it?

[@MapleStarBlitz]

You keep saying the videos are "not that good".. I love the Twilight zone, all of the episodes are good

[@yukimikasaki9705]

No comment!

[@yukimikasaki9705]

The Whole Truth is far more accurately "Toilet Zone" and NOT Twilight Zone!

[@wolfofthepride]

I think I literally only watched this because it inspired Liar Liar. But I barely remember anything about it.

[@melissacooper4282]

Personally I like the Jim Carrey movie Liar Liar better.

[@colinwilliams553]

I agree with you."The whole truth"is a complete mess, it's o.k, but I didn't liked it. However, I completely disagree with you on your review of "a most unusual camera."I DID NOT skip it at all.I've seen it a dozen times.I think it's interesting to watch no matter how many times I've seen it.I like the premise of it and the storyline about a camera that takes pictures of things that haven't happened yet but happen minutes later.so sorry dude, I'm NEVER skipping that episode that's just your opinion.

[@cojaysea]

Jack Carson was great in the hard way with ida lupino

[@mrfish3961]

I LOVED IT !!!! AND THE CARS !!!👍 💯 ⭐⭐⭐🕤🚪👁

[@MandleRoss]

The cars are the stars

[@ivolucano2455]

Yee

[@LBell13]

was about to like the video, then I saw it has, 33 likes, 3 dislikes and 3k views ...

[@mrfish3961]

SHEEP

[@lowrider993]

I mean i thought the ending was clever

[@maxpayne2574]

The ending is just dumb about the only time this can be said of TTZ. To me, Serling looks almost apologetic when speaking like he knows this is a turkey,

[@richewilson6394]

Yeah I would have been funny if like he sold it to a future president and became the best.

[@mrfish3961]

NO NOT A 🍋 A 🍒

[@dionruffin3996]

Sometimes the premise is better than the episode

[@jacobmelanson3210]

Wouldn’t the nerd have a shitty punch IRL too? Makes sense.

[@justinpilgrim6720]

Makes me hungry for a Twilight-Toblerone

[@jill5045]

Wowzer- isn’t it ironic (don’tcha think? Hmm Jim Carrey….Liar, Liar….Truman Show? sub in politics and what have you got boys & girls?

[@jlev1028]

WTF are you saying?

[@jill5045]

@@jlev1028 my thoughts? did you watch the video?

[@ShowdeQuetzal]

It was a very Bad punch

[@delorme9]

I disagree with your analysis, I happen to like this episode, especially since it mentions ' Jack Kennedy '

[@speakfreeley4473]

Shame it had to have a political ending, because this was a rare light-hearted 'Twilight Zone' episode. I expect classic car fans will love watching this.

[@petergray7576]

A "bit of a mess"? LMAO. It's a rushed project, seeing that this episode aired the SAME day as JFK's inauguration! I think Serling produced this episode in the wake of the contested election as a hasty love letter to the newly elected president, because it is a massive narrative failure. Let me fill in the inconvenient history irl. In 1929, the USSR invited Henry Ford to build a automobile factory near the city of Nizhniy Novgorod, and the factory duly opened in 1932, later called by its Russian initials, GAZ. It's first product? The Ford Model A car and the Model AA truck (designated GAZ-A and GAZ-AA)! Produced until 1936, it was replaced in production by the GAZ-M1, which was based upon the (wait for it) the Ford Model B. The GAZ-AA was upgraded into the GAZ-MM with the Model B's engine, and it became the Red Army's main supply carrier in the Great Patriotic War. There is no way in hell the Nikita Khrushchev would have bought a decrepit Model A as a propaganda tool, as the Russians were deeply familiar with the car, and admired American automotive and aviation technology. Khrushchev himself was a car fanatic, being so envious after Dwight D. Eisenhower showed up at a summit with a spiffy Cadillac limousine that he had his own version made. In a sense this episode tells more about the mentality of the American Democratic Party in the 1960s if nothing else. Democrats were so embarrassed by FDR's tilt towards the USSR and other Communists during the war, and wanted to atone for the Yalta Agreement "betrayal" with an attitude of uncompromising toughness, while rewriting the past to fit the current policy. This lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War, which had its own tragic denouement for the Twilight Zone (Vic Murrow and those two Vietnamese children). This IMHO one of the worst TZ episodes of all time.

[@petergray7576]

However, this wasn't the worst thing to air this week in 1961. Rival horror/sci-fi anthology program One Step Beyond aired an episode the following Friday that still scars the imagination. OSB was an ABC show in its third season that was very much like TZ, but had even lower ratings. Being a sweeps month the production staff needed a boost to stave off looming cancelation. ....So they sent a host to Mexico to buy magic mushrooms from a shaman, ingest them, and enjoy the aftereffects, all on camera. OSB had a shtick about psychic abilities, so it was within the show's oeuvre. But it was also 1961, when the US Square Force was defending our patriotic culture. The episode was rarely shown subsequently in reruns, and never in syndication.

[@jonathanstmartin]

This is perhaps my least favorite episode of The Twilight Zone

[@PhoutianPhill]

Super March Static September June League July League Unlimited

[@shadowweb892]

Yeet

[@Morgil27]

Liar Liar, anyone?

[@TheNearsightedGamer]

That just sounds like a bad episode.