What They Wanted to Do Was 100% Illegal In this Episode of the "Twilight Zone!"

[@billw1266]

Sloan was a member of Welles’ Mercury Theatre, and appeared in such classics as “Citizen Kane” and “Journey into Fear”. A great, reserved talent. Thanks for the episode!

[@gljm]

He also played the ruthless CEO Walter Ramsey in the 1955 Emmy winning Teleplay "Patterns" also by Rod Serling and reprised his role for the 1956 movie based on the teleplay.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

Was he involved in the "War Of The Worlds" broadcast (10/30/1938)?

[@gljm]

@@michaelpalmieri7335 No he wasn't. The only actor from the Mercury Theatre to have been in the "War of the Worlds" broadcast and "The Twilight Zone" was Howard Smith who played Lieutenant Voght, bombing commander in "War of the Worlds" and played James Daly's boss in "A Stop At Willoughby" and an angel in "Cavender is Coming" in "The Twilight Zone. And of course the Composer Bernard Herrmann composed music for the "Twilight Zone" and conducted the musicians in "War of the Worlds" broadcast.

[@luxvox9239]

Two days ago my friends was telling me that he was having a hard time pulling himself away from a video game...I started saying 'Franklin' to him, in that voice. lol

[@caryrodda]

I'm glad you're considering a video on how the slot machine "talks" to the guy. That particular aspect creeped me out and I still remember it.

[@mrron9]

Yup. definitely didn't know it was illegal, but the solution was a lot cheaper than having to move the whole production! "Fraaaaaaaaaanklin!" 😂

[@robertjolly3021]

Franklins's need to play that machine back in 1960 still holds true to form today for million's of gamblers !! That was a great episode. Thanks 😎😎

[@silvereagle2061]

This episode scared the hell out of me as a kid. I really thought the machine was alive going after Franklin.

[@martabachynsky8545]

I thought it was one of those possessed inanimate objects. It also scared me and my brother a lot.

[@QuantumRift]

Me too.

[@geraldmartin7703]

Kind of like the fortune-telling machine in the diner episode, with William Shatner. That little nodding demon head scared scared the bejesus out of me.

[@silvereagle2061]

@@geraldmartin7703 Yea, that too. The way he winked.

[@JamesBrown-i2e]

Oh boy do I remember this Twilight Zone episode as a child. It gave me nightmares. It creeped me out when the machine was following him and calling out Franklin as if the machine was possessed. That and the Talking Tina doll episode had me sleeping with my lights on when I was younger. Thanks for the research on this scary episode Rick.

[@cjmarshall0221]

I was really creeped out when I first saw this episode (in the 70s). As you noted, there were no monsters, or magic, or science fiction. It was just a straightforward psychological thriller and you put your finger right on it when you said 'IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU." I wonder if there were people who saw it who were disturbed because they had a relative with a gambling problem. I was very impressed with the actor who portrayed the slot player. He did an outstanding job, showing a person who just kept getting in deeper and deeper because he wanted to hit the jackpot. You know if he did, it would have made no difference, he would have just gambled even more in an attempt to get more money. Sadly, it happens all the time in real life. Great review!

[@Easy-Eight]

I saw this episode at about the same time. I dislike gambling and slot machines to this day.

[@tgriffin3059]

Yes, the episodes without magic or otherworldly phenomena were rare, and that kind of tends to make them memorable. I always loved a similar episode, the one where Shatner and his wife stop in a cafe, and the little fortune machine on the table starts to become an obsession for the husband. As with the episode you cite, it's creepy BECAUSE it's so true to life. The thing has no power, except what the husband gives it...but that almost winds up being enough!

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

Actually, in the story, Franklin keeps playing the slot machine, not because he wants to "hit the jackpot," but because the machine refuses to give back a coin (a half-dollar, I think) that he put into it before it jams up. At the end of the episode, after Franklin is driven so mad by his belief that the slot machine is following him (his wife doesn't see it, somehow), that he jumps out of his hotel window and kills himself, the machine rolls up to his corpse and spits out the coin that he was trying to get back.

[@kellidinit3725]

About 5 times a year I splurge on a few scratch offs. If I win just a couple of bucks, I will throw it back in for another ticket, maybe. Anything over $10 just gets cashed in. First time I went to a casino, I won $90 in my first 15 minutes and I was ready to leave. My guy wouldn’t let me. 😂😂

[@polska1958]

Your behind the scenes info is better than the episode itself. Thanks

[@ricknineg]

Haha, thank you so much for the compliment

[@seanf5634]

If you look at the coins, those are real silver dollars (liberty and morgan). In 1960 coins were 90% silver, hence far more valuable than today's coins which have no silver content.

[@fazole]

Compare the weight of quarters from just 10 or 15 yrs ago!

[@davidhoward4715]

The problem is the variable value of silver. If the value of the silver rises above the face value of the coin... well, you know what will happen.

[@davidhoward4715]

@@fazole Much easier to handle now.

[@WeedMIC]

Back when a pound cost $28 silver dollars and a silver shilling (which weighed less) was worth more than a dollar.

[@eddieboggs8306]

Real silver coins when tossed on a flat surface have high ping sound versus non silvers which has a thud..

[@TheRetroEngine]

Fascinating. Would never have imagined this was the case.

[@herbcraven7146]

Absolutely one of the most underrated episodes of TZ here. I love that old Rol-A-Top machine. It became so menacing over the course of the episode! I have a vague recollection of how they did the voice from reading The Twilight Zone Companion when I was a teen, but I'd love to see you do a video on how they achieved that effect.

[@erictaylor5462]

I liked "A Nice Place to Visit." When the guide said, "I never said this was heaven...."

[@WoodworkingDaddy]

Fun fact - This same slot machine appears in TZ at least two more times. We see it in "A Nice Place To Visit" (April 1960) and in "The Prime Mover" (March 1961).

[@valvenator]

I wonder if that slot machine and Robbie the Robot ever hooked up? 😉

[@skylaneav8r902]

I have also seen this machine in a Perry Mason episode, which is interesting as two jazz tunes that are played throughout this episode (Jazz Theme #2 and Street Moods in Jazz) were used in multiple episodes of Perry Mason also.

[@gregmiller9710]

....FRANKLINNNNN!....it is a good episode and it harbors human behavior....Rod was a genius..and that slot machine is used in 'Its a Nice Place to Visit' too...:)

[@ricknineg]

😆

[@johnwilson1489]

Very interesting. I never thought about it being illegal. Thanks

[@robwheeler7552]

That's really interesting, I never really thought about it. Always loved this episode. "Franklin!!"

[@melvinatkins998]

Awesome episode! 👍

[@PaulTesta]

Rick, Great video! Had no idea of the illegality issue to this episode. Very interesting. And yes, I've seen this (and every TZ) episode... Point of fact: Looks like the air date was *January* 29, 1960. Be hopeful, Paul +

[@danaripley1200]

When a slot machine develops language skills an stalks him and calls his name...Franklin! Spooky for me when I was a kid.

[@NipkowDisk]

Everett Sloane was an excellent actor IMO, and I think he looked considerably older than he actually was.

[@michaelmoorrees3585]

Was born in late 1909, and this episode was made ~1960, so he was just a tad over 50, at the time. I'm 65 now (April 2024), and he looks a lot older than me.

[@NipkowDisk]

@@michaelmoorrees3585 I just turned 64 earlier this month, and he looks at least my age if not older.

[@MsBackstager]

Sad that he committed suicide in the mid 1960s because he was afraid that he was going blind (glaucoma?) :(

[@bodaciouspizza]

That episode made me kinda emotional honestly... I felt so bad for his wife from the jump and it just goes and goes relentlessly

[@johnmichael1979]

One of my favorite episodes! Your behind the scenes information makes it even better!

[@jacktribble5253]

I had not heard this one. Good example of "Regulations" at work.

[@txsraappraiser]

Episode 12 "What you need" was gr8!

[@geraldscott4302]

I wish gambling were still illegal everywhere but Nevada. I live in AZ, which is about 30% Indian reservations, and the state allowed the Indians to get into the gambling business. There are now hundreds of casinos on reservations all over the state, and they are raking in billions of dollars a year. This money was originally supposed to help improve living conditions for those on the reservations, but that never happened. It just wound up making a few people very rich. Meanwhile, a large part of the states population has become addicted to gambling, and their kids are going without because parents are gambling away all their money.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

It's sad, isn't it? I'll bet the state government deliberately let the Indians get into the gambling business just to make them become addicted to gambling, hoping they would drive themselves into poverty, thus giving them less power, influence, and MONEY to help improve conditions on the reservations, or to get the politicians (who never cared about them to begin with) to help them. It's just another example of how the once proud Native Americans have been lied to, exploited, robbed, and cheated by the White Man ever since the first Europeans came to what was once the Red Man's land centuries ago. "But maybe someday, when they've learned, Cherokee Nation will return, Will return, will return, will return, WILL RETURN!" From the song "Indian Reservation," by Paul Revere and the Raiders. (1969)

[@skylaneav8r902]

I agree. Here in NC the state senate is pushing to legalize gambling in rural areas because a big casino is being built just across the state line in Danville, Va. They need to be concentrating their efforts into attracting someone to build places for citizens to actually earn a real living wage instead of a place for pi$$ing it away. It’s like the “state education lottery”. Very little of that money is seen by the schools. If anything school conditions have gotten worse. Another consequence of the lottery is you can’t quickly get in and out of a convenience store without getting stuck in line behind some unemployed person(s) agonizing over which scratch-off tickets they want to blow $100 on, or having the cashier “run dey numbers”. In my experience overwhelmingly people who play the lottery are those who can least afford it. State run lotteries are a tax on the poor.

[@brianarbenz1329]

Gambling casinos were a panacea that were supposed to bring back poor cities and struggling rural areas. The Donald Trumps of the nation looted these areas and left them poorer. (He ran one in Gary on false promises of prosperity.) The only reason casinos and lotteries were ever started was to keep the corporations from having to pay their taxes, and to enable them to abandon their communities. We should have ended corporate privilege and enforced the anti trust laws. Democratic Socialists were right all along.

[@mase7557]

The reason that politicians made gambling legal was so they could tax the hell out of it. Just like making marijuana legal. Once greedy politicians realize how much money there is in gambling and drugs, they start salivating and make it legal. Look for prostitution to be legalized next.

[@mase7557]

@@skylaneav8r902They love to say that schools are benefiting from lotteries. But, in reality, for evert dollar schools get from lottery money the state takes away a dollar from taxes that would have gone to schools. It’s a GIANT SCAM!

[@jons.6216]

Poor Flora at the end of the episode when he seems to have nearly bankrupted them! I loved the jazzy tune that plays throughout! It was in one other episode when Buddy Ebsen has the telekinetic powers and the car crashes at the beginning.

[@MsBackstager]

Didn't they use the same slot machine in this ep and the Buddy E. ep?

[@catserver8577]

I would imagine that the authorities agreed also because the theme of the episode was the evils of gambling....

[@Easy-Eight]

I remember this episode as a kid. It instilled a dislike of slot machines to this day and still don't like gambling.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

It's a good thing you don't like gambling, because you can go broke doing that. My sister (may she rest in peace 🕊️) had a couple of friends who got married and went to Las Vegas on their honeymoon. The very first day they were there, THE GROOM GAMBLED AWAY ALL THEIR VACATION MONEY! The bride had to call her mother to send them more cash. If I ever visited Las Vegas, I would just see the sights, take in a show or two, maybe look in a museum or two, but I would never gamble and risk losing my money. I might go inside one of those casinos just to look around and see what it's like, but I wouldn't so much as TOUCH a slot machine. Most of the money that those places take in probably goes into the pockets of the Mob anyway.

[@Easy-Eight]

@@michaelpalmieri7335 the Mob is long gone and that's a shame. I mean it. When a GI at 20 I went to Vega$ in 1980. This was in the great days of the Mob. We actually had a "pit boss" tell us to enjoy a meal but don't drink, they could lose their license. Flash forward to 2022. I went there with my wife to see a show. The mob had long since been driven out and corporations controlled the town. With corporations come "woke" politics and the homeless had taken over the town. I remarked to a sales girl (nice twenty-something) at "Black Rifle Coffee" gifts that the town was sort of grungy. She said it was the fault of the Casinos and the Mayor, some leftist Poppa Oscar Sierra. I don't gamble but Vega$ was fun back in the day. Now? It's like LA, Portland, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin... all are woke holes.

[@jamesdrynan]

Addiction is well-handled here with the personification of the one-armed bandit. The ironic poetry of the coin being returned at the end is pure Rod.

[@donnicholas7552]

I remember seeing this episode. That's wild! I never knew about the background story about the slot machine.

[@daBEAGLE1017]

As someone named Frank, of course i remember this episode.

[@petewiz9409]

Yes I saw it, about in 1964 when I was about 6. I was sent to bed so I missed the end. I had to ask a friend about the end next day. Great show, thanks.

[@acelarson1872]

FRANKLIN!! Great episode love it and great story Rick.

[@rocksolid6494]

What I notice in the tray is the silver peace dollars you can win when playing this machine.

[@Frankie5Angels150]

“Piece” not “peace”…

[@christopherkeating4830]

No, they were called Peace dollars.

[@scottsmith5623]

lol what an IDIOT… imagine correcting someone WRONG!! Peace Dollars were one of the most beautifully designed US coins .

[@The-Secret-Door]

I'm gonna look this one up again, too. I remember reading a collection of short stories of Twilight Zone episodes, and this was one of them.

[@MsSweetpea1958]

Wow, that's crazy, so is how they happened to get a machine that worked so well with the episode.

[@rodwesley2779]

You're a wealth of information on all of my favorite TV shows that I loved as a kid and growing up! I'm amazed at how much went on behind that the scenes that we never imagined. Keep up the grwst work, Rick! I bet you're in demand a lot for trivia night all the time! Especially when TV trivia is featured 👍👊

[@im_agine852]

You're the king Rick. I'd like to see more of this video.

[@camickelson]

That's amazing! They sure had to go extra lengths.

[@johnp139]

Stupid times

[@rager-69]

When I was a kid and a young adult, I was blown away by a slot machine doing $1 bets in the 1960s, since that was a high betting machine in my modern day. Think about inflation: $1 in 1960 is the same as $10.55 in 2024.

[@hungfao]

First time I saw this back in the '60s it worried me a lot. We had a dehumidifier in the basement that would rattle every now and then like it suddenly awoke and started walking for my bedroom door which was also in the basement. I would lay in the dark at night expecting it to appear at my door for some kind of TZ-type vengeance.

[@zzzut]

Where do you get all that great information? Your videos are pure gold for classic tv aficionados. Thanks for making them! ❤

[@ricknineg]

Thank you kindly! I have a bunker filled with the treasures of behind the scenes info

[@zzzut]

@@ricknineg That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to learn more.

[@uhclem50]

One of my favorite episodes. Didn't know about the problems associated with the slot machine.

[@mikeotolski9549]

Great job as always

[@Jared_Wignall]

It’s amazing to find out how they got around this loophole by talking to the police about impounded slot machines. Thanks for the video Rick, I hope you’re doing well. Keep up the great work, have a great day and a great weekend. Take care!

[@ricknineg]

All they went through to bring us this episode

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

​@@ricknineg It's ironic, Rick, because even though gambling and gambling equipment was illegal in California, the "Twilight Zone" episode which you refer to (entitled "The Fever") was set in Las Vegas, where gambling was, and still is, not only LEGAL (as it is all over the state of Nevada), but has been glorified by pop culture, and is usually encouraged in Las Vegas. There was a similar problem back in the early 1950s during the filming of an episode of Abbott and Costello's TV sitcom. In this episode, Lou Costello witnesses some local policemen (including his neighbor, Mike the cop) conducting a raid on an illegal gambling den, and he tries playing one of the slot machines that the cops are confiscating. As with "The Fever" on "The Twilight Zone," the producers of "The Abbott and Costello Show" had trouble finding a real slot machine because they were illegal in California, which is where the show was filmed (it's also the state where the program takes place, since the title characters live in a rented apartment in Los Angeles), so they had to borrow one from the police impoundment lot, and a policeman had to stand guard while the episode was being filmed in case a member of the filming crew was tempted to steal the machine to install it in his or her house.

[@aramboodakian9554]

The episode is one of my favorites. The jazz music used in this episode is top notch building up the tension and suspense. “A Mr. Franklin Gibbs visitor to Las Vegas who listened to his money, his will and finally his life to a machine…

[@harrybarry2291]

Thanks, I never knew this. I grew up in the 50's and 60's and loved the series. I have a complete set of it.

[@morganm9040]

Another great episode, Rick. I had no idea it was that complicated to have a slot machine at that time.

[@cadeevans4623]

Wasn't aware of this rick had no idea about this thanks for this info very much detailed you the man Rick

[@sallyn2393]

It’s a great episode. Everett Sloane was perfectly cast as Franklin. That’s a really interesting bit of information about the slot machines. I had also read that this episode was actually inspired by Rod Serling’s actual experience in Las Vegas. I would love for you to delve more into the episode, I really enjoy and appreciate your take on them.

[@ricknineg]

It’s a great episode filled with lots of info to expand upon

[@peternighswander9629]

Did they do the same thing for a Nice Place to Visit? The episode with Rocky Valentine. There was a slot machine payoff in the casino scenes. Great video

[@dk60ish]

It's a powerful episode, but it's still very difficult to watch a character's complete breakdown, when he was nothing more than a stuffed-shirt who didn't otherwise really deserve such a fate in the end, though he's not as sympathetic as Burgess Meredith's character in "Time Enough At Last" that we sense a great loss.

[@marlenepearson3936]

Wow! That's amazing Rick. Better to pay a cop 👮‍♂️ than to get in that much trouble. Rod Serling was an amazing man! You be hopeful as well 😃

[@byronbrewer33]

I love this episode. It could totally happen to somebody and I love the whispering slot machine. Had no idea about this law in California. Thanks so much, Rick

[@rsler63]

Interesting! I thought I knew all there was about Twilight Zone. But this is the first time I heard about this. Thanks.

[@gailwatson4927]

I loved this episode. Thanks for the information.

[@ricknineg]

Many thanks!

[@partyon5374]

Love the behind the scenes info on these episodes. There were a bunch of Slot Machines in the background of this program & it would have been interesting having the studio transport all of them with a police escort.

[@ricknineg]

My guess is that ms y of those in the background were statics and not real. Maybe they were casted and molded with no working parts. The real one was def the one Franklin used

[@kakylong2]

Rick, You amaze me at all the things you notice or find out about all these shows. So cool. Have you thought about doing the show Alfred Hitchcock Presents? 😊

[@ricknineg]

I have 😏

[@geneard639]

I work as a Counselor and I've been lucky to work alongside a good Mentor who knew Process Addictions very well. Gambling is a Process Addiction, and a lot of folks who have Substance Use issues? Often substitute a Substance Use, for a Process, and in some cases Substance Use is also intertwined with a Process Addiction. That is one aspect of why when a well documented SU person is using a highly potent or large amount of a Substance in Location A is fine... but... they use the same Substance or amount in Location B and its fatal.... yeah, I know! This episode of Twilight Zone? Is really awesome because it shows HOW a Process Addiction can occur and it can be in just the span of a few hours or just ONE event! But, I think the biggest Process Addiction issues out there today are .... Social Media and Video Gaming. Yeah, not kidding. Go to any store or restaurant and you'll see a worker with their cellphone in their hand or hear them mumbling on their phone half distracted.... or, hear a sudden screech and feel a big THUMP from the back of your car. Yep. Been hit 4 times now by kids with phones in their hands. Texting using both hands, steering with the knees is a thing apparently. Airbag deployed, phone broke their nose. I laughed, then I called 911.

[@paulbrungardt9823]

In 2024, anything goes---They would just truck them in from Las Vegas , if this were today.

[@davidhoward4715]

Anything goes today? Really? Someone forgot to tell everyone else.

[@paulbrungardt9823]

@@davidhoward4715 Yes Really ! No border, open air drug markets, open prostitution, Yes Really.

[@brianarbenz1329]

@paulbrungardt You left out some - accused rapist becoming president, mobs of swastika waving thugs storming the Capitol, racists shooting black church services and gun toting sociopaths murdering school children.

[@AceRuiner1979]

@@paulbrungardt9823 Lol no

[@paulbrungardt9823]

@@AceRuiner1979 What do you mean ? Is your position that if there were no slot machines in California, they would not just truck them in from Nevada ? California is open territory for anything in 2024.

[@MrJosephdrummond]

How is this episode underrated? It's like one of the two episodes people can specifically remember

[@ddavenpAZ]

Great video! Although I have to admit when you started saying “He became more and more addicted the more he did it” and “This could happen to you.”, I thought we changed the subject to something a bit risqué. 😲 😂 Once again, I learned something new from you, this time regarding old time California law. Wonder if the officer on duty got paid twice? Once by the LAPD to guard the slot machine and then again by the studio for doing so as well? We may never know. Oh and definitely do a video just on this episode as I never heard of it and your review would definitely be the ultimate jackpot! 🎰

[@Flint92]

Great Job as always Rick! BTW, there are a LOT of "Franklins", just go visit any Vegas or Atlantic City Casino! People who swore they would never get addicted!

[@kenlompart9905]

I don't know why they didn't film the casino scenes in Vegas which isn't very far from LA, surely it wouldn't cost a lot to move the cameras and crew a few hours away.

[@davevaebutuoy]

I've seen it and decided to rewatch it... watching it now! Thanks for sharing the trivia.

[@WeFergie]

Times have changed...mostly. The NBC show "Las Vegas" built a casino floor set for the fictional Montecito. All the slot machines were real functioning machines. The California Gambling Control Commission had officials on the set to make sure the actors/extras did not kept any of the money paid out by the slots.

[@elainevankat5353]

Wow, that’s very interesting… love this post!🎰 Thanks Rick.

[@josephrinella9874]

I like all Your stuff Rick keep At it . Thats all I watch is old time tv , its nice to learn more about these shows

[@lavendardust]

Very Interesting. Good reporting.

[@ginger00022]

I always love "Twilight Zone' videos. Very cool story about this "Twilight Zone"".

[@pallas29]

Cool fact. Never saw this episode, and I watch the 'Twilight Zone' marathon on Sci-Fi every New Years.

[@Robert-wn2cw]

I saw this episode recently and actually found it compelling viewing. And thought provoking.

[@OH.A.M.]

Great episode and fascinated story my friend.

[@FrancescaA00]

I had no idea!! Love that episode. It was terrifying to me as a young person and I’ve never gambled. Too scary. lol.

[@Kamakazi_-tp2lb]

This was one of the best right along with "a hundred years of the rim", "terror at 20,000 feet" and "room for one more" just to add a few other great episodes oh before I forget "eye of the beholder" another great one.

[@josephcope2737]

I'm surprised they didn't find a Nevada casino to film in. A couple of episodes were done in Death Valley's Desolation Canyon, which is closer to Nevada than to Hollywood.

[@michaelkuypers9798]

I've seen this one many times. Lately I've been sharing episodes with my wife who hasn't seen them before. It's fun to watch her reaction to the twists. We're both TZ fans now.

[@garyperkovac1002]

Well, well. You fooled us. Apparently.., it WAS legal with the added Policeman on set. I loved this episode, too. Everett Sloane, the actor who played the lead was great. He was also excellent in "Patterns" --- a 1956 film written by Serling.... Check it out.

[@kurtb8474]

This is very interesting. I only have one question, what about the other slot machines we see in the episode?

[@christinegentry5051]

Yes, I've watched this episode plenty of times. Reminds me of my gambling reletives sitting on a heater 😊. I never miss Twilight Zone. Gifted myself the whole set one Christmas and still watch on TV. My favorite episode is Nightmare As a Child.

[@billbucktube]

Excellent observation

[@nickimontie]

Very creepy episode! Interesting about the illegality, too!

[@AnMuiren]

I saw that episode as a kid when it aired and had the weirdest recurring nightmares right afterward. I think it was the voice of the slot machine calling his name, "Franklin" that creeped me out. As a young adult, watching it decades later in the late 1970s it helped me see a parallel in my own compulsive behaviors and partly inspired me to get clean and sober.

[@jehobden]

The episode's original airdate was Friday, January (not November) 29, 1960. Everett Sloane, who played the unfortunate Franklin Gibbs, also appeared on shows like Andy Griffith's (where he provided the lyrics to the theme song, "The Fishin' Hole") and Dick Van Dyke's. He committed suicide himself in 1965 when he was going blind. :(

[@madbrowniac7871]

Years later Rod Serling himself could've been quite unaware of how symmetrical a turn of events this was. On CBS Television no less! "Franklin" was the real first name of The Actor Franklin Cover who Played "Tom Willis" on "The Jeffersons." And "Gibbs" of course is the real last name of The Actress Miss Marla Gibbs who Played "Florence Johnston", "George" and "Louise"'s impudent yet admirable Maid on the same Show!😂😉🎤📺B.W.

[@peter5.056]

I was a live-in personal assistant to a very wealthy terminally ill man who had developed a gambling addiction. I watched him lose 8 million dollars in one night, and then complain the next day that I was charging him too much for my services ($5,000 per month for being on call 24/7 for absolutely anything he might need or want.) His psychology was complicated to say the least.

[@brianarbenz1329]

It would be interesting to see if Las Vegas hotels experienced a drop in reservations by people named Franklin after this episode aired. Or, perhaps an increase!

[@roberttelarket4934]

So what's the big deal about installing several paid police officers 24 hours per day for the duration of filming?

[@davidhoward4715]

The pay.

[@roberttelarket4934]

@@davidhoward4715: What the hell are you talking about?! A "couple" of dollars that's all!

[@qdllc]

Makes no sense that it was illegal to have a working slot machine as a prop in a movie.

[@davidhoward4715]

If it's against the law it's illegal.

[@qdllc]

@@davidhoward4715 - But a PROP doesn’t have to be a fully functional machine.

[@ThatBoomerDude56]

Yup. I remember that episode. Classic mind bending Twilight Zone plot.

[@billcatcher2701]

Nice review. If you haven't already, maybe a review of "A Kind of Stopwatch" from the 5th (and final) season. Can you dig up some juicy tidbits on that episode?

[@claudiocorleone7856]

How long did the filming involving the slot machine and cop being present last? My take is probably early morning until late at night one day.

[@rivaridge7211]

A former co-worker of mine won $50,000 via "progressive slots" (at a casino in New York State) and proceeded to give it all back within 3 months. He was chasing another "big hit" which never came. This was a great TZ episode.

[@hics231]

So, I was like four or five years old when this episode came out. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my cousin Becky, she was around my age, and my mom in a chair behind us. When the bedroom door opened and the slot machine was standing there, I beat my cousin to my mom’s lap. My cousin wound up behind the chair. Although not funny to me at the time, it’s a fond and funny memory of my childhood.

[@colinwilliams553]

I really liked that episode to by the way,another TWILIGHT ZONE episode where they would use the same slot machine and that was "the prime mover" it was used in the beginning of the episode check that one out.

[@epicnamepwns1242]

Ah yes, that was a good one. A couple of my personal favorites are The Gift and The Night of the Meek, but I don't think there were any bad ones in the original series.

[@richelliott9320]

Everett Sloan was yhe voice of the guy in a wheelchair that had a pet pterodactyl in Jonny Quest

[@ginamariedibella]

I can’t remember what episode it was, but I know that slot machine has been used in more than one episode. I’m just can’t think of what the other episode is.

[@mssmith3604]

According to the IMDB, this episode aired on 29 Jan 1960, not 29 Nov. I had a crush on Vivi Janiss, but I was disappointed at how Serling portrayed the actions of the casino staff. In a real casino, they would not stand around while a player was clearly having a nervous breakdown. They would escort him out of the area.

[@gazoo-pl4nx]

sterling spoke with sgt.friday and the problem was solved

[@jamesholland8057]

I was 8 years old and the sound of the machine scared me very much.