The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Details
Episode number:22
Season: 1
Production code: 173-3620
Original air date: March 4, 1960
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Ronald Winston
Music: Original score by Rene Garriguenc , conducted by Lud Gluskin
Cast
Steve Brand:Claude Akins
Charlie: Jack Weston
Tommy: Jan Handlik
Mr. Goodman: Barry Atwater
Synopsis
After the power goes off on Maple Street, the inhabitants start to believe there is some kind of alien invasion, and keep accusing each other of being an invader. Eventually, one of the inhabitants of Maple Street is shot and the street erupts into violent chaos. It turns out that nobody on Maple Street was an alien, and that the power outage and other strange events were caused by alien invaders watching from outside Maple Street.
Trivia
Filmed on MGM's Andy Hardy street.
Themes
Often cited as Serling's warning against McCarthyism and the mass hysteria it produces. Similar themes are explored in Four O' Clock and The Shelter.
References
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
Back to: The Twilight Zone, Episode List, Season 1
