How the Father’s Plea to Save His Son in Twilight Zone’s “Long Distance Call” Was Rewritten

If a phone rings in the fifth dimension, think twice about picking it up.

Perhaps, as Miss Elvira Keene discovered in Twilight Zone‘s “Night Call,” you’ll find your deceased fiancé on other end of the line. Or it may be your late mother reaching out to encourage your son Billy to, ahem, hasten his demise so he can join her in the hereafter.

That’s the startling premise behind TZ’s “Long Distance Call,” which culminates in a desperate plea from an anguished father to his departed mother to not to take Billy to the other side.

Obviously, if the episode was going to work, the way that call was written and performed was of paramount importance. Charles Beaumont and Bill Idelson had written a solid script, but their initial effort at the father’s speech fell flat. As we learn from Marc Scott Zicree’s write-up of the episode in “The Twilight Zone Companion,” Rod approached them as the episode was being filmed and said it wasn’t working.