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krpalmerFrom Rod Serling’s next-episode preview I understood “People Are Alike All Over” would be “science fiction” through the familiar expedient of involving space travel. Remembering “Mars” being mentioned at least had me hoping this would be a change from “asteroids” with atmospheres and Earth-normal gravity. It also, though, had me thinking of the Ray Bradbury story “Mars is Heaven!” and what its own take on the episode title might be taken as.
Stock footage of an Atlas missile launch got this episode’s characters into space again. Before that, they were introduced behind a chain-link fence that had me thinking of the opening of “Third from the Sun.” Their discussion invoked their episode’s title; I did wonder about the dialogue getting a bit over-profound. One of the astronauts being named Samuel Conrad got my attention; however, I then got to thinking about Charles “Pete” Conrad being one of the more “colourful” of the 1960s astronauts.
The approach to a canal-sporting Mars had me wondering if this bit of special effects had been made for the episode itself. The landing left the set of the ship in utter disarray (although we never saw what it would have looked like before), and only one of the astronauts made it out alive. Despite emerging with a gun in his hand the locals were friendly to the point of reducing the need of “unearthly” sets. I also found peculiar amusement in the astronaut indulging in a drink and a smoke, but the twist ending did lead to a proclamation the episode’s title was indeed correct. In the end credits it got my attention the episode had been adapted from an existing story; it also got my attention Roddy McDowall had starred in it. He played a role in Planet of the Apes close to a decade later, and that movie had its similarity to the twist ending here. It also seemed to keep things connected to know Rod Serling had worked on the movie’s script.
Stock footage of an Atlas missile launch got this episode’s characters into space again. Before that, they were introduced behind a chain-link fence that had me thinking of the opening of “Third from the Sun.” Their discussion invoked their episode’s title; I did wonder about the dialogue getting a bit over-profound. One of the astronauts being named Samuel Conrad got my attention; however, I then got to thinking about Charles “Pete” Conrad being one of the more “colourful” of the 1960s astronauts.
The approach to a canal-sporting Mars had me wondering if this bit of special effects had been made for the episode itself. The landing left the set of the ship in utter disarray (although we never saw what it would have looked like before), and only one of the astronauts made it out alive. Despite emerging with a gun in his hand the locals were friendly to the point of reducing the need of “unearthly” sets. I also found peculiar amusement in the astronaut indulging in a drink and a smoke, but the twist ending did lead to a proclamation the episode’s title was indeed correct. In the end credits it got my attention the episode had been adapted from an existing story; it also got my attention Roddy McDowall had starred in it. He played a role in Planet of the Apes close to a decade later, and that movie had its similarity to the twist ending here. It also seemed to keep things connected to know Rod Serling had worked on the movie’s script.