r/TwilightZone • u/bigus-_-dickus • 2d ago
Episode Discussion third from the sun
I'm watching the original TZ for the first time, today i got to season 1 episode 14
the scientist says they found a planet (spoilers it's earth) identical to theirs, 11 million miles away
but from earth that doesn't even get you halfway to Mars
i think it's one of three things
1) the writers made a mistake and meant to say 11 million light years away, they didn't realize until afterwards
2) it was a style choice because to audiences in the sixties, 11 million miles already sounds like an insanely far away distance
3) it's some kind of a hidden joke saying that their system of measurement doesn't necessarily have to be the metric system, the same way their telephone design is different from ours
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u/Forward_Pirate5858 2d ago edited 1d ago
Hey, its ok. Nobody during that period cared for realistic space facts. What mattered is that they & us enjoyed a great sci-fi episode with a twist ending & that's all that matters.
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u/AmySueF 2d ago
Don’t expect real science from The Twilight Zone. The writers didn’t prioritize it. Their intent was to tell stories that reflected society at the time they were writing, allegories and metaphors using robots and aliens, or stories set in a possible future or alternate universe. Rod Serling created the series because he wanted to tell these stories but was frustrated by the censorship of the time, and thought he could say what he really wanted by using science fiction.
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u/dave-tay 2d ago
Third from the Sun aired January 8, 1960 when the Mercury missions were just under way to leave the atmosphere. The moon landing didn't happen until July 20, 1969 when the first photographs of the earth from outer space became available. Before that most scifi was just speculation and didn't have an inkling of the vastness of the universe. If you look back to almost all the scifi in the 1950s, they were about almost always about aliens from nearby planets like Venus and Mars. In episode 7 The Lonely, the main character was imprisoned on an asteroid that had a climate and looked suspiciously like Southern California. In episode 25 People are Alike all Over the astronauts find themselves imprisoned in a zoo on Mars by Martians. Don't look too hard for hard science on the Twilight Zone, there isn't any in that era
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u/Snoo95309 4h ago
I agree in general. However, in terms of just the distance between celestial bodies in the solar system, that was definitely known back then. They probably just picked some number they thought was cool.
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u/necrom82 2d ago
I’m guessing the second one is closer to the truth. I doubt they were researching real science and just coming up with what they think sounds good enough to people who just wanted a story.
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u/Toxic-Park 2d ago
It’s probably 2 for sure. But I like your option 3 to help cover for the mistake. I think I’ll be using that to explain it on my next viewings!
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u/Ok-Fortune-8644 2d ago
Knowledge of space was very low atthe time. The average person couldn't fathom the difference in such massive distances
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u/Ok_Scholar4192 2d ago
I love this episode, one of my favorites
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u/Average_Ant_Games 2d ago
I think the bigger plot hole is they know the name we gave to the planet.
How could they know this?
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u/FarnsworthWright 1d ago
I notice that your reddit name has only one g, even though in script of the original film you are referencing it is spelled with two. I think it's one of three things:
1) you made a mistake
2) it was a style choice since Biggus is not a word, and you chose to just add a "us" to "big" even thought it make it phonetically more confusing.
3) biggus_dickus, biggus-_dickus, biggus_-dickus, and biggus-_-dickus were already taken, and so you just said to hell with the g
In answer to your own question, it's 2, though I wouldn't call it a style choice.
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u/jpowell180 1d ago
I think the important question to ask is, why did the boss walk to his house?
Sure, he said it was a nice night for a walk, but I know what really happened
The foreign exchange student who is living with him and his wife, Long Duck Dong, got drunk, and drove his car into the lake!
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u/Tarnisher Host 2d ago
Put this together with Maple Street.
This is the team of observers shown at the end testing the subjects below.
Just for giggles.
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u/Glittering_Step_6084 2d ago
Or it could be a planet that existed at the time that we don't even know of. What does it matter? They didn't intend the viewer to read their scripts so literally. What I do know is that I think it's a great episode and very atmospheric (camera angles and all) and very suspenseful.
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u/bigus-_-dickus 2d ago edited 2d ago
i don't think it matters that much or takes away from the story in any way
i'm just nitpicking for the sake of it lol
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u/Snoo95309 4h ago
1 is very unlikely, almost by definition.
2 would put them beyond the moon but much closer than Mars. I will allow it.
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u/Darmok47 2d ago
They didn't really pay much attention to real science on the show.
There's one where astronauts say they've landed on an asteroid and don't seem to be bothered by the fact that it has 1G gravity and an atmosphere.