| "The Hitch-Hiker" | |
|---|---|
| Series The Twilight Zone Season 1, Episode 16 | |
| |
| Air date | January 22nd, 1960 |
| Teleplay | Rod Serling |
| Director | Alvin Ganzer |
| Producers | Rod Serling; Buck Houghton |
| Starring | Rod Serling |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "I Shot an Arrow Into the Air" |
Next "The Fever" |
"The Hitch-Hiker" is the sixteenth episode of season one of the science fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone. It was directed by Alvin Ganzer with a teleplay written by Rod Serling. It first aired on CBS on Friday, January 22nd, 1960.
Plot[]
Twenty-seven-year-od Nan Adams goes on a cross-country trip from New York bound for California. Along the way, she gets into a fender bender in Pennsylvania and encounters a strange hitch-hiker. Stranger Danger! Stranger Danger, girl!
Cast[]
Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Rod Serling | Narrator |
Guest Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Inger Stevens | Nan Adams |
| Adam Williams | Sailor |
| Lew Gallo | Mechanic |
| Leonard Strong | The hitch-hiker |
| Russ Bender | Counterman |
| George Mitchell | Gas station man |
Co-Starring[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Eleanor Audley | Mrs. Whitney |
| Mitzi McCall | Waitress |
| Dwight Townsend | Highway flagman |
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Twilight Zone is an American science fiction anthology series created by producer/screenwriter Rod Serling, who also served as host for the series. The original series aired for five seasons between 1959 and 1964 spanning a total of 156 episodes. Each episode was a mixture of self-contained fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature.
- This episode is production code number 173-3612.
- Actress Inger Stevens will go on to play a woman named Jana in the season two episode "The Lateness of the Hour".
- Actor Adam Williams will go on to play a character named Woodward in the season two episode "A Most Unusual Camera".
- The vehicle that Nan Adams drives is a 1959 Mercury Montclair.
- When the teleplay was adapted for radio on The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas in 2002, the role of Nan Adams was voiced by actress Kate Jackson.
- Singer and musician Michael Hutchence of INXS was born on the same day that this episode first aired.
- Principal filming on The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll concludes on the same day that this episode first aired.
Allusions[]
- There are no allusions available for this episode at this time. Be the first to add some! Just click on the edit tab under the section heading and start typing. An allusion is an incidental reference made to a character, person, event or other miscellaneous piece of media that can be found somewhere in the episode itself. In most cases, this refers to characters or events from previous episodes.
Quotes[]
- Narrator: Her name is Nan Adams. She's twenty-seven years old. Her occupation: buyer at a New York department store. At present on vacation, driving cross-country to Los Angeles, California from Manhattan.
....
- Narrator: Minor incident on Highway 11 in Pennsylvania. Perhaps, to be filed away under "accidents you walk away from." But from this moment on, Nan Adams' companion on a trip to California will be terror. Her route: fear. Her destination: quite unknown.
....
- Narrator: Nan Adams, age twenty-seven. She was driving to California... to Los Angeles. She didn't make it. There was a detour... through the Twilight Zone.