View source for Twilight Zone: The Hitch-Hiker

{{infobox episode
| name       = "The Hitch-Hiker"
| series     = [[Twilight Zone (1959)|The Twilight Zone]]
| season     = [[Twilight Zone (1959)/Season 1|1]]
| number     = 16
| image      = File:Twilight Zone 1x16 002.jpg
| airdate    = [[January 22nd]], [[1960]]
| writer     = 
| story      = 
| teleplay   = [[Rod Serling]]
| director   = [[Alvin Ganzer]]
| producer   = [[Rod Serling]]; [[Buck Houghton]]
| starring   = [[Rod Serling]]
| previous   = [[Twilight Zone: I Shot an Arrow Into the Air|"I Shot an Arrow Into the Air"]]
| next       = [[Twilight Zone: The Fever|"The Fever"]]
}}
'''"The Hitch-Hiker"''' is the sixteenth episode of season one of the science fiction anthology series ''[[Twilight Zone (1959)|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 ===
{| class="wikitable" border=1
|- style="background:#CCCCCC"
!width="150"|Actor
!width="200"|Role
|-
| [[Rod Serling]] || [[Narrator]]
|-
|}

=== Guest Starring ===
{| class="wikitable" border=1
|- style="background:#CCCCCC"
!width="150"|Actor
!width="200"|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 ===
{| class="wikitable" border=1
|- style="background:#CCCCCC"
!width="150"|Actor
!width="200"|Role
|-
| [[Eleanor Audley]] || Mrs. Whitney
|-
| [[Mitzi McCall]] || Waitress
|-
| [[Dwight Townsend]] || Highway flagman
|-
|}

== Notes & Trivia ==
{{Twilight Zone created}}
* 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 [[Twilight Zone: The Lateness of the Hour|"The Lateness of the Hour"]]. 
* Actor [[Adam Williams]] will go on to play a character named Woodward in the season two episode [[Twilight Zone: A Most Unusual Camera|"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 ''[[Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, The|The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll]]'' concludes on the same day that this episode first aired. 

== Allusions ==
* {{No allusions}} <!-- Remove template once the task has been satisfied -->

== 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.

== See also ==
{{Tz SA}}

== External Links ==
* {{imdb|title/tt0734644/|"The Hitch-Hiker"}}
* {{Trakt.TV|https://trakt.tv/shows/the-twilight-zone-1959/seasons/1/episodes/16|"The Hitch-Hiker"}}
* [[Wikipedia:The Hitch-Hiker (The Twilight Zone)|"The Hitch-Hiker" at Wikipedia]]
* [https://www.escape-suspense.com/2007/03/suspense_the_hi.html "The Hitch-Hiker" at Escape and Suspense]
* [https://twilightzone.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hitch-Hiker "The Hitch-Hiker" at the Twilight Zone Wiki]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twilight Zone 1959 Episode: 1x16}}
{{Tz 1959 1 episode}}
{{Cat|1960/Episodes}}
{{Cat|January, 1960/Episodes}}

{{Dir|Alvin Ganzer}}
{{Writ|Rod Serling}}
{{Exprod|Rod Serling}}
{{Prod|Buck Houghton}}

{{Cat|Rod Serling/Host}}
{{Act|Inger Stevens}}
{{Act|Adam Williams}}

{{Act|Russ Bender}}
{{Act|George Mitchell}}

{{Cat|Automobile accidents}}
{{App|Arizona}}
{{App|Grim Reapers}}
{{App|New Mexico}}
{{App|New York}}
{{App|New York City}}
{{App|Pennsylvania}}
{{App|Virginia}}