"Where Is Everybody?" was the pilot episode for this famous series and it remains one of the best. Series creator and chief writer/narrator Rod Serling wrote it. Serling's main objective for the "Zone" was to portray the human condition at its best and at its worst, and without ruffling the feathers of his network superiors. Most of the "Sci-fi" was merely disguised social commentary and Serling was a master at this unique and ground-breaking technique of story-telling. Similar to much of what followed, "Where Is Everybody?" begins as an elaborate puzzle and gradually unfolds to a present-day (in 1959, that is) scientific space flight experiment. Earl Holliman (of later "Police Woman" fame) gives an outstanding performance as a man trapped alone in a strange deserted town with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Adding to the mysterious atmosphere of the piece is Bernard Herrmann's eerie musical score.
Serling's main point here is that man cannot survive without human contact, whether in space or anywhere else. Holliman's slow disintegration into utter hopelessness illustrates this theme with an exclamation point. Watching this pilot now, it is easy to see why the network executives of that time were quickly sold on the series and brought it into mainstream American households.
Serling's main point here is that man cannot survive without human contact, whether in space or anywhere else. Holliman's slow disintegration into utter hopelessness illustrates this theme with an exclamation point. Watching this pilot now, it is easy to see why the network executives of that time were quickly sold on the series and brought it into mainstream American households.