Professorjon Common Bond Quiz 26

Answer: The Mighty Casey

Ernest Thayer (1863-1940) published "Casey at the Bat" in 1888. The poem is about a baseball team that enters the ninth trailing by two runs. But they have a chance when their star slugger, Casey, comes to the plate with a couple of men on base. But Casey strikes out. "Casey at the Bat" was turned into an episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "The Mighty Casey," starring Jack Warden, Abraham Sofaer and Robert Sorrells (as Casey).

Answer: Cleopatra

Claudet Colbert portrays the 'Queen of the Nile' in a 1934 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. "The Queen of the Nile" is also the title of an episode of "The Twilight Zone," starring Ann Blyth. Ann Blyth is better known for her role as Joan Crawford's daughter in "Mildred Pierce."

Answer: The Sounds of Silence

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reached number one on the charts with "The Sounds of Silence" in December of 1965. "Mrs. Robinson" hit number one in 1968. "Scarborough Fair" peaked at eleven in 1968 and "Homeward Bound" reached number five for the duo in 1966.

In an episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "Sounds and Silences," John McGiver portrays the owner of a model ship company who loves very loud noises. But he undergoes a transformation where even the tiniest of sound makes a deafening noise to him and he shocks his employees by demanding extreme quiet.

Answer: I Lost on Jeopardy

Weird Al Yankovic is a singer/songwriter who specializes in song parodies. He had hits with "Eat It," a parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and "It's Still Billy Joel to Me," a parody of Billy Joel's song "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me." In "The Twilight Zone," Oscar winning actor Martin Landau stars in "The Jeopardy Room," a story about a game of cat and mouse. Landau plays a defector from the Eastern bloc staying in a hotel room while waiting for passage to the west. Commissar Vassiloff has been assigned to kill him, but he knocks him out instead.

When Landau recovers he listens to a tape recording that tells him that there is a bomb in the room. If he can find it and disarm it within three hours, he is free to go. However, if he attempts to escape, he will be shot.

Answer: Beavis

Peter Griffin of "The Family Guy" was created by Seth MacFarland. Bart Simpson was created by Matt Groening. "Pinky and the Brain" (1995-1998) was a spinoff of "Animaniacs." Mike Judge created "Beavis and Butthead," two teenage heavy metal fans who often cause havoc. Judge also created "King of the Hill" a series set in Texas about a propane salesman and his family.

In "The Twilight Zone," Orson Bean plays the title role in "Bevis." James B. W. 'Bevis,' is an oddball who is the definition of failure.

However, on the day that disaster strikes, Bevis gets a visit from his guardian Angel who turns Bevis into a success. However, the angel fails to make Bevis happy.

Answer: Nick of Time

Depp stars as a man whose daughter is kidnapped and he is instructed to commit murder. "Nick of Time" is also the name of an episode of "The Twilight Zone" starring William Shatner. Shatner plays a man who, while waiting for his car to be repaired, starts putting money in a fortune telling machine. The answers are general, but he soon becomes trapped by the machine.

Answer: The Fugitive

In the 1993 thriller, "The Fugitive," Tommy Lee Jones plays United States Marshal Samuel Gerard who is assigned to hunt down and capture Dr. Richard Kimble (played by Harrison Ford). In an episode of "The Twilight Zone," entitled "The Fugitive," J. Pat O'Malley stars as Ben, a mysterious person who can transform himself into anything or anyone. Ben confide to his friend Jenny, a little girl who lives nearby, that he is a fugitive from outer space. Soon two men arrive and set a trap, using Jenny, to capture Ben.

The trap works, but Ben still has a couple of surprises for them and us.

Answer: I Dream of Jeannie

While out on a mission, astronaut Anthony Nelson discovers a bottle on a beach containing a genie. He opens it and releases Jeannie, who vows to serve him. This causes certain problems because his work is often top secret. In a classic episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "I Dream of Genie," Howard Morris plays George P. Hanley, an ordinary man, who discovers a genie in a lamp.

He is only granted one wish. He dreams of love, wealth and power, but something always goes wrong. Finally he makes his one wish.

He becomes the Genie!

Answer: Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle and his dog Wolf were created by Washington Irving (1783-1859) who also wrote "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" featuring Ichabod Crane. Irving published the short story "Rip Van Winkle" in 1819 about a man who sleeps through the entire Revolutionary War.

The story is about the change in American ideals due to the experiences of the Revolutionary War. In "The Twilight Zone" Oscar Beregi and Simon Oakland star in "The Rip Van Winkle Caper" about four thieves who rob a bullion train. They stow their loot in a cave and then using a gas invented by their leader, go into suspended animation.

When they awake a hundred years later they find they still have not escaped.

Answer: Six Characters in Search of an Author

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was born in Sicily and educated at the University of Rome and Bonn University. His best known work was "Henry IV" and "Six Characters in Search of an Author," both written in 1921. The other stories asked in question #10 were written by Eugene Ionesco, (1912-1994)the father of 'The theatre of the Absurd.' In "The Twilight Zone," William Windom stars as a general in "Five Characters in Search of an Exit." Windom finds himself trapped in an enormous featureless cylinder with a hobo, a ballet dancer, a clown and a bagpiper. None of them have any memory or idea how they got there, but they all know that if they are going to escape they have to work together.

Answer: The Jungle

Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel "The Jungle" was an indictment against the meat packing industry in Chicago. In "The Twilight Zone" John Dehner stars in "The Jungle" as an engineer returning from Africa who ignores a voodoo curse put on him by witch doctors. . .Not a good idea. The Jungle comes alive in New York City.

Answer: The 1939 World's Fair

The 1939 World's Fair opened in Flushing Meadows in April of 1939. The Fair promoted the unqualified belief in science and technology as a means to economic prosperity. In a classic episode of "The Twilight Zone," entitled "The Odyssey of Flight 33," John Anderson plays the pilot of a jet airliner in 1959, en-route from London to New York that gets lost in the 'Twilight Zone.' The plane somehow got caught up in a freak tail wind and traveled back in time to the age of dinosaurs.

Their only chance to get back was to catch the same tail wind, which they manage to do.

However on their approach back into New York they look out the window and see the 1939 World's Fair. They had come back in time, but not far back enough in time to get home.

Answer: The Hitcher

Although C. Thomas Howell appeared in all four movies, it is the 1986 thriller "The Hitcher" that Rutger Hauer plays a murderer trying to frame Howell, after Howell picked him up. In "The Twilight Zone" Inger Stevens stars in "The Hitch Hiker" as Nan Adams, who while traveling Highway 11, is terrified by a lone hitch hiker who seems to appear around every curve.

Answer: What You Need

The song "What You Need" hit # five on the charts for INXS in 1986. In "The Twilight Zone," Ernest Truax stars in "What You Need" as a sidewalk salesman who has the uncanny sense to tell what people will need before they need it. However, he is threatened by a thug, played by Steve Cochran, who he knows is going to kill him. So when the thug demands that he give him what he needs, Truax gives him a pair of shoes.

The shoes turn out to be what Truax needs.

Answer: It's A Wonderful Life

All four of these movies were directed by Frank Capra and starred Jimmy Stewart. "It's A Wonderful Life" stars Stewart as a small town man who always wanted to see the world. However, he is trapped by circumstances and begins to believe that he is worth more dead than alive. An angel named Clarence helps him see the light.

In "The Twilight Zone," Billy Mumy stars in "It's A Good Life" as a six year old who can read minds and has the power to wish people away. The episode was also spoofed in an episode of "The Simpsons" in which Bart had the power to read minds.

Answer: He is come to open The purple testament of bleeding war

From "Richard II" Act iii Scene 3. The other quotes are from Shakespeare's "Hamlet." In "The Twilight Zone" William Reynolds stars in "The Purple Testament" as Lt. Fitzgerald, who is stationed in the Philippines in World War II. The Lt. has the ability to look into the faces of men preparing to go into battle and see who is about to die.

Answer: Agnes

Agnes DeMille (1909-1993) choreographed the stage versions of "Oklahoma!" and "Carousel." She was the niece of famed director Cecil B. DeMille (His sister was actress Katherine DeMille). Agnes is the name of the computer in "The Twilight Zone" in "From Agnes-With Love" that falls in love with Wally Cox and drives him out of his mind. Agnes is also the first name of actress Agnes Moorhead (better known as Endora from "Bewitched") who fights off invaders in a classic episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "The Invaders."

Answer: 22

"Lost in America" stars Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty are a couple who decide to get away from it all and find themselves. They take their life savings and hit the road in a RV. Things start to go wrong when they stop in Las Vegas and Brooks wakes up to find that his wife gambled away their life savings playing number 22 in roulette all night. "22" is also an episode of "The Twilight Zone," starring Barbara Nichols as a dancer who has a recurring nightmare in which she follows a nurse to room 22- the morgue - and then the nurse tells her there is room for one more. Later she is about to board an airplane and the flight is number '22.'

Answer: He sells his soul to the Devil

Homer does keep one in the emergency procedural manual, but he has already eaten it. Homer declares that he would sell his soul to the devil for a donut and the devil appears. However, Marge is able to win Homer's soul back when she points out to the devil's jury that Homer had promised it to her first, so she owned it.

The concept of selling one's soul to the devil occurred in a couple of episodes of "The Twilight Zone." In "Escape Clause" David Wayne portrays a man who sells his soul for immortality and then becomes bored. To further complicate matters, his wife is accidentally killed and he is arrested, tried for murder, and sentenced to life.

In "Printer's Devil" Robert Sterling plays an editor who sells his soul to the Devil (played by Burgess Meredith) in exchange for success.

Answer: The Twilight Zone

The common bond is the 1959-1964 classic series "The TWILIGHT ZONE" created and hosted by Rod Serling. Serling was born in Syracuse New York on Christmas day, 1924. After high school he joined the army and fought in the Philippines toward the end of World War II. Serling's experiences in the war helped broaden his outlook and upon his return to the states he enrolled at Antioch College, where he soon became manager of the Antioch broadcasting System's radio workshop. Rod managed to get several breaks such as winning a writing contest, landing a job as a staff writer for a radio station, and selling scripts. Finally in January of 1955, Kraft Television Theater presented Serling's script "Patterns, which became a huge hit and made Rod Serling a hot property" and a couple of years later he proposed "The Twilight Zone" to CBS.

The rest is history. Much of the material presented in this quiz comes from "The Twilight Zone Companion" by Marc Scott Zircee. (A great book!)