History Recap / TheTwilightZone1959S2E20Static

!!Troptic:

Ed Lindsay (Dean Jagger) is a cranky old bachelor who lives in a boarding house populated mostly by older folks like himself. He is particularly annoyed by television, and how the set in the common room hypnotizes all the other boarders to watch boring commercials and vapid programming. Determined for a reprieve, Ed goes to the basement and retrieves his old radio. He sets it up in his room, but soon finds out that it's picking up big band music from Tommy Dorsey, as well as the "Major Bowes Amateur Hour" radio show.

* CelebrityParadox: In 1940, Vinnie mentions listening to Ed Wynn on the radio. Wynn previously played Lew Bookman in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E2OneForTheAngels One for the Angels]]" and would later play Sam Forstmann in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E132NinetyYearsWithoutSlumbering Ninety Years Without Slumbering]]".

Ed Lindsay (Dean Jagger) is a cranky old bachelor who lives in a boarding house populated mostly by older folks like himself. He is particularly annoyed by television, and how the set in the common room hypnotizes all the other boarders to watch boring commercials and vapid programming. Determined for a repireve, Ed goes to the basement and retrieves his old radio. He sets it up in his room, but soon finds out that it's picking up big band music from Tommy Dorsey, as well as the "Major Bowes Amateur Hour" radio show.

* GrumpyOldMan: Ed is a bitter bachelor in late middle age who despises television, longing for the days when radio was the most popular form of home entertainment. Vinnie doesn't believe that he's really hearing radio transmissions from the 1930s and 1940s, instead thinking that it's all a product of his imagination when they used to the listen to those programs together, and he regrets not marrying her when he had the chance.

Ed Lindsay (Dean Jagger) is a cranky old bachelor living in a boarding house populated mostly by older folks. He is particularly annoyed by the communal TV that all the other boarders watch in the common room, regarding TV programming as boring and vapid. Instead, Ed goes to the basement of the boarding house and retrieves his old radio. He sets it up in his room, and soon is listening to big band music from Tommy Dorsey as well as the "Major Bowes Amateur Hour" radio show.

The only problem is that Tommy Dorsey, Edward Bowes of the "Amateur Hour", and everyone else he's listening to is dead. Puzzled, Ed attempts to call the radio station, WPDA, only to find out that it's been out of business for years. And if that weren't bad enough, the radio never plays its old programs when any of the other boarders come into Ed's room. The other boarders start to get concerned about Ed's mental state, particularly Vinnie (Creator/CarmenMathews), who, twenty years before, was Ed's fiancée.

* BottleEpisode: With the exception of one scene in a junk dealer's, this episode takes place entirely in the boarding house where Ed and Vinnie live.
* CelebrityParadox: In 1940, Vinnie mentions listening to Ed Wynn on the radio. Wynn previously played Louis J. Bookman in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E2OneForTheAngels One for the Angels]]" and would later play Sam Forstmann in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E132NinetyYearsWithoutSlumbering Ninety Years Without Slumbering]]".
* GrumpyOldMan: Ed is a bitter bachelor in late middle age who despises television and longs for the days when radio was the most popular form of entertainment in the home. Vinnie does not believe that he is really hearing radio transmissions from the 1930s and 1940s. She instead thinks that it is all a product of his imagination as they used to the listen to those programs together and he regrets not marrying her when he had the chance in 1940.
* MentalTimeTravel: In the end, Ed travels back 20 years or so, evidently with the purpose of fixing the biggest mistake of his life and actually marrying Vinnie. Notably in the last scene, Ed, the 1961 version of Ed that is, seems to have already forgotten what a television set is. He says "What is that thing?" when he sees it for the last time.
* OddballInTheSeries: One of six ''Twilight Zone'' episodes that were recorded on video tape. The cost-cutting measure was outweighed by how terrible the episodes looked even by 1960s TV standards, and the experiment was abandoned.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: In the end, thanks to the radio, Ed ends up going back to 1940, giving him a second chance to live his life.
* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: After going through the whole episode with it looking like he was going crazy believing his radio was picking up signals from twenty years ago, Ed ends up going back to 1940, giving him a second chance to marry Vinnie.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Ed obviously regrets not marrying Vinnie in 1940, even if he won't admit it.
* TimeTravelEpisode: One of Rod Serling's favorite tropes. Here an old man starts hearing 20-year-old radio transmissions.
* VideoInsideFilmOutside: This is the fifth of the six episodes recorded on videotape instead of film in order to reduce costs.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Yes, kids, back in the day there were cigarette commercials on TV.

The only problem is that Tommy Dorsey, Edward Bowes of the "Amateur Hour", and everyone else he's listening to is dead. Puzzled, Ed attempts to call the radio station, WPDA, only to find out that it's been out of business for years. And if that weren't bad enough, the radio never plays its old programs when any of the other boarders come into Ed's room. The other boarders start to get concerned about Ed's mental state, particularly Vinnie (Carmen Matthews), who, twenty years before, was Ed's fiancée.

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: After going through the whole episode with it looking like he was going crazy believing his radio was picking up signals from twenty years ago, Ed ends up going back to 1960, giving him a second chance to marry Vinnie.

* BittersweetEnding: Depending on whether or not the ending is interpreted as Ed actually traveling back in time and asking Vinnie to marry him, or whether Ed has lost his mind.

!!Tropes:

Air Date: March 10, 1961

* TimeTravelEpisode: One of Rod Serling's favorite tropes. Here an old man starts hearing 20-year-old radio transmissions.

* MentalTimeTravel: In the end Ed travels back 20 years or so, evidently with the purpose of fixing the biggest mistake of his life and actually marrying Vinnie. Notably in the last scene Ed, the 1961 version of Ed that is, seems to have already forgotten what a television set is. He says "What is that thing?" when he sees it for the last time.

* CelebrityParadox: In 1940, Vinnie mentions listening to Creator/EdWynn on the radio. Wynn previously played Louis J. Bookman in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E2OneForTheAngels One for the Angels]]" and would later play Sam Forstmann in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E132NinetyYearsWithoutSlumbering Ninety Years Without Slumbering]]".

* OddballInTheSeries: One of six ''Twilight Zone'' episodes that were recorded on video tape. The cost-cutting measure was outweight by how terrible the episodes looked even by 1960s TV standards, and the experiment was abandoned.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Ed obviously regrets not marrying Vinnie back in the day, even if he won't admit it.

A man's old radio begins to broadcast programs from the 1930s and 1940s, but only he can hear them.