The Changing of the Guard (The Twilight Zone)

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Changing of the Guard
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = Scene from "The Changing of the Guard"
Season = 3
Episode = 102
Airdate =June 1, 1962
Production =4835
Writer = Rod Serling
Director =Robert Ellis Miller
Guests = Donald Pleasence : Professor Ellis Fowler
Liam Sullivan : Headmaster
Music = Stock
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = Cavender Is Coming
Next = In His Image

"The Changing of the Guard" is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".

: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." : (Quotation which Professor Fowler reads, by Horace Mann)

Opening Narration

ynopsis

Professor Ellis Fowler is an elderly teacher who is forced into retirement by his school. Looking through his old yearbooks and reminiscing about his former students, he becomes convinced that all of his lessons have been in vain and that he has accomplished nothing with his life. Deeply depressed, he returns to his school one last time intending to kill himself. Before he can commit suicide, the ghosts of former students reappear to prove that his teachings were very much appreciated.

Closing Narration

Trivia

*Donald Pleasence was heavily made-up in order to appear much older than his actual age of 42.

*The quote Professor Fowler reads on the statue's plinth, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity,” is the motto of Rod Serling’s "alma mater" Antioch College, and was said by its first president, Horace Mann. Serling accepted a teaching post there after completing this script. [ [http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/rodserling.html Rod Serling ] ]

Critical response

Andrew Sarris, excerpt from "Rod Serling: Viewed from Beyond the Twilight Zone":

References

*Zicree, Marc Scott: "The Twilight Zone Companion". Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). "Trivia from The Twilight Zone". Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
*Grams, Martin. (2008). "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic". Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

"Twilight Zone" links

* The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
* Episode list
*

External links

*imdb title|id=0734634|title=The Changing of the Guard
* [http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone/the-changing-of-the-guard/episode/12687/summary.html TV.com episode page]
* [http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_zone/video/video.php?cid=649562032&pid=00Z8PCQ1pUR7YaOGokJTblQn3_ZsEUq1&play=true&cc=2 Full video of the episode at CBS.com]