A Thing About Machines
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A Thing About Machines
"A Thing About Machines" is episode 40 of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. It originally aired on October 28, 1960, on CBS. Opening narration Plot Lonely, ill-tempered gourmet magazine critic and misanthrope Bartlett Finchley berates a repairman after the latter fixes his television and tells him to stop abusing his appliances over mild inconveniences. Believing the machines are conspiring against him, however, Finchley continues to do so. Fed up with his paranoid behavior, his secretary quits. Following this, his typewriter types out the message "GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY" repeatedly on its own and the TV displays a program with a woman saying the same message. While trying to shave, his electric shaver rises and lunges at him before his telephone repeats the typewriter and TV's message despite Finchley ripping the telephone out of the wall earlier. Finchley hears a siren outside and goes to investigate, finding that his car rolled down the drivew ...
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The Twilight Zone (1959 TV Series)
''The Twilight Zone'' (marketed as ''Twilight Zone'' for its final two seasons) is an American science fiction horror anthology television series created and presented by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from October 2, 1959, to June 19, 1964. Each episode presents a stand-alone story in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering "the Twilight Zone," often with a surprise ending and a moral. Although predominantly science-fiction, the show's paranormal and Kafkaesque events leaned the show towards fantasy and horror. The phrase "twilight zone," inspired by the series, is used to describe surreal experiences. The series featured both established stars and younger actors who would become much better known later. Serling served as executive producer and head writer; he wrote or co-wrote 92 of the show's 156 episodes. He was also the show's host and narrator, delivering monologues at the begi ...
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Electric Shaver
An electric shaver (also known as the dry razor, electric razor, or simply shaver) is a razor with an electrically powered rotating or oscillating blade. The electric shaver usually does not require the use of shaving cream, soap, or water. The razor may be powered by a small Electric motor, DC motor, which is either powered by Battery (electricity), batteries or mains electricity. Many modern ones are powered using rechargeable batteries. Alternatively, an electro-mechanical oscillator driven by an AC-energized solenoid may be used. Some very early mechanical shavers had no electric motor and had to be powered by hand, for example by pulling a cord to drive a flywheel. Electric shavers fall into two main categories: foil or rotary-style. Users tend to prefer one or the other. Many modern shavers are cordless; they are charged up with a plug charger or they are placed within a cleaning and charging unit. History The first person to receive a patent for a razor powered by electr ...
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Television Episodes Written By Rod Serling
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment, news, and sports. Television became available in crude experimental forms in the late 1920s, but only after several years of further development was the new technology marketed to consumers. After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white television broadcasting became popular in the United Kingdom and the United States, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and institutions. During the 1950s, television was the primary medium for influencing public opinion.Diggs-Brown, Barbara (2011''Strategic Public Relations: Audience Focused Practice''p. 48 In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the U.S. and most other developed countries. The availability of various types of archival stora ...
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The Twilight Zone (1959 TV Series Season 2) Episodes
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television program, television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, Horror fiction, horror, Drama (film and television)#Fantasy drama, supernatural drama, black comedy, and psychological thriller, often concluding with a macabre or Twist ending, unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy trope (literature), tropes. The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The first series, shot entirely in black and white, ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964. ''The Twilight Zone'' followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as ''Tales of Tomorrow'' (1951–53) and ''Science Fiction Theatre'' (1955–57); radio programs such as ''The Weird Circle'' (1943–45), ''Dimension X (radi ...
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1960 American Television Episodes
Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus attempts to assassinate Clodius Albinus but fails, causing Albinus to retaliate militarily. * Emperor Septimius Severus captures and sacks Byzantium; the city is rebuilt and regains its previous prosperity. * In order to assure the support of the Roman legion in Germany on his march to Rome, Clodius Albinus is declared Augustus by his army while crossing Gaul. * Hadrian's wall in Britain is partially destroyed. China * First year of the '' Jian'an era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. * Emperor Xian of ...
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List Of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV Series) Episodes
The original ''The Twilight Zone'' anthology series began on October 2, 1959, and ended on June 19, 1964, with five seasons and 156 episodes. It was created by Rod Serling and broadcast on CBS. Later popularity of the series brought about a 1983 feature film and three "revival" television series in 1985, 2002, and 2019, though none reached the same level of success as the original run. Series overview Episodes Concept (1958) Rod Serling wrote a teleplay intending for it to be the pilot episode of a new series called ''The Twilight Zone''. Although it ended up airing on a different show, ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'', it is considered the seed episode and has even been adapted as one of ''The Twilight Zone'' radio-show episodes. Pilot (1959) The pilot episode for the series was called "Where is Everybody?" The episode was reformatted when included in the series. It differs from the broadcast episode in only minor ways. Season 1 (1959–60) ''Note'': Episode titles w ...
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Margarita Cordova
Margarita Cordova (born February 26, 1939, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican dancer and actress. Career Stage and dancing In 1958, Cordova and her husband Clark Allen opened for a show starring Jean Arnold at the Cabaret Concert Theatre in Los Angeles. Variety (magazine), ''Variety'' described the couple as "Spanish dance exponents who take the trouble to explain what they're doing during their 30-minute stint. Education has not always been at home in a Nightclub, nitery, but it's a pleasure here [...] the team divides its work with the male member flicking the Spanish guitar and singing..." In 1960, she and Allen had a 30-minute show in New York. ''Variety'' wrote: "Although likeable (sic) in their current New York debut at Julius Monk's Downstairs at the Upstairs, they're not particularly outstanding. It could be that Allen's folksong selection lacks a powerhouse item". In 1962, Cordova and Allen opened and operated El Cid, a flamenco nig ...
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Henry Beckman
Henry Beckman (26 November 1921 – 17 June 2008) was a Canadian stage, film and television actor. Career Beckman appeared in well over 100 productions in the United States and Canada, including recurring roles as Commander Paul Richards in the 1954 ''Flash Gordon'' space opera television series, Bob Mulligan in the ABC sitcom ''I'm Dickens, He's Fenster'', George Anderson in the television adaptation of '' Peyton Place'', Captain Clancey in the Western comedy-drama ''Here Come the Brides'', Harry Mark on '' Bronk'', conniving United States Army Colonel Douglas Harrigan in ''McHale's Navy'', Colonel Platt in the 1965 movie ''McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force'', and as a sheriff in an episode of '' Rango''. He made four guest appearances on the CBS courtroom drama series ''Perry Mason'', including the role of David the murderer in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Flighty Father", as Sydney L. Garth in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Captain's Coins", as Albert King in the 19 ...
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Myocardial Infarction
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw. Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired. About 30% of people have atypical symptoms. Women more often present without chest pain and instead have neck pain, arm pain or feel tired. Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms. An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest. Most MIs occur due to coronary artery disease. Risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, ...
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Misanthrope
Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσος ''mīsos'' 'hatred' and ἄνθρωπος ''ānthropos'' 'man, human'. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitude towards humanity that is based on a negative judgment concerning mankind's flaws. These flaws are seen as ''ubiquitous'', i.e. possessed by almost everyone to a serious degree and not just by a few extreme cases. They are also held to be ''entrenched'', meaning that there is either no or no easy way to rectify them short of a complete transformation of the dominant way of life. The major flaws pointed out by misanthropes include ''intellectual flaws'', ''moral flaws'' and ''aesthetic flaws''. ''Intellectual flaws'', like wishful thinking, dogmatism, stupidity and cognitive biases, are what leads to false beliefs, ...
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Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone''. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen, and helped form television industry standards. He was known as the "angry young man" of Hollywood, clashing with television executives and sponsors over a wide range of issues, including censorship, racism, and war. Early life Serling was born on December 25, 1924, in Syracuse, New York, to a Jewish family. He was the second of two sons born to Esther (née Cooper, 1893–1958), a homemaker, and Samuel Lawrence Serling (1892–1945). Serling's father had worked as a secretary and amateur inventor before his children were born but took on his father-in-law's profession as a grocer to earn a steady income. Sam Serling later became a butcher after the Great Depr ...
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American Television
Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. The majority of households have more than one set. The peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, with 98.4% ownership. In 1948, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one television while 75 percent did by 1955, and by 1992, 60 percent of all U.S. households received cable television subscriptions. As a whole, the television networks that broadcast in the United States are the largest and most distributed in the world, and programs produced specifically for US-based networks are the most widely syndicated internationally. Due to a recent surge in the number and popularity of critically acclaimed television series during the 2000s and the 2010s to date, many critics ...
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