"Probe 7, Over and Out" is an episode of the

American television Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...

anthology series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. Its plot is a shaggy God story.

Opening narration

Plot

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Colonel Adam Cook crash lands on a strange planet 4.3 light years away from home, with gravity and atmospheric conditions similar to those of his home world. Most of his equipment is destroyed in the crash and cannot be repaired due to a lack of resources and his having broken his arm. He contacts his home base and speaks with a subordinate officer and then with General Larrabee, but they have little encouragement for him — there is no replacement spacecraft to rescue him, and his home planet may be at war in a matter of hours. However, Larrabee does add that it may be possible to transmit instructions on how to repair the ship. In a subsequent communication, Larrabee reports that the enemy attacked and "our entire seacoast went" in 12 minutes after which there was retaliation "with alacrity and great effectiveness." Those at base will have to move soon, meaning Cook will have no one to contact. Cook leaves his ship at night and finds drawn patterns in the dirt. While looking for the source, he is hit by a rock from an unseen source, and knocked unconscious, causing him to not hear Larrabee's last transmission that

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

from the attacks will kill any remaining survivors and ends with the words, "Whoever you meet there, however you meet them, I hope it can come without fear. I hope it can come without anger. I hope your new world will be different. I hope you'll find no word such as hate. I hope there'll be...". Upon regaining consciousness, Cook returns to his ship and is startled by a noise coming from a closet. Cook leaves the ship as a gesture showing that he means the alien no harm. A human-like female emerges from his ship. Not knowing each other's languages, they communicate through sketches in the sand and pantomime. Adam learns that the alien, whose name is Norda, is also stranded; her planet left its orbit and she is its sole survivor. As they prepare to look for food, Cook picks up a stick, which Norda interprets as a threat. She scratches his face and runs away. Soon after, Norda returns and expresses remorse for her actions, which Cook happily forgives. They find a more fertile area, which Cook likens to a "

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

." He fully introduces himself as "Adam Cook," a man with a broken arm and a broken rib. Norda gives her full name as "Eve Norda".

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

begin a new life on this planet she calls "Earth". At this point she offers him a "''seppla''" (an anagram of the word "apples", which are artistically depicted as the biblical

forbidden fruit In Abrahamic religions, forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden that God commands mankind Taboo#In religion and mythology, not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the know ...

). As they venture further,

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

narrates that he presumes the place they are heading to is Eden.

Closing narration

Cast

Richard Basehart John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. Known for his "deep, resonant baritone voice and craggy good looks," he was active in film, theatre and television from 1947 until 1983. He won two National ...

as Colonel Adam Cook *

Antoinette Bower Antoinette Bower (born 30 September 1932) is a British retired film, television and stage actress, whose career lasted nearly four decades. Early years Bower was born in Baden-Baden to a German mother and an English father. She lived in Engla ...

as Eve Norda *

Harold Gould Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden ...

as General Larrabee * Barton Heyman as Lieutenant Blane he dialogue does not indicate name or rank

Notes

"Probe 7, Over and Out" was intended to air a week after the premiere of " Night Call," which was scheduled for Friday, November 22, 1963New York Times television listings 11/22/63 — the previous episode, " Uncle Simon," having aired a week earlier on November 15. Hours before "Night Call" was to air though, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Thus it was rescheduled, as were all of the other network shows. As a result, "Probe 7, Over and Out" immediately follows "Uncle Simon" in original broadcast order. "Night Call" was eventually broadcast on February 7, 1964. In the early 2000s, ''Twilight Zone'' historian Marc Scott Zicree recorded a commentary track with director

Ted Post Theodore Ian Post (March 31, 1918 – August 20, 2013) was an American director of film and television. Highly prolific, Post directed numerous episodes of well-known television series including '' Rawhide'', ''Gunsmoke'', and ''The Twilight Zo ...

discussing this episode. The commentary appears as part of the 2016 Blu-ray edition. The radio adaptation of this episode starred

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (May 27, 1936 – March 29, 2024) was an American actor. He made his stage debut at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, he successfully auditioned for the Broadway theatre, Broadway play ''Take a Giant Step.'' Gossett co ...

References

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

External links

* {{Adam and Eve 1963 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 5 episodes Television episodes written by Rod Serling Television episodes directed by Ted Post Television episodes based on the Bible Works about astronauts Works set on fictional planets Fiction about aviation accidents and incidents Extraterrestrial life in popular culture Portrayals of Adam and Eve on television