Ferris (Earl Holliman) appears in what otherwise appears to be a typical urban setting, wearing an Air Force jumpsuit -- so why can't he find anyone else in the town?
"Where Is Everybody?" was the premiere episode for the classic series but, ironically, it lacks much of what made the series so great -- sharp writing, moral lesson (or at least ingenious plotting) and, of course, a wickedly clever twist. To be sure, Serling's original teleplay sets up what figures to be a clever (albeit straightforward) mystery, but the story runs out of gas pretty quickly; after all, the Ferris character appears to speak every thought in his head, and neither the script nor Holliman's flat performance does anything to make those thoughts interesting enough to sustain a 30 minute script. Further, while the twist isn't bad, it would have an even bigger impact if the token in question had more meaning.
In the end, this episode's biggest asset is that it got the show on the air; good as a nice piece of history, but not much else to recommend it.
"Where Is Everybody?" was the premiere episode for the classic series but, ironically, it lacks much of what made the series so great -- sharp writing, moral lesson (or at least ingenious plotting) and, of course, a wickedly clever twist. To be sure, Serling's original teleplay sets up what figures to be a clever (albeit straightforward) mystery, but the story runs out of gas pretty quickly; after all, the Ferris character appears to speak every thought in his head, and neither the script nor Holliman's flat performance does anything to make those thoughts interesting enough to sustain a 30 minute script. Further, while the twist isn't bad, it would have an even bigger impact if the token in question had more meaning.
In the end, this episode's biggest asset is that it got the show on the air; good as a nice piece of history, but not much else to recommend it.