"Back There", Poll and discussion thread

A young member of a Washington, D.C. gentlemen's club (Russell Johnson) travels back to the night of Lincoln's assassination.
Originally aired January 13, 1961.

Full video of the episode on CBS.com
List of musical cues

This is the preferred thread for any and all of your "Back There" posts--facts, opinions, questions, speculations, and whatever else you can think of.* You can also give your opinion of the episode on a 1 to 10 scale, in the poll shown above.

Let the discussion begin!

*More specific instructions and suggestions about posting questions/comments related to this episode are located here.

As I mentioned under "The Parallel," there's a Superboy story circa 1960 entitled "The Impossible Mission." I don't have an exact issue and date because I read it in a reprint collection. After studying about Lincoln's life in school in his Clark Kent identity, Superboy decides to go back to 1865 and try to save him, even though he has never been able to change history.

He arrives in Washington on the fateful day, and a reference to "Mr. L" leads him to meet who he thinks is going to be Lincoln. Instead, it turns out to be Lex Luthor, who has used a time machine to hide from the Superman of the present. Luthor has come prepared with red kryptonite, which temporarily affects Superboy in unpredictable ways. Neither of them knows what will happen until after Luthor exposes Superboy to the red K. It totally paralyzes Superboy, making him unable even to speak. All he can do is stand motionless and listen to Luthor gloat, express his bitterness, and even strike a match against Superboy's body.

While all of this is going on, Lincoln is shot. It's only after Luthor hears the commotion in the streets that he realizes that Superboy was there to rescue Lincoln, not to chase after Luthor. Luthor is genuinely grief-stricken and returns to the present feeling Lincoln's figurative blood on his hands. After the red K wears off, Superboy returns to his own era knowing that even his powers are useless against history.

1961 TZ spoiler: This story is consistent with the rest of the Superman series in treating history. Even the slight alteration that Peter Corrigan causes wouldn't have been possible. History is history, no matter its level of prominence.

1986 TZ spoiler: The analogous episode in the CBS revival series is "Profile in Silver," in which JFK's 22nd Century descendant saves the President from assassination but causes a ripple effect that will destroy the world unless his actions are undone. JFK is willing to cooperate, but instead his descendant sends him to the 22nd Century and takes his place in the motorcade. His supervisor in time travel (played by Barbara Baxley, Cora Wheeler in "Mute") presides over his death pronouncement in the hospital but tells a Secret Service agent (in a scene cut from syndication) that his sacrifice was preordained as a part of her history. Everything that was done and undone took place exactly as her history established it, and absolutely nothing could be changed. The world would go on thinking that JFK is dead, even though a descendant would be buried in his place.

The CBS revival did a nice job of skewering a couple of prevailing conspiracies. If we believe the series, not only weren't there multiple JFK assassins, there wasn't even one -- he's alive and well in 2172. On the other hand, according to the episode "The Once and Future King," not only is Elvis really dead, but he died in 1954, with an Elvis impersonator living out the real Presley's life.

By "this story," you are referring to the Superman story, correct? It's the only thing that makes sense, but I didn't figure it out right away. When you said "1961 TZ spoiler," I thought you had switched immediately to talking about the 1961 TZ episode.

This was the first episode I ever saw, in 1978 or so. Then I didn't see it again for another 25 or 26 years. My favorite thing about this ep is the score, by Jerry Goldsmith. Outstanding score, but not one that I wish in my heart that I had composed, like "Walking Distance" (by Bernard Herrmann), or even a less-regarded score like "What You Need" (by Nathan Van Cleave). Still probably one of my ten favorite TZ scores, though.

Yes, "This story" meant the Superboy story.

My particular fondness for Goldsmith's score stems from an accident of good fortune. VCRs didn't exist in 1961, but reel-to-reel audio tape did, and I owned a recorder. Every so often I recorded the sound of a TV program that I liked. As an ongoing current series, TZ aired only once a week, and for the most part we could watch an episode only once (maybe a second time months later) and let it live or die in our memories.

So I decided to commit a TZ episode to tape so that I could listen to it repeatedly. Since I was not yet a teenager, I couldn't afford more than a few blank tapes, so I couldn't just record anything and everything. I chose the original telecast of "Back There" because the TV Guide synopsis sounded so interesting. I still have that tape, although with DVDs I have no particular need to listen to it anymore.

I did listen to it as a child, though -- over and over again, as the only TZ episode that I could enjoy whenever I wanted. So the dialogue became thoroughly engrained in my memory -- and so did the music. It wasn't until many years later that I understood how only certain episodes had music specially composed for them. To me, this was simply TZ music that I was to hear in many later episodes. From familiarity alone, though, it became my favorite. In retrospect, its quality must have contributed to my enjoyment as well. It's so good that it was used in numerous episodes of The Fugitive (the David Janssen series, not the TZ episode) -- on another network!

"9" Another time travel ep to a specific historical moment.

Leen

Pretty decent, I enjoy it. "7".

I gave it a 5. Pretty darn average!

Dan,

Yep. I am looking at that particular Superboy comic right now. Lex Luthor has a moment of humanity when he realizes that he has prevented Superboy from stopping the assassination. I think he cries!!

Of course, one is left to wonder what universe might have been spawned if Lincoln had not been killed. He had led the nation through a civil war and ended the nightmare of slavery. Perhaps there was little left for him to do!

Of course, here we enter into the realm of speculation, epitomized in the words of one of my graduate professors who once said "If General Longstreet had arrived at Gettysburg a half-hour sooner, Auschwitz would never have been conceived." I still ponder that one.

A great episode. I love it.

I don't think you could change a major event in history. Maybe you could change a small event (as Corrigan inadvertantly does), but I don't think you could change the major event.

I just watched it again for the first time in a long time, and it didn't really do it for me. I like the concept, and I like the guy who plays Booth, but I don't think the writing is anywhere near Serling's best. Some of the plot devices are too transparent. For example, toward the beginning when Corrigan conveniently forgets the date and has to ask William for the date - including the year - just to make sure the audience knows. It's not a terrible episode but not one of my favorites. Of course it goes wothout saying that I love the score. One other thing I really like is the suggestion that Corrigan might have actually given Booth the idea to kill Lincoln.
I'll give it a 5.

Good point. And Russell Johnson's performance is too blamed stiff for me anyhow. On the other hand, even though he seems too stiff to me, especially in the beginning, that works to the episode's benefit later on--he seems like the kind of guy that someone (in this case the patrolman played by James Lydon) should tend to believe, as he obviously doesn't seem drunk or crazy.

This episode is somewhere in the average range for me, too. Nice twist ending.

I really liked this episode. The actor who played Booth was marvelously sinister, and the story was very intriguing.

9/10

Edit: Er, whoops, accidentally pushed the '10' button.

Great score works well, here. Like the transition through time handled by the lamppost reverting to gas but felt there should have been more changes to the building over the course of 100 years. Time travel stories have always interested me despite the impossible paradoxes they present.



"The Professor" today. Hard to recognize him ,isn't it?
http://www.rodserling.com/Zoneshow0802/ima...ell_Johnson.jpg

Looks like he's got his island garb on. Thanks for the pic.

Leen

I don't have a problem with this. The only building we see in both 1865 and 1961 is the outside of the Potomac Club, and Washington facades, particularly historic ones, tend to go unaltered over the decades. I have more trouble with Corrigan's sudden change of clothing. Also, why was Russell Johnson blond, as I've never seen him elsewhere?

Jerry Goldsmith's score is my favorite for the series, an opinion obviously shared by those who recycled it for other episodes and even other series, such as The Fugitive (on a different network, no less). It gives the whole time travel experience a sense of artistry.

A nice touch is Corrigan's brief double take at the bust of Lincoln when he returns to the club.

If episodes could be combined, maybe Professor Manion's time machine could yank John Wilkes Booth out of the past. David Orrick McDearmon must have liked Russell Johnson, since McDearmon directed both "Back There" and "Execution."

I've always liked how when the transition occurs, the keyboard instrument we're hearing changes from piano to harpsichord, which is an older and more "authentic" sounding instrument.

Ah, yes, I love the music in this episode.

I think Russell Johnson looks about the same in that picture. You can tell it's him.

I listened to the isolated track yesterday - the music really PEGS the time period!! A little thing I noticed on Rod's opening narration: anyone who's seen this episode knows that the actors "freeze" to bring Rod on-screen. First off, they do a really good job of holding the pose, regardless of how fast the camera pans away. While Rod is talking, the only thing moving in the scene is the liquid in the glass behind Serling. Kinda reminded me of Jurassic Park...

I gave it a 9. I've always liked this episode. I think Russell Johnson resembles Arnold Palmer now.

Hadn't thought about it before, but you are right, he does!

great episode too:)

A good episode. The way that the main character traveled through time was disappointing. I did like the ending. There seemed to be a lot of time wasted in this episode. The opening scene is a shot of "The Potomac Club". The camera zooms in on the building at an excruciatingly slow pace. It must take 60 seconds. There is also a scene where Russell Johnson's character struggles to get up off the floor for about two minutes, which he ultimately fails to do.

if you was going back in time and stop what was happen back then will it change things now?

Damin, that question is the basis for not only this episode but for a multitude of sci-fi stories. For a more comical example, think of Back to the Future.

It's a wonderfully paradoxical concept that will forever be unanswerable until someone actually manages to travel backwards through time. Just within the realm of the original TZ, let's examine how three episodes try to answer it:

"No Time Like the Past" -- History cannot be changed under any circumstances. If anything, a time traveller's intervention will be the reason why historical events happened as already recorded.

"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" -- The present will be significantly altered by changes to the past, although Satanic manipulation is also involved here.

"Back There" -- The major events of history are unalterable, but more trivial details are not.

Furthermore, there are good arguments for and against each of these approaches. As such, the best answer I can give is that it's a completely moot point, as backward time travel will never be developed. If it could, after all, then why hasn't anyone from the future visited us yet (to our knowledge)?

i agree whit..

i watched this one last night and i kind of 'zoned' out when corrigan is first struggling on the floor. i realized i wasn't paying attention and i looked up and he was still on the floor. i was like what happened??

the ending was good.. i had forgotten what corrigan finds.


also.. i liked the way william was insulted when corrigan asked if he worked at the club.. "i'm no snob, but..an attendent"; or something like that. funny!!

He says eventually "but I must protest" in a semi-lighthearted tone. I like that scene also.

this episode is very good i love it

6
Cool music, but the way Corrigan makes himself conspicuous back in 1865 is a head-shaker.

I voted an 8. I love the time travel episodes.

I gave it a 7. Funny thing is, when I watched it on my DVD box set, I didn't even remember it. I don't know if I happened to miss in in its initial network run, and it was one of the episodes not repeated that season, or because it isn't shown regularly on the marathons. I don't recall ever seeing it on the marathons. At any rate, since it was like new to me, I enjoyed it since I didn't know how it would turn out. Except for the fact that I knew that Lincoln would still die.

This is post 100! Woo hoo!

This post has been edited by Howling Man on February 18, 2006 09:57 am

Congratulations on #100 HM!

"Back There" was never rerun until it entered syndication.

I respectfully disagree with both you and Zicree on this. If you've ever seen the 1986 episode "Profile in Silver," you'll know there's at least one way of saving an assassinated US President without changing recorded history. Another possibility (this one from a Superman comic book) is that Corrigan might save Lincoln, only to learn eventually that he did so in a parallel world.

Twilight Zone however avoids the paradox of Superman/Boy when he time travels.

Even by talking to someone in the past, Superman changes history. TZ says, *some* things can be changed but not all. Nice Butterfly Effect seen at the end of the episode.

Not at least as established in the 1960s. Anything Superman did in the past, even just talking to someone, conformed to history. The paradoxical situation sometimes arose where he saw evidence of his appearance in the past, and he went back to check on it. By doing so he fulfilled history, which he would have altered had he not made the trip.

Let's face it, folks -- until someone actually travels back in time, we'll never know whether it's possible to change history.

Ah, we are forgetting about the "Capra Rule" as displayed in It's A Wonderful Life and later in The Butterfly Effect; not to mention in this episode. All lives touch upon one another and impact everyone. If history is changed, all the little things that would happen and the people whom may have achieved or failed will be altered as well.

You mean they haven't?

Dan wrote:

I guess no one ever will, Dan, at least not to our time. If so, they would be here now.
The whole problem with time travel comes from the assumption that the past still exists as a tangible place. It does not. It was just the way existance was arranged before but no longer is.

I thought this ep was really good. I really enjoyed the fact that nobody believed in Russell Johnson that Booth would assassinate Lincoln. I really relate that sequence in No Time Like the Past where the main character tries to convince the Japanese that Iwo Jima was about to be bombed.

*spoilers*


I also like the twist at the end of the episode, didn't expect Young (elderly) William to become rich.


Paul Radin gieves this: 9/10

Which, like almost everything else in the episode, comes off as contrived, now that I think about it.

Revised rating for 2006: "4"