"
I Sing the Body Electric" is the 100th episode of the American television anthology series
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains syndicated to this day. The show consisted of unrelated vignettes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events, usually...
.
The script was written by
Ray BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American mainstream, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer.Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury is widely considered one of the greatest and most popular American writers of speculative fiction of the...
, and based on his
short story of the same nameI Sing the Body Electric! is a 1969 collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury. The book takes its name from a line in the famous Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.-Contents:The collection includes these stories:* "The Kilimanjaro Device"...
, itself named after a
Walt Whitman poem"I Sing the Body Electric" is a poem by Walt Whitman from his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass.Its original publication, like the other poems in Leaves of Grass, did not have a title. In fact, the line "I sing the body electric" was not added until the 1867 edition...
. Although Bradbury contributed several scripts to
The Twilight Zone, this was the only one produced. Later, in 1982, the hour-long
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
television movie
The Electric Grandmother was also based on the short story.
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
's narration is notable in this episode because it also appears in the middle of the story, to describe how the children spent years happily with their android grandmother and eventually grow up.
Discussion
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"
I Sing the Body Electric" is the 100th episode of the American television anthology series
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains syndicated to this day. The show consisted of unrelated vignettes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events, usually...
.
The script was written by
Ray BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American mainstream, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer.Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury is widely considered one of the greatest and most popular American writers of speculative fiction of the...
, and based on his
short story of the same nameI Sing the Body Electric! is a 1969 collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury. The book takes its name from a line in the famous Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.-Contents:The collection includes these stories:* "The Kilimanjaro Device"...
, itself named after a
Walt Whitman poem"I Sing the Body Electric" is a poem by Walt Whitman from his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass.Its original publication, like the other poems in Leaves of Grass, did not have a title. In fact, the line "I sing the body electric" was not added until the 1867 edition...
. Although Bradbury contributed several scripts to
The Twilight Zone, this was the only one produced. Later, in 1982, the hour-long
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
television movie
The Electric Grandmother was also based on the short story.
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
's narration is notable in this episode because it also appears in the middle of the story, to describe how the children spent years happily with their android grandmother and eventually grow up. Other episodes to feature Serling's narration in the middle are "
Walking Distance"Walking Distance" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The episode was listed as the 3rd best episode in the history of The Twilight Zone by Time Magazine.-Opening narration:-Plot summary:...
", "
Time Enough At Last"Time Enough at Last" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It was adapted from a short story by Lyn Venable, which had been published in the January 1953 edition of the science fiction magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction...
", and "
I Shot an Arrow Into the Air"I Shot an Arrow into the Air" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Opening narration:-Synopsis:...
".
Opening narration
Synopsis
The father of a trio of motherless children takes the children to a factory, Facsimile Ltd., to pick out a new robotic grandmother. When she arrives, young Tom and Karen are quickly smitten by the magical "grandmother." But older daughter Anne is initially reluctant; "Grandma" reminds her too much of her own mother, who died and left her a bitter young girl. Anne tries to run away, and accidentally runs in front of an oncoming van. Grandma throws herself in front of the van and is struck, saving the girl. Anne grows to love her when she realizes that Grandma is indestructible and will not leave them like their own mother had.
Additional narration
Years later, when the children are grown and leaving for college, the grandmother robot explains to the children that she knows her job is done. Although she will return to the factory and be recycled into a new robot to look after other children, she will share with the other electric grandmothers the experiences she has had with Anne, Karen, and Tom.
Closing narration
Preview for next week's story
Announcer: "And now, Mr. Serling."
External links