Ring-A Ding Girl, one of the spookiest, also one of the most illogical episodes - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

BuffaloBill · 05-11-2005, 04:24 AM

this is truly one of the more frightning and suspenceful episodes that stands out to me. oviously if you've seen it you know what i'm referring to. however i'm not sure what rod serling was thinking when he wrote the end of show. several illogical flaws exist, even for someone like serling who was polished in combining reality and fiction. i guess you can term them as writing bloopers. lets start off with the tiny town they lived in...how is it that a large jet would come in in land in that area, or have such a large airport. the radio station that broadcast the 3pm news went on the air within seconds of the crash and KNEW FOR CERTAIN IMMEDIATELY that there were 87 people on board and that bunnie blake was killed in the crash. i know today with news when can get pretty acurate news fast, but were talking the 60's. back than there is not chance in hell that anyone could have even gotten the name of the plane that quick, let alone all the pertinant details. the radio anouncer said there were sightings of blake in town that day. daa!! they interviewed her live on the noon news on the towns only tv station. i'm sure someone taped that , you think. finally the most laughable writing is when that clown called bunnie's sister WITHIN SECONDS OF THE PLANE CRASH.. to let her knew blake was dead. if this plane was TORN apart by the crash and burned so bad at the time of impact, how the hell did this clown have time to POSITIVELY ID the body and know who she was sitting next too. and who would have time to call a loved one in that cercomstance and tell them their loved one was dead with certainty. you would think the clown would have gone to the house first. also with the weather being that bad that day, rain and winds...who would have been outside for a picnic at the time anyway???? as much as i love this episode for its suspence, sadly i would have to rate it as one the the worst too.

Tweety · 05-15-2005, 07:39 PM

Anything is possible, in the Twilight Zone!

You're right though...lots of illogical things in that episode... and it's not like it's written today, but set in the early 60s, where a writer could forget that commuincation wasn't as good or as quick back then...this was written and filmed IN the early 60s...

damin mance · 05-17-2005, 04:00 AM

i didn't like this episode at all the only part i like in that episode when the girl crash threw the window

Inca · 03-13-2007, 12:58 AM

At first it was scary, but the silly writing made it too ridiculous to be a good episode...looked like they didn't know what to do with the story...

wiseguy182 · 03-13-2007, 06:45 AM

There are a few things in the Ring-a-Ding Girl that I don't get, but overall I thought this was one of the hidden gems of the series. Mary Munday was terrific as Hildy. I always thought that the episodes where a character has visions of events (like Ring-a-Ding Girl, and What's in the Box?) were some of the creepiest. The ending leaves a few question marks, but it's touching.

Zoneboy · 03-13-2007, 06:59 AM

A decent episode but not among my favorites. Also, it was written by Earl Hamner Jr. not Rod Serling.

wiseguy182 · 03-14-2007, 02:14 AM

On the whole, those Earl Hamner episodes were horrible. He had a bias against city folk and it showed. I don't know why Rod ever hired him.

Best Man · 03-22-2008, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

On the whole, those Earl Hamner episodes were horrible. He had a bias against city folk and it showed. I don't know why Rod ever hired him.

Give Hamner a break. He made very good eps like Jess Bell and the Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank. Besides Serling liked wholesome things too! I actually loved Stopover in a Quiet Town too (but that's a personal choice only).

Zoneboy · 03-25-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

Give Hamner a break. He made very good eps like Jess Bell and the Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank .

Hamner didn't write The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank, That episode was penned by Montgomery Pittman.

Best Man · 03-26-2008, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

Give Hamner a break. He made very good eps like Jess Bell. Besides Serling liked wholesome things too! I actually loved Stopover in a Quiet Town too (but that's a personal choice only).

Best Man · 03-26-2008, 04:16 PM

sMay God kill me if I am lying: Zoneboy's correction-posting is 100% incidental to my correcting my mistake about TLROJM ep being written by Earl Hamner! I realized the other day I made a mistake and couldn't get back to the library to correct it! James Best (Roscoe P. Coltrane on Dukes of Hazzard) was in both thus the mistake!

Best Man · 03-28-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

There are a few things in the Ring-a-Ding Girl that I don't get, but overall I thought this was one of the hidden gems of the series. Mary Munday was terrific as Hildy. I always thought that the episodes where a character has visions of events (like Ring-a-Ding Girl, and What's in the Box?) were some of the creepiest. The ending leaves a few question marks, but it's touching.

I'll say this of the rather unusual looking but still ok looking Mary Munday. She did indeed turn in a very, very good performance as Hildy but Maggie Macnamara (a real and cute Audrey Hepburn wannabe) was the main reason it worked as her performance was even more central to the ep and she succeeeded admirably. I like the sense of foreboding it has by Bunny's visions of people in her ring calling her for help and her final stand out in the rain before she goes back to the plane she was on to die. I found this ep effective even before I ever knew George Mitchell (who was in the ep as the doc) was soon to be on the supremely scarey Dark Shadows soap as Mathew Morgan. Macnamara was later traumatized emotionally and it may have indeed been slightly due to Mitchell being in this ep with her (once she possibly found out he was on the massively scarey DS that is)!

As for why the ep is great but still so uneven. The last two producers of TZ (Granet and Froug) did not understand TZ as well as Houghton and Hischmann did (Self was only producer of the pilot, so I won't count him much). And the scripts were uneven (more than previously) under these last two producers! They were just hired as last minute replacements and (despite Granet producing the Desilu Playhouse ep that inspired TZ) and their interest in the show was probably not that there enough except in a business sense either!

Zoneboy · 03-28-2008, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Best Man

I found this ep effective even before I ever knew George Mitchell (who was in the ep as the doc) was soon to be on the supremely scarey Dark Shadows soap as Mathew Morgan. Macnamara was later traumatized emotionally and it may have indeed been slightly due to Mitchell being in this ep with her (once she possibly found out he was on the massively scarey DS that is)!

George Mitchell was in 4 episodes of TZ and costars from 3 of them later commited suicide. Inger Stevens (The Hitch-Hiker) Albert Salmi (Execution) and Maggie McNamara (Ring-a-Ding Girl) I suppose all them were traumatized by Mitchell's appearance on Dark Shadows.

Ireneparalegal · 03-28-2008, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

George Mitchell was in 4 episodes of TZ and costars from 3 of them later commited suicide. Inger Stevens (The Hitch-Hiker) Albert Salmi (Execution) and Maggie McNamara (Ring-a-Ding Girl) I suppose all them were traumatized by Mitchell's appearance on Dark Shadows.

Oh no Charles, you just now gave him information to legitimize his "scare" theories.

Seriously, these posts and threads...

Or like Sonny said, "This thread is funny."

Zoneboy · 03-28-2008, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Oh no Charles, you just now gave him information to legitimize his "scare" theories.

Oops.

05-11-2005, 04:24 AM	#1
BuffaloBill Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 07, 2004 Location: Cheektowaga(Buffalo),NY Posts: 433	Ring-A Ding Girl, one of the spookiest, also one of the most illogical episodes this is truly one of the more frightning and suspenceful episodes that stands out to me. oviously if you've seen it you know what i'm referring to. however i'm not sure what rod serling was thinking when he wrote the end of show. several illogical flaws exist, even for someone like serling who was polished in combining reality and fiction. i guess you can term them as writing bloopers. lets start off with the tiny town they lived in...how is it that a large jet would come in in land in that area, or have such a large airport. the radio station that broadcast the 3pm news went on the air within seconds of the crash and KNEW FOR CERTAIN IMMEDIATELY that there were 87 people on board and that bunnie blake was killed in the crash. i know today with news when can get pretty acurate news fast, but were talking the 60's. back than there is not chance in hell that anyone could have even gotten the name of the plane that quick, let alone all the pertinant details. the radio anouncer said there were sightings of blake in town that day. daa!! they interviewed her live on the noon news on the towns only tv station. i'm sure someone taped that , you think. finally the most laughable writing is when that clown called bunnie's sister WITHIN SECONDS OF THE PLANE CRASH.. to let her knew blake was dead. if this plane was TORN apart by the crash and burned so bad at the time of impact, how the hell did this clown have time to POSITIVELY ID the body and know who she was sitting next too. and who would have time to call a loved one in that cercomstance and tell them their loved one was dead with certainty. you would think the clown would have gone to the house first. also with the weather being that bad that day, rain and winds...who would have been outside for a picnic at the time anyway???? as much as i love this episode for its suspence, sadly i would have to rate it as one the the worst too.

03-13-2007, 06:59 AM	#6
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,381	A decent episode but not among my favorites. Also, it was written by Earl Hamner Jr. not Rod Serling.
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

05-15-2005, 07:39 PM	#2
Tweety Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Jan 18, 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 6,804	Anything is possible, in the Twilight Zone! You're right though...lots of illogical things in that episode... and it's not like it's written today, but set in the early 60s, where a writer could forget that commuincation wasn't as good or as quick back then...this was written and filmed IN the early 60s...

05-17-2005, 04:00 AM	#3
damin mance Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 19, 2003 Location: new jersey newark Posts: 894	i didn't like this episode at all the only part i like in that episode when the girl crash threw the window

03-13-2007, 12:58 AM	#4
Inca Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 34	At first it was scary, but the silly writing made it too ridiculous to be a good episode...looked like they didn't know what to do with the story...

03-13-2007, 06:45 AM	#5
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	There are a few things in the Ring-a-Ding Girl that I don't get, but overall I thought this was one of the hidden gems of the series. Mary Munday was terrific as Hildy. I always thought that the episodes where a character has visions of events (like Ring-a-Ding Girl, and What's in the Box?) were some of the creepiest. The ending leaves a few question marks, but it's touching.

03-14-2007, 02:14 AM	#7
wiseguy182 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Apr 11, 2006 Location: Wendy's salad bar Posts: 7,030	On the whole, those Earl Hamner episodes were horrible. He had a bias against city folk and it showed. I don't know why Rod ever hired him.

03-26-2008, 04:16 PM	#11
Best Man Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 15, 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 594	sMay God kill me if I am lying: Zoneboy's correction-posting is 100% incidental to my correcting my mistake about TLROJM ep being written by Earl Hamner! I realized the other day I made a mistake and couldn't get back to the library to correct it! James Best (Roscoe P. Coltrane on Dukes of Hazzard) was in both thus the mistake!