Why was it that the ending of the TV version of

[Rezny@gmail.com]

the episode "The Mighty Casey"(1960)was DIFFERENT than the version that Rod Serling wrote for "Stories from the Twilight Zone"(Serling wrote BOTH the TV version AND the book version)?If you have read the book version,and seen the episode and the ending,you know what I mean.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...TWO versions of the episode were filmed. The first, shot in September 1959, featured Paul Douglas as "Mouth McGarry" (a part written especially for him by Serling), but Douglas began to look "terrible" as production ended [there were whispers that he was drinking, which his agent flatly denied]. A week later, Douglas was dead of a heart attack. Rod insisted the finished episode would not be shown {it was scheduled for January 1960}, but CBS refused to provide the extra production money needed to reshoot it with another actor. Rod decided to pay the extra cost out of his own pocket, with Jack Warden replacing Douglas as "McGarry". Alvin Ganzer directed the new sequences in April 1960, with as much footage from Robert Stevens' original version as could be salvaged. That version finally aired near the end of the first season, on June 17, 1960.

And there was another factor: as Rod originally wrote the script [which was directly adapted into short-story form in "Stories From The Twilight Zone", along with the team's original name- the (real-life) Brooklyn Dodgers, which CBS insisted he fictionalize by another name], the ending was a downbeat one, as Mouth McGarry is left with a professional baseball team on the verge of extinction, while Casey and his mentor Dr. Stillman walk away towards a new life dedicated to "social work". However, Serling decided that ending was too depressing, and decided to feature a more whimsical one for the refilmed version: McGarry suddenly has an idea from gazing at Casey's blueprints, calls Dr. Stillman back...and Rod wrapped it up in his closing narration this way: "Once upon a time, there was a major league baseball team called the Hoboken Zephyrs, who, during the last year of their existance, wound up in last place, and shortly thereafter, wound up in oblivion. There is a rumor- unsubstantiated, of course- that a manager named McGarry took them to the West Coast, and wound up with several pennants and a couple of world championships. This team had a pitching staff that made history. Of course, none of them smiled very much, but it happens to be a fact that they 'pitched like nothing human'. And if you're interested as to where these gentlemen came from, you might check under 'B' for baseball...in the Twilight Zone".

[Rezny@gmail.com]

And another thing I do not understand:In a book I once had called "Fantastic Television",which listed "The Twilight Zone",and an episode chronology,with directors,writers,cast,plot.And for the episode "The Mighty Casey",(1960)it lists as the director,Douglas Heyes.Why was this?

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...TWO versions of the episode were filmed. The first, shot in September 1959, featured Paul Douglas as "Mouth McGarry" (a part written especially for him by Serling), but Douglas began to look "terrible" as production ended [there were whispers that he was drinking, which his agent flatly denied]. A week later, Douglas was dead of a heart attack. Rod insisted the finished episode would not be shown {it was scheduled for January 1960}, but CBS refused to provide the extra production money needed to reshoot it with another actor. Rod decided to pay the extra cost out of his own pocket, with Jack Warden replacing Douglas as "McGarry". Alvin Ganzer directed the new sequences in April 1960, with as much footage from Robert Stevens' original version as could be salvaged. That version finally aired near the end of the first season, on June 17, 1960.

And there was another factor: as Rod originally wrote the script [which was directly adapted into short-story form in "Stories From The Twilight Zone", along with the team's original name- the (real-life) Brooklyn Dodgers, which CBS insisted he fictionalize by another name], the ending was a downbeat one, as Mouth McGarry is left with a professional baseball team on the verge of extinction, while Casey and his mentor Dr. Stillman walk away towards a new life dedicated to "social work". However, Serling decided that ending was too depressing, and decided to feature a more whimsical one for the refilmed version: McGarry suddenly has an idea from gazing at Casey's blueprints, calls Dr. Stillman back...and Rod wrapped it up in his closing narration this way: "Once upon a time, there was a major league baseball team called the Hoboken Zephyrs, who, during the last year of their existance, wound up in last place, and shortly thereafter, wound up in oblivion. There is a rumor- unsubstantiated, of course- that a manager named McGarry took them to the West Coast, and wound up with several pennants and a couple of world championships. This team had a pitching staff that made history. Of course, none of them smiled very much, but it happens to be a fact that they 'pitched like nothing human'. And if you're interested as to where these gentlemen came from, you might check under 'B' for baseball...in the Twilight Zone".

I had planned to answer this myself but you've saved me the trouble. Of course my reply wouldn't have been as elegant as your's so thanks again.