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On November 7, 1951, American television audiences had one of the medium’s earliest experiments in what many folks these days call ‘Meta.’
Viewers tuned in to their regular Science Fiction and Fantasy anthology – Tales Of Tomorrow – for an episode titled “The Window.” Directed by Don Medford – the fellow who helmed an astonishing 36 installments of the genre program – from a script by Frank De Felitta – a name also heavily associated to the show – the event unfolded routinely not at all unlike any other visit. However, the opening credits suggested that the next 29 minutes would be known as “The Lost Planet,” and this is where things took a turn to the hard, hard, hard left.
As the audience watched, “The Lost Planet” suddenly experienced somewhat of a signal loss; and the scene opened on two seemingly regular folks plotting to commit murder. (Dun dun DUN!) From what I’ve read online, it’s been confirmed that network affiliates’ phones were mildly off-the-hook with folks believing that they were witnessing a planning killing; and it’s even been reported that several of these local networks suspending their regular Tales Of Tomorrow broadcast under the belief that they were somehow airing a crime-in-progress. Just as radio stations more than a decade early had home audiences suspecting that an alien invasion had started (with Orson Welles’ version of H.G. Wells “The War Of The Worlds”), now TV viewers had been swept up into some curious delights.
Heck, Google.com’s reportage on the event even clarifies that the stage crew – Tales Of Tomorrow was one of those live broadcast shows of the bygone era – were given things do onscreen as events unfolded; and, of course, such activity only gave “The Window” further credibility with those tuning in. When everything was suitably tied up toward the end of the episode, watchers ultimately realized that they had been somewhat duped by such clever trickery of 50’s era storytelling; and a good time – along with, perhaps, a good laugh – was had by all. Still, that creative breaching of the wall normally separated fact and fiction appeared to have come down all those years ago. Who knows how many shows big and small have tried such things since?
From what I’ve read online, the whole thing was apparently hatched on little more than a bet: Tomorrow’s co-creator – Mort Abrahams (a producer who would go on to work in the Planet Of The Apes franchise for a time) – wagered to De Felitta that the screenwriter couldn’t come up with a yarn which could only be executed on live television, meaning that the script couldn’t be re-interpreted as is on radio, theater, or film. (Perhaps the challenge was intended to underscore the importance of television and how it so intimately involved viewers more than any other presentation?) Whatever the intent was, De Felitta won the bet by making use of the very mechanics and milieu that established what live meant back in the day; and the rest is history.
(NOTE: I used several online sources in order to complete this feature article.)
-- EZ