Panic!

This was a good show. Each episode started out with the TV screen (glass) seemingly shattering. No regular cast, each episode had guest stars who were inevitably thrown into dire circumstances and who then had to save themselves or be doomed! Thus the title.

One of the best things about the show was the voice-over at the beginning of each episode done by Westbrook Van Voorhis (you just don't see names like that anymore.) He had a great deep voice that added much intensity to the show intros. I only remember fragments of episodes, one had a scene with two boys hiding under a porch and overhearing some sinister conversation, and the other episode had something to do with a lighthouse. I believe that when I was watching this show in Washington DC, it was on at the same time as "Twilight Zone" and it was always a tough decision which one to watch. I hope these shows are not totally lost or destroyed, so we can see them again.

It seems that little by little, over the years, we are piecing together the episodes of "Panic" that short-lived series from the late 1950s. A key piece of the puzzle appears to be someone at IMDb getting a list of "guest stars" and when you click "more" on that list, you get titles of all the episodes. There were apparently over 30 of them, many more than I thought. (Shows how your memory plays tricks on you.) Anyway, the episode listed as #1.11 "Peter and the Tiger" was obviously the one that I was referring to in my post of Nov 3, 2000 (darn! four years ago!)and that crabturtle also mentioned. Episode #1.1 "The Priest" obviously corresponds to the one I mentioned in my post of Nov. 20 2003. (I wonder why I only post in November ???). Also, the episodes #2.2 "Hear No Evil" and #1.16 "Botulism" are obviously two of the three referred to by stattad.

Anyway, I believe the episode #1.6 "The Airline Hostess" is about a flight attendant who realizes there is a bomb aboard her plane, which is, of course, in flight. I think there may have been a note left on the plane, or something like that. The show deals with how the flight attendant and other crew members narrow down the list of suspects on the plane. At the end, it's down to two men, both of which seem to be holding their hands on an object and not moving. One has (I think) his hat and coat in his lap, seemingly covering something, and the other has a hand on a briefcase and never moves the hand. Finally the crew decides that since the bomb is about to go off (don't remember how they know this) they have to take a chance and pick one of the two suspects and disable him. Of course if they pick the wrong one, they're all dead. The decision, is left to "The Airline Hostess". She first chooses the man with the briefcase, goes over to him and offers him a cigarette. He says something like "you'll have to help me light it" He takes his one hand and uses it to lift his other hand off the briefcase - he has a paralyzed hand. Obviously, the bomber is the one with the hat and coat - and the crew is able to disarm him and (I seem to remember) throw the bomb out the window (!) before it goes off.

That's saying a lot when I can barely remember only one episode.That beginning with the broken glass was something else,it set the viewer up to have their emotions worked over.Although I can't remember the episodes each show left a feeling it lived up to my expectations,it batted 1000.There were popular shows like twilight,hitchcock,thriller,one step beyond,science fiction theater,etc.Those shows were good but to me never batted 1000,even as a kid once in awhile after watching those shows I found myself saying "Yeah,right".There is one episode of Panic I remember a little of and maybe no one else has commented on.It's nightime and a man is walking down the street when he notices in the distance a crowd of twenty people or so.They seem to be very interested in something or someone and he goes over to investigate.He soon finds out that the interest of the crowd is a little girl maybe about eight years old.Although standing her hands are covering her face and she is sobbing loudly.As the crowd ttys to comfort her she lowers her hands and looks up seeing the new arrival to the crowd.Then while pointing at him she states loudly" That's him! He's the one". Our main character starts to look around at everybody with a surprised look on his face exclaiming his innocence.People start toward him and he takes off running.That's it,can't remember anymore.

I think this was one of the many shows forbidden me when I was ten, but obviously mainstream 50s TV (a "Panic!" marathon would be a great Thanksgiving Day). The only one I remember has of course the heavy voice-over at the beginning. A man is on a subway with three men sitting opposite him. All are wearing generic 50s suits. "Your friend seems to have had one too many," he says. The heavy voice-over then comes in ending ominously "... the man in the middle was dead." At the next stop, the 'hero' reaches down for his newspaper and bolts out the door. The pre-commercial shot is a close-up of the face of one of the three men (with gun) pressed against the closed subway door ... (The memory trail now grows cold.) Think of all the great things I could have done in life if my brain were not cluttered with things like this.