CBSRMT Episode Information Next Episode

Title

The Phantom Stop

Plot

Alvin Frieburger is taking a trip in an express subway and wants to get down at a stop that does not exist.

Episode

0255

Air Dates

  • First Run - April 11, 1975
  • Repeat - July 15, 1975

Actors

Writer

Listen

Rating

176
153     23


21 Responses to Episode 0255

This was an excellent story! The way this man was treated by Esther, and her sister Rebecca was absolutely heartbreaking. I enjoy the episodes I have heard thus far of CBSRMT, and plan one day to hear them all. They are a real treat at the end of the day. :)

Paula

This was an excellent story! The way this man was treated by Esther, and her sister Rebecca was absolutely heartbreaking. I enjoy the episodes I have heard thus far of CBSRMT, and plan one day to hear them all. They are a real treat at the end of the day. :)

Paula

Good stoy. I wish they would have tied the loose end up about Sarah saying that she didn't want him to change. It seemed like there ws just a little more story to draw out.

Roger Huggett Jr.

A browbeaten husband longs for his past and his life with his first wife. Trying out the new subway one day, he discovers a mysterious stop and soon learns that stepping off the train at the right spot will reunite him with his long dead first wife. Writer Ian Martin must have been a big fan of the Twilight Zone episode "A Stop at Willoughby" because this is almost a scene-for-scene homage. Still in all, an effective story. Genre: Drama

Louise Roque

The express subway passes the stop at 35th and Neely. But Alvin Frieburger is able to get off there, and when he does, he finds heaven.

Jerry Salem

A widower mourns the loss of his beautiful and caring wife even 15 years later having remarried a woman who has turned into a nag and bitter demanding woman. She moves her sister in with her who is equally as nagging and a hypochondriac to boot. His friend whose life is what his own was is also his landlord. He worries about he man who has become forlorn and has lost interest in living. On their way to work on a new subway there is a stop at which the subway does not stop. The forlorn man is curious about it, and one day he dreams that he got off and met his dead wife where they resumed their wonderfully blissful life together. Upon waking his curiosity and despondency grows. Curious – the preview of the next episode is for Episode 0214 Windandingo which, in the log, appeared on Jan 28, 1975. Could it be that these episodes are mixed up in the log? Or were preview tapes provided to stations for repeats as well?

Dantz

I can't imagine what it would be like to live with a woman that was so contentious. I would rather live in my attic than live with someone who nags like that.

Alec

This is exactly how my current wife acts and its worse than you could ever imagine.

James Bond

i might have jumped in front of the train.

Norge

Norman Rose turned in another good performance. He elevates almost every episode he appears in. This show had a Twilight Zone feel to it. I regret that the two nags didn't receive their just rewards. A good effort.

Lenzuel

I liked the show. Reminiscent of A Stop at Willoughby from the Twilight Zone.

Dante

I enjoyed Twilight Zone's "A Stop At Willoughby" more than this. At least in that, once the main character, Mr. Williams, gets off the train, he ends up getting off at his dream town, even though in reality, he died. When Mr. Fryburger (amusing name) tries to get off the train at his dream stop, we have no indication that he ended up in his personal heaven, he's just dead. A fair story, well acted as usual, but disappointing.

timturk

I remember A stop at Willoughby very well. It was not one of my favorite Twilight zones but it was ok. This episode of CBSRMT is also good I rate it 3 of 5 for good. I actually enjoyed this episode. As much as it was not so much a humorous intent the combative wife (Esther) is rather funny. This could be spun rather easily to a humorous nagging rather than a persistent one that is driving this man to desperate thoughts.

Chris

This CBSRMT episode reminds of the 30th episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE called "A Stop At Willoughby" where the main character is miserable in his present life, takes public transportation, escapes from reality for a moment so he could enter into a world of peaceful paradise, but then jumps back into reality, he cannot stand the drama of his job & his spouse anymore, takes public transformation one last time to escape from the world of reality to return to the world of fantasy, his spirit becomes happy, and his body drops dead. I wonder if that episode by Rod Serling inspired Ian Martin to write this one. The sound effects and the music tunes were suitable, but the music needed more fondness to it. For example, when Alvin Frieberg (played by Norman Rose) reminisces the good old days of his first wife Sarah (played by Bryna Raeburn), the music they should've used was the tranquil music from Ep. #0508-THE GOLDEN PEOPLE (the tranquil music for that episode is at the 18-minute 50-second mark). Other than that, the acting is splendid. Any episode with Norman Rose in it, is always a good episode. I like Bryna Raeburn because she had that soft & kind-hearted voice like Jada Rowland (my favorite actress on CBSRMT). Carol Teitel (as Esther: Alvin's present wife) playing the role of a termagant was excellent to a T! And Nat Polen (as Marvin Schreiber) was hunky-dory for playing the main character's buddy. SPECIAL BONUS: Himan Brown is the mystery man that acts in this tale, so listen closely when he appears. As for E.G. Marshall, just like Rod Serling, he did majestic work for narrating this story that brought suspense, drama, romance, and fantasy into one entertaining episode.

Russ

A good listen for me. I don't know how anyone could put up with that woman and her sister, which makes me wonder why he married her in the first place (he does say that she used to be nicer to him when they were first married). In response to Roger's question about him not changing, I think she meant that she didn't want him to kill his new wife and/or sister-in-law with his razor as he had started thinking about doing.

Alec

This episode is very good, and very thankful for my own wife. (I was thankful for her anyway)

Charlie

Thanks for the Twilight Zone pointer. Watched that episode, enjoyed it very much, and see the similarities. Willoughby seems the ideal place to be, except for 3 things: 1) No air conditioning, 2) 19th century medicine, 3) No CBSRMT.

Charlie

Hi Brown was the best part of the episode, imo, lol! :D It was a short part, but he played the angry boss well. Norman Rose is good too. But one thing I don't understand. Why did he marry his awful second wife after being married to his beloved first wife? That part doesn't make sense to me. There is no indication that there was ever any love between them. So it doesn't make sense that he would marry her in the first place. (I think I will check out the Twilight Zone episode, if I can find it.)

Amy

This episode is very similar to the Twilight Zone episode "A Stop at Willoughby." In the TZ episode, an unhappy, stressed-out man with an irascible boss and harpy wife travels on the train between work & home, and dreams of stopping at a place called Willoughby, which is about 50 years in the past. Every time he wakes up back on the train in his miserable life. Eventually he decides to get off the train at Willoughby and ***SPOILER ALERT*** he jumps off the train to his death, and his body is picked up by the Willoughby funeral home.

Joe Mama

I agree about how this episode of CBSRMT is similar to the TZ's A STOP AT WILLOUGHBY. Also.....the background music 4 CBSRMT uses the same background music from TZ. Not bad.

Booger

Deeply unpleasant episode featuring horrible bickering people (she's painted as an irredeemable shrew, he's depicted as a put-upon saint, of course). Not really entertaining. Actually, not remotely entertaining for me. Could have been cut to ~20 minutes without any loss of content.

Gilly


Leave a comment