Talk:Mr. Garrity and the Graves

Untitled
The last scene, the dead actually raising from their graves, is unnecessary. The whole point of the plot - people willing to pay dearly for not having back the dead they said to miss so much only a few minutes back - moves artificially to the fact that Garrity underestimated his abilites. The ending seems patched in order to give the episode the supernatural touch present in most TZ episodes. Fyrndeheimen (talk) 16:13, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Original Source?
The information set forth in this section does not yet belong in the article, but raises several important questions, which hopefully will be resolved through further investigation in primary and secondary source materials related to the parties involved and their intellectual property.

The apparent source for this episodes's plot was the short story "Uproar in Acheron" by Philip José Farmer (The Saint Mystery Magazine, May 1962). The short story and The Twilight Zone episode (originally broadcast on 8 May 1964) are nearly identical.

Nonetheless, the episode's credits state, "Written by Rod Serling (based on an unpublished story by Mike Korologos)"; Korologos is believed to have been Serling himself.

However, the only known source for this claim is an as-yet unpublished interview with Philip José Farmer, who claimed as well that The Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of (a) Stopwatch" (Season 5) was based on the novel The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything by John D. MacDonald. Farmer reported that he corresponded with John D. MacDonald regarding the situation, and pursued his own claim for credit (and royalties) in 1963–1964 through his literary agent, albeit unsuccessfully.

Regarding "Mr. Garrity and the Graves": There is no evidence that Mike Korologos ever published any stories. In fact, the only evidence of the existence of a writer named "Mike Korologos" is found in the credits of this episode.

Further discussion is warranted. PlaysInPeoria (talk) 19:39, 17 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Korologos was a newspaper reporter, not a TV writer. The story is based on an incident that supposedly happened in Alta, Utah in 1873; but regardless of whether it really happened, it appeared in a 1941 guidebook, long before Farmer's story. I have added a reference to this guidebook to the article. Lee Choquette (talk) 22:29, 19 April 2018 (UTC)

Original Source!
According to Philip José Farmer, the source for "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" was his own short story "Uproar in Acheron" (The Saint Mystery Magazine, May 1962).

Nonetheless, the episode's credits state, "Teleplay by Rod Serling | Based on a Story by Mike Korologos"; Korologos is believed to have been Serling himself.

In an "Introduction" to "Uproar in Acheron" (1982), Farmer stated:

When I wrote ["Uproar in Acheron"] in 1961, while living in Scottsdale, Arizona, I thought that the basic idea, that from which the plot derived, had never been used in fiction before then. As far as I know, that's still true.

I could have set the story almost anywhere on Earth, but, since I was living in Arizona, I used that locale. ...

Two years later, on May 8, 1964, I sat down before the TV set to watch a Twilight Zone show. This was "Garrity and the Graves" [sic], a telecast on CBS, teleplay by Rod Serling, based on a story by Nike [sic] Korologos. The play had not gone long, perhaps five minutes, when I started swearing, and I told Bette, my wife, "You won't believe this. I can't. But that's based on 'Uproar in Acheron.'" Or something like that. I probably said something stronger.

Having watched it to the end, I rose and wrote a letter to my agent. And later I talked to him on the phone. I gave him all the details of the telecast and of my story. He commiserated with me but said there wasn't much to do about it. I could send a photocopy of the story and a letter to CBS, but he doubted that it would do any good. ...

Then I found out later that my agent was also Rod Serling's. And I quit the agency. ...

When I moved to Beverly Hills in late 1965, I told several science-fiction and TV writers about my story and the telecast. And I found out that I was not the only writer who had been watching the series and experienced the same trauma. ...

I suggest to the reader that he compare this story to "Garrity and the Graves." Consider the basic idea, which had not been used until this story appeared, the locale, the characters, the development of plot.

For all practical purpose, the short story (published in May 1962) and The Twilight Zone episode (originally broadcast on 8 May 1964) are identical.

Regarding "Mr. Garrity and the Graves": There is no evidence that Mike Korologos ever published any stories. In fact, the only evidence of the existence of a writer named "Mike Korologos" is found in the credits of this episode.

After due consideration and further research to find additional third-party sources, I plan to incorporate this information in the article. PlaysInPeoria (talk) 05:32, 19 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Mike Korologos is a real writer. Removed false information.  --Hirolovesswords (talk) 13:08, 29 October 2012 (UTC)