2022-04-24

T5#70 Living Credit

Episode number: 70

Network broadcast date: Friday, November 6, 1964
Living Credit
Genre: Fantasy
Author: Morton Golding
Production number:
68
Production date:
Wednesday, October 7, 1964
Director:
Ted Bell

Plotline: In the world of the future, you must have a spotless credit record to purchase just about anything. So when a couple tries to buy a new refrigerator, things quickly spin out of control as the Credit Supervisor’s office demands more and more paperwork from the overwhelmed couple.

Listen: https://archive.org/details/T5project/Theater+Five+641106+070+Living+Credit.flac

Cast: Court Benson, Cliff Owens, Evie Juster, Mary K. Wells, Vicki Vola, Robert Dryden

Notes:

Golding was known for writing satirical short stories; sometimes credited as "Mort Golding"; he was also a novelist who also used the pseudonyms "Jay Martin" and "Dale Greggson"; Episode opens with a spoken plot description rather than an opening scene, and does not have Foy announcing over opening music; the story involves computer punch cards, aka 80-column cards, aka Hollerith cards, which fell out of use in the late 1970s; the story plays on fears of computerization and playfully mixes it with understanding the meaning of life