The Walking Dead was certainly an excellent episode. I rated it highly and enjoyed it thoroughly. Bester was a great writer except for a couple clunkers (I think he wrote the awful "Through the Looking Glass"). Somebody wrote here that Bester spent his final years drinking himself to death.

You're right. The computer-as-god theme was done over and over again through the 1970s. But it's like any other story in that it can be told badly, or somebody can retell it and make it better.

AS I listened to the God Machine, I couldn't help but think of the fathers of the Sci-Fi genre like Asmiov, Bloch, Sturgeon, Ellison and Bradbury. The God Machine was a pretty powerful tale with strong characters. It's not high drama, or literature. But it is an entertaining story.

This is one of those shows I heard as a kid and fell asleep through the third act. I waited many years to hear how it ended. The story was strong enough to stay in my mind all these years.

That in and of itself is not enough. After all, Davey Jerrold's Jacket stayed with me too, and that's not a good one. But this show, among a few others, is what kept me thinking about CBSRMT for many years.

When I listen to CBSRMT, I try to listen with that child's mind and not pick at the loose pieces of the premise. You succesfully disected this show and I wouldn't argue with any part of your analysis except its conclusion. But I think you are maybe being a little too analytical.