This isn\'t the RMT\'s finest episode by any means. It\'s not THAT scary, though unnerving enough. It is also somewhat formulaic.

But, IMO, it shows how prescient the RMT writers were.

This program apparently aired on November 5, 1979, the day after militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held hostages for about a year, right before Ronald Reagan was inaugurated president.

If this was indeed the first air date of the program, the RMT writers either put together this episode in a hurry or were spot on in their timing.

On an episode of \"Nashville Star\" a few weeks back the contestants performed original songs. In interviews with a songwriting duo, the professional songwriters said most successful people in their trade were married, had kids, and had experienced what life is all about. I think that, too, is what made so many of the RMT plays so successful, even if the subject matter was often ghosts, aliens from space, science fiction and ficticious crimes.

The writers had lived through world events. Prolific playwright Sam Dann had been in the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Division in WWII and had seen history, I don\'t know what history Ian Martin had seen, but he wrote some of my favorite RMT plays (including the tremendous adaptation of Guy de Maupassant\'s \"The hand\") and himself seemed to have a firm grip on reality.

I try not to let myself voice my views that much, but in reality I\'m politically and spiritually aligned pretty much with Drs. Jerry Falwell and James Dobson. I\'d rather leave most discussions to other bulletin boards and just focus on good ole RMT shows here...but I\'ve said before how much I appreciate the elements of Christianity woven into so many RMT plays (which would never even be considered in most CBS shows today, I\'m guessing). These playwrights, for the most part, knew right from wrong.

Anyhow, I\'ve written way too long, so I\'ll end with the ending words of Ian Martin\'s \"Saladin\" character, followed by E.G.\'s first act outro immediately thereafter (the latter\'s third act outro and final outro were quite biting as well)*:

Quote:
\"We will go visit the lady whom Allah has provided to give me sanctuary.\"

- \"Saladin the butcher\", after explaining to his brother how he\'ll go and take a wealthy American woman and her niece hostage, take their money, commandeer their home and hold them until they\'re no longer useful.

\"An intruder, his authority not only the gun but lack of any morals...a man who once when he was through with us and our usefulness was done would not hesitate to dispose of us as casually as a burnt out cigarette.\"

E. G. Marshall, at the end of the first segment.
*BTW, I have a problem with Islam but not with many practitioners of it, some of whom are people I\'d give my life for. I just have a problem, as did the writers of the show, with Islamic terrorists.<br>