Nightmare at Ground Zero (Playhouse 90)

"**Nightmare at Ground Zero**"
"Nightmare at Ground Zero"
Playhouse 90 episode
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 34
Directed by	Franklin Schaffner
Written by	Rod Serling & Paul Monash (teleplay), John C. Clark & Robert Cahn (book)
Original air date	May 15, 1958
Guest appearances
	Barry Sullivan as Daniel Joyce; Jack Warden as Long; Carl Benton Reid as Gen. Tyler; Ainslie Pryor as Beloit;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Not the Glory"	Next →; "Bomber's Moon"

"Nightmare at Ground Zero" is a television play that was broadcast by CBS on May 15, 1958, as part of the television series, Playhouse 90. It was written by Rod Serling and Paul Monash based on the book by John C. Clark and Robert Cahn.

Plot[edit]

Based on a true story, an advance party of five scientists is stationed in a bunker on Enewetak Atoll 20 miles from the detonation of the first hydrogen bomb test. They are trapped for 11 hours in a "hot" bunker due to miscalculations as to the size of the blast and the direction of the atomic fallout.

Cast[edit]

The cast included the following:^[1]^[2]

Barry Sullivan as Daniel Joyce
Jack Warden as Long
Carl Benton Reid as Gen. Tyler
Ainslie Pryor as Beloit
Edmon Ryan

Production[edit]

The program was produced as part of the second season of the television series, Playhouse 90. Franklin Schaffner was the director. The teleplay was written by Rod Serling and Paul Monash and adapted from the book, Nightmare at Ground Zero, by John C. Clark and Robert Cahn. It was aired on May 15, 1958.^[2]^[3]

Reception[edit]

United Press television critic William Ewald gave the production a mixed review. He praised the direction and sets and found the production to be "a gripper" when it stuck to telling the story. However, he wrote that it "stumbled" when it turned to conflict between two of the scientists over the morality of the bomb. Ewald found the latter scenes, with scientists exchanging quotes from Browning and Horace, to be clumsy, dramatically unbelievable, and embarrassing.^[4]

References[edit]

^ "Sullivan Stars in 'Nightmare'". Port Huron Times Herald. May 10, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b "Playhouse 90, Season 2". The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
^ "Playhouse 90: Nightmare at Ground Zero". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
^ "'Nightmare at Ground Zero': Uneven Drama Mars Chiller". Register-Guard. May 16, 1958. p. 12A – via Newspapers.com.

[1] "Sullivan Stars in 'Nightmare'". Port Huron Times Herald. May 10, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.

[CTVA-2] "Playhouse 90, Season 2". The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved October 19, 2020.

[Paley-3] "Playhouse 90: Nightmare at Ground Zero". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved October 24, 2020.

[4] "'Nightmare at Ground Zero': Uneven Drama Mars Chiller". Register-Guard. May 16, 1958. p. 12A – via Newspapers.com.

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v t e Playhouse 90
People	John Frankenheimer Martin Manulis Franklin J. Schaffner Rod Serling
Season 1	"Forbidden Area" "Requiem for a Heavyweight" "Sizeman and Son" "Rendezvous in Black" "The Country Husband" "The Big Slide" "Heritage of Anger" "Eloise" "Confession" "Made in Heaven" "Sincerely, Willis Wade" "The Family Nobody Wanted" "Massacre at Sand Creek" "Snowshoes: A Comedy of People and Horses" "The Ninth Day" "So Soon To Die" "The Star Wagon" "So Soon To Die" "The Greer Case" "The Miracle Worker" "The Comedian" "The Coat of White" "The Blackwell Story" "Invitation to a Gunfighter" "The Last Tycoon" "The Hostess with the Mostes'" "Charley's Aunt" "Clipper Ship" "If You Know Elizabeth" "Three Men on a Horse" "Four Women in Black" "Child of Trouble" "Homeward Borne" "Helen Morgan" "Winter Dreams" "Circle of the Day" "Without Incident" "Clash by Night" "Ain't No Time for Glory" "The Fabulous Irishman"
Season 2	"The Death of Manolete" "The Dark Side of the Earth" "Topaze" "A Sound of Different Drummers" "The Playroom" "Around the World in 90 Minutes" "The Mystery of Thirteen" "The Edge of Innocence" "The Clouded Image" "The Jet Propelled Couch" "The Troublemakers" "Panic Button" "Galvanized Yankee" "The Thundering Wave" "For I Have Loved Strangers" "The Lone Woman" "Reunion" "The Last Man" "The 80 Yard Run" "Before I Die" "The Gentleman From Seventh Avenue" "The Violent Heart" "No Time at All" "Point of No Return" "Portrait of a Murderer" "The Last Clear Chance" "The Male Animal" "The Right Hand Man" "Turn Left at Mount Everest" "The Dungeon" "Verdict of Three" "Rumors of Evening" "Not the Glory" "Nightmare at Ground Zero" "Bomber's Moon" "Natchez" "The Innocent Sleep" "A Town Has Turned to Dust" "The Great Gatsby" "A Bitter Heritage"
Season 3	"The Plot to Kill Stalin" "Days of Wine and Roses" "The Time of Your Life" "The Long March" "Shadows Tremble" "Word From a Sealed-Off Box" "Heart of Darkness" "Old Man" "The Return of Ansel Gibbs" "Free Weekend" "Seven Against the Wall" "The Nutcracker" "Face of a Hero" "The Wings of the Dove" "The Blue Men" "The Velvet Alley" "A Quiet Game of Cards" "Child of Our Time" "The Second Man" "The Raider" "The Dingaling Girl" "Made in Japan" "For Whom the Bell Tolls" "A Trip to Paradise" "In Lonely Expectation" "The Day Before Atlanta" "Judgment at Nuremberg" "A Corner of the Garden" "Dark December" "Diary of a Nurse" "A Marriage of Strangers" "Out of Dust" "The Rank and File" "The Killers of Mussolini" "Project Immortality" "Dark as the Night" "The Second Happiest Day"
Season 4	"Target for Three" "The Sounds of Eden" "Misalliance" "The Hidden Image" "The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" "The Tunnel" "The Silver Whistle" "A Dream of Treason" "To the Sound of Trumpets" "The Cruel Day" "Tomorrow" "The Hiding Place" "Alas, Babylon" "Journey to the Day" "The Shape of the River" "In the Presence of Mine Enemies"
Revivals	CBS Playhouse CBS Playhouse 90