Editing Mr. Denton on Doomsday (section)

==Episode notes==
In his 1959 promotional film shown to potential sponsors, [[Rod Serling]] summarized an earlier version of this episode's plot under its original title, "Death, Destry, and Mr. Dingle". As told by Serling, the basic premise is similar, but the earlier version seems to have been more comedic in tone, involving a meek schoolteacher who quite unintentionally gains notoriety as a top gunslinger. The name "Mr. Dingle" (originally intended for the Dan Duryea character) would be used by Serling for a future episode, with [[Burgess Meredith]] playing the eponymous character in "[[Mr. Dingle, the Strong]]" in 1961. The harmonica in the background is playing the Russian folksong "[[Stenka Razin]]" (the melody of which was later adapted for the 1965 hit "[[The Carnival Is Over]]" by [[The Seekers]]).

Al Denton's speech to Liz Smith, in which he describes having been a top gunfighter until he turned to drink after being "called out" by a 16-year-old boy, was parodied in the [[Mel Brooks]] comedy ''[[Blazing Saddles]]''. In that film, the Waco Kid ([[Gene Wilder]]) had also been a top gunfighter until he was challenged (and shot) by a six-year-old child, leading him to become an alcoholic.

[[Martin Landau]], playing here the sadistic bully to the story's protagonist, Al Denton, would return to ''The Twilight Zone'' five years later in “[[The Jeopardy Room]]”; this time he is the sadistically treated victim - a [[KGB]] major longing to defect but targeted for assassination.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Cleveland Plain Dealer|first=Mark|last=Dawidziak|access-date=20 April 2019|date=21 July 2017|url=https://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/2017/07/10_essential_martin_landau_roles.html|title=10 essential Martin Landau roles (appreciation)}}</ref>