Lee Marvin, boxing, a robot and the Twilight Zone.

[stoopidmonkeyful]

A fav (and poignant) TZ eps of mine. 

[MrBobshadow]

Little do we all know Maxo won all his fights and became "Atom". Then appeared in the movie "Real Steel". XD

[andmaketherain]

I never knew this episode existed.

[DoktorDark]

Well, the premise seemed good enough in 2011 to invest millions into for the movie REAL STEEL.

[cockeyedproductions]

A Disney Creative exec shared this story with me two years ago when it was in development. IT'S A RIP OFF OF THIS GREAT TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE beat for beat!!!!!!!! Serling was an avid boxer and boxing enthusiast, so it makes sense he'd produce this episode.

[KyodaiKen1979]

@cockeyedproductions

that's not a rip-off! Real Steel was based on the same short story by Richard Mateson.

[cockeyedproductions]

@KyodaiKen1979 I stand humbly corrected. Matheson did in fact received a based on credit for the Real Steel adaptation. In my humble opinion, this new film at best, can be a pale comparison to the greatness that was anything and everything TWZ.

[cockeyedproductions]

"REAL STEEL" RIPPED OFF SERLING!

[LadySierraSays]

I still luv this on my all time fav

[Cablev94]

@chewslowly Real Steel is based off a short story by Richard Matheson, who also wrote this episode.

[Cablev94]

@chewslowly Real Steel is based off a short story richard matheson, who all wrote this episode.

[gmt3010]

@Cablev94 Rare for Serling not to write but then I think he also attracted top flight writers to the Twilight Zone. Thanks for sharing.

[Cablev94]

@gmt3010 He wrote this episode with Matheson. :)

[LSR1963]

Here's an example of a premise that isn't really that interesting, (robot boxers) saved by the incredible presence and realism of Lee Marvin as Steel.

[gmt3010]

@LSR1963 I have to agree! But bear in mind, the future was 1974 -- ancient it seems, no? Anyway a lot of great acting has salvaged some bad scripts. RIP Lee Marvin. I thought he hit all 8 cylanders in Point Blank though some say it was The Dirty Dozen

[TheMantisTycoon]

I named my praying mantis after dat robot.

[bugsmoran100]

The Best TZ episode.