The Twilight Zone Hocus-Pocus and Frisby (1959–1964) watch online HD

One of the most droll and more humorous episodes of the Twilight Zone starred Andy Devine who essentially played himself, a guy given to telling some real tall tales. Around the crackerbarrel of his country store, Andy delights a lot of his peers which include such rural types as Dabbs Greer, Howard McNear, and Clem Bevans.

But apparently through whatever kind of telepathy they have, some aliens have heard about the legendary exploits of Andy and think he is a worthy specimen to take back to their planet and study. When Milton Seltzer and the other aliens capture him, Andy is most reluctant to go and does have a unique way of escaping and discovering their weakness while doing so.

Moral of this marvelous Twilight Zone tale is you never know who's listening in, so keep it real.

This episode of Twilight Zone was among Rod Serling's best. Andy Devine plays, Mr. Frisby, one of the laziest shopkeepers in history but he's also lovable. He owns a typical old country store somewhere in middle America but he prefers his customers pick out their groceries and add up the cost themselves. His preference is sitting around the pot-bellied stove conjuring up the most outlandish yarns he can come up with. Gathered around him are his friends who all know he's the greatest liar around but hang out there to hear his tales. Frisby has done everything, explored the seven continents and has been awarded numerous doctorates in many fields...according to him. Real aliens find out about his great achievements and decide to abduct him as the perfect specimen of earth. These aliens have no concept of the word "lie." Frisby escapes by playing on his harmonica which to the aliens is a horrible sound causing paralyzing and death. Frisby then returns to his store late at night and is surprised by his friends for his birthday party. He tries to tell them of his abduction but none believe him.

The only negative part of the show is Rod Serlings commentary At the end which is akin to "a boy who cried wolf." Mr. Serling is way off base. Frisby, in my opinion, is the luckiest man in the world. His friends know he's a great liar and love him even more for it. They cared enough to buy him a cup naming him as the greatest liar. With friends like that, Mr. Frisby is indeed a lucky man.

Andy Devine, a longtime member of director John Ford's stock company of actors, does a fine job playing his usual self in "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby." Devine specialized in playing outwardly cowardly old codgers who had an inner core of resourcefulness, and his Somerset Frisby is certainly one of the best of them. As a long-time rural gas station/convenience store proprietor, Frisby is known as the biggest fibber of all time to everyone within his locale. Nevertheless, his friends wouldn't have him any other way. He makes them laugh and that's good enough for them. It seems Frisby (according to him) has invented everything from the electric motor to the jet engine, besides knowing General Patton personally and winning World War II single-handedly. What he doesn't realize is that his world-class abilities as a spinner of tall tales has traveled through the universe as the "gospel truth." A group of aliens from another world land in Frisby's town; their goal is to bring back the greatest Earthling specimen they can find. And who's a better candidate than someone like Frisby who's seen it all and done it all. Frisby soon finds himself abducted by the aliens and their leader (Milton Selzer) and trapped aboard their flying saucer ready for take-off. When Frisby tries to explain that he's been lying about everything, the aliens are thrown for a loop. Lying is a concept that is totally foreign to them and "does not compute." Luckily for Frisby, he's brought along his little harmonica and after blowing a few notes into the thing, he finds out that the aliens can't handle the basic chromatic scale. The sound literally kills them and he's able to make his escape. Frisby is saved by the most basic of instruments, and probably his only real talent. Of course, no one believes Frisby when he returns to his store and tries to explain what just happened to him. His friends are all waiting there to throw him a surprise birthday party and award him a trophy commemorating his career as "The World's Biggest Liar." When Frisby attempts to tell them about his encounter with the aliens, they can't help but break out into raucous laughter. "That's the best one I've ever heard," says one of his old pals.

Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling tries to attach a stern moral to this story about Frisby being a "boy who cried wolf" but it doesn't hold much water. Suffice to say that Frisby may be a liar, but he's as resourceful and inventive as the next fellow. And who else could defeat a bunch of aliens with a beat-up old two dollar harmonica? Only Somerset Frisby, that's who.

I always loved that scratchy voiced guy in all those westerns. He was the sidekick (Jingles) in the Wild Bill Hickock show back in the fifties. In this he has the perfect vehicle for his wonderful bragging character. He is harmless and no one believes him, but he is non-flustered and goes on anyway. When you have a guy like this, there's no challenging because the details aren't there to quibble with. Of course, in this episode, he is taken on board a space ship by a group of aliens who have no sense of humor and believe everything they hear. They don't have the word lie in their vocabularies. As it turns out, he is so insufferable that they can't handle him; and then, of course, there is the secret weapon. See this just to watch Andy.

One of the few comedic Twilight Zones that's actually really good. We have Floyd The Barber from Andy Griffith Show,The stock in trade Old Geezer dude from Many old westerns,and lovable old Frisby. It also has that cool spacecraft interior that I believe was used in the Sci Fi classic Forbidden Planet.Or else The Day The Earth Stood Sill.Plus the new guys in town are driving an exotic Renault(I think) sports car back in the days when European automobiles were known as "Foreign Jobs" in the U.S.. The whole idea of harmonica as weapon is a hoot.And the fact that Frisby's buddies love him despite being the fact he's a total BS artist is a heartwarming moment.

Andy Devine plays Somerset Frisby, who owns a country store and Gas station in the country, and loves to tell tall tales to his customers, who get quite a rise out of them, since if they were to be believed, would make Frisby the most heroic and brilliant man who ever lived! One day, two strangers come to visit, and believe Frisby's boasting, so later that day kidnap him from afar and take him to their spaceship, since they are in fact aliens who are trying to find such a brilliant Earthman that Frisby seems to be! Just how can Somerset get out of this mess? Obviously this is quite contrived, with silly looking aliens, but Devine is quite amusing here, and episode a lot of fun as long as you don't believe a word of it of course...

Fun tale about an insignificant and mendacious man who spins tall stories from his gas station. Andy Devine plays the country boy, Frisby, in this charming little story. Devine is best remembered for his roles in westerns such as 'Stagecoach' and 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence'(as the hopeless sheriff). Frisby has a little following of local men who like to listen to and laugh at his bovine excrement. One day the inconvenience of customers breaking his flow of lies brings him a potential audience who would never doubt his veracity. Somerset Frisby is well named, like a cross between prolific author Somerset Maugham and something throwaway that returns. There's something I like about Andy Devine getting to represent the entire planet. Please don't look for slick special effects. Just enjoy the hokum of one of the best comedy entries.

Welcome to Frisby's General Store - The Gimbel and Macey's of Pitchville Flats. It was back in Episode #2.19 of The Twilight Zone, 'Mr. Dingle the Strong', when aliens arrived on Earth and tapped a hapless vacuum cleaner salesman (Burgess Meredith) to receive the strength of three hundred men in an intergalactic experiment. In this one, visitors from outer space figure they'll haul away the one Earthling who's accomplished the most in his lifetime based on his own highly padded resume. If anything, Rod Serling inadvertently exposed how clueless advanced life forms from distant planets might truly be with these outings. Perhaps one day we'll find out.

One of the great things about watching The Twilight Zone is how they bring you back to a simpler time and nudge our memory on how things used to be. A store front sign on Pitchville Flats' Main Street offered a haircut or a bath for a quarter, and fifteen cents for a shave. The aliens at the gas pump managed to get a fill-up for a dollar eighty, although I don't recall ever hearing of a brand of gasoline called Rayton. Then you had mention of Lyndon Johnson as Vice President back in 1962, further insuring that this was a modern day tale even though Frisby's shop looked like a step back into the late 1800's.

It was a kick to see Andy Devine in this story, not far removed from characters he portrayed as a sidekick to screen cowboys like Roy Rogers and Guy Madison's Wild Bill Hickok. Tall tales and brushes with greatness were his characters' stock in trade, but here Somerset Frisby makes no pretense about his wild adventures. He's the world's greatest liar, and his friends all know it. Though they might seem annoyed with each new fabrication, they really can't get enough, and in gratitude offer him a trophy on his sixty third birthday. Funny how his most unbelievable story will actually turn out to be true.

This is for me one of the best episodes of The Twilght Zone. I had to re watch it the night after its first viewing because I enjoyed it so much. The star of the show is Andy Devine famous from all those old cowboys he played,he is brilliant in the role and is supported by a great cast. If your feeling a bit down in the dumps you could do worse than to switch on Hocus Pocus and Frisby and while away a half hour and have a good chuckle to yourself. I love this episode and will be watching it again in the not too far future.................................................. It is episodes like this that make The Twilight Zone watchable for generations old and new.

The above profile was written by me when I used the nick of OldWereWolf56 which is still my email address. I still believe Andy Devine's character of Frisky is the best Twilight Zone's episodes ever and I watch this episode at least once a year as I consider Frisby to be a fortunate man as he has many friends who love him dearly.

In case many of you are too young to remember, I'm 61, Andy Devine hosted a children's entertainment show in the 50's I believe called Andy's Gang. On it he had three assistants: a cat named Midnight who played the violin, a mouse named Squeaky who played an a hand organ and a devilish toad named Froggy who's could appear and disappear at will embarrassing many of Andy's funny guest stars like Billy Gilbert.

What a great episode. Andy was good in his role. Rod Serling made a lot of great stories and keep people entertained. he brought out ways to tell stories of how real life people do .Love all the great actors that were in these twilight zone episodes. I've been watching the episodes starting from #1 and there is a lot of them I have never seen on TV.

A guy is known for telling tall tales. Well, he's really just a big liar. He gets kidnapped by aliens who think he's some sort of super genius. Apparently, they don't really understand the concept of lying. Couldn't he just tell them it was the opposite of telling the truth? I know "Galaxy Quest" used this idea later.

I do like the main character in this. He's pretty goofy. I don't know how he knew using a harmonica would defeat the aliens. I love how he just punched one of them. He's a man of action! You can't take that away from him. ***

This is one of The Twilight Zone's few attempts at comedy that actually worked. Andy Devine really shines here as Mr. Somerset Frisby, the trash-talking hillbilly protagonist. Frisby's self-aggrandizement is also a source of entertainment/minor irritation to his long-time friends. Frisby's storytelling ability also happens to attract some out-of towners, who happen to be visitors from another planet. Their goal is to bring Frisby to their home planet and put him on display as the pre-eminent specimen Earthling. Making matters worse is that Frisby cannot convince the aliens that his stories are just that...STORIES...as the supposedly advanced aliens have no concept of what a lie is. Just when it looks like all is lost, Frisby's harmonica playing proves anathema to the aliens and is the instrument (pardon the pun) of his escape. When he gets back home and tells his friends of his latest "adventure," they laugh it off as just another of Frisby's tall tales. Honorable mention goes to Milton Selzer as the alien ringleader, with his very quiet and understated menace, as well as Dabbs Greer and Howard McNear as Frisby's pals who although are initially irritated at Frisby's phony stories, genuinely love him just the same.

Loveable old gas station attendant Somerset Frisby (wonderfully played with considerable rascally charm by Andy Devine) loves to whopping lies and tall tales about himself. However, trouble ensues after Frisby gets abducted by aliens who take his BS seriously.

Director Lamont Johnson ably crafts a folksy downhome atmosphere and maintains an amiable lighthearted tone throughout. Rod Serling's witty script makes an amusing point that those who make a habit of embellishing on the truth often write checks with their mouths that they can never come close to catching. Moreover, having Frisby's horrible harmonica playing serve as a means of thwarting the aliens and getting away rates as an especially inspired and hilarious touch. The presence of such reliable character actors as Dabbs Greer and Clem Bevans in colorful supporting helps a lot. However, it's Devine who really makes this episode so much fun to watch; he's clearly having a ball with his juicy lead role and hence gives this particular episode an extra delightful spark.