Q & A: ABC Stage 67 – The People Trap

I get a lot of e-mails from people asking me about television shows, made-for-TV movies or miniseries they remember from years or decades past. I try to answer each question as best I can. Every now and then I like to dig through my inbox and pull out a few choice e-mails to answer here at Television Obscurities for everyone to read. Keep reading for today’s questions and answers.

I am trying to find the name of a TV show that aired on 11/9/1966. It was about a contest where the prize was an acre of land. I never got to see it because my husband was in the hospital and I went to visit him. I have always wanted to see this show. I don’t even know what kind of story it would be considered. I think it was when environmental issues were just coming into the news. Any help you could give me will be greatly appreciated.
RZ

This was an installment of ABC Stage 67, an ambitious anthology series that included dramas, musicals and the occasional documentary. It ran for one season, on ABC, from 1966 to 1967, producing 26 episodes. Earl Hamner, Jr. wrote this particular episode, which was called “The People Trap” and was based on a short story by Robert Sheckley. In my opinion, the plot of the episode was right out of The Twilight Zone (Hamner wrote eight episodes of that series).

In the year 2067, Earth is filled up, populated by 20 billion people and there just is not enough land to go around. Stuart Whitman starred as a history teacher whose wife, played by Vera Miles, was pregnant. The two lacked the proper license to have a child so, in order to keep his wife out of prison and their child from being confiscated, the teacher decides to enter a race for one of the last free acres of land in the United states (located in Yosemite National Park).

Connie Stevens played a fellow competitor in the race who romanced Whitman’s character. Lew Ayres, Estelle Winwood, Lee Grant, Pearl Bailey and Betty Furness and Michael Rennie all had cameo roles in the episode. Much like “Murder and the Android” (an installment of NBC’s Sunday Showcase) which I wrote about June of 2009, this is something I’d love to see. Thankfully, like “Murder and the Android,” the Paley Center for Media has “The People Trap” and all the other episodes of ABC Stage 67 in its collection.


Related Posts

Become a Patron Today

Are you a fan of obscure television? Please support Television Obscurities on Patreon by becoming a patron today.

22 Replies to “Q & A: ABC Stage 67 – The People Trap”

  1. Well, I’m glad to hear “The People Trap” IS in the Paley collection! But that doesn’t help ‘RZ’ as to how SHE’S going to get to their New York [or Los Angeles] location to actually SEE it…you’d THINK there would have been a TV in her husband’s hospital room so she could have seen it then!

  2. I was an extra in that movie. Worked for 2 weeks all over Phoenix, all hours and never got paid a cent. Always bugged me, but sure was fun

    1. I was an extra in the movie and I was paid. I was one of the runners who ran with Stuart Whitman. I was a villain who a co-runner for the acre. I remember well that I never got to view the movie as it aired the night I had knee surgery..I have tried to find where to view the movie and I guess it’s in the Paley Collection. I, to can not go to LA or New York to see it I was told once that a copy of all movies made in Arizona would be available in the Phoenix Public Library. After many library trips, I was finally told sorry, “we don’t have a copy of the People Trap!

    2. Me too! I was chosen to be paid which was meager but I also was given salt tablets and water. Lol
      If you get any royalties, let me know.

  3. Do you suppose I could contact ABC and collect? With interest back to 1966, that would be quite a chunk of change.

  4. I’m just glad to know there was a movie about this. I kept thinking maybe I dreamed it. Sure would be cool to see this again. So much of it is true today.Funny after all these years I still remember it.

  5. I own an original script for this show and would be willing to donate it to Paley in exchange for a DVD copy of the show.

  6. I remember watching it .
    I was 15 at the time .
    I remember two things mostly , being 15 , the sexiness of Connie Stevens , quite bold for TV at the time, and the last scene where Whitman and his family enjoy a picnic outdoors in their new home as the camera panned to the chain link fence behind which a mass of humanity was jammed up against as it looked on in envy at the family .

    1. Dear Richard,

      Thanks! You spared me writing *exactly* the same thing. Every word! :-D

      I’d give anything to see it (or just that last pan) again. Too bad Paley doesn’t put its collection online.

  7. Apparently, Robert Sheckley wrote a treatment initially rather than a fully-fleshed out short story, which Earl Hamner got to adapt…Sheckley’s (eventual?) story appeared in THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION in 1968, and was included in the subsequent BEST FROM F&SF volume.

  8. There was a copy on Youtube a few years back but it was taken down. They used quite a few sites around Phoenix to film it, including Star Theater (now Celebrity Theater) on 32nd Street just north of Van Buren, where the race started, and the Osborne Office Building on Central and Osborne, which was used as a futuristic slum apartment building. Wish there was a copy on DVD!

  9. Oh I’m so glad I found this site. My memory of this show came back vividly when I moved onto an acre of land that eerily reminds me of that last acre! That last shot was so simple & said sooo much. I’ve told many people about the show but always thought it was a Twilight Zone episode & just looked through a short description of every episode & didn’t find it! Thank you for confirming that I’m not crazy!

  10. I also remembered this show when I saw it as a 13 year old. I wracked my brain for many years trying to remember the actor who was the star and one day Stuart Whitman’s name popped up in my head. Checking out IMDb I found the name of the show as “The People Trap” and sure enough it was this movie that I had seen! I also wish that this was on DVD or that the Paley Center would make it available for streaming even if there was a fee.

  11. I’ve tried to find any copy of this movie, I’ve told my kids and grandkids that I was an extra in this movie and we all sat on the floor and couch and waited for our scene. I remember in the one scene Stuart told me to get closer to make sure I’m in the shot. I loved the box meals they gave you.

  12. Also there was a Star Trek episode, 1st season along the same lines ehere Kirk goes to some planet over run by population and is romanced by a local princess

  13. I was an extra in the movie as well as a fifteen year old and we did film all over Phoenix. I remember Connie Stevens trailer and how old she looked in real life. I was paid $50 for a week and some salt pills because it was in the summer and very hot. We had no shade and little to drink.
    Even so, I would love to see the film but how? Is it possible to get a copy?

  14. I remember this episode . I swear I never forgot it . The ending was so impressive. I don’t know what made me think about it just now but I’m glad I found this site .

  15. I was an extra, we had to put jump suits on and run down an alley and stage a fight, I think Stewart Whitman ran by us as we were fighting. We got paid $5 for our efforts. Part of the show was filmed at the Arizona State fair grounds, several locations along central ave. , Encanto Park. and other locations around Phoenix.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.