Now Is Tomorrow (1958): Lost Sci-Fi Pilot by Matheson

Captain Blair (Robert Culp) has been chosen for an assignment of unthinkable consequence. Out of one hundred thousand candidates, only he is selected for a year of intensive training at a secret government installation. His mission: to prepare for the ultimate responsibility — the power to unleash total global destruction. As Blair confronts the psychological and moral weight of his duty, the question emerges: can any man be trusted with the authority to end the world?

Before The Twilight Zone — before Alcoa's One Step Beyond -- there was Now Is Tomorrow (1958).
Written by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Twilight Zone), this unaired television pilot explores the haunting responsibilities of those who hold humanity’s fate at their fingertips. Created by Burton Rosen and Harve Bennett (later producer of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), the production was directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back). Producer Alvin Cooperman later became Vice President of Special Programming at NBC.

Robert Culp stars as the officer torn between duty and conscience, with Sydney Pollack—years before his acclaimed directing career—as a tense, fallible technician, and Simon Scott as the pragmatic executive officer striving to maintain order amid rising tension. Other cast includes Jack Hogan, Ben Wright, John Lassell, Warren Vanders, and David Garcia.The series is hosted by Charles Bickford, whose sober narration frames the story within a moral and philosophical lens. After the end credits Bickford reveals future programs to be produced on Now Is Tomorrow.

Conceived as a thought-provoking anthology pilot under the working title “Thy Will Be Done,” Now Is Tomorrow examined the human condition through speculative storytelling — a full year before The Twilight Zone premiered. Had it been picked up to series, it might well have become television’s first science-fiction anthology — and perhaps its most daring, tackling moral questions that would later define Rod Serling’s classic.

Though never broadcast, the film stands as an extraordinary intersection of talent — uniting Matheson’s visionary writing, Kershner’s direction, and Bennett’s early producing career.

Preserved from a rare 16 mm print by Moviecraft Inc., this lost television pilot offers a fascinating glimpse into what might have been — a pioneering work at the dawn of intelligent science fiction on television.
Explore more TV Pilots from the Moviecraft Inc. Vault: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEcRkOkCw9vrmBooDPcNo2rs8uJLJ6pd6&si=ZgAVj_BRdPLyw9FG

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