"Nightmare at Ground Zero" is a television drama written by Rod Serling. And, although I liked most of the show, its ending really was poor...and wimped out from what could have been a great show.
George is an odd man. His job is building mannequins to be used by the military at nuclear test sites. But this isn't what makes him odd...it's how much effort he puts into making them look 'just right' and he seems to pay more attention to them than normal. As for his wife, Helen (who overacts), she is a tough lady to love. She nags George incessantly and its obvious George just tries to block it all out...but not successfully. In fact, it's gotten so bad that George is thinking about including Helen among the blast dummies to be used at an upcoming nuclear test.
In addition to the ending that muddles the show (I would have preferred a MUCH darker ending), the film doesn't make a lot of sense near the end. After all, the military think that some folks STILL might be at the blast site but they act like they cannot stop the test...even though the bomb is to be dropped by a plane. Why don't they simply radio them and have them go into a holding pattern until they can check out the site?! This just doesn't make any sense.
The bottom line is that Rod Serling was a genius at writing television shows. But even a genius can make a mistake...especially earlier in his career.
George is an odd man. His job is building mannequins to be used by the military at nuclear test sites. But this isn't what makes him odd...it's how much effort he puts into making them look 'just right' and he seems to pay more attention to them than normal. As for his wife, Helen (who overacts), she is a tough lady to love. She nags George incessantly and its obvious George just tries to block it all out...but not successfully. In fact, it's gotten so bad that George is thinking about including Helen among the blast dummies to be used at an upcoming nuclear test.
In addition to the ending that muddles the show (I would have preferred a MUCH darker ending), the film doesn't make a lot of sense near the end. After all, the military think that some folks STILL might be at the blast site but they act like they cannot stop the test...even though the bomb is to be dropped by a plane. Why don't they simply radio them and have them go into a holding pattern until they can check out the site?! This just doesn't make any sense.
The bottom line is that Rod Serling was a genius at writing television shows. But even a genius can make a mistake...especially earlier in his career.