Science Fiction Theater "The Human Equation", Season 01, Episode 25, 26 minutes
Researchers studying new antibiotics are finding themselves accused of uncharacteristic behaviors, which they can't recall. Could the ergot-derived compound be affecting their brains?
A fictionalized account of a lab experiment gone wrong, and the very first mention of LSD as a psychodelic (the word hadn't been coined yet) in the media. This was October 1955 and Timothy Leary was still experimenting with mushrooms. This was very avant-gard in 1955 and was still relatively unknown in 1963 when Leary started shooting off his mouth. Remember, Imipramine was just invented, also Thorazine. Retalin wasn't yet but Dexadrine and Benzedrine was. The main psychotropics were Phenobarbitol and Dexadrine. We were primitive. The whole idea of medication to affect neurotransmitters was still two decades off. This show, like so many others, is a decade before its time.
Director: Henry S. Kesler
Writer: Norman Jolley (screenplay)
Episode cast overview:
Truman Bradley ... Host / Narrator
Macdonald Carey ... Dr. Lee Seward
Jean Byron ... Nan Guild
Peter Adams ... Dr. Clements
Herbert Heyes ... Governor
Tom McKee ... Dr. Henry Upton
Michael Winkelman ... Kenny Guild
George Meader ... Dr. Albert Finch
Elizabeth Whitney ... Cleaning Woman
Marjorie Bennett ... Witness
IMDB rating 7.8 / 10