On October 2nd, 1959, the world of science fiction would forever be shifted by the workings of Mr. Rod Serling. Following the likes of earlier programs such as Tales of Tomorrow and Science Fiction Theater, The Twilight Zone would become one of the most defining programs throughout the entire genre. “Where Is Everybody?” would become the first story in The Twilight Zone anthology to be broadcast around the country, and the rest is history.
Five seasons and 156 episodes later, The Twilight Zone has seen its fair share of revivals and updates since its introduction. Forest Whitaker tried his hand at being the narrator of the early 2000’s revival, and even Steven Spielberg was one of the directors who took part in 1983s Twilight Zone: The Movie. It’s safe to say that this program has reached its way all across the globe to become one of the greatest influences in the field of mystery/science fiction. With October 2nd marking the 57th anniversary of The Twilight Zone beginning, we thought it appropriate to share some of our favorite episodes, and why we believe their influence stands out so much to us.
SPOILERS will be discussed. However, if it’s taken you this long to watch one of the greatest science fiction programs in television history, and one that also just so happens to be 57 years old now, that’s probably your own fault.
One for the Angels
(Season 1, Episode 2)
“Street scene: Summer. The present. Man on a sidewalk named Lew Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Lew Bookman, a fixture of the summer, a rather minor component to a hot July, a nondescript, commonplace little man whose life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks. And in just a moment, Lew Bookman will have to concern himself with survival – because as of three o’clock this hot July afternoon, he’ll be stalked by Mr. Death.”
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An elderly street salesmen beloved by the local children, Lou Bookman makes a quaint living selling small gadgets and gizmos to anyone who comes his way. However, what started as a typical day greeting the local community and emptying his briefcase of trinkets, would turn into an encounter with the Grim Reaper himself, Mr. Death. When Bookman is informed he will perish of natural causes at midnight, he begs that there’s still so much he hasn’t accomplished in life. Upon deliberation, Mr. Death grants Bookman a final wish of performing a sales pitch so grand that it’d be considered “one for the angels.” Ecstatic, Bookman decides to retire from his profession immediately and ensure his own immortality. But Mr. Death is not so easily fooled, and someone else is chosen to take Bookman’s place, a little girl who had befriended the sales rep. After getting hit by a truck and sunken into a coma, Bookman begs to be taken instead, but Mr. Death mutters “It’s too late,” and notes her appointment for death is exactly at midnight. To spare the little girl’s life, Bookman decides to use his final wish as a way of keeping Mr. Death distracted.
It’s your “Human Vs Deity” story where man must triumph against a supernatural force to save another. It just so happens that instead of a sword and shield, like in the old Olympian tales, Mr. Bookman is armed with only a briefcase and his words to save a child’s life. Because Mr. Death was so moved and entranced by Bookman’s pitch into buying everything out of the salesman’s suitcase, the Grim Reaper missed his appointment to take another’s life, ensuring the little girl would survive and Bookman would go instead. It’s definitely one of the Twilight Zone’s smaller scale stories, but it becomes all the more powerful of a tale because of its simple, yet effective narrative. It’s one episode that still gives me goosebumps. -Donald Strohman
Time Enough at Last
(Season 1, Episode 8)
“Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock. But in just a moment, Mr. Bemis will enter a world without bank presidents or wives or clocks or anything else. He’ll have a world all to himself – without anyone.”
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All Henry Bemis wanted to do was read his books. He wanted to share his passion with the world around him. To the customers who came into his bank, to his fellow employees, even his own wife. But nobody would listen to his ramblings about the latest novels, and everyone essentially tried to silence his love as often as possible. His wife even went so far as to run a permanent marker through one of his favorite stories as a way of shutting him up. One day, however, Henry got all the time he needed to read all the books he wanted. When he took a break inside the bank vault to read his latest chapters, and a nuclear bomb went off outside killing everyone else in the world above.
This episode is home to one of the cruelest endings ever crafted on The Twilight Zone, if not throughout television history. Henry Bemis was never a brutal man, he may have let his pastime get the better of him at times, but the world around him was certainly much harsher to his hobby than he deserved. Much like our modern world, some people’s passions aren’t supported by their closest companions, but rather rejected as “time wasters.” So if “Time Enough at Last” had concluded just a couple of minutes before the infamous ending, maybe this one would be looked at as more light-hearted. Sadly, on the other hand, Bemis never got his wish to finally read all the books left in the world, as he breaks his glasses reaching down for one of his first reads.
Perhaps Bemis would have succumbed to loneliness long before his pile of books was gone through, or more likely the effects of nuclear radiation exposure. For him to break his glasses and never be able to at long last feed his passion, is by far a much more heartbreaking fate than the poor man warranted. -Donald Strohman
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And When the Sky Was Opened
(Season 1, Episode 11)
“Her name: X-20. Her type: an experimental interceptor. Recent history: a crash landing in the Mojave Desert after a thirty-one hour flight nine hundred miles into space. Incidental data: the ship, with the men who flew her, disappeared from the radar screen for twenty-four hours. But the shrouds that cover mysteries are not always made out of a tarpaulin, as this man will soon find out on the other side of a hospital door.”
A simple premise well executed was the reason an anthology show like The Twilight Zone was created. In just 30 minutes, they had the ability to send that icy chill down your back with a premise, a twist, and an ambiguous ending. “And When the Sky Was Opened” is one of the simplest premises Rod Serling ever wrote; three astronauts go into space and when they crash-land back on Earth, they are slowly pulled out of existence. At the time, the fear of venturing into the great unknown probably enhanced the chill factor of this episode…what Pandora’s box were we opening up? But even watching after the space race, this episode still managed to freak me out. In terms of being a well-executed episode, I can’t say enough good things about this one. Serling’s writing is crisp, the narrative twist of telling the story in a flashback is quite original for the time, and it features three excellent character actors (Rod Taylor, Charles Aidman and Jim Hutton) whose urban styles perfectly matched Serling’s dialogue. -Lesley Coffin
The Eye of the Beholder
(Season 2, Episode 6)
“Suspended in time and space for a moment, your introduction to Miss Janet Tyler, who lives in a very private world of darkness. A universe whose dimensions are the size, thickness, length of the swath of bandages that cover her face. In a moment we will go back into this room, and also in a moment we will look under those bandages. Keeping in mind of course that we are not to be surprised by what we see, for this isn’t just a hospital, and this patient 307 is not just a woman. This happens to be the Twilight Zone and Miss Janet Tyler, with you, is about to enter it.”
The human imagination is a scary place. So when Janet Tyler is introduced, whose head is entirely covered in bandages and is established as being grotesque, chances are the viewer is going to imagine the worst. Tension and dread build throughout the episode as we learn that this is her eleventh procedure to fix her face. The doctors are horrified upon taking off her bandages, disgusted at her “hideous” appearance. Of course, Janet Tyler looks like a movie star–it’s everyone else who sports pig noses, twisted lips, and sunken eyes. Turns out they all exist in a dystopian state where conformity is valued above all else, and Janet’s human beauty is enough to get her thrown out of society. This episode pushes two important lessons: one, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and two, the inherent dangers in valuing sameness above all else–lessons that are still all too relevant today. -Bri Lockhart
Twenty Two
(Season 2, Episode 17)
“This is Miss Liz Powell. She’s a professional dancer and she’s in the hospital as a result of overwork and nervous fatigue. At this moment we have just finished walking with her in a nightmare. In a moment she’ll wake up and we’ll remain at her side. The problem here is that both Miss Powell and you will reach a point where it might be difficult to decide which is reality and which is nightmare, a problem uncommon perhaps but rather peculiar to the Twilight Zone.”
Ever experience that weird sense of deja vu when things you’ve dreamt about start happening in real life? What about nightmares? Originally based on a E. F. Benson short story called “The Bus-Conductor,” “Twenty-Two” is a sinister tale about prophetic dreams. When dancer Liz Powell is hospitalized for exhaustion, she’s plagued with nightmares in which she goes to room 22 in the hospital. She’s greeted by a nurse who says, “Room for one more, honey,” before running away screaming. Real life eerily mirrors her nightmares when she’s about to board Flight 22 and the flight attendant greets her with the same words. As she runs away from the plane screaming back into the terminal, the audience gets a shot of the plane exploding in midair. That’ll teach you to go with your gut, eh? -Bri Lockhart
Long Distance Call
(Season 2, Episode 22)
“As must be obvious, this is a house hovered over by Mr. Death, an omnipresent player to the third and final act of every life. And it’s been said, and probably rightfully so, that what follows this life is one of the unfathomable mysteries, an area of darkness which we, the living, reserve for the dead—or so it is said. For in a moment, a child will try to cross that bridge which separates light and shadow, and, of course, he must take the only known route, that indistinct highway through the region we call The Twilight Zone.”
Season two had the unfortunate history of having several episodes which were taped, rather than filmed, which have left their mark as lesser examples of the show. Even now, there’s a clear visual difference between the pristine filmed episodes, and the random taped episodes which all have a scratchy, grey quality. Several of the episodes are very good despite their appearance. And “Long Distance Call” could be considered a classic in the series; an example of just how dark this show would go. Billy (Twilight Zone veteran Billy Mumy), is a little boy who witnesses his grandmother’s death on his birthday after she gave him a toy phone as a present. After her death, Billy begins talking to his grandmother from “the beyond” and is compelled to kill himself at her insistence. If the premise sounds unnerving, the length the show goes to explore the implications of such an idea are shocking for a program in 1961. In fact, it’s still shocking now. -Lesley Coffin
It’s a Good Life
(Season 3, Episode 8)
“On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village…and you’ll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio, have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn’t I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He’s six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you’d better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.”
One of Twilight Zone’s MVP’s would have to be Billy Mumy, whose three episodes (Long Distance Call, It’s a Good Life, and In Praise of Pip) are all excellent episodes of the series. His character in “It’s a Good Life,” little Anthony Fremont, has to be one of the most memorable examples of terrifying horror children in pop culture history. Adorable as he is, his big eyes have the ability to do terrible things to people (and animals) that simply annoy him, such as sending them into the undefined cornfield of the episode. The town lives in terror of committing undefined, minor infractions in the eyes of a 9-year-old with quick temper and violent will. No wonder the episode escalates with one of the townspeople begging Anthony’s parents to do him in so the reign of terror will finally end. -Lesley Coffin
Showdown with Rance McGrew
(Season 3, Episode 20)
“Some one-hundred-odd years ago, a motley collection of tough mustaches galloped across the West and left behind a raft of legends and legerdemains, and it seems a reasonable conjecture that if there are any television sets up in cowboy heaven and any of these rough-and-woolly nail-eaters could see with what careless abandon their names and exploits are being bandied about, they’re very likely turning over in their graves—or worse, getting out of them. Which gives you a clue as to the proceedings that will begin in just a moment, when one Mr. Rance McGrew, a 3,000-buck-a-week phoney-baloney discovers that this week’s current edition of make-believe is being shot on location—and that location is the Twilight Zone.”
Let’s be honest, Rod Serling was a great writer…but writing comedy was one area he clearly struggled. The surprising thing about “Showdown with Rance McGrew” is…it’s a comedic chapter that earns its laughs. A big part of that is owed to Larry Blyden (who appeared the first season episode “A Nice Place to Visit”) as the episode’s namesake. He plays this Hollywood star on a TV western with the cocky, oblivious confidence of Ron Burgundy. The premise doesn’t make a lot of sense, Rance time travels because Jesse James is mad that an actor playing a gun fighter on TV can’t actually shoot, but it’s funny enough (and short enough) for logic not to be a big hindrance. Blyden’s very funny performance is matched with some winning (and funny) wordplay by Serling. And isn’t hearing Mr. Sophisticated Serling saying “Phony-Baloney” worth a watch? -Lesley Coffin
To Serve Man
(Season 3, Episode 24)
“Respectfully submitted for your perusal – a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we’re going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. This is The Twilight Zone.”
Based on the Damon Knight short story of the same name, “To Serve Man” explores what happens when the arrogance of man meets clever aliens from another planet. When the Kanamits visit Earth, they take care to win the trust of humans. Let’s face it, they’re as they say, creepy AF–nine feet tall, blank stares, and ominous voices that come from their brains–so they use a bit of flattery and altruism to win the trust of humans, who are thrilled to learn that their book is called To Serve Man. Unfortunately, cryptographer Patty cracks the rest of their code as narrator Mr. Chambers is getting on their ship: “The rest of the book To Serve Man…it’s a cookbook!” she shouts. It’s too late–Mr. Chambers is now stuck in a cell, biding his time until the aliens come for him.
“To Serve Man” features what is probably one of The Twilight Zone’s most famous twists in pop culture history–and with good reason. Most Twilight Zone episodes feature a lesson in each twist, and this one is no different; arrogance can blind you to danger. Subsequently, the episode has been referenced and parodied many times, most famously in the first ever “Treehouse of Horror” episode of The Simpsons, where the twist is flipped again and the aliens want to serve an actual dinner to the humans. -Bri Lockhart
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
(Season 5, Episode 3)
“Portrait of a frightened man: Mr. Robert Wilson, thirty-seven, husband, father, and salesman on sick leave. Mr. Wilson has just been discharged from a sanitarium where he spent the last six months recovering from a nervous breakdown, the onset of which took place on an evening not dissimilar to this one, on an airliner very much like the one in which Mr. Wilson is about to be flown home—the difference being that, on that evening half a year ago, Mr. Wilson’s flight was terminated by the onslaught of his mental breakdown. Tonight, he’s traveling all the way to his appointed destination, which, contrary to Mr. Wilson’s plan, happens to be in the darkest corner of the Twilight Zone.”
Some of the absolute best episodes of The Twilight Zone explore the stigmas and fears around mental illness–namely the paranoid feeling that no one around them will believe them. When Bob Wilson (portrayed by a young William Shatner) attempts to warn his wife and a flight crew that there’s a gremlin tearing their plane apart, this is exactly what happens. After all, he had a nervous breakdown six months prior during his last flight. Desperation causes him to shoot an emergency exit door, nearly getting himself sucked out of the plane in the process. As he’s being escorted off the plane in a straitjacket, the camera pans across to the wing of the plane, which has been visibly torn apart by the gremlin, proving to the audience that he was lucid the whole time. Flying is hard enough, but the idea that some creature is hellbent on destroying your plane AND is dastardly enough to try to make everyone think you’re crazy at the same time so you can’t do anything about it? Nightmarish, indeed. -Bri Lockhart
Living Doll
(Season 5, Episode 6)
“Talky Tina, a doll that does everything, a lifelike creation of plastic and springs and painted smile. To Erich Streator, she is the most unwelcome addition to his household—but without her, he’d never enter the Twilight Zone.”
Welcome to the episode that made my younger self think twice about owning an American Girl doll. When Annabelle buys her daughter Christie a Talky Tina doll, it’s meant to be an apology/bribe for dealing with her new husband, Erich. Erich is hostile towards Christie and ends up transferring some of his shitty behavior onto Talky Tina, because apparently he’s such a miserable man that he must see little girls suffer, be they real or fake (That’s me “editorializing” here, not stated outright.) We learn along-side Erich that Talky Tina is sentient; as Erich’s behavior worsens, Tina begins threatening him. Erich devolves, scaring Annabelle and Christie with his violent actions towards Tina.
He dials it back and returns the doll to Christie, but it’s too late. When he goes to investigate a mysterious noise, he trips over Tina and fatally falls down the stairs. When Annabelle discovers the doll, Tina has a new warning for her: “My name is Talky Tina…you better be nice to me.” While the idea that a doll is sentient and capable of murder is ostensibly scary (see also: Child’s Play and the series of Chucky movies that followed), the doll is ultimately acting in the best interest of the child, who had been left unprotected by her mother. -Bri Lockhart
Number 12 Looks Just Like You
(Season 5, Episode 17)
“Given the chance, what young girl wouldn’t happily exchange a plain face for a lovely one? What girl could refuse the opportunity to be beautiful? For want of a better estimate, let’s call it the year 2000. At any rate, imagine a time in the future where science has developed the means of giving everyone the face and body he dreams of. It may not happen tomorrow, but it happens now, in The Twilight Zone.”
Eighteen-year-old Marilyn Cuberle doesn’t want to be like everyone else. She just wants to stay exactly the way she is, and not change a single thing. The problem is, however, that her future society “heavily encourages” everyone to undergo an operation to look exactly the same as everyone else. When Marilyn tries to explain to her family why she refuses the operation, nobody understands why. Their society proudly states it helps make everyone happier by eliminating beauty standards, but Marilyn argues it also takes away your identity.
By far one of the most spine chilling conclusions to occur on a Twilight Zone chapter, despite Marilyn’s pleas to her friends and family that she doesn’t want the operation, she’s forced to undergo one anyway. Tricked into entering an operating room, and subsequently detained by the hospital personnel, Marilyn’s fate is sealed. When she emerges post surgery, not only are her defining facial features completely gone, but her personality that vehemently revolted against the practice has magically vanished. She not only looks like everyone else around her, but now she also thinks like everyone else too.
In psychology, this is essentially the “2+2=5” principle. To explain, if you were magically dropped into a reality where everyone believed 2 and 2 was 5, despite the fact that you knew without a doubt 2 and 2 was 4, you would eventually break down and start believing it was 5 just to be a part of society again. The twist here, however, is that while Marilyn didn’t choose to accept 5, or in her story “the surgery,” society chose for her. -Donald Strohman
Do you have a favorite episode of The Twilight Zone we missed? Be sure to comment with your own picks of the best that The Twilight Zone had to offer! If you haven’t seen a single episode yet, 1: What’s the matter with you? and 2: Go binge watch it on Netflix immediately!
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