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Most people spent the weekend grilling out or boating or enjoying parades and fireworks; I spent mine refinishing our kitchen floor and watching The Twilight Zone marathon on SciFi (soon to be SyFy). I wasn’t around for the first incarnation of the series, and I was too young to really appreciate the revival in the ’80s. So, as blasphemous as it may be, my first real introduction to Rod Serling’s fascinating mind was The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (then MGM Studios). I got some of the sly references to Twilight Zone episodes on the ride just from being a bit of a pop culture freak, but now that I’m more familiar with the series (not just from the marathon), I realize there are tons of references. Each imagineer who helped develop the ride watched every single episode of the original series – that’s 156 episodes – twice. Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Talky Tina. If you follow my Twitter at all, then you might already know that I think this is the scariest Twilight Zone episode ever. Starring Telly Savalas, the show is about a man whose stepdaughter has a doll that has it in for him. While it normally says things like, “I’m Talky Tina! Want to play?”, it spews forth hatred for Mr. Savalas in the form of, “I’m Talky Tina and I’m going to kill you.” It’s truly creepy. And, terrifyingly, you can find Talky Tina sitting quietly on the couch in the lobby of the Hollywood Tower Hotel, waiting for a new friend. I’d advise you to steer clear.
2. Caesar the Dummy. In “Caesar and Me,” a ventriloquist starts to commit serious robberies at the insistence of his wooden partner, Caesar. Of course, we don’t know if the ventriloquist has lost his marbles or if the doll is really alive, but we definitely find out at the end when the ventriloquist goes to jail and the dummy plans to run away with the girl who informed on his better half. Caesar is lurking in an especially spooky spot: after your elevator descends and you’re waiting on the ride doors to open, look around the “elevator shaft.” There’s a display of old junk sitting in the dark like you’re in the storage room of, well, an old hotel, and amongst the junk is the scheming Caesar.
3. Cadwallader. “Escape Clause” is about a man who makes a deal with the devil – he trades his soul in exchange for immortality. I don’t need to tell you the end of the story to for you to get the reference – the devil calls himself Cadwallader. And after you check out the “inspection” certificate outside of the elevator you’re about to get on, you might rethink your ride: it’s signed by a Mr. Cadwallader and it’s dated October 31, 1939. It’s also certificate #10259, which stands for October 2, 1959 – the day the first Twilight Zone episode aired.
4. Anthony Fremont. The episode “It’s a Good Life” actually has a couple of references, although only one is intentional. The other was just necessary. You’ll see what I mean in a second. The intentional reference is an old sign that advertises “Anthony Fremont and his orchestra, now appearing at the Top of the Tower” at the Tip-Top Club. In “It’s a Good Life,” Anthony is a little boy who mentally controls an entire town and makes them do what he wants. If they act outside of his wishes, he has the power to send them to “the cornfield,” and no one comes back from the cornfield. It was part of the 1983 Twilight Zone movie, if it sounds familiar. So that’s Anthony. “It’s a Good Life” is also where the opening narration for the ride comes from. Rod Serling says, “Tonight’s story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a m…” and from there, a Rod Serling impersonator takes over, personally selected by Serling’s widow. “Maintenance elevator,” is how the impersonator finishes the sentence, but Rod’s original narration said, “map of the United States.” Photo by Photobucket user brnder.
5. Nan Adams. Miss Nan Adams is a character in “The Hitch-Hiker,” an episode from the first season of The Twilight Zone. Nan is on her way from New York to L.A. when she gets a flat tire. While she waits for a mechanic to fix it, she notices a strange man watching her. She’s a bit rattled, especially when she continues on her journey and keeps seeing the man pop up in odd places along the road. When Nan calls home to check in with her mother, she is informed that Nan’s mom had a nervous breakdown upon hearing of her daughter’s death in a freak car accident. It’s then that Nan realizes that she died in the accident when her tire blew out, and the man following her is actually Death. This makes the handwritten note you’ll find in the Hollywood Tower Hotel’s lobby rather humorous: “Miss Nan Adams
Reservations for Oct. 31 – Arrival delayed Hold Room”
6. A golden thimble. This one is exclusive to the Tower of Terror at Disney’s California Adventure, as far as I know. In “The After Hours,” a woman goes to a department store to find a birthday gift for her mother. She tells the elevator operator that she is looking for a gift and he takes her to the ninth floor and drops her off. There’s nothing on the ninth floor, save for a single saleswoman who happens to have a single golden thimble – exactly what she’s looking for. On the way back down, she notices a scratch on the thimble and heads to customer service to exchange it. The problem? Customer service calmly informs her that there is no ninth floor. If you think a golden thimble is just what your mother needs, the Hollywood Tower Hotel has just the thing in their gift shop… at least, according to the display case in the lobby.
7. To Serve Man. It’s one of the most famous Twilight Zone episodes ever – aliens come to Earth, but it’s almost too good to be true: they help people end war, they show them how to produce enough food so that no one will ever go hungry, and they are all around-fabulous. They even offer to send humans to their amazing planet free of charge, just to open up a free exchange of sorts. The Earthlings find a book belonging to one of the aliens, and, not totally trusting them, decide to go on a covert mission to decipher the book. It takes them years, but they finally figure it out: the title of the book is To Serve Man and it’s chock-full of delicious recipes. Apparently the humans didn’t notice that no one ever came back from the aliens’ planet. The book is now on display in the library in the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
8. Broken Glasses. Poor Henry Bemis – his wife and boss just won’t let him sit down and read in “Time Enough at Last.” On his break at work as a bank teller, he sneaks down to the vault and shuts himself in so he can read in peace and quiet where no one will see him or taunt him. While he’s in there, an H-Bomb goes off, leaving him as the sole survivor. He’s picking through the remains of the town when he finds the public library. Delighted, he stacks up all of the books he’s going to read. Just as he is about to sit down to enjoy them, his glasses fall off and shatter on the cement, leaving him utterly blind. And now you know the story behind the shattered glasses underneath the television in the library of the Tower at California Adventure (rumor has it they’re in Orlando too… anyone seen them?).
9. Chalk Marks. Before Poltergeist, there was “Little Girl Lost.” A couple wakes up and hears their daughter calling for help but can’t seem to find her anywhere. She’s fallen into another dimension – the Twilight Zone, if you will – and they do everything they can to find her, including chalking off entryways on the wall (which is how they eventually find her). Someone has been looking for that otherworldly dimension in the boiler room of the Hollywood Tower Hotel, because there are similar chalk marks on the wall there.
10. Room 22. Another DCA exclusive. In “Twenty-Two,” Miss Liz Powell is a stripper who has been committed to a hospital because she’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Every night she has a nightmare that she wakes up and hears a nurse outside her door. The nurse motions that Liz should follow her, so she does – down to the morgue in the basement. The nurse pops up from inside the dark room and says, rather wickedly, “Room for one more, honey.” Liz is finally given the clearance to go home and arrives at the airport to check in, where it turns out that she’s on Flight 22. As she climbs the stairs to board the plane, a stewardess steps out, smiles coldly, and says, “Room for one more, honey.” Liz screams and runs back into the airport and watches from the window as the plane takes off – and explodes (a little Final Destination, right?). At DCA, Room 22 is located by some out-of-order elevator doors. Word to the wise: trust the sign.
If you could throw in whatever TZ reference you wanted to, what would it be? I think I might throw in an old traveling salesman-style suitcase with junk in it to reference “One for the Angels.” It’s an episode starring Ed Wynn as a traveling salesman who has to pitch a sale to Death in order to save a little girl’s life. Ed Wynn did a lot of work for Disney, including voicing the Mad Hatter and laughing on the ceiling in Mary Poppins, so I think it would be fitting. Share yours in the comments!
Comments (33)
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All of the original Twilight Zone episodes were priceless!!
posted by Programmher T on 7-6-2009 at 3:13 pm
Something to do with the episode “Eye of the Beholder” (the one where the last scene shows the “horribly disfigured” woman that looks normal to us but the rest of that world has pig-faces) Maybe have a mannequin with bandaged face in one room? Be even cooler if you could make a mirror that reflected a visitor’s face back altered to look like the “normal” people in that episode.
posted by Gallumph on 7-6-2009 at 3:37 pm
I’m not familiar with the Tower of Terror. Are there no references to something being on the wing of the plane?
posted by Debi on 7-6-2009 at 3:38 pm
I adore how many of those references you can find in *other* pop culture things (like the Simpsons, X-Files and is the broken glasses thing from Family Guy?). Wonderful post, thanks!!
ps – the glasses episode breaks my heart every single time.
posted by Melissa on 7-6-2009 at 3:43 pm
There are a few more references you haven’t added to the selection. Theres:
the broken stopwatch in the glass case next to the golden thimble at DCA as referenced in the episode \A Kind of Stopwatch\
the typewriter’s exclaiming \Get Out of Here, Finchely\ ala the episode \A Thing About Machines\ which are located behind the glass cases as you exit the ride.
the devil-faced penny fortune telling machine can be seen in the Library of DCA’s Hollywood Tower Hotel placed up above on top of the shelf from the episode \Nick of Time\
and the envelope labeled \Rod Serling\ containing the entire contents of the allegedly fictional character that is Rod Serling, as created on a magic type writer by Gregory West in the episode \A World of His Own\ at the DCA Library as well.
among many more, these are just my favorites.
posted by DireBrian on 7-6-2009 at 3:46 pm
I remembered most of your examples. Twilight Zone is an everlasting classic. There is an episode I remember, but it could have been on some other program, like Outer Limits. A couple is getting no sleep because one of them (I think it was the wife) keeps having a dream a plane crashes through the roof into their bedroom. The dreams are getting very vivid, so to appease the wife, they check into a hotel. As they are getting into bed, they begin hearing a plane getting louder and closer and it crashes through the ceiling as the program fades. Anyone remember this one?
posted by Hummer on 7-6-2009 at 3:48 pm
I teach middle school and use \Twilight Zone\ episodes as a treat for my 8th graders. They are terrified by \Talky Tina\ and creeped out by \Anthony Fremont.\ When they saw
\Madagascar,\ they were so proud of themselves for catching the \To Serve Man\ reference.
posted by Pam on 7-6-2009 at 3:53 pm
Melissa – me too! Poor Mr. Bemis.
I seem to remember an episode where a man tossed a quarter onto a collection plate of a beggar or soemthing like that. the quarter landed straightup onits edge and, while it stayed in that position, the man could hear every thought of the people around him. I could be mis-remembering (or maybe it was an episode of the Outer Limits???). Anyone else remember this episode?
posted by JaneM on 7-6-2009 at 4:15 pm
JaneM – Yep, “A Penny for Your Thoughts” with Dick York. One of the rare Twilight Zone episodes with a happy ending.
posted by Mike on 7-6-2009 at 4:17 pm
I remember reading #4 as a story. Stephen King short story, perhaps?
posted by Sara in AL on 7-6-2009 at 4:22 pm
As a note, “It’s a Good Life” was based on a short story of the same title by Jerome Bixby.
“To Serve Man” was based on a short story of the same title by Damon Knight.
posted by Steven on 7-6-2009 at 4:24 pm
If I had to choose from my favorite episodes…
1. Self-starting/stopping jukebox, from “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up.”
2. A quick glimpse of a janitor or repairman with a hammer tucked into the loop of his pants, from “Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.”
3. A Devil fortune telling machine, from “Nick of Time.”
4. A dagger plunged through an old coat into a grave, from “The Grave.”
5. …and if he’s available, an old Jack Klugman playing pool.
posted by Mike on 7-6-2009 at 4:27 pm
Talky Tina is the scariest episode for me too, although The Hitch-Hiker is a close second. Almost all of the above episodes were on this weekend- I didn’t want to tear myself away from the TV to go to my cookout!
posted by Caitlin on 7-6-2009 at 4:32 pm
One that’s stood out for me is the episode “A Passage for Trumpet,” when a down on his luck trumpet player, after selling his horn, gets hit by a truck and is given a second chance at life.
So, maybe seeing a trumpet on the Tower of Terror would make my day (never been there – yet)!
posted by Steve on 7-6-2009 at 4:37 pm
My sister, brother-in-law and nieces just got back from Disney World Hollywood Studios and my 5-year-old niece LOVED the Tower of Terror (or the elevator, as she generally calls it). We were watching the Twilight Zone marathon at my parents and though she certainly didn’t get the references in the ride, every time the music played she yelled, “Tower of Terror!”
posted by Wendy on 7-6-2009 at 5:12 pm
Talky Tina actually scared me so much as a child that I never owned a doll. The American Girl craze was rough for me – there were a lot of sleepovers where I stared at the ceiling all night and waited for one of the half-dozen Samantha dolls present to kill me.
My favorite Twilight Zone episode of all time is \The Changing of the Guard\ – in which an old poetry professor at a boys’ academy is forced into retirement, and when he decides to kill himself for having done nothing to improve humanity, the ghosts of his former students killed in action in WWII appear to tell him otherwise.
posted by treewithlights on 7-6-2009 at 5:26 pm
How about the ugly masks from the episode entitled “The Masks”? Just make sure you don’t put one of them on.
posted by Jeff on 7-6-2009 at 5:38 pm
Looks like I’ll have to make a visit to Disney’s California Adventure after all; the trumpet’s there in the display exiting the libraries!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone_Tower_of_Terror#Twilight_Zone_references_and_design_information
posted by Steve on 7-6-2009 at 6:32 pm
Almost every original twilight zone was so masterfully done, it makes me sad that TV shows today don’t even appear to try any more.
Heck even the recent revitalization only had a couple episodes close to the classics (one being the sequel to the cornfield episode).
So sad.
posted by Kinglink on 7-6-2009 at 7:19 pm
I remember the all of these, but the creepiest one I remember was when the box with a button on it comes to the house, and the couple has to decide on whether or not to hit the button…
posted by Medic Dave on 7-6-2009 at 7:22 pm
First, an Air Force capsule to commemorate the first aired episode?
Or a bottle labeled penicillin from “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim”? Or one labelled “Love Potion” from “The Chaser”? Or a black leather jacket from “Black Leather Jackets” (the quintessential 60s episode).
I thought about “Deaths-Head Revisited” when I visited Dachau in 2006…a very powerful Twilight Zone.
My favorite by far is “The Midnight Sun” where the Earth is moving closer to the sun…or is it? (Trying not to type in a spoiler)
The end part of “The Hitchhiker” freaked me out…the rear-view mirror part…I even bought the Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree when I was a teenager and I had to paper-clip the pages for “The Hitchhiker” together because the photo made my hair stand on end.
I hated “Little Girl Lost” only because the voice/crying of the little girl (it was grating) and the over-acting of the guy who drew the chalk marks (he acts like it is taking every bit of energy to make those marks)…
posted by Brandy on 7-6-2009 at 10:24 pm
OBSOLETE! OBSOLETE! OBSOLETE!
/guess the episode.
posted by Felix on 7-6-2009 at 10:45 pm
If it were up to me, I would have also included…
(never been to either location, so I don’t know if these are there or not…)
… a cane barring a door shut.
… a painting that has melted, dripping onto the floor.
… a slot machine.
… a baseball card with Casey from the Zephyrs.
… a road sign for Maple Street.
… a broken noose (and a bag of sand).
… a catalog of different numbered models.
… a boxing poster featuring Battlin’ Maxo.
… a bag full of (worthless) gold.
… an unusual camera.
… an ad for Willoughby Funeral Home.
I think I’ll go visit DCA next weekend.
posted by Felix on 7-6-2009 at 11:05 pm
If i had to choose one reference to include, i would put in the old player piano from \A Piano in the House\. It wouldn’t be to hard, either, just slip it into the lobby.
posted by Argonwolf on 7-7-2009 at 1:13 am
I loved The Twilight Zone the first time ’round and the 80’s revival (yeah, yeah, I know. I’m older than dirt). My favorite (can’t think of the title) has no dialogue at all. Agnes Morehead plays a woman who lives alone with no electricity, running water, etc. A tine spaceship lands in her attic and she beats off the spacemen in various ways. Great episode.
posted by Catherine on 7-7-2009 at 1:20 am
It’s amazing how many of these have been turned into “Treehouse of Horror” episodes of The Simpsons!
posted by TaraBeth on 7-7-2009 at 1:55 am
Agnes Moorehead battling tiny space-suited creatures with a hatchet!
posted by Richard Dixon on 7-7-2009 at 8:03 am
@felix: The Obsolete Man
@catherine: The Invaders
Another reference would be a large seeminly empty sack with a good bottle of bourbon next to it. . .
posted by gwdMaine on 7-7-2009 at 12:15 pm
1. A Maple Ave street sign
2. the little table top fortune telling vending machine that tells Willaim Shatner it’s not a good time to leave town yet
3. a sign fromm Andy Devine’s country store, with his alien-killing harmonica
4. one of those recruiting posters that upset Elizabeth Montgomery in “Two” (fantastic episode)
5. 7th Cavalry canteen from “The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms” (one of my favorites)
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 7-7-2009 at 1:41 pm
6. A ballerina, soldier, scotsman, and clown.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 7-7-2009 at 1:44 pm
Pam:
I didn’t get to watch any episodes in middle school, but we read a version of “Nightmare on Maple Street.”
Twilight Zone is a special treat for me. I have been watching the New Years marathons for what feels like forever. I especially enjoyed this 4th of July marathon because I was under the weather. It was definitely just as good as going out…
posted by Amy on 7-8-2009 at 12:02 am
This is one of my top 5 favorite top tens. So wonderfully creepy!
posted by Annie on 7-13-2009 at 7:58 pm
I would definetly want to add:
A Maple Street Sign
Books in the library be titled after episodes
I don’t know what I would add, but something from \Eye of The Beholder\
posted by claire on 7-18-2009 at 1:53 pm