I recently had the chance to vacation in Orlando and while at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I enjoyed the classic Tower of Terror ride. As we waited in the hotel lobby, we were serenaded by the smoky and sultry tones of Rod Serling (unfortunately it was actually voice actor, Mark Silverman, since Mr Serling has passed away, but it’s a dead on impression!) Throughout the ride, there were various references to famous episode of The Twilight Zone, which my boyfriend kept pointing out to me.
I realized while I’ve heard references to The Twilight Zone my whole life, I’ve maybe seen one entire episode. So the hidden Easter eggs throughout Terror of Tower ride went completely over my head.
But after hearing Rod Serling’s inviting and yet eerie voice on the Tower of Terror, I added The Twilight Zone to my short list of must watch pilots.
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| "You are about to enter another dimension..." |
So this week, I watched the 1959 pilot episode, Where is Everybody? 1959! That is insane to think about, particularly when (spoiler alert!) I really enjoyed the episode and did not find it dated at all.
Almost the whole 30 minutes follows one man as he finds himself unable to remember anything about himself and cannot find any other people in this small strange town.
I immediately perked up as I recognized the town as Hill Valley, the famous town square from Back to the Future!
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| Hill Valley in 1955 |
The man, played by Earl Holliman, is dressed in plain coveralls that reminded me of a mechanic’s uniform. He wanders down a dirt road and hears a jukebox playing in a cafe. He runs in, calling out to let someone know he’s a customer.
No one is around. But there’s a hot pot of coffee boiling and then the jukebox turns off by itself.
He yells out, to no one, that he doesn’t remember his own name and figures out he’s American because he has some money on him. I was immediately intrigued by the mystery and tried to meta-game the ending. He sees a woman sitting a car, turns out it’s just a mannequin. With the appearance of that mannequin, I think of the most recent Indiana Jones movie where he stumbled onto a nuclear bomb testing site and was afraid that might what was happening.
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| Wow, the most hated cinematic moment has an action figure... |
He continues into the town square and heads inside the police station, where he finds a smoking cigarette lying in an ashtray and a sink running water with what appears to be an recently abandoned shaving kit.
It happens over and over as this poor man is so sure someone must be here. He even says out loud “ I wish I could shake that crazy feeling I’m being watched.”
He even walks into a store with a bunch of paperbacks reading The Last Man on Earth. Is that what’s going on here?!
I felt like a poor man’s Sherlock as I tried to piece together what was happening in the episode before the big reveal. Now I really suggest you watch the episode, as I really enjoyed it. So go stream it on Netflix right now! And then read the end of this entry
SPOILER ALERT
The man starts to frantically pushing the walk button at the intersection as he yells and cries desperately. We see a half dozen men, all in military uniforms, and one says “Get him out of there.” Our friend is pulled from a small isolation chamber inside an airplane hanger. The captain explains he was part of an experiment to see if man can withstand the isolation and loneliness that would come with being sent into space. The town we saw was simply a creation of his mind to cope with being locked in a tiny chamber for 484 hours. Which they acknowledge is a totally legit thing to do - over two weeks in isolation would drive most anyone crazy!
END OF SPOILER ALERT
I found the performance of our leading man, Earl Holliman, very compelling. He has literally no one to work against except a mannequin, a recording on a pay phone, and then his own reflection at one point.
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| Earl, with a creepy mannequin in the background |
I also was very impressed with how timeless the story and dialogue felt. It is in black and white, but other than that, this episode felt like it could have been released in the last 10 years. This “last man on earth” theme is ever present in TV shows today with The Walking Dead and The Last Man on Earth (a little on the nose). Also if I found myself alone in a town with no people, you BET I would be freaking out like this guy did. He actually lasted sane a lot longer than I would.
It’s harder to rate this episode as a pilot since it’s not necessarily a continuation. Each episode will have its own story and new cast of characters. That being said I think it was a strong introduction to what this series will be like. And even 56 years later, I was not able to guess the ending of this episode.
I’m excited to watch more Twilight Zone episodes and give this pilot 9 out 10 Rod Serling narrations.
