#Watch the twilight zone series#

But Conrad also plays the role of the “flimsy animal” with a “small head” by becoming so consumed with fear he rejects his own humanity, and refuses to grant a crewmate his final wish. The irony of the story is that cynic Conrad is right to be fearful of other lifeforms, but Marcusson was also correct that “people” on other planets would behave just as humans-which is to say behave barbarically and lock animals in cages. And outside the window a display sign reads, “Earth Creature in his native habitat.”Ī human in a zoo, Conrad cries out to the sky, “Marcusson! Marcusson, you were right! You were right. As a display window opens, Conrad encounters Martians peering at him from the other side of bars. Until he tries to exit the house, and discovers he is trapped. The telepathic Martians show him to a well-appointed mid-century American home-with the best Scotch Conrad has ever had-and he begins to settle in. Marcusson dies after a crash landing on Mars, and Conrad is “rescued” by a race of humanoid Martians, who promise the Earthman they seek to repair his ship, and will provide shelter for him to rest. Conrad, a scientist, disagrees and fears the lifeforms they may encounter. UFOs: From Phenomena to Pop Culture By Ryan BrittĪs they discuss any life they may encounter on the Red Planet, an astronaut named Marcusson says he’s confident all life-created by god-will be similar to humans, and thus inherently good. “You’re looking at a species of flimsy little two-legged animal with extremely small heads, whose name is Man.” And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.” People Are Alike All Over In the especially grim closing narration, Serling reminds us: “Prejudices can kill… and suspicion can destroy… and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own-for the children and the children yet unborn. Substitute any crisis that stokes mob mentality-a pandemic for instance-and the message is pretty clear: When routine is upset, and the chips are down, civilized life crumbles pretty quickly, and humans will give in to prejudices and find a scapegoat to blame. The story has been used as an allegory for McCarthyism, the Red Scare, terrorism and Islamophobia, and more…and with good reason.

“Maple Street” is peak Serling, who wrote the episode. And as the crowd tears one another apart, the “real” aliens observe nearby, commenting how easy it is to conquer humans simply by manipulating their suspicions and biases. The neighbors become frantic, pointing fingers and hurling accusations that each is an alien. A young boy’s sci-fi-fueled imagination spins a yarn about invading aliens posing as humans, which gives way to paranoia. The 22nd episode of season one is rightly considered one of the best from The Twilight Zone.Ī rather mundane day on Maple Street is interrupted by the shadow of something passing overhead, soon followed by disruptions in the neighborhood’s electricity. The film from director Andrew Patterson, which is now streaming on Prime Video, is set in the 1950s over the course of one night in a small town, as two teenagers explore the mystery of strange noises transmitted across radio signals. You can see The Twilight Zone influence in Amazon Studios’ latest feature, The Vast of Night.

#Watch the twilight zone series#

From The X-Files, to The Simpsons, Black Mirror, Fringe, The Mist, Ex Machina, Her (the list goes on, and on), Rod Serling’s anthology series has a permanence the writer himself didn’t anticipate⁠-and is frequently considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Its cautionary tales of dark irony and serendipity continue to influence popular media. Running for five seasons, from October 1959 until June 1964, The Twilight Zone helped legitimize sci-fi as a serious genre on television. Once audiences had crossed over into that realm between science and superstition their minds-and television storytelling-were permanently altered.

When Rod Serling first invited viewers into The Twilight Zone, his dimension of sight, sound, and a land of wondrous imagination 60 years ago, there was no looking back.