"The Twilight Zone" To Serve Man (1962)

Director:

Richard L. Bare

Writers:

Damon Knight (story)
Rod Serling (teleplay) ...

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

2 March 1962 (Season 3, Episode 24)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

An alien race comes to earth, promising peace and sharing technology. A linguist and his team set out to translate the alien's language, using a book whose title they deduce is "To Serve Man".

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Linguist | Alien Language | Book | Humanitarian

Cast

  (Episode Complete credited cast)

Lloyd Bochner	...	Chambers
Susan Cummings	...	Patty
Richard Kiel	...	Kanamit
Hardie Albright	...	Secretary General
Theodore Marcuse	...	Gregori
Bartlett Robinson	...	Colonel #1
Carleton Young	...	Colonel #2 (as Carlton Young)
Nelson Olmsted	...	Scientist
Robert Tafur	...	Señor Valdes
Lomax Study	...	Leveque
Jerry Fujikawa	...	Japanese Delegate (as J.H. Fujikawa)

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Damon Knight's short story To Serve Man - which included details on the language-translation cut from the screenplay - was awarded the 1951 "Retro" Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2001.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The TV station broadcasting the Kanamits' arrival at the United Nations building in New York has the call letters "JFOD-TV". TV stations in New York should have call signs that start with the letter "W".

Quotes:

Patty: [SPOILER] Mr. Chambers! Don't get on that ship! The rest of the book, "To Serve Man", it's... it's a cookbook!

Movie Connections:

Edited from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Good Episode: Has a Linguistic Flaw

This was at one time my favorite "Twilight Zone" episode. It still stands up pretty well. The idea of a group of overlords, deciding what is best for us, is a standard bearer of science fiction. These tall big headed guys come to earth to save us from ourselves, to put an end to war and violence. They've got the goods to back up what they do, so there is little resistance. As a matter of fact, they even give the earthlings a chance to visit their planet. The fact that they have a foothold and are completely dominant makes one suspicious of their motives. The story is well told, but we know Rod Serling is up to something. The weakness in the episode is that there is a near linguistic impossibility, dealing with the translation of the book at the end. If you think for a few minutes, you will see what I am talking about.