Every week on The Twilight Zone Zone,we go down Donald Liebenson’s list The 26 Episodes We Talk About When We Talk About The Twilight Zone from Vanity Fair, chronologically by release date and compare two episodes and choose which one to recommend. This week we watched  “To Serve Man” and “The Dummy”

 

“To Serve Man”

Kanamits, nine-foot-tall creatures from outer space, promise they have come to our planet, “above all things, to help the people of Earth.” They have no ulterior motive, they reassure: “We ask only that you trust us.” Which leads to The Twilight Zone’s darkest and most famous punch line. This episode is also notable for inspiring the aliens Kodos and Kang on The Simpsons.

 

“The Dummy”

It’s a battle of wills between Jerry (Cliff Robertson), a second-rate nightclub ventriloquist, and Willie, 24 inches of timber, who Jerry is convinced is alive. “He talks when I don’t talk. He tells jokes I’ve never heard before,” he insists to his long-suffering agent (a pre-Gomer Pyle Frank Sutton). Unsteadying expressionistic camerawork by director Abner Biberman anticipates which personality will win out with an absolutely creepy final shot.

 

There are many paths in life, but which one will you travel down in the Twilight Zone, Zone…

Host: Nic Hoffmann

Panel: Matthew and Daniel