[eerie music]
(male narrator) There is a fifth dimension
Beyond that Whichis known to man.
It is a dimension As vast as space
And as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground Between light and shadow.
Between science And superstition.
It lies between the pit Of man's fears,
And the summit Of his knowledge.
This is the dimension Of imagination
It is an area Which we call The twilight zone.
The time is the day After tomorrow,
The place, a far Corner of the universe.
The cast of characters, three Men lost amongst the stars,
Three men sharing the common Urgency of all men lost.
They're looking for home.
And in a moment They'll find home.
Not a home that is A place to be seen
But a strange, unexplainable Experience to be felt.
[rocket sound]
I hear The atmosphere.
Keep your fing ers Crossed, pete. This may be it.
It better be ; We're about Out of fu el.
[vehicle decelerating]
20.95 parts oxyg en
78.09 n itrog en.
I don't get it, That's air.
G ravity, u n it on e.
That's I ncredi ble. Con ditionsidentical To earth
And yet we're 655 m I llion m I les
Away from earth.
Wait a minute, pete.
These I nstru ments Could be wrong.
What's The difference?
We're not going Anywhere now.
Yeah, I gu ess You're right.
How far did you say We were from earth?
655 m I llion m I les.
We're back On earth.
No.
No? What do You call that, A martian?
Here, boy, Come on.
[suspense music]
Well, anyway, look At those trees.
It's got To be earth.
Well, what do You call that?
It's called A tractor.
They were in Use on earth
Du ring the 20th century Before the total war.
You mean, We're on earth 200 years ago.
It's an I nteresting Th eory, pete
And as poss I ble As any oth er
Except that To my knowledg e
Earth has never had More than one su n.
(pete) All right. You explain it.
The only thing I'm certain of
Is that we're Not on earth.
We're Not alon e.
Excuse me, S I r.
My name Is webber,
We hate to Bother you--
(pete) What's the matter With him?
Seems to be In some sort
Of a trance or--
Let's get Out of here.
Hey, look, There's somebody!
Hey, mister!
Mister!
[panting] How are they b iting?
Mister?
Hey, wake up.
[suspense music]
[band playing]
Do you hear that?
The music, a ban d, Do you hear it?
There's somebody here.
It seems To be coming From over there.
[band music]
The music's coming From that lou dspeaker.
It's being p I ped In from somewhere.
Look!
[music stops]
Concert's Over.
Well, any ideas, Professor?
Well, I su ppose
It could be some Sort of I llus ion.
Yes, maybe We're being made To see and hear
What we hope To f in d
The sights and Sou n ds of hom e.
No, no, that's All wrong.
This is more Than 200 years
Ahead of our time.
Or it could be
That time itself Is suspen ded here.
Or time may have, In a sense
Have speeded up For us
Or slowed down For them.
You mean, they might Actually be moving?
It's poss I ble.
Then why can't We see it?
Well, you don't See the movem ents
Of a clock's han ds
N everth eless They do move.
Well, this clock Has no han ds.
[suspense music]
Carl, do you Really believe
What you're Saying?
No, of Course not.
But they're not Just statu es.
They're flesh And blood
Or something that feels Like flesh and blood.
It's Something real.
It's got To be here.
Now, I say Separate
And meet back Here in one hour.
Well, It's better
Than h u ddling Tog ether like Frighten ed ch I ldren.
(webber) Remember, we Meet back here
In one hour.
[knocks] Hello.
Anybody there?
[romantic violin music]
Oh, I'm terribly sorry.
[vioiin music continues]
[distorted strings]
[pieasant music]
Your maj esty.
I don't blam e The j u dg es.
You're the pretti est Of them all.
But tell Me something, Your maj esty,
What's wrong With you? [distorted strings]
What's wrong With everybody In this crazy place?!
Answer me!
Can't you talk?
Can't you move?
Answer me!
[suspense music]
[mischievous music]
This is the way It was on earth Not so long ago.
My great G ran dfather showed Me pictures of it.
Qu I et and peacefu l.
You mean You like It here?
I would if it Were real,
If I could be sure it Wasn't going to van ish In a pu ff of p in k smoke.
[ring]
Well, as for me, it's A nice place to vis it
But I wouldn't want To live here.
Like it or not, This is hom e From now on.
Charming.
Lovely, isn't it?
If you want it, It's yours.
Yes, that's tru e Isn't it?
You don't mind
If we have A look around
Do you, s I r?
Not at all.
You're most welcom e.
My name's wickwi re, J eremy wickwi re.
G entlem en, there's Nothing to be Afrai d of.
Tru ly, there isn't.
But, y-y-you're real.
But, of course, I am.
Isn't everybody?
I used to Think so.
Oh, you mean, [chuckies]
Do come I nside.
Come on, Won't you?
Come on, Come I nside.
There's nothing To be afrai d of
I assure you.
Eh, do you Like it?
We bu I lt it For a m r., uh,
Mr. J en ki nson.
But at the last Mom ent he deci ded
That the one thing he wanted To be was a knight in armor
So he's out there In the medi eval section
Slaying a dragon.
You mean there Are other sections?
Hm?
(wickwire) Oh, yes, Of course,
We have Many sections.
There's The roman,
The egyptian,
The wild Western
But this is The most popu lar
Because it Represents A period
In am erican cu ltu re
When creatu re Com forts were Most abu n dant
And before peace on earth Became imposs I ble.
Now, look, M r., uh,
Wickwi re.
Wickwi re, we Are from earth.
Oh?
(webber) We were on a routine Geological mission.
We ran into A meteorite storm.
Some of our equ I pm ent Was knocked out.
We got lost.
Now, that was Six months ago.
We saw This astero I d And we lan ded.
Our fu el Is gon e.
We've got To stay here.
I see.
I see, then you're Not from the glades.
The what?
But you are from the earth.
Tell me, did they ever Have that atom ic war?
Yes, in 1 985.
Most of the earth's Su rface was destroyed
And it's taken Us 200 years
To pick up The p I eces.
Oh, how sad.
Mr. Wickwi re
Now, you've Got to explain Some things
Before we Go out of Our minds.
Yes, but you look h u ng ry.
Let me f ix you lu nch, Then we'll talk.
(pete) Wait a second.
Now, you tell us One thing right now.
Where are we?
Why, you're in a cem etery.
Didn't you know?
[suspense music]
Please, make Yourselves com fortable.
I'll be back In a few mom ents.
Cem etery?
Coffee wi ll Be served
In a few minutes, G entlem en.
May I propose A toast?
To peace, My friends
To everlasting Eternal peace.
[suspense music]
Excellent!
Li ebfrau m I lch, Isn't it?
Yes.
Mister--
Wickwi re.
We're very Con fused.
We need h elp.
Well, s it down, My boys, s it down.
Come on, S it down.
What is it?
Now, you said
That we were In a cem etery.
What did You mean?
J ust Exactly that.
But before I explain
You must give me Some in formation.
If you were granted Your dearest wish
What would Your wish be?
I'm not sure I know What you mean.
I mean, where Would yourather be
Right now?
I'd like to be on the sh I p H eaded for hom e.
And you, captai n.
I'll go along With that.
Splen did, and j ust One thing more.
When you left earth, What was the date?
Septem ber.
No, no, the year.
2 1 85.
2 1 85? [chuckies]
Now I understand.
Well, that's n ice.
We don't!
When you arrived
I thought you were From happy glades.
But by your behavior
Of course, I see You couldn't be.
We're still Not following you.
What's happy glades?
The world's G reatest mortuary.
At least, that's What it used to be.
You see, The manag em ent H it upon this sch em e
As a service To those who Could afford it.
"This sch em e" Being?
This little Astero I d
Where we would recreate The exact con ditions
U n der which The dear departed Could be most happy.
For an exam ple,
If the deceased always Wanted to be elected mayor
He would ach I eve His am b ition here
For all eternity.
You mean those people Are all dead?
No, no, not all of them. Just a select few.
The oth ers are imitations.
(professor) In other words, This is the place
Where your Dreams come tru e after You've stopped dreaming.
Yes, that might Be one way of Putting it.
Yes, that's Very good.
You expect Us to believe That explanation?
I hadn't thought of that.
Don't you?
It's tru e, you know.
Well, I'll adm it
We haven't come up With anything better.
But a cem etery Out in space.
M I llions of m I les From earth.
Why?
Yes, why?
Now, your boss Could have bought A p I ece of desert.
Oh, no, no
You don't U n derstand at all.
Happy glades promises Eternal peace
Everlasting peace.
You couldn't Have that on earth
Now, could you?
He has a po I nt.
U h, what About you?
Me?
Yes, you, how Do you f ig u re In all this?
Why, I'm The caretaker.
It's my job To make sure
That our gu ests Are not,
Distu rbed.
Well, when did This mortuary-- or Whatever it is-- beg I n?
1 973, I believe.
Yes, yes.
That'd make You a b it
On the Elderly side
Wouldn't it, Mr. Wi rewick?
Wickwi re. [chuckies]
Now, I'm afrai d You're forcing me
Into a rath er Em barrassing admiss ion.
You see, I'm not Actually human,
Oh, I am now
But when you've gon e
I shall go back To sleep again U nti l I'm needed.
You see, I'm-- I'm merely A sci entif ic device.
I go on and off again Like a machine.
You understand.
Yes, it's not Very com plicated
Is it, really?
He goes On and off.
Yes, I think imust have been Off for about 200 years.
Look, mister, You think--
All right, All right, pete.
Mr. Wickwi re
We're Staying here.
Yes, I know.
Yes, but you Said something
About ou r Being gon e.
Oh, that's a f ig u re Of speech, captai n.
I meant "Departed."
"Gone on" as it were.
Well, you know What he's saying
Don't you?
I told you not To trust him.
I told you!
We meant you No harm.
I realize that and I'm sorry.
Tru ly I am.
(webber) The antidote--
Give us the anti dote.
(wickwire) There is no Antidote, captain.
Even now the Eternifying flu id
Is coursing Through your veins
But it-- it won't Be pain fu l, I assure you.
But why?
Why us?
Because you are here
And you are men
And while there are men
There can be no peace.
[mischievous music]
[humming]
(male narrator) Kirby, webber and meyers, Three men lost.
They shared a common wish, A simple one really,
They wanted to be aboard Their ship headed for home.
And fate, a laughing fate, A practical jokester
With a smile that stretched Across the stars
Saw to it that They got their wish
With just one reservation,
The wish came true
But only In the twilight zone.
(male presenter, off) Rod serling, creator Of twilight zone
Will tell you about next Week's story after this word From our alternate sponsor.
And now, mr. Serling.
Next week, I try To settle an arg u ment
To the effect that I'm not At my best when writing Scri pts for wom en
Miss vera m I les Takes my side
In a most u n usual and u n iqu e Story we called M irror image.
I hope to see you next week, You in your living room
And miss vera m I les And the rest of us In the twilight zone.
(male presenter, off) Can we have dynam ic Growth, low unemployment,
And reasonably stable prices? Write for this free booklet
To american assembly, Columbia university New york city.