The Twilight Zone

Where is Everybody?

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired 10/2/59

Episode Summary

Mike Ferris finds himself in a town strangely devoid of people. But despite the emptiness, he has the odd feeling that he's being watched...

7.8

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Cast & Crew

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Rod Serling

Narrator/Host
Earl Holliman

Mike Ferris
James Gregory

Air Force General

Fan Episode Reviews (10)

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Lame ending

5.0

"Mediocre"

By Brian4663, Jan 02, 2012 Report Abuse

I like the entire episode except for the ending explanation. So I feel it is just an average episode with nothing too much special. The strange town where the guy is located at is Hill Valley, California from "Back to the future." Also known as the Universal back lot.

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Locked In A Phonebooth With Myself

8.0

"Great"

By Anon67683, Nov 13, 2010 Report Abuse

A solid beginning to this classic series that suffers from a bit of bad acting and a rather unconvincing ending. It's a brave choice to use only a single actor to carry the episode but it forces that actor to engage in a running monologue that becomes tedious as he yaps on about how much money he has in his pocket and so on. A better actor might have made the monologue seem less awkward or perhaps the script needed some tightening.

There are moments of brilliance to be found in this episode. The camera work is very, very good throughout this episode, in particular during the theatre scene, which is a tour de force of fear and paranoia. The shot of Ferris running into his reflection in the mirror is genius, suggesting the shattering of his own psyche as he is forced to confront the internal terror he feels at being left alone. The Bernard Herrmann score is, of course, very good, with a definite 'Vertigo' sound and feel ('Vertigo' had been released the year before this episode aired).moreless

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Great pilot. A man who doesn't know who he is or even how he woke up in the morning finds himself in an empty town, and it doesn't take long for him to start to lose his mind.moreless

8.6

"Great"

By kurtysskasten9, Nov 13, 2010 Report Abuse

This episode is really cool. This guy finds himself in an empty town and has no idea who he is, yet he manages to keep his cool for a surprisingly long time. But eventually he loses it and really needs to talk to people. It's really great acting too, considering that there is only one character for 95% of the episode, and he really does a great job. One of the coolest parts is when the man runs full speed into a mirror and it looks like he's running at the camera. A great twist at the end, and a great way to start one of the greatest mystery series ever.moreless

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Exciting first show that indicates how this series will be.

8.9

"Great"

By Proteus710, Nov 13, 2010 Report Abuse

An exciting beginning to one of the most creative and innovative television programs ever made. This episode strikes a chord because it taps into two of man's greatest fears: autophobia, which is the fear of being alone, and the paranoid feeling that somebody out there is watching us. The episode did an excellent job of creating that terrifying feeling of solitude and how a person can become psychologically unstable eventually in a situation such as this. His fear continues to grow, to escalate until he breaks down completely and cannot take any more.

And of course, we have that twist at the end that has been the staple of "The Twilight Zone". This episode would set the tone for the rest of the series.moreless

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I adore this episode.

9.4

"Superb"

By Droid-x, Nov 13, 2010 Report Abuse

I absolutely adore this episode. I love how our main character goes into paronia and near insanity. The end has to be the best part when they take him and tell him next time it wnon't be an illusion and showing the possible consequences of space travel. Great episode showing how man can never survive loneliness.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- While Ferris is speaking to the mockup, a fly appears, it lands on the car door and remains there. Edit
- In the end credits, Jay Overholts is listed as Jay "Overholt" Edit
- The glass face of the booth's clock is broken into more pieces when shown in close-up. Edit
Notes
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- The pilot episode was filmed at Universal-International studios [which is why a movie marquee announced the studio's Battle Hymn (1956), starring Rock Hudson, was playing in the theater]. The series was filmed at MGM. Edit
- In the original unaired version of the pilot episode, Westbrook Van Voohris (better known as the narrator of the radio and newsreel series The March Of Time") was the narrator. Serling and CBS decided not use him in the series because he sounded "too pompous". Orson Welles' name was then suggested, but his asking price as narrator was considered too high for primary sponsor General Foods {Sanka}. Then someone suggested that Rod himself be the narrator... Edit
- The pilot version of this episode is included on Image-Entertainment's Volume 43 DVD. It includes an 8 minute intro from Rod Serling, directed at companies considering sponsoring the show. Edit
Quotes
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- Ferris: Anybody want a sundae? I'm sorry, old buddy, I don't recollect the name. The face is vaguely familiar, but the name escapes me. I'll tell you what my problem is. I'm in the middle of a nightmare I can't wake up from. And you're part of it. You and the ice cream and the police station and the phone booth., that little mannequin. This whole bloody town wherever it is - whatever it is. I just remembered something, Scrooge said it, you remember Scrooge, old buddy, Ebeneezer Scrooge? That's what he said to that ghost Jacob Marley. He said, "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a crumb of cheese, a blot of mustard, a fragment of an undone potato, but there's more of gravy than of grave about you." You see, that's what you are. You're what I had for dinner last night. You must be. But now I've had it, I'd like to wake up. I'd like to wake up now. If I can't wake up, at least I'd like to find somebody to talk to. Well, I must be a very imaginative guy. Nobody in the whole bloody world could have a dream as complete as mine. Right down to the last detail. Edit
- Reporter #2: What happened to him toward the end, General, before he pushed that button or whatever it was? Air Force General: What happened to him is that he cracked. Delusions of some kind we assume. But let me tell you all something, gentlemen. If any one of you were confined in a box five feet square for two and a half weeks, all by your lonesome without hearing a human voice other than your own, I'll give you especially good odds that your imagination would run away with you, too, such as his obviously did. Edit
- Ferris: Just off my rocker, huh, doc? Doctor: Just a kind of a nightmare that your mind manufactured for you. You see, we can feed the stomach with concentrates, we can supply microfilm for reading, recreation, even movies of a sort. We can pump oxygen in and waste material out, but there's one thing we can't simulate that's a very basic need. Man's hunger for companionship. The barrier of loneliness. That's one thing we haven't licked yet. Ferris: Next time it won't just be just a box in a hanger, will it? Air Force General: No, Mike. Next time you'll really be alone. Edit
Allusions
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