To Serve Man (The Twilight Zone)

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

“To Serve Man” is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone. The story is based on a short story with the same title, written by Damon Knight.

"It's a cook-book!"

1 Details
2 Cast
3 Synopsis
4 Trivia
5 Critical response
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

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Details

Episode number: 89
Season: 3
Production code: 4807
Original air date: March 2, 1962
Writer: Rod Serling based on the story of the same name by Damon Knight, first published in the January 1953 issue of If
Director: Richard L. Bare
Music: Stock

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Cast

Chambers: Lloyd Bochner
Kanamit: Richard Kiel
Pat: Susan Cummings

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Synopsis

A race of aliens known as the Kanamits land on Earth and promise to be nothing but helpful to the cause of humanity, as dictated in a seemingly innocious book called "To Serve Man." They eradicate hunger, eliminate war, and eliminate the need for expensive power sources. Soon the Kanamits are sending humans on one-way trips to their home planet to live. All is not well, however, when a decoder discovers the Kanamits’ true intentions. Their book, "To Serve Man", is a cookbook.

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Trivia

The short story on which this episode is based was awarded the 1951 “Retro” Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2001.
The fullsize lower portion of the Kanimits' transport spaceship is the adapted version, with retractable stairway, of the saucer-shaped United Planets Cruiser C-57D, seen in MGM's 1956 film Forbidden Planet.

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Critical response

Marc Scott Zicree in The Twilight Zone Companion:

In the show...a staff of cryptographers led by Lloyd Bochner attempts to decipher the alien language as though it were some secret code, which is utterly ludicrous. Without some sort of interplanetary Rosetta stone, deciphering an unknown language would be impossible.

Zicree’s comments have been seconded by many others, including Damon Knight, though an explanation as to how the cryptographers managed to translate the Kanamit language may be found in an early draft of Serling’s teleplay, which included this scene:

(Close shot Chambers As seen over her shoulder. His eyes narrow.)

Chambers: What’s the matter, Pat? What's going on?

(Reverse angle looking toward her. Her lips tremble.)

Pat: I...I finally deciphered their language. All of it. I read their book.

(Close shot a suspended speaker overhead A Kanamit's metallic voice rings out.)

Kanamit's voice: Please move ahead. You're holding up our departure. Kindly move ahead.

(Cut to: Two shot Chambers and Pat)

Chambers: Well?

Pat: Mr. Chambers...Mr. Chambers, the first page is just a collection of English words with their own translation. But the rest of the book...the rest of the book—

...at which point she delivers her famous punchline. It may be possible to decipher the Kanamit language provided the first page of the book represented what Zicree referred to as an “interplanetary Rosetta stone”.

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