Rob Price
Rod Serling is notably one of the most influential and iconic genre writers, and his work shaped pop culture as we know it. His most famous creation, The Twilight Zone has been re-run and recreated many times over the decades. Amongst those classic and newly created stories, often with supernatural twists, are a handful of Christmas tales that all have the wonderful blend of philosophical social commentary and existentialism that made Rod Serling’s work so amazing. Below is a list of just some of the Christmas episodes (not all of them written by Serling, but all inspired by him) to take place in…The Twilight Zone.
The After Hours (1960. Season 1 ep 34):
Although not specifically mentioned to be taking place at Christmas time, the setting of a department store and the crowds of shoppers puts this episode on most peoples lists of Christmas tales. Marsha White (Anne Francis) wanders into a high-class department store looking for a gold thimble that was advertised. She goes to the 9th floor only to find it basically empty, when a strange saleswoman shows her the exact thing she is looking for, which Karen finds suspicious. She buys the object and gets into the elevator but then realizes it is damaged and goes to complain, only to be told that there is no 9th floor in the building. She later sees the saleswoman, but realizes it was a mannequin, which causes her to faint. She is allowed to rest in one of the back rooms, only to be forgotten and awakened trapped in the store after hours, where the mannequins come to life.
This is a wonderful and well-produced story with a great twist at the end.
The Night of the Meek (1960, Season 2 ep 11):
On Christmas Eve, a drunk department store Santa named Corwin (Art Carney), disillusioned by the reality of life, loses his job and makes a single wish, that he wishes the poor, the meek could be given exactly what the need. As he is walking through the destitute snow laden streets, a cat knocks over a sack of garbage, but when Corwin looks closer, he realizes that it has in it exactly what everyone needs. He goes to the homeless shelter and hands out gifts, but is accused of stealing and is arrested, eventually proving that the sack is magical. After the sack is emptied and the last present is given out, someone expresses that Corwin didn’t get anything. He retorts that if he could have any gift, it would be to be able to do this every year. And of course, the episode ends with a heartwarming twist.
I love this episode, as it is so full of kindness and hope. It is beautifully poetic and very well performed.
Five Characters in Search of an Exit (1961, Season 3 Ep 14)
An Army major (William Windom) wakes up in a cylindrical metal room with no doors and no way to get in or out and no memory of who he is, other than that he is an Army major. The room is very tall and does not seem to have a roof, meaning that the only entry or exit is at the very top. He comes across a clown (Murray Matheson), who introduces him to the other inhabitants, a hobo (Kelton Garwood), a ballerina (Susan Harrison), and a bagpiper (Clark Allen). None of them know who they are or how they got there and every so often a deafening bell ringing reverberates through the room. The Major is determined to get out and they finally create a plan for escape, creating a tower of people and using bits of clothing and his military sword as a grappling hook. Once at the top, he falls over the edge, and at this point the questions to “who, what, where, when, and why” are all answered in true Twilight Zone fashion.
This is a fantastic episode inspired by to plays, Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author and Sartre’s No Exit. The episode in turn, was the inspiration for the 1997 horror film Cube.
But Can She Type? (1985, Season 1, ep13b)
The second part of the Christmas episode in the revival of the show in the 80s, which had multiple stories per episode (The first section of this episode was a remake of Night of the Meek which the original was included above) is this selection, Karen (Pam Dawber) is an overworked and underpaid secretary. Around Christmas, as she is about to leave for a party, she is given some last-minute work that needs to be completed. The copier she needs to use is broken and the temporary replacement seems to be a bit magical, as it grants her wish that secretaries get the credit and adoration they deserve. At the celebration she attends, she becomes the life of the party, with everyone treating her like royalty, but a return to the copy machine accidentally sends her back to reality, where she is once again berated by her incompetent boss. This is where Karen figures out exactly what she needs to do.
This is a fun episode that has a happy ending.
The Star (1985, Season 1, ep13c)
The final section of the afore mentioned Christmas episode sends us off world and into the future. Two astrophysicists, Dr. Chandler (Donald Moffat) and Fr. Costigan (Fritz weaver), a Jesuit Priest, have a friendly debate over the existence of God. They approach a planet in a system with a star that went supernova several thousand years ago destroying any inhabited worlds within the system. The planet was the furthest from the sun and although life would not have survived, they discover a storehouse full of remnants of the society, their poetry, music and art. This was a peaceful civilization with a very vast and rich culture that was all destroyed when their sun exploded. Fr. Costigan is asked to do the dating and determine when the sun went supernova, and to his horror he discovers that this was the Star of Bethlehem, the light that guided the wisemen to the birth of Jesus. This creates a moral dilemma within the priest. Why would God have destroyed a whole civilization to create the circumstances of Christianity? His friend and colleague offer solace and reads a bit of wisdom translated from an artifact found on the planet.
Based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, this is an interesting and powerful story that talks about fate and civilization mortality.
A Carol for Another Christmas (1964 Film):
Although not technically part of the Twilight Zone, this story, based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, changes the time-period and the circumstances around the ghosts’ appearances and goals. A rich American industrialist named Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden), is hardened by losing his son on Christmas Eve during World War II which has made him an isolationist, believing that America should not offer aid and comfort to other countries and should not even open talks or negotiations with them. He believes that we should stockpile as many arms as we can, including nuclear missiles, making sure that the rest of the world knows we have them and are not afraid to use them. His nephew Fred (Ben Gazzara) is on the opposite spectrum. After arguing on Christmas Eve about Grudge’s involvement in stopping a cultural exchange program at the university Fred works at, Daniel is visited by the classic three spirits, Christmas Past (Steve Lawrence) who makes him realize that when talking stops the fighting starts and that leads to 1000s being killed from all over the world. Present (Pat Hingle), shows him how his philosophy on not helping the poor and displaced persons from different nations suffer without food or adequate shelter. And finally Future (Robert Shaw), shows him a world where the talking stopped and the fighting led to our own annihilation and doomsday, where the selfishness of oneself rules over all. When Grudge awakes, he is once again visited by his nephew Fred, and although he apologizes for his actions the night before and offers to help Fred, he is still Leary, but open to listen.
Reception of the original broadcast was not favorable and many thought that the film “beat you over the head” with its message. But coming at it from a modern perspective, I feel it is a story that many need to hear and that geographical or racial isolationism will not solve our problems but compound them. A Christmas Carol has been retold and modernized many times, but usually retaining the miserly aspect, I enjoyed this film for its unique and different twist on the age-old story.
