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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone]]
| image = Toserveman.jpg
| caption = Susan Cummings and Richard Kiel
| season = 3
| episode = 24
| airdate = {{Start date|1962|03|02}}
| production = 4807
| teleplay = [[Rod Serling]]
| based_on = {{based on|"[[To Serve Man]]"|[[Damon Knight]]}}
| director = [[Richard L. Bare]]
| guests = {{ubl|[[Lloyd Bochner]]|[[Richard Kiel]]|[[Susan Cummings (actress)|Susan Cummings]]|[[Joseph Ruskin]]|[[Hardie Albright]]|[[Theodore Marcuse]]|[[Bartlett Robinson]]|[[Carleton Young]]|[[Nelson Olmsted]]|Robert Tafur|Lomax Study|[[Jerry Fujikawa]]}}
| music = Stock (from [[Jerry Goldsmith]]'s scores for "[[Back There]]" and "[[The Invaders (The Twilight Zone)|The Invaders]]")
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 3)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank]]
| next = [[The Fugitive (The Twilight Zone)|The Fugitive]]
}}
"'''To Serve Man'''" is [[List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes|episode]] 89 (number 24, season three) of the [[anthology series]] [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|''The Twilight Zone'' (1959)]]. It originally aired on March 2, 1962, on [[CBS]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Rob |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/exploring-the-twilight-zone-89-to-serve-man-819234f61c17/ |publisher=[[Film School Rejects]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024071042/https://filmschoolrejects.com/exploring-the-twilight-zone-89-to-serve-man-819234f61c17/|title=Exploring The Twilight Zone #89: To Serve Man |archive-date=October 24, 2018 |date=October 22, 2011 |quote=The Twilight Zone (Episode #89): "To Serve Man" (airdate March 2, 1962)}}</ref> Based on [[Damon Knight]]'s 1950 [[To Serve Man|short story of the same title]], the episode was written by [[Rod Serling]] and directed by [[Richard L. Bare]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Meals to come: a history of the future of food |last=Belasco |first=Warren James |date=2006 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=0-520-24151-7 |pages=130, 358 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fL0HvQ-HcxYC&pg=RA1-PA130}}</ref><ref>{{Rotten Tomatoes |the_twilight_zone/s03/e24}}</ref> It is considered one of the best episodes from the series, particularly for its final [[plot twist|twist]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

==Opening narration==
{{Blockquote|Respectfully submitted for your perusal — a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we're going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a [[Christopher Columbus]] from another galaxy and another time. This is the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
The episode begins with Michael Chambers locked alone in a spartan room with a cot. A voice offers him a meal, delivered through a small aperture in the wall, which he grimly refuses.

The setting changes to several months earlier, on Earth. The Kanamits, a race of {{convert|9|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} aliens, land on Earth as the planet is beset by international crises. As the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|secretary-general]] announces the landing of aliens on Earth to the worldwide public at a [[United Nations]] news conference, one of the aliens arrives and addresses the assembled delegates and journalists via [[telepathy]]. He announces that his race's motive in coming to Earth is to provide humanitarian aid by sharing their advanced technology, including an atomic generator that can provide electric power for a few dollars, a [[nitrate]] fertilizer that can end famine, and a force field that can be deployed to prevent international warfare. After answering questions, the Kanamit departs without comment and leaves a book in the Kanamit language, which leads to Michael Chambers, a United States government [[Cryptography|cryptographer]], being pressed into service.

Initially wary of an alien race who came "quite uninvited", international leaders begin to be persuaded of the Kanamits' benevolence when their advanced technology puts an end to hunger, energy shortages, and the arms race. Trust in the Kanamits seems to be justified when Patty, a member of the cryptography staff led by Chambers, decodes the title of the Kanamit book: ''To Serve Man''. The Kanamits submit to interrogation and [[polygraph]], at the request of the UN delegates. When they declare their benevolent intentions, the polygraph indicates that the Kanamit is speaking the truth.

Soon, humans are volunteering for trips to the Kanamits' home planet, which they describe as a paradise. Kanamits now have embassies in every major city on Earth. With the U.S. Armed Forces having been disbanded and world peace having been achieved, the code-breaking staff has no real work to do, but Patty is still trying to work out the meaning of the text of ''To Serve Man''.

The day arrives for Chambers's excursion to the Kanamits' planet. Just as he mounts the spaceship's boarding stairs, Patty runs toward him in great agitation. While being held back by a Kanamit guard, Patty cries: "Mr. Chambers, don't get on that ship! The rest of the book, ''To Serve Man'', it's... it's a cookbook!" Chambers tries to run back down the stairs, but a Kanamit blocks him, the stairs retract, and the ship lifts off.

Chambers is in the shipboard room now, and is again offered a meal. He throws it to the floor, but a Kanamit retrieves it and encourages him to eat: "We wouldn't want you to lose weight". At last, Chambers, in one of the few instances of the series where a character breaks the [[fourth wall]], says to the audience: "How about you? You still on Earth, or on the ship with me? Really doesn't make very much difference, because sooner or later, we'll all of us be on the menu... ''all of us''." The episode closes as Chambers gives in and breaks his hunger strike.

==Closing narration==
{{Blockquote|The recollections of one Michael Chambers, with appropriate flashbacks and soliloquy. Or, more simply stated, the evolution of man. The cycle of going from dust to dessert. The metamorphosis from being the ruler of a planet to an ingredient in someone's soup. It's tonight's bill of fare from the Twilight Zone.}}

==Cast==
*[[Lloyd Bochner]] as Michael Chambers
*[[Richard Kiel]] as the Kanamits (all of whom appear alike)
*[[Susan Cummings (actress)|Susan Cummings]] as Patty
*[[Joseph Ruskin]] as Kanamit voice (uncredited)
*[[Hardie Albright]] as Secretary General
*[[Theo Marcuse|Theodore Marcuse]] as Citizen Gregori
*[[Bartlett Robinson]] as Colonel #1
*[[Carleton Young]] as Colonel #2 (credited as Carlton Young)
*[[Nelson Olmsted]] as Scientist
* Robert Tafur as Senor Valdes
* Lomax Study as Leveque
*[[Jerry Fujikawa]] as Japanese Delegate (credited as J.H. Fujikawa)

==Production==
The arriving Kanamit ship is shown as scenes extracted from ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'', but with different sound; the departing Kanamit ship is shown as a scene extracted from ''[[Earth vs. the Flying Saucers]]'', also with different sound.

==Critical response==
''[[TV Guide]]'' ranked the episode at number 11 on its list of the "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time"<ref>{{cite book|title=TV Guide Guide to TV|date=2004|publisher=[[Barnes & Noble]]|isbn=0-7607-5634-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780760756348/page/667 667]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780760756348/page/667}}</ref> and ranked the ending as the "Greatest Twist of All Time".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roush |first=Matt |date=November 4–10, 2013 |title=Eyes on Surprise! The 60 Most Startling Twists of All Time |journal=TV Guide Magazine |publisher=[[TV Guide]] |volume=61 |issue=3187 |pages=22–23}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' listed the episode among the "Top 10 Twilight Zone Episodes".<ref>{{cite news|last=Cruz|first=Gilbert|title=Top 10 Twilight Zone Episodes|url=http://entertainment.time.com/2009/10/02/top-10-twilight-zone-episodes/|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]|access-date=March 6, 2013|date=October 2, 2009}}</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' named the episode first on its list of the "25 Best Twilight Zone Episodes".<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Fear|first1=David|last2=Collins|first2=Sean T.|last3=Martoccio|first3=Angie|date=April 1, 2019|title=25 Best 'Twilight Zone' Episodes|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/25-best-twilight-zone-episodes-list-812043/|access-date=March 17, 2021|website=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Marc Scott Zicree]], writing in ''[[The Twilight Zone Companion]]'', was critical of the episode, stating that "without some sort of interplanetary [[Rosetta Stone]], deciphering an unknown language would be impossible." He also said that the word "serve" is highly unlikely to have the same [[Double entendre|dual meaning]] in both English and an [[alien language]].{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

==Cultural influence==
The episode is occasionally referenced in popular culture, usually with the line "It's a cookbook!" or some variation thereof.<ref name=esquire>{{cite magazine |last1=Guerrasio |first1=Jason |title=The 10 Most Shocking Episodes of The Twilight Zone |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a31771/most-shocking-twilight-zone-episodes/ |magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704135908/http://www.esquire.com:80/entertainment/tv/a31771/most-shocking-twilight-zone-episodes/ |archive-date=July 4, 2017 |date=December 30, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Muir |first1=John Kenneth |author-link1=John Kenneth Muir |title=Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV |url=http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-visitors-are-coming-twilight-zone.html |publisher=Reflections on Film and Television |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428045634/http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-visitors-are-coming-twilight-zone.html|archive-date=April 28, 2017 |date=March 14, 2014}}</ref> References or parodies can be found in television series as ''[[Futurama]]'', ''[[The Simpsons]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Booker|first=M. Keith |title=Drawn to television|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2006|pages=117 |isbn=978-0-275-99019-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCJ1ExPYikQC&q=Treehouse+of+Horror+1990&pg=PA67}}</ref><ref name="Booker">{{cite book|last=Booker|first=M. Keith |title=Drawn to television|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2006|pages=67–68 |isbn=978-0-275-99019-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCJ1ExPYikQC&q=Treehouse+of+Horror+1990&pg=PA67}}</ref> and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''; movies such as ''[[The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear]]'', and ''[[Madagascar (2005 film)|Madagascar]]'' (''The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear'' featured a tongue-in-cheek cameo by [[Lloyd Bochner]], who played Michael Chambers in the ''TZ'' episode);<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duffin |first1=Allan T. |last2=Matheis |first2=Paul |title=The 12 O'Clock High Logbook: The Unofficial History of the Novel, Motion Picture, and TV Series |date=2005 |publisher=BearManor Media |isbn=9781593930332 |page=236 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQGNBAAAQBAJ&q=To+Serve+Man+%28The+Twilight+Zone%29++the+naked+gun+2+1%2F2&pg=PA236}}</ref><ref name=esquire/> the comic strip ''[[Mark Trail]]'';<ref>{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=James |title=Mark Trail |url=https://comicskingdom.com/shared_comics/92e89b28-54ed-44d7-b216-d1440b102882 |publisher=Comics Kingdom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024082526/https://comicskingdom.com/shared_comics/92e89b28-54ed-44d7-b216-d1440b102882 |archive-date=October 24, 2018 |date=April 19, 2018}}</ref> and musical works by artists [[Nuclear Assault]], [[Cattle Decapitation]], [[Mono Puff]], and [[El-P]]. A reference to the episode has even found its way into an unofficial emblem for a [[509th Bomb Wing|United States Air Force unit]].<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 1, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/science/01patc.html?ref=science|title=Inside the black budget|last1=Broad|first1=William J.}}</ref>

==Sequel==
The 2019 ''[[The Twilight Zone (2019 TV series)|Twilight Zone]]'' episode "You Might Also Like" serves as a sequel to the episode "To Serve Man", which features the Kanamits, who are still learning about Earth's culture.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murray |first1=Noel |title=The Twilight Zone’s "To Serve Man" sequel cautions about consumerism |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-twilight-zone-s-stylish-to-serve-man-sequel-cauti-1844185643 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=October 24, 2021 |date=June 27, 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Zicree |first1=Marc Scott |title=The Twilight Zone Companion |date=1982 |publisher=Silman-James Press |isbn=978-1-9352-4717-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5CrtAEACAAJ&q=The+Twilight+Zone+Companion }}
*{{cite book |last1=Devoe |first1=Bill |title=Trivia from the Twilight Zone |date=2008 |publisher=BearManor Media |isbn=978-1-6293-3014-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZEWvgAACAAJ&q=Trivia+from+The+Twilight+Zone}}
*{{cite book |last1=Grams |first1=Martin |title=The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic |date=2008 |publisher=O T R Publishing |isbn=978-0-9703-3109-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BLUOgAACAAJ&q=The+Twilight+Zone:+Unlocking+the+Door+to+a+Television+Classic |language=en}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|0734684}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes |the_twilight_zone/s03/e24}}
{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

[[Category:1962 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 3) episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes about alien visitations]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]
[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]

To Serve Man (The Twilight Zone) - Revision history

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GOTV>Foxtrot1296 at 05:53, 25 May 2022