The After Hours
"How fortunate for Marsha Cole to squeeze into the mall, even though it's closing. Someone should remind her though: Doors that keep others out, can also seal you in — the Twilight Zone."
Marsha Cole (Terry Farrell) races to the mall as it nears closing time in the hopes of purchasing a popular toy for her landlord's child, and a worker who takes pity on her lets her inside. Once inside, she meets a number of well-dressed people who seemingly know her by name. A peculiar clerk in the mall also presses her for details about her past and documentation regarding her identity, which prompts Marsha to realize that she has no memories or ID, leading her to become frantic and trying to escape the mall before her true nature resurfaces.
Tropes
- Adaptation Deviation: In the original episode, Marsha went to a department store to buy a gold thimble for her mother. In this version, she aims to purchase a "Cornfield Kid" for her landlord's child.
- Adaptation Name Change: Our plastic protagonist's name is Marsha Cole. In the original episode, it's Marsha White.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In the original episode, Marsha appears to be somewhat older and is much more self-assured. She reacts with annoyance when the saleswoman makes personal remarks about her, but after she recalls that she is a mannequin, she accepts her status without any further objection and decides to return to the store of her own volition. This version of Marsha is a sweet and naive young woman who grows frightened when the saleswoman asks her strange questions about her background, and after discovering that she herself is one of the mall's mannequins, she resists the others' attempt to force her to return to her "life" as a department store display.
- Adapted Out: Mr. Sloan and Mr. Armbruster, the respective department store manager and sales supervisor from the original episode, do not appear in this version.
- Animate Inanimate Object: As in the original episode, the mall mannequins have the ability to come alive, and one of them leaves the store every month to live as a human.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Downplayed with the other mannequins. They succeed in turning Marsha back into one of their own, but largely so another one can have their month in the human world.
- Become a Real Boy: Inverted for Marsha. After finding out that she is a mannequin after spending a month living in the outside world, she doesn't want to give up her new life as a human, and is ultimately forced back into her true self so that one of the other mannequins can have their turn.
- Big "NO!": Marsha's final line is one of these, her face growing rigid and frozen as she says it.
- Bit-by-Bit Transformation: While the original episode just had Marsha solidify entirely into her plastic self, this version has her transform in a gradual process. Her right leg is the first part of her to do so, forcing her to drag it in her fruitless attempt to escape. This is followed by her right arm, then her left leg. Refusing to accept her fate, she still tries to escape, but her head soon becomes the only part of her still human. In the final scene, we see that she has become fully plastic and placed on display in the window of Satler's, still in the panicked pose she was in when trying to escape.
- Bland-Name Product: Marsha enters the mall in the hopes of buying her landlord's child a "Cornfield Kid", a parody of the Cabbage Patch Kids. The toy itself is an actual Cabbage Patch Kid stuffed in a corn husk.
- Darker and Edgier: This version turns Marsha's transformation into a mannequin into an act of Body Horror, and her fellow mannequins speak in a Creepy Monotone. The cherry on top is that in the original episode, Marsha had a Heel Realization and apologized to her plastic friends for not returning sooner, while this Marsha is completely unwilling to rejoin her fellow mannequins.
- Downer Ending: The original episode has Marsha realizing that she forgot her identity and becoming a mannequin voluntarily, but this version has Marsha being transformed against her will and failing to escape the mall in time.
- Foreshadowing: Marsha happens to be dressed in very colorful and flashy clothing, similar to the mannequins in Satler's, and later describes her landlord as "a real doll."
- I Never Told You My Name: Marsha is surprised and confused when she is approached by a young boy in Play's the Thing who knows her name and asks her to come back. His mother tells Marsha that she actually said "ma'am" and she must have misheard him, but Marsha doesn't buy it. Marsha later learns that she, the boy, and his mother are all mannequins from Satler's.
- Murderous Mannequin: Marsha is stalked by animated mannequins in an after-hours department store. They have no intention to actually kill her, though, they just want her to accept her true nature so one of them can have a turn in the outside world.
- Nice Girl: Marsha, who races to the mall at closing time to buy a present for the child of the landlord who took her in.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Marsha buys the Cornfield Kid she was looking for from a toy store called "Play's the Thing", which is a reference to the line "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king" from Hamlet.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Like in the original episode, Marsha discovers that she's one of the mall's mannequins who forgot her identity. But unlike the original episode, she refuses to return to her life as a display item.
"Imagine standing perfectly still, unable to act, to speak, to touch a reassuring hand. If you were released from such a fate, even for a while, wouldn't you hope to forget? But in reality, you're only on a short leave of absence — from the Twilight Zone."
Lost and Found
College student Jenny Templeton (Akosua Busia), during a night of studying, discovers that her belongings are disappearing when she isn't looking. While she originally accuses her roommate Kathy (Cindy Harrell) of pulling a joke on her, items continue to vanish during her interrogation. When Jenny finally tracks down the source of the disappearances, she's in for a pretty big surprise.
Tropes
- Adaptational Job Change: Jenny is told by the time travelers that she will become the first President of Earth in the future, becoming known as the "Great Peacemaker". In the short story by Phyllis Eisenstein, she is destined to become a celebrated, world-famous anthropologist.
- Awful Wedded Life: Implied with the future couple and Played for Laughs, as the woman warns the man not to see Cleopatra while the man does just that.
- Bottle Episode: The short takes place entirely in Jenny and Kathy's dorm room.
- Breather Episode: After the horror of the previous episode, this five minute short serves to let the audience unwind.
- Chromosome Casting: The male time travelers is the only man to appear.
- Close-Enough Timeline: Apparently, time travelers aren't supposed to take souvenirs from the periods they visit, saying that it results in a "time shift."
- Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: The male time traveler's wife warns him if he "meets" Cleopatra again, their marriage is over. The wife then leaves for 2136 AB, while the husband leaves for 32 BC.
- Just One Second Out of Sync: The time travelers' movements are filmed in a rougher, choppier style to illustrate that they're out of sync from Jenny and Kathy.
- Lighter and Softer: The short is only five minutes long, and there's very little suspense, a bit of comedy, and an overall happy ending.
- Minimalist Cast: Jenny, Kathy, and the time-travelers are the only characters to appear.
- No Name Given: The time travelers.
- Planetary Nation: Jenny is told that she'll be the first "President of Earth" in the future.
- Setting Update: Jenny is visited by two time travelers from 2139 in 1986. In the short story, her native time is 1979.
- Space Clothes: The time travelers wear shiny, silver clothing that looks like it's made out of foil.
- Sticky Fingers: Jenny notices that the contents of her trash can and the mug she uses for her pencils have both disappeared, followed by her textbooks and her high school yearbook. She initially thinks that Kathy is pranking her, but Jenny discovers that they were actually stolen by a couple of time travelers from 2139 who wanted souvenirs from her era, as they were visiting her before she ultimately becomes the first President of Earth. The male traveler returns the mug, saying that they were only supposed to take things she wouldn't miss.
- Time Travel Episode: College student Jenny finds a pair of time travelers from 2139 hiding in her dorm room closet.
- Young Future Famous People: The time traveling couple outright let Jenny know that she'll be known as the "Great Peacemaker"; the first President of Earth.Jenny: (to Kathy, smiling proudly) I think I better quit cutting Political Science.
The World Next Door
"For most of us, our heart's desire seems to lie behind a bolted door. But what if the lives we find so familiar were someone else's dream come true? Perhaps, for all of us, somewhere is a hidden door into — the Twilight Zone."
Barney Schlessinger (George Wendt) is a part-time inventor whose gadgets, often highly impractical, are rebuked by his wife Katy (Bernadette Birkett). Barney has also been having frequent dreams where he lives a second life in an alternate world stuck in the early 20th century, where he is a noted business tycoon and the talk of his town. When he is able to enter this world via a strange door in his basement, Barney learns that his counterpart has dreams identical in motivation to his, wanting to escape to a world where he is freed from the trappings of fame, while the regular Barney seeks to gain said fame for himself.
Tropes
- Alternate Universe: Barney has recurring dreams where he lives in a parallel universe where he's a famous inventor. He later manages to enter this very universe by finding a door behind a bookshelf in his basement.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Barney's inventions are seen as such, especially "mouse missiles", which seek down rodents and gruesomely blow them up.
- Down the Rabbit Hole: Barney finds a doorway to an alternate universe with an early 20th century level of technology. In this universe, he is an extremely wealthy business tycoon and world famous inventor whose creations can be found in every home. The alternate Barney uses this same doorway to travel to the regular universe, which he likes because of the peace and quiet that it affords him. The two Barneys agree to switch places with one another, as each is envious of the other's life.
- Equivalent Exchange: Barney and his alternate counterpart switch places, as each wants what the other has in life. The Barney of the regular universe has longed to be a famous and successful inventor, and is delighted when he meets the kindly and welcoming alternate version of his wife Katy, who admires "his" inventions greatly as opposed to his own Katy, who belittles him for them. The alternate Barney, meanwhile, has grown tired of the pressure that comes with fame and people's expectations for his next great invention, so he settles in the regular universe, where he can live in blissful anonymity and doesn't have to invent anything if he doesn't want to.
- Flash Sideways: Barney has been having what he thinks are dreams where he's a famous inventor who lives in a more technologically primitive world that resembles the early 1900s. After finding a doorway in his basement, he arrives in this very world and learns that he had in fact been seeing the life of his alternate counterpart, and vice versa.
- Happy Ending: Both versions of Barney swap universes to seek things they desperately wanted in life. The regular Barney finally becomes recognized as a genius inventor like he's always dreamed of, and the alternate Barney can live just like any other regular person, freed from the pressures of fame and industry, where he mends the relationship Katy had with her version of Barney.
- Henpecked Husband: Barney's wife Katy is unsupportive of his love of inventing, and continually criticizes him for wasting his time on something that is of no use to anyone. She becomes nicer once Barney (and later the alternate one) cleans up the basement and treats her better.
- Homemade Inventions: Barney spends all his free time building impractical inventions in his basement, like a wind-up mechanical orchid and a heat-seeking missile used to kill mice. The latter invention works as it should, but it leaves mouse parts everywhere.
- It Will Never Catch On: The alternate Barney has invented a super-fuel he calls "Trimbeline 3", which allows automobiles to obtain speeds of 60 miles per hour, with a fuel efficiency rating of 100 miles per gallon. An unseen newspaper writer details in an article that they're skeptical of Barney's claims that Trimbeline-powered automobiles will replace horse-drawn carriages within a few years.
- Mirror Universe: Barney dreams about such a universe, and ends up discovering a door leading to it in his basement. It's a rare example where the universe in question is not evil, just different. Barney ends up permanently switching places with his alternate self, to their mutual happiness.
- Real After All: Barney thinks that his life in the alternate world is only a series of recurring waking dreams. He's proven wrong when he finds the door leading to it in his basement.
- Retro Universe: The alternate universe shown in the episode has an early 20th century level of technology. Automobiles exist, but horse-drawn carriages are still the primary method of transportation for most people. The alternate Barney's inventions, such as Trimbeline 3, have allowed this universe to make significant technological progress in recent years.
- Shout-Out: When he enters the alternate world, Barney refers to his butler Henry as "Jeeves".
- Title Drop: Barney's friend Milton, in the alternate universe, describes his dreams as living in a "world next door".
