TV
The Five Best Easter Eggs from the First Two Episodes of “The Twilight Zone”
This past Monday, streaming service CBS All Access kicked off their revival of “The Twilight Zone” with two episodes from the new series, executive produced and hosted by Jordan Peele. As it turns out, Peele makes for a perfect host for the modern day take on the classic series, and both “The Comedian” and “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet” felt quite true to the iconic lineage.
In “The Comedian” (which can also be streamed for free through Amazon Prime and YouTube!), Kumail Nanjiani stars as a stand-up comedian whose approach to the artform isn’t garnering many laughs. That is until he enters the Twilight Zone, where he learns that selling his life and loved ones for laughs has both short term advantages and long term repercussions.
And then in “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” Adam Scott stars in a vastly different take on one of the most classic “Twilight Zone” episodes. His character discovers a mysterious MP3 player on a flight to Tel Aviv that has on it a podcast episode about the disappearance of the very flight he’s on, sending him on a paranoid journey to crack the mystery and save the doomed flight.
Both episodes are loaded with political and social commentary to chew on, and they’re also packed with fun little Easter egg nods to the past – and to a potential shared universe.
Here are five of the best Easter eggs we spotted in the first two episodes.
“The Comedian” – Distorted Faces
The opening image in the very first episode of the new “Twilight Zone” shows us the back wall of Eddie’s Comedy Club, which is adorned with a very Shining-esque image from the past. The mural is again seen at the very end of the episode for a direct nod to Kubrick’s The Shining and its final image, but the photograph also gives nods to the classic “Twilight Zone” episodes ‘Eye of the Beholder’ and ‘The Masks.’ Both episodes memorably featured distorted human faces, and several of the faces in the Eddie’s mural are distorted in nearly identical ways.
“The Comedian” – Willie the Dummy
Backstage at Eddie’s Comedy Club in “The Comedian,” a creepy doll is briefly seen in the background of a shot, and fans of the original series surely recognized that it looked like an exact replica of the “Willie” doll from Season 3 episode ‘The Dummy.’ Actually, it wasn’t a replica but rather the actual screen-used doll from 1962, loaned to the production by magician David Copperfield! Kumail Nanjiani confirmed to Vanity Fair that it was the real deal, relaying that Copperfield agreed to let the dummy appear on screen if his own name was referenced.
Sure enough, Nanjiani’s character remarks in the episode (after realizing that his comedy is quite literally making people disappear) that he’s become “an evil David Copperfield.”
“The Comedian” – Kanamit Beer
Diarra Kilpatrick co-stars in “The Comedian” as a standup comic named DiDi Scott, and at one point she’s drinking a beer at the bar of Eddie’s alongside Nanjiani’s Samir Wassan. If you look very closely at the label on the beer bottle she’s drinking, it reads “Kanamit Lager,” a reference to the humanoid alien race from the iconic ‘To Serve Man’ episode of the original series.
The twist of ‘To Serve Man’ is that the Kanamit have actually come to Earth to consume human beings, so it’s a clever little wink-and-nod to see DiDi sipping from a bottle labeled Kanamit!
“Nightmare at 30,000 Feet” – Gremlin Doll
The revival’s “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet” is a new take on the William Shatner-starring ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,’ exploiting more modern in-flight fears than big hairy gremlins. But the classic gremlin from the original version of the episode does make a cameo appearance in “30,000 Feet” when a replica doll of the gremlin that terrorized Shatner washes upon on shore after the plane Adam Scott’s character is on crashes. As another little nod to the past, a character named Dr. Cravat is mentioned, a reference to gremlin suit performer Nick Cravat!
“Nightmare at 30,000 Feet” – Shared Universe?
This last Easter egg we want to highlight isn’t a tribute to the past, but an interesting suggestion for the future. Before boarding his flight in “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” Adam Scott’s character checks out the magazine rack in the airport gift shop, and two of the magazines prominently displayed are adorned with photographs of other characters from this new batch of revival episodes: Kumail Nanjiani’s Samir Wassan from ‘The Comedian’ and Jacob Tremblay’s Oliver Foley from an upcoming episode titled ‘The Wunderkind.’
The suggestion here is that all of these new “Twilight Zone” stores are taking place in an inter-connected “shared universe,” and we can’t help but wonder if we’ll be seeing more of that connective tissue going forward. The original “Twilight Zone” episodes were standalone tales, but it seems the new series has designs on, in one way or another, bridging its stories together.
Have you spotted any other Easter eggs so far? Comment and let us know!
No conversation about cartoons based on live-action movies is ever complete without mentioning The Real Ghostbusters.
This animated continuation is, warts and all, a notable example of turning a hit movie into a hit series. And although the new target demographic skewed a little younger, even kids-at-heart could partake in the further adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore and Egon Spengler.
For a good part of its run, the show required fans to wait at least a week for more Ghostbustin’. That’s torture for a kiddo. Luckily, though, the entire series, or at least most of it, is now available for streaming.
So, as you revisit The Real Ghostbusters on Tubi—for now it’s just the first five seasons there—use this guide to help prioritize some must-see episodes.
The Boogieman Cometh
“The Boogieman Cometh” (Season 1)
Season One’s “The Boogieman Cometh” is a classic episode featuring one of the show’s more iconic villains. It’s hard to forget the unique character design used for the Boogieman (whose creepy voice was provided by Ray and Slimer’s actor, Frank Welker). In this story, Egon is reunited with that bump-in-the-night entity who haunted his own childhood, all while trying to keep him away from his latest targets: the brother and sister claiming to have the Boogieman in their closet. Although the Ghostbusters do save the day here, the Boogieman eventually returns (“The Bogeyman Is Back“). That same episode also features the love-’em-or-hate-’em Junior Ghostbusters.
Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream
“Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” (Season 1)
You could say the namesake of “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” had good intentions for putting mankind to sleep for the next few centuries—he wanted to end war and keep everyone dreaming. Sounds nice until you remember that whole free will business. But when it seems like the Ghostbusters have lost to their latest foe, the last one standing, Winston, gains a sudden ally. Janine’s dream of becoming a Ghostbuster is manifested, and she helps put this rogue spirit to bed.
When Halloween Was Forever
“When Halloween Was Forever” (Season 1)
Before the show’s execs capitalized on Slimer’s popularity by making him the focus of later episodes, early stories like “When Halloween Was Forever” better utilized that gooey ghost. Here, the spirit of Halloween itself, Samhain, hopes to make the holiday a permanent thing by stopping time. And who does the embodiment of All Hallows’ Eve use in his nefarious plot? Slimer, of course. Thankfully, the lil’ green bud knows where he really belongs, and Samhain is banished (at least until Season 3’s “Halloween II 1/2“).
Night Game
“Night Game” (Season 2)
Because Season Two was rather long, in comparison to other seasons, it accumulated quite a few solid episodes. One of the most beloved, though, is that ultimate good-versus-evil story, “Night Game“. Winston gets to shine here as he participates in a battle that was 500 years in the making. Except this time, the fighting is done on the baseball field. The other-dimensional settings in The Real Ghostbusters are always great, but the one here is particularly memorable.
Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin
“Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” (Season 2)
Not all ghosts and whatnot were bad in The Real Ghostbusters. As “Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” showed, some were actually benevolent. Sadly, it took a lot of convincing, and one very heroic act, for Peter and the others to see past this goblin’s grotesque appearance. The heroes find more than one shapeshifter at a sideshow carnival in the Poconos; a sinister Class-4er called the Metamorph does a swell job of menacing the Ghostbusters before they finally realize Drool’s not their culprit. The good guys indeed win here, but that victory is a bittersweet one.
The Collect Call of Cathulhu
“The Collect Call of Cathulhu” (Season 2)
While “The Collect Call of Cathulhu” does misspell “Cthulhu” in the title (probably to avoid legal issues), it is clearly the Old One in this Lovecraft-inspired episode. The story kicks off with the Necronomicon being stolen by the deity’s modern-day cult, who then raise their ancient god at Coney Island. From there, the Ghostbusters’ typical methods don’t work on the big guy, so they seek advice from an old issue of Weird Tales (or “Wierd Tales”, as it’s spelled on screen). That build-up to the finale comes with a decent amount of dread before the Ghostbusters, as well as a scholar named Alice, face off with one of the show’s most powerful entities.
Knock, Knock
“Knock, Knock” (Season 2)
A number of Real Ghostbusters episodes could be reworked into big-screen features, but perhaps “Knock, Knock” is the most hopeful. It helps that this story feels in step with the first two movies. Here, some ignorant construction workers accidentally uncover and open an ancient door in the subway. What’s behind said door is none other than those unspeakable evils that only the Ghostbusters can quell. A good deal of the imagery here is prime for adaptation.
The Grundel
“The Grundel” (Season 3)
One of the darker episodes, which was written by the prominent J. Michael Straczynski, is “The Grundel“. Here, a boy is being influenced by the titular entity, a type of ghost who ultimately turns his targets into new Grundels. The episode does have something of an after-school special quality to it, but that doesn’t take away from the eerier moments. For more Grundel lore, be sure to check out the episode “Grundelesque” from the sequel series, Extreme Ghostbusters.
Standing Room Only
“Standing Room Only” (Season 4)
It’s no secret that The Real Ghostbusters experienced multiple changes after the second season. Out of all of them, though, retooling the show so that Slimer would get more of the spotlight is maybe the most egregious. Thankfully, Season Four (the first to be called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters) didn’t completely obey that new directive; episodes like “Standing Room Only” felt more like the old days. The focus here was on the well-being of the city and its people, rather than on the series’ green mascot (or the Junior Ghostbusters). In the episode, Peter’s new ghost attractor isn’t to blame for the ensuing chaos; the ghost-eating Mee-Krah is what’s really imperiling everyone. And the Ghostbusters must dish out everything they have to avoid a doomsday situation.
The Halloween Door
“The Halloween Door” (Season 5)
While many fans will skip the later seasons in their rewatches, episodes like “The Halloween Door” are still worth checking out. This colorful helping of Halloween pandemonium premiered on primetime, so the animation is better than usual. And save for a random musical moment, it’s an enjoyable event. Here, a group of anti-Halloweeners tries to cancel the holiday, but they only end up making things worse by unleashing a baddie named Boogaloo.
The first five seasons of The Real Ghostbusters are available on Tubi, starting on July 15.
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