"The After Hours" is episode thirty-four of the American television

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

, ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

''. It originally aired on June 10, 1960, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Opening narration

The opening narration involves Marsha White riding an elevator to the ninth floor. Then the rest of the narration is heard.

Plot

Marsha White, browsing for a gift for her mother in a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

, decides on a gold

thimble A thimble is a small pitted cup worn on the finger that protects it from being pricked or poked by a needle while sewing. The Old English word , the ancestor of thimble, is derived from Old English , the ancestor of the English word ''thumb''. ...

. She is taken by the male

elevator operator An elevator operator (North American English), liftman (in Commonwealth English, usually lift attendant), or lift girl (in British English), is a person specifically employed to operate a manually operated elevator. Description Being an effec ...

to the ninth floor, although the elevator's floor indicator only shows eight floors. After she walks out onto the barren, seemingly deserted ninth floor, confused, she is approached by a saleswoman who guides her to the only item on the floor: the exact gold thimble that Marsha wants. During the sales transaction, she grows increasingly puzzled by the comments and actions of both the somewhat frustrated elevator operator who transported her to there and the aloof and clairvoyant saleswoman behind the counter who addresses her by name and sells her the thimble. The saleswoman asks Marsha if she is happy; Marsha responds that it is none of her business and storms off. As Marsha rides the elevator down, she notices that the thimble is scratched and dented; she is directed by the elevator operator to the complaints department on the third floor. When she tries to convince Mr. Armbruster, the sales supervisor, and Mr. Sloan, the store manager, that she bought the item on the ninth floor, she is told that the store does not have a ninth floor. She has no evidence of the transaction as she paid cash, and has no receipt. Marsha then sees the saleswoman who sold her the thimble, and is shocked to discover that the woman is actually one of the department store's display

mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...

s. While resting in an office after the shock of her frightening discovery, Marsha finds herself accidentally locked inside the closed store after hours. She attempts to find a way out and becomes alarmed by mysterious voices calling to her and by some subtle movements made by the supposedly lifeless mannequins around her. Moving about aimlessly, she topples the sailor mannequin, whom she recognizes as the elevator operator in earlier encounters. Becoming hysterical, she flees backward to the now-open elevator, which again transports her to the unoccupied ninth floor. There she gradually realizes that the "ninth floor" is a storage area occupied by thinking, animated mannequins. With the mannequins' gentle encouragement, she eventually realizes that she herself is also a mannequin. Within their society, the mannequins take turns, one at a time, to live among humans for one month. Marsha had enjoyed her stay among "the outsiders" so much that she had forgotten her identity and has arrived back a day late. The next mannequin in line — the saleswoman — forgives Marsha for her tardiness and then departs the store to live among humans for a month. As the other mannequins bid farewell to the saleswoman, the sailor asks Marsha if she enjoyed her time among humans; she sweetly and sadly says she did. The next day, Armbruster makes his morning rounds on the sales floor and does a double-take upon passing the Marsha mannequin on display.

Closing narration

Production notes

The head of the mannequin double for Anne Francis was made from a cast of Francis's face done by noted

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

William J. Tuttle William Julian Tuttle (April 13, 1912 – July 27, 2007) was an American make-up artist. Early life Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he was forced to leave school at a young age to support his mother and younger brother. After a series of odd ...

. Tuttle displayed the mannequin head in the 1968 MGM short film "The King of the Duplicators".

Remake

The episode was remade in 1986 for the first revival of ''

''. It starred Terry Farrell as Marsha Cole and

Ann Wedgeworth Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth (January 21, 1934 – November 16, 2017) was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in ''Three's Company'', Hilda Hensley in '' Sweet Dreams'', and Merleen Elldridge in ''Evening Shade''. She w ...

as the Saleswoman. The plot is similar, but the emphasis is more on suspense. In addition, the Marsha in the remake is in denial of her identity and does not want to be a mannequin. She wants to be truly human, unlike the Marsha in the original, who simply forgot who she was and enjoyed feeling human for the month in which she lived among the outsiders.

Graphic novel

In 2008, the original episode was adapted as a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, ''

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...

's The Twilight Zone: The After Hours'', written by Mark Kneece and illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs.Kneece, Mark and Serling, Rod (authors) and Isaacs, Rebekah (illustrator). ''Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone: The After Hours'' (2008), Walker Books.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:After Hours, The 1960 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 1) episodes Television episodes written by Rod Serling Television episodes directed by Douglas Heyes