"Once Upon a Time" is episode 78 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 dif ...

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, sup ...

''. It originally aired on December 15, 1961. It features early film star

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

in one of his later roles, as an unlikely time traveler, and the opening and closing scenes pay tribute to the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s for which he was famous.

Opening narration

Plot

Woodrow Mulligan is a grumpy man in 1890, dissatisfied with what his world has come to: the nation's budget surplus is only 85 million dollars, prices are shockingly high to him, and his once-quiet town of

Harmony, New York Harmony is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,108 at the 2020 census. The town is on the south border of the county and southwest of Jamestown. History First settlement began ''circa'' 1809. The town o ...

is bustling with

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ani ...

roaming the streets, which are full of horse-drawn carriages and

penny-farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds (owing to its travelling a large distance for every r ...

bicycles moving at the speed limit of 8 mph. A collision with a bicyclist dumps him in a water trough, forcing him to take off his pants to dry them when he gets to his place of work. He works as janitor for Professor Gilbert, who has just invented a "time helmet", which can transport the wearer to another decade for 30 minutes. Mulligan tries it on and it sends him to 1961; Harmony is now a busy city with streets full of cars, all sorts of urban noise, and astonishingly high prices. In the chaos he loses the helmet, which is picked up by a boy on roller skates, requiring Mulligan to give chase on a contemporary bicycle. He recovers the damaged helmet as he runs into Rollo, a scientist. They take the helmet to a "fix it" shop, where Rollo and the proprietor argue over repairs, while Mulligan wanders off and to acquire a pair of pants. Rollo regards the 1890s as an idyllic period, and wants to go back there in Mulligan's place. He runs off with the helmet, but Mulligan catches him at the last instant and they both go back. Mulligan is relieved to be home, and Rollo finds it charming. A week later, Mulligan has found a new appreciation for life in 1890, but Rollo is dismayed at the lack of technology and modern comforts. Annoyed by Rollo's griping, Mulligan sets the helmet for 1961, puts it on Rollo's head, and sends him back to his own time.

Closing narration

Cast

as Woodrow Mulligan * Stanley Adams as Rollo *

Milton Parsons Ernest Milton Parsons (May 19, 1904 – May 15, 1980) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 160 films and television shows between 1939 and 1978. In 1927, Parsons performed with The Strolling Players of Boston acting co ...

as Professor Gilbert * Gil Lamb as Officer Flannagan *

James Flavin James William Flavin Jr. (May 14, 1906 – April 23, 1976) was an American character actor whose career lasted for nearly half a century. Early life The son of a hotel waiter of Canadian-English descent,Flavin's obituary, distributed by United ...

as First 1961 Policeman *

Harry Fleer Harry Fleer (March 26, 1916 – October 14, 1994) was an American actor. He appeared in more than sixty films and television shows between 1955 and 1994. Fleer was cast six times from 1957 to 1960 on the syndicated television anthology ser ...

as Second 1961 Policeman * Warren Parker as Clothing Store Manager * Jesse White as Repairman * George E. Stone as Fenwick

Production

Buster Keaton was one of the biggest stars of the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

, and this episode featuring him was intended as an homage to that work."I met Buster Keaton through Bill Cox...and I thought "Gee, that would be wonderful to get Keaton into a ''Twilight Zone''"-''Richard Matheson.'' One sequence, occurring almost immediately after traveling to the episode's present day, is a near exact replication of a gag Keaton introduced some forty-one years earlier in a

Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

film titled '' The Garage''. The parts set in the 1890s are done in the style of a silent film with

intertitle In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

s and feature only a soundtrack of a saloon piano (and Rod Serling's customary opening and closing narration). The music was composed by

William Lava William "Bill" Benjamin Lava (March 18, 1911 – February 20, 1971) was a composer and arranger who composed and conducted music for feature films as well as that for the Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' animated carto ...

and was performed (uncredited) by veteran Hollywood studio and session pianist Ray Turner. Much is made of the fact that Mulligan shows up in 1961 with no pants due to his getting run over by a "high speed" bicycle and falling into a water trough, forcing him to remove the pants while they dry. A

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

has a pants-less Mulligan being chased by a policeman in both the past and the present.

References

*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. *Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.

External links

* {{Richard Matheson 1961 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 3) episodes Television episodes about time travel Television episodes written by Richard Matheson Fiction set in 1890 Fiction set in 1962