To Serve Man (The Twilight Zone)

To Serve Man is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Critical response

:"In the show... a staff of cryptographers led by Lloyd Bochner attempts to dechipher the alien language as though it were some secret code, which is utterly ludicrous. Without some sort of interplanetary Rosetta stone, deciphering an unknown language would be impossible."

Related Topics:
Cryptographers - Rosetta stone

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• Marc Scott Zicree in The Twilight Zone Companion

Zicree's comments have been seconded by many others, including Damon Knight, though an explanation as to how the cryptographers managed to translate the Kanamit language may be found in an early draft of Serling's teleplay, which included this scene:

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93. Close shot Chambers As seen over her shoulder. His eyes narrow.

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Chambers

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What's the matter, Pat? What's going on?

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94. Reverse angle looking toward her. Her lips tremble.

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Pat

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I...I finally deciphered their language. All of it. I read their book.

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95. Close shot a suspended speaker overhead A Kanamit's metallic voice rings out.

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Kanamit's voice

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Please move ahead. You're holding up our departure. Kindly move ahead.

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CUT TO:

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96. Two shot Chambers and Pat

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Chambers

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Well?

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Pat

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Mr. Chambers...Mr. Chambers, the first page is just a collection of English words with their own translation. But the rest of the book...the rest of the book...

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...at which point she delivers her famous punchline. It may be possible to decipher the Kanamit language provided the first page of the book represented what Zicree referred to as an "interplanetary Rosetta stone".

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