Episode no. Season 3
Episode 13 Production code 4820 | Written by Richard Matheson Original air date December 15, 1961 | |
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Directed by Norman Z. McLeod (with an uncredited sequence by Les Goodwins) Featured music William Lava (piano score played by Ray Turner) | ||
"Once Upon a Time" is episode 78 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 15, 1961.
Contents
Plot
Woodrow Mulligan is a grumpy janitor in 1890, dissatisfied with his time and place: a backwater town called "Harmony" with 17-cent cuts of meat, $2 hats, livestock freely roaming the streets, and penny-farthing bicycles that knock him down while going the speed limit (8 mph). He works for Professor Gilbert, who has just invented a time helmet.
Pouncing on the opportunity, Mulligan uses the helmet to transport himself to 1960, which, of course, turns out to be a surprise with even higher prices and more noise. He meets Rollo, a scientist and authority on the 1890s, which he regards as "charming."
Rollo tries to go back alone, but Mulligan jumps on him and they go back together. The 1890s turn out to be not entirely what Rollo thought of them. Mulligan, however, is relieved and has a new appreciation for his own time. One week later, he hears Rollo griping. ("This guy sounds worse than my mother-in-law," Mulligan observes through an intertitle). So he sets the helmet for 1960, puts it on Rollo's head, and sends him back to his own time.