The Twilight Zone: Season 1 Episode 1 Where is Everybody?
A man who can't remember who he is, wanders around a seemingly empty town.
Series Index
Characters/Groups
Air Force General - James Gregory
Air Force Colonel - John Conwell
Air Force Captain - Carter Mullaly
Air Force Staff Sergeant - Jim Johnson
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
Mike Ferris is walking down a dirt road when he comes to a cafe with music coming from it at the edge of a town. He goes inside the cafe and finds it devoid of customers and employees. He knocks over a clock in the kitchen and sees the time is 6:15. He continues to ask for service and says he isn't sure who he is. He leaves the cafe and walks into the town of Oakwood. While searching for anyone, he sees what appears to be a woman in a truck. He walks over to her and discovers that what he thought was a woman, is just a mannequin. He hears the public telephone ring and runs to answer it in the telephone booth, but it stops ringing. He calls the operator, but it is just a recorded message. He opens the telephone directory and finds the names of residents, but still no sign of people. Mike walks to the police station and finds it empty, but with a cigar burning in the ashtray and water running in a cell. A church bell starts to ring and he walks into a drug store, but finds it also empty and eats some ice cream. During the evening the lights turn on in town and he walks to the movie theater and when he sees the poster for the movie Battle Hymn, he realizes he is a member of the United States Air Force. He goes inside the theater and a movie starts playing. He runs to the projection booth and also finds it empty. He runs out of the theater and starts pressing on a crosswalk button, begging for someone to help him.
A group of men are gathered in a room watching as Mike, who is in a booth, repeatedly presses a button and asks for help. Air Force General tells an Air Force Colonel to make note of the time and tells an Air Force Captain to get Mike out of the booth. An Air Force Staff Sergeant and Air Force Colonel pull Mike from the booth. The press walk in and Reporter 1 asks the Air Force General if he considers the experiment a success and Air Force General tells Reporter 1 that Mike was in the box for the same amount of time as it would take for a trip to the moon. Reporter 2 asks what the wires attached to Mike were for and Reporter 3 asks what happened to Mike towards the end of the experiment. Air Force General walks over to Mike and asks him what it was like as the Doctor looks on. Doctor tells Mike that what he experienced was a kind of nightmare and what can't be simulated is man's hunger for companionship. Air Force General tells Mike that on his trip to the moon, he will really be alone. Mike looks at the moon and tells it not to go away.