The Man In The Bottle - Twilight-Tober Zone

[@willhouston588]

All I can think of is that Futurama bit. "There's something on the wing!" "Why should I believe you? You're Hitler!"

[@julesrules7297]

Same! I had no idea that Futurama was riffing on The Twilight Zone! At least, not an actual twist from the show.

[@ObscureRP]

Hitler: "Eva Braun, help me!" [is a fly] Bender: "Saw it comin'."

[@Maceman486]

Yeah I finally get that reference.

[@WasabiSniffer]

Huh, look at that weird door

[@nidohime6233]

Right? There used a couple of references from the Twilight Zone.

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

I remember a story in one of the "Scary Stories for Sleepovers" books with a twist similar to the Hitler twist here. A kid who encounters a similarly malevolent genie asks to be "the richest, most famous boy who ever lived." So the genie makes him King Tut...the CURRENT King Tut, so he is a thousands-year-old mummified corpse. Ouch.

[@christiankallio8586]

Ouch, nice twist on his wish. I love how clever evil genies can be

[@DarthUmbra]

Always gotta love genies that play by Monkey Paw rules.

[@christophertheriault3308]

Kid's lawyer should complain about that one, I'd argue the current King Tut no longer qualifies as rich. Of course, given that he's also famous for dying young the original version is no great shakes either.

[@MovieFan1912]

@@DarthUmbra Just like the Dreamstone in Wonder Woman 1984.

[@MovieFan1912]

Is there any chance this book is related to “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?”

[@TheLastBabyMan]

"I shall grant you four wishes." "Don't genies grant thr-" *his wife punts him.* *Whispering.* "Shut uuuuup.."

[@iamtriston666]

Actually the three wishes thing is something that Disney just made up.

[@spacedinosaur8733]

@@iamtriston666 If I remember the original story as long as he held the lamp, or was it the ring? the holder would have unlimited wishes/power.

[@iamtriston666]

@@spacedinosaur8733 Exactly.

[@MinhTran-qe3nj]

@@spacedinosaur8733 It's both. In a thousand and one night, Aladdin had a genie in a lamp and a genie in a ring.

[@RedMephit]

@@iamtriston666 Pretty sure the 3 wishes thing was around before Disney's Aladdin

[@trinaq]

I never would have seen the Hitler reveal coming, but it was an excellent twist! It's always great to see a strong episode that Walter genuinely enjoyed.

[@spiderdued0423]

When I fist saw that scene I could not sleep for a week. It was not like a creepy image it just felt wrong.

[@darthmelsie]

I'm imagining the line being read ala Trolls 2: "I'm Hitler.... (*gasping fish face*) And it's the end of the war! (*bombs go off, bunker shakes*) OH my GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD"

[@legomaniac213]

2:50 "I might be crazy enough to take on Batman, but the IRS?!! No thank you!!"

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

Hehe, I never would’ve thought of that, well done

[@thomasdunn9009]

That is absolutely something I would ask Cesar Romero to say in joker character if he were still alive

[@deadsirius3531]

Honestly if I ever found a genie I think it would be worth using my first wish for something like "I wish for my remaining wishes to be carried out according to the spirit in which I'm asking them; no bullshit technicalities or 'ironic' outcomes, damnit"

[@NotAGoodUsername360]

Granted, you die and get to make your remaining wishes as a ghost. The "spirit" in which you're asking them.

[@NostalgicGamerRickOShay]

That is why I absolutely despised this episode when I watched it.

[@EthanDarke]

Before making any wishes, hire an outside lawyer 😆

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

On the 'four wishes instead of three thing,' its either to throw the viewer off since 3 wishes is so common, or, perhaps because in some cultures, 4 is considered unlucky. Like in Chinese cultures because the word for "four" sounds like the word for "death."

[@Kiku91]

That is true, and maybe to some who recognizes this, it is a hint that things won't go right.

[@Gojiro7]

I think it's more to do with having the character set up the fixing the glass to prove his power thing leaving them with 3 wishes left since they wanted proof of his claim and that counted as a wish, thematically its there to still provide the usual 3 wishes without having the genie character just using his powers just to show off freely since a character who goes on about the consequences of wishes would be really strange freely dishing out wishes with no cost

[@acerumble]

@@Gojiro7 With all due credit to Rod's unique style and depth of symbolism in his writing, this is almost certainly the correct answer from a narrative standpoint rather than the OP's speculation

[@Hyzen1234]

I thought it was a genie finally realizing that the first wish is almost always wasted due to disbelief and just gives them an extra one to get the point across. A free sample

[@troywright359]

i never understand why if china doesn't like the word fro the number 4 , don't they just make a new word for the number instead

[@cyberceltic]

There was another genie based episode entitled “I Dream of Genie” where genie grants only one wish. That was an interesting episode with the guy who finds the lamp pondering the ideas and what goes wrong. Fun little twist in the end

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

That one's not until S4.

[@stephonmanny7555]

I loved that one as a kid.

[@jlev1028]

Is that where the TV show got its title from?

[@teresasevy1563]

@@jlev1028 No, there's a very old song in which the lyrics are "I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair" (a human love story). Genie titles tend to be puns related to that song.

[@ComicalRealm]

Fun fact: In addition to hosting the show, Rod Serling wrote almost all the episodes of The Twilight Zone. While many of the episodes he wrote were pulled from the contentious events of the 1960s, Serling’s dreams provided considerable inspiration. When Serling went to bed, he’d leave his tape recorder sitting on his nightstand, in case he needed to record the dreams he had the night before. All of his dreams, both good and bad, ended up inspiring countless episodes of The Twilight Zone.

[@trinaq]

That's fantastic, it makes sense that many of the episodes seemed to be trippy in nature, if they came from Sterling's dreams.

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

Serling didn't write "almost all" of the series. More than half, yes, but to say he wrote "almost all" plays down the contributions of the likes of Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont.

[@nickmanzo8459]

I love this episode. It’s not a big “oh my God, that was the best” kind of episode, but it’s really fun and memorable. That twist is amazing.

[@Brenda-cg1px]

Underrated episode. Joseph Ruskin is so wonderfully sinister as the genie and for me he steals the show. Also, I can't watch the Hitler scene without thinking of the Futurama parody: "There's a gremlin on the side of the plane! You have to believe me!" "Why should I believe you? You're Hitler!"

[@averageant7173]

The Hitler reveal was so damn funny and scary at the same time

[@Gojiro7]

some famous Twilight zone twists have been ruined for me by Parodies done on Futurama, but strangely this one still got me despite that being the cherry on one in particular.

[@rogue7723]

I’m shocked this was allowed because this episode came out only _20 years_ after the nazi regime collapsed. I would’ve thought people would think this twist would be too soon or something like that.

[@Fordo007]

@@rogue7723 I think the concept of 'too soon' was pretty alien to people back then.

[@deadoneeyetheunkillable3591]

@@rogue7723 People were not pussies at that time.

[@TetsuShima]

Arthur: "I want to be a celebrity known all over the world!" Bottle: *Turns him into Shia LaBeouf* Arthur: "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

[@trinaq]

Haha, he's well known, but not always for the right reasons!

[@chasehedges6775]

@@trinaq 👍👍👍👍

[@matthewbuckley7757]

Or worse Kevin Spacy 😨

[@TetsuShima]

@@matthewbuckley7757 Kevin is actually great. I wouldn't mind being him at all

[@DartLuke]

John Lenon second before his death

[@unbeatenlake790]

I always thought that when he wished everything would go back to where it started, the genie tricked him because they accidentally break the display case again meaning that the old lady will bring the bottle back into the store.

[@djh491]

I burst out laughing at the twist, holy crap.

[@trinaq]

Me too, it genuinely took me aback when I first saw the episode!

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

Proof that no matter how detailed and thorough you think your wish may be, genies will ALWAYS find a loophole to fuck you over.

[@shibolinemress8913]

My favourite TZ genie episode is the one where the man gets only one wish, thinks through his options and in the end wishes to become the genie. I can't recall the title offhand, but it was brilliant.

[@ZekeStaright]

3:39 That reveal & his reaction. Amazing!

[@Gojiro7]

After seeing the Cowboy Bebop Netflix intro, im seeing alot of people online saying that live action anime adaptations just cant be done right because nobody can match the kind of fluidity and charm of something animated, and while the former might be true (though I think it can work artificially through editing) this mans performance here on the Twilight Zone reinforces my belief that the right actor giving the right performance can work in bring a character with a lot of charm in their body movements to life even going as far back as here. Its all about treating your performance like your Performing, acting realistic doesn't always solve everything, which I think is a missing aspect of a lot of entertainment today that can be rediscovered again and given new life.

[@kurtisjanwich2642]

I'm a huge Twilight Zone fan. when I was younger i used to watch as many of the reruns on the Syfy channel as i could (as late as 10 years ago thats the only way i could have watched it). Oddly enough I never heard of this episode until it was put onto Netflix. I really liked watching the episode as it went on i wondered why it was never on those marathons on Syfy, until the ending, then it all made sense lol

[@melissadahl7561]

I've never watched this one all the way through, but now I think I want to. That genie looks like an awesome character!

[@usgonzo]

The Genie reminded me so much of the Rumplestilskin character on Once Upon a Time. I wonder if they consciously drew inspiration from this Twilight Zone episode.

[@edgarhernandez536]

This was the first ever twilight episode I ever saw and got me into the series.

[@daltonmortimer7735]

I love this episode, and for the record I always thought that the reason it's 4 instead of 3 wishes is because as everyone who knows genie stories knows, whenever a skeptical person finds a genie they always waste the first wish making sure it's real, so with 4 you get 1 "test" wish and 3 actual ones

[@adamnaameeazim6365]

One of the avsolute best plot twists in television history.

[@anubusx]

The Genie's laughter reminds me of Baron Samedi.

[@piplup2009]

"So what are you, the devil?" "What?" "store comes out of nowhere, all the shit’s old and creepy; are you the devil? A demon? Leprechaun?"

[@Zoronita]

I wonder what Rick would have wished for

[@hkaos]

The fixed glass from the first wish breaks again too, meaning they truly gained nothing but perspective.

[@teresasevy1563]

I love "Man in a Bottle" because of the characters. These folks are so good hearted that any good fortune is passed along and the genie is modern and sinister, as if he enjoys corrupting them. The ending is perfect. They learn their lesson and merrily get on with life.

[@kirk1701]

Joseph Ruskin also appeared in the original series _Star Trek_ episode 'Gamesters of Triskelion.'

[@julieporter7805]

Joseph Ruskin makes for a charming, charismatic, and sinister AF genie.

[@rogue7723]

_He_ woukd’ve been a great Joker.

[@PapaTaurean]

Now THAT is a twist. Also... this is definitely one of the episodes that was parodied in Futurama with the "Behind the Scary Door" show

[@endlessmitch9663]

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to review the classic twilight zone. This is by far the most enjoyable channel on KZbin

[@Unownshipper]

Another great one anchored by fine, personable performances all around. Raskin's laugh is right up there with Vincent Price's; high praise indeed. I had to raise an eyebrow at the amount the IRS agent took, I'd be genuinely interested to know if that amount is accurate for 1960. Color me skeptical. I'm afraid I saw that twist coming, thanks Futurama. I didn't expect the end with the cracked display case, that brought a chuckle to me. I wonder what the idea wish would be. "I wish to be fortunate," "I wish for good health and good luck?"

[@miroslavtomic7038]

Vivi Janis previously appeared in Season 1 episode Fever. Also, from 1955 until her death in 1988, she was married to John Larch another TZ legend.

[@lordsubziro2824]

The rules of legendary folklore are different... in the Twilight Zone. Instead of the classic oil lamp, it's a old wine bottle. Instead of the standard three wishes to be granted, it's four. Instead of a blue-skinned comical genie (Disney) or a malevolent soul stealing demonic gen (The Wishmaster), it's a nicely dressed gentleman whose matter-of-fact and honorable. I played AD&D role-playing games in my past and my Dungeon Master would always grant wishes to the letter so we, as playing characters always have to be VERY careful what we wish for. Very good and simple episode to watch.

[@DinobotTM2]

3 wishes is actually a very, very new twist on that tradition. Old genie stories, including Aladdin itself, had limitless wishes. Others involve 2, 1, 5 (like the monkey paw. One for each finger), 9... 3 became a standard somehow, that's much newer than people believe. I would say 4 are needed to tell the story: a sample one, the small wish that goes wrong and teaches the rules, the big wish where they try to work around the rules and fail, and the reset button.

[@TKN13834i]

the four wishes deal is pretty generous considering in most of these stories the first wish gets wasted making the genie prove his powers

[@antonmassopust568]

Yes I remember seeing that for the first time during the Twilight Zone Marathon that's pretty scary to wake up and find out you're the most hated most horrible dictator in the world and how they do it very clever

[@ivoryindica6508]

I love that your doing Twilight Zone reviews! Cinema at its best! Thank you, love the content!

[@ramsfan0868]

One of my favorite episodes

[@rikkuwolf4166]

I ADORE wish stories like this. It reminds me of the monkey’s paw. You get nothing for nothing, the result must come from somewhere. These story types always leave me unnerved in the best way.

[@starvinmarvin1200]

3:40 jesus what a twist🤣🤣🤣

[@reallyretro]

One of my personal favorite episodes simply because of the kind but dopey shop owners, and the charming and witty genie outsmarting them into selfish wishes.

[@gregjenkinson7512]

4:50 to be fair after getting being generous with his last wish and getting screwed over by the government it's kinda understandable that he'd get a little greedy

[@Sam-zb9rj]

Probably my favorite episode

[@Akira625]

Olan Soule is in this episode as the IRS man, he was the first actor to play Batman in animation.

[@yukimikasaki9705]

And I await the upcoming Tober review of "Twenty-Two"!

[@twofacetoo75]

Personally, I took Arthur's wish for power to be a way of getting around the genie's consequences. He wished for money and had to pay taxes, if he wishes for power in the way that he does (he can't be voted out, he has complete control of the country, etc...) then surely there can be NO consequences, right? He could still have done good things for people while being in power, he was just trying to avoid any nasty surprises that the genie would no doubt have provided.

[@Renee5322]

I just looked at the schedule of episodes and you're due to review "Nick of Time," starring William Shatner, the day he's going to fly to space! That's pretty cool!

[@roaklin]

Genie also played a gestapo agent in Hogan heroes

[@christophertheriault3308]

The 4th wish is obviously just there to be a disposable one for the genie to prove his power, and story-wise another wish also has to be saved to be the "undo" wish. Without it the episode would only effectively have one "bad" wish to show us. It's interesting though that the only only other genie story in the series also features a non-standard wish format where the customer only gets 1(!) wish to work with. No room for error, there...

[@johntumahab323]

Just look at that spit-eating grin. That should have been the tip-off to avoid wishes.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

I like the more character-based episodes, but you can't beat a high-concept episode, with a killer twist

[@lazyjoka8079]

I've thought I seen every twightzone episode?! Nice to see there still might be some I've missed!!!

[@jaewok5G]

I only saw this one once and laughed at the twist - I choose my words carefully from then on.

[@heyitzbabygurl4025]

I love this series! 😄

[@moknbyrd]

Not sure if this is the reason behind the "power" wish but, if you had almost unlimited power, you could do, or GIVE, anything you wanted. You could build a theoretical utopia. Plus, think about it. You've spent your entire life scraping and giving. Suddenly you have the power to get some of that back. I'd like to think his motives weren't solely selfish. But probably were. Just a thought. The reason the Jinn gives four wishes is because no one ever believes he's the real deal so he always has to waste one to prove himself.

[@LLCCB]

Good work on these, as always.

[@linksocarina1982]

Depending on the number of episodes in this season he just confirmed we are at least two more twilight tober zones

[@WildMen4444]

Oh I'm certain they'll do the whole series. Why wouldn't they? It's guaranteed views for the next few Octobers. Same with Bat-May. Too good an idea to pass up.

[@Nightman221k]

That twist is such a what the hell moment. I don’t really know how I feel about this story. It is a fun monkey’s paw story but it has less bite to it than the original monkey’a paw story.

[@thequietestengine]

honestly i'd like to see Walter play a character like Joseph Ruskin's genie here

[@BillGraper]

Didn't the mirror break in the same spot as before in the end? I was waiting for that.

[@dynomar11]

The Wishmaster series wouldn't exist without this episode.

[@nitorishogiplayer3465]

It seems he was scammed in the beginning because the lady claimed the bottle was some kind of heirloom or so and after she was paid, she reveals about her finding it in the trash, so you truly see his generosity only after he got the money, I think. And that makes it not so inconsistent, I think

[@babyfishmouth77]

I think it's pretty clear he's on to her, he lets her pretend he's buying it for its value but they both know it's purely charity. It just shows that she's a good person by having her fess up afterwards, she couldn't actually trick him. But he wasn't fooled, just went along with it so she could save face.

[@DanBrizuela]

That sudden Hitler turn felt more like a parody of Zone, similar to the Futurama Scary Door segment. Over surreal. I too am excited when you do get to that other Hitler episode as that is my favorite.

[@mplwy]

It became very clear to me at a young age that you have to be VERY specific with wishes and you'll still probably get screwed. That being said, I think he wished for power because he thought that was his only option.

[@YuniorGamboa]

I like this episode The twist was hilarious and kinda scary

[@jlev1028]

Now I understand what Extra Credits was talking about when they said, "There you are wishing you were the ruler of a foreign country who can't be voted out of power. When all of sudden, you're Hitler. You didn't ask for this, you didn't choose this." Keep in mind, I'm not a fan of the webseries, but I just wanted to make a joke from that infamous quote.

[@matthewbuckley7757]

I will give this show I watch someday it looks engaging

[@Galantski]

I think that the wish to be super powerful coming after the one to be rich might have been calculated along the lines of "Hey, if I'm all-powerful I'll be able to get as much $$$$$ as I want, and no one will be strong enough to take it away from me!"'

[@TheMegaOnyx]

I think why there is four wishes, is because the first one is free, because of there is no consequence of repairing an broken glass panel, is to hook people, making them lower the guard...

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

I think they went with four just to give them that sample wish while also keeping true to the three wishes rule.

[@theultimatetowerofterrorre301]

I liked this episode so much, I recreated my own genie bottle. Of course it did not have a genie inside, which is both could be good and bad.

[@sphinxrising1129]

Well, one has to recall where the term Geni comes from & that being Djinn, an evil spirit.

[@andrewcozzini8259]

This is, in my opinion, a fine episode, but not one I have a lot to say about. As you (Walter) say, the twist with Hitler sort of comes out of nowhere, even if it's meant to be the powers corrupting his general good nature. A solid episode. 👌

[@Stickman_Productions]

My 6th grade English teacher showed this episode when we had free time. The whole class screamed when it was revealed who he was.

[@therealgrixly5592]

I am absolutely pumped for the review of “He’s Alive”

[@anubusx]

The Genie's laughter reminds me of Baron Samedi.

[@djmexicanodetx2195]

Twilight zone! 🎃

[@BlueDog241]

I always liked this episode. I'm a big fan of "Monkey's paw" style of stories about wishes.

[@MovieFan1912]

If that’s the case, what are your thoughts on Wonder Woman 1984?

[@BlueDog241]

@@MovieFan1912 I thought there were some really good ideas in it. I love the concept of losing something important to pay for the wish. Some of it was kinda confusing. Like why didn't Steve just come back when ww wished for him, instead he's possessing some rando's body? The movie itself was just OK, but the wish fulfillment element to it was fun and I wasn't expecting it.

[@MovieFan1912]

@@BlueDog241 It is a little confusing as to why Steve would possess another man’s body, and it doesn’t help that not long after he and Diana are reunited they start going at it, not thinking about the implications of Steve’s soul inside this random man. Something How It Should Have Ended straight up addressed at the beginning of that episode.

[@philipportelli7700]

Another twist at the end saw Arthur accidently break the display glass again thus leaving him in exactly the same circumstances before the Genie appeared!

[@cojaysea]

they had to have 4 wishes or they wouldn't have had enough time to show you all 3 scenarios so he can then come back to his origin

[@thetwinskull]

I wrote a similar story of how Genies operate. Being a thriller/horror story. It’s now a personal-kept story, but I enjoyed writing it. I’ll be writing more of it sometime later.

[@rawness19]

First time I saw this episode I laughed so damn hard at the end all I could say was “bro wtf”

[@brianfuller757]

Well, another brilliant episode. The leads all nailed it

[@TheNightmareMan]

You can't wish for more wishes but he never said you couldn't wish for more genies.

[@monterrang1]

3:39 when you have a bad opinion on twitter

[@justanotherchannelonyoutub126]

Genie stories always confuse me. Like yeah they can’t wish for more wishes, but why not wish to have that rule revoked, then wish for more wishes? Nothing says you can’t wish away the rules.

[@EkoBahamut]

If you can't wish for more wishes, then obviously you can't wish to undo the rule.

[@thesuntitan]

Common sense suggests that any course of action that would lead to more wishes wouldn’t work. The genie is not an idiot after all

[@GalkaLost]

Because these plots with desires are nothing more than modern Western spooky stories that have practically nothing to do with the real mythology of the genies. Genies are restless spirits that frighten a person, instilling in him evil or, on the contrary, good thoughts (the expression is ingenious from here and went). Or in tails they are magical servants with limitless possibilities of creation and destruction, who completely do whatever the master asks them, without any restrictions on the number of desires.

[@ThenewTchannel]

I almost forgot about this episode. I really love the angle they go for, and that twist was something to behold

[@RobbieLugos]

That plot twist is something straight out of the DBG subreddit!

[@wjzav1971]

I kind a don't like the fact that the Castle's are punished for giving the money to their friends. The point in "Be careful what you wish for" stories is usually that people make selfish wishes.

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

Great video

[@strange_0ne535]

The twist in this episode is both hilarious and terrifying

[@mrRufffnTumble]

You have a million dollars cash magically appear in your store. IRS comes and demands 940,000 Yeah that seems about right.

[@rockycuro7737]

I based a story I wrote in high school on this episode. I got 110% for it

[@tnecniw]

Honestly, Genie stories aren't about "Be careful what you wish for" it is rather "BE SPECIFIC". He shouldn't wish for "one million dollars" Rather Wish that he got notified that he had long forgotten stocks in a huge, eco friendly, and well kept company that hit it big and is now a millionaire. Don't wish for "I was a leader of a small nation" Rather wish for "It is revealed I am the only remanining decendant of a rich but small country. And there is a man at the door, there to tell me that if I am willing will I take up my place as ruler" You get the idea. Don't let the genie decide what the wishes are.

[@GonnaDieNever]

Or if you must let the genies decide, wish for the genie to become your friend and keep your weelbeing in mind immediately, then consider the other wishes with the genie before you make them.

[@claytonrios1]

Even The Twilight Zone needed a genie of sorts apparently. But I'm fine with that.

[@whynot-tomorrow_1945]

I will never get over how funny it is that the IRS shows up to tax their magical genie money 😂

[@gl6996]

Joseph Ruskin has probably my favorite voice of all time.

[@Sate12]

What if you asked for something exactly and tie up as many loose ends as possible? Like if I asked for a magical bag that would give me anything and everything I wanted with no repercussions, then always requested the bag give me a non stolen item that would work exactly as I needed it. Or a pen that would make whatever I wrote be real that only worked for me?

[@edwardbliss8931]

I'm smiling like Joseph Ruskin in front of my boss after I say I quit my job