The Man In The Bottle - Twilight-Tober Zone

"The Man in the Bottle" is far from a unique concept, but the execution of this genie story is pretty well done. It all relies on the performances of the three leads and as was the case most of the time with this show; the acting is very high quality. Join Walter as he continues deeper into the Twilight Zone.
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"The Man in the Bottle" is episode 38 of the American television series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on October 7, 1960 on CBS.
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[@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.

[@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

[@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

[@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?”

[@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.

[@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"

[@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 😆

[@jrrr9219]

I think the 1st wish of the four is just to proof he's really a genie. If he fixed the glass "for free" it wouldn't be that believable and if he only granted 3, then one would be wasted.

[@redholm]

Yea. I feel it was 4 instead of 3 just to have him fix the glass still leaving them the normal 3.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@acerumble4991]

@@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

[@dtheriault3]

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

[@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!"

[@OptimusNero]

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 😨

[@OptimusNero]

@@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.

[@adamnaameeazim6365]

One of the avsolute best plot twists in television history.

[@anubusx]

The Genie's laughter reminds me of Baron Samedi.

[@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.

[@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

[@therealgrixly5592]

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

[@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

[@strange_0ne535]

The twist in this episode is both hilarious and terrifying

[@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!

[@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

[@julieporter7805]

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

[@edgarhernandez536]

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

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@ZekeStaright]

3:39 That reveal & his reaction. Amazing!

[@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

[@thequietestengine]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@FatNorthernBigot]

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

[@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.

[@hkaos]

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

[@ramsfan0868]

One of my favorite episodes

[@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

[@djmexicanodetx2195]

Twilight zone! 🎃

[@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.

[@yukimikasaki9705]

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

[@jaewok5G]

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

[@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.

[@kirk1701]

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

[@user-kb6xn6ig7k]

One of my favorite episodes, and so true: there are consequences no matter what you choose.

[@ThenewTchannel]

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

[@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.

[@brianfuller757]

Well, another brilliant episode. The leads all nailed it

[@TheCreepypro]

probably one of the better twists right along side to serve man

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@Renee5322]

Glad I'm not the only one who laughed at the Hitler twist 😂😂

[@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...

[@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.

[@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.

[@heyitzbabygurl4025]

I love this series! 😄

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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?"

[@GonnaDieNever]

The first wish obviously in any sort of scenario is that all subsequent wishes should be interpreted and granted in a manner which is purely beneficial to you, your wellbeing, and the same of those you care about.

[@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.

[@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

[@starvinmarvin1200]

3:40 jesus what a twist🤣🤣🤣

[@YuniorGamboa]

I like this episode The twist was hilarious and kinda scary

[@Sam-zb9rj]

Probably my favorite episode

[@TheMegazonyx]

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.

[@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.

[@lazyjoka8079]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@autisticwriter5763]

I can't believe i forgot this episode. I kept asking myself if the Twilight Zone did two episodes with Hitler. I remember the future episode that covered it, but i didn't realize this was the other episode until now. As good as this episode is, i felt that Creep Show's "Man in a Suitcase" did this similar scenario a bit better.

[@TheNightmareMan]

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

[@claytonrios1]

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

[@ivoryindica6508]

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

[@theeyeoftheyinyangs]

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.

[@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!"'

[@Loremastrful]

My only gripe is the "Careful what you wish for" morale. Even carefully thought out wishes backfire. So it isn't be careful what you wish for, its wishes will F you up no matter what.

[@julieporter7805]

That is particularly prominent in the later episode.

[@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.

[@anubusx]

The Genie's laughter reminds me of Baron Samedi.

[@LLCCB]

Good work on these, as always.

[@matthewbuckley7757]

I will give this show I watch someday it looks engaging

[@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.

[@dynomar11]

The Wishmaster series wouldn't exist without this episode.

[@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. 👌

[@rawness19]

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

[@sphinxrising1129]

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

[@monterrang1]

3:39 when you have a bad opinion on twitter

[@smugsneasel]

Okay. I admit. There's no way I could have ever storyboarded this kind of concept and end up with Hitler somewhere along the line. I know it's partially because of the time frame of the show but still. Wow. What a unique jump.

[@edwardbliss8931]

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

[@Karuminu2]

How come whenever someone gets a wish they never think to wish for world peace?

[@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

[@dmmchugh3714]

I believe the overall story is based on "The Monkey's Paw" by WW Jacobs. Truly human nature does not change.

[@whynot-tomorrow_1945]

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

[@johntumahab323]

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

[@BillGraper]

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

[@Akira625]

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