The Twilight Zone: Nick of Time

Work Title: The Twilight Zone: Nick of Time
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: Nick of Time
Year: 1960
Writer(s): Richard Matheson
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Rod Serling
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No

Summary:

from imdb.com A seemingly innocent road trip, two honeymooners in middle America; all is safe and pleasant. Until they have to stop in a small town, to eat lunch and get their car repaired. An innocent soothsaying machine, with a snaggle toothed devil's head on top of it, is Shatner's past time as he starts to place coins in the machine, to see if he and his wife will ever get out of this town. The wife, as portrayed by Patricia Breslin is appropriately amused, at first. After awhile, the answers the fortune-telling machine gives Shatner are ominous, and he develops a fixation on the machine: ..."What if...?"... he keeps wondering.

  • Self-Written?:
  • Source Name: IMDB
  • Source URL:

Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day

Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Present day 1960.


Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: the soothsayer
  • Description of the technology: A small fortune telling machine, about the size of a showbox, that sits on top of a table in a diner. It has a devil bobble head on the top of it. It is rectangular, metal, seemingly beige colored and answers questions for a penny. Answers are vauge and written on a small peice of paper the machine spits out.
  • Nature of task or activity: The couple ask it questions and receive answers.
  • Performance of the Technology: Works very well.
  • Description of creator(s): unknown.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): to entertain, perhaps to manipulate.
  • Description of users of technology: A male/female couple on their honeymoon, in thier 20s, very attractive, middle class, from St.Louis.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: social_presence
  • Description of presence experience: At first, fun, a way of killing time. It quickly turns scary and creepy, as the machine is correct in all its answers and the man becomes obssessed with obeying the machine.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: yes.
  • Valence of experience: unpleasant.
  • Specific responses: enjoyment, persuasion, intense parasocial relationships, distorted social judgments, fear, obsession, submission, anger, wonder.
Long-term consequences:

The couple manages to leave, due to the wife reasoning with her husband and ultimately crying to get him to leave. However, another couple begins to ask the machine questions and it becomes clear they are obbessed with the machine, and will not leave the town until the machine says they can. They are being manipulated by the machine.

Other:

Coder name: Amanda Scheiner
Coder email: amandags@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University