The Twilight Zone: What’s in the Box

Work Title: The Twilight Zone: What's in the Box
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: What's in the Box
Year: 1964
Writer(s): Rod Serling
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Martin Goldsmith
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No
Summary:

from imdb.com Author: Christopher Mulrooney from Los Angeles A direct answer to lowbrow television, which is certainly a "high concept" enterprise with its ideal of the "lowest common denominator". Here's a poor slob pushed around on the job all day, suspected by his wife of having a mistress, he's pooped (she accuses him of "driving his cab to Yonkers" twice that day), he wants a few beers and pro wrestling with The Wild Panther vs. The Russian Duke. He's so nettled by her nagging he berates the TV repairman for overcharging with his "racket". The repairman leaves without payment, the man settles back and sees himself and his mistress on the screen, which makes him drop his beer. Dr. Saltman tells the wife, "it's possible to have delusions directly attributable to our overmechanized culture," and this doesn't happen only to "juveniles and the moronic." The set further shows the man and wife arguing, fighting, her murder, his trial and execution. The murder happens as foreseen, he is arrested. Joan Blondell and William Demarest give performances of the utmost brilliance. Rod Serling introduces it all as, "Portrait of a TV fan."

  • Self-Written?:
  • Source Name: IMDB
  • Source URL:
Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Present day 1964.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: The TV
  • Description of the technology: A normal looking TV. A repairman comes and works on the TV. After being berated by Joe, the repairman alters the TV to display the future. Joe interacts with the TV is disbelief and shock, fiddling with the buttons on top of the set to try to change the channel. The future it displays is very real in quality, fightening Joe.
  • Nature of task or activity: Trying to watch TV.
  • Performance of the Technology: the TV does not function as the original builder intended - however, it does work as the reparman intended.
  • Description of creator(s): Not given.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): to frighten Joe, change the future, demonstrate the power of technology.
  • Description of users of technology: Joe is in his 50s, cranky, a poorly paid cab driver. He may be cheating in his wife and is in an unhappy marriage.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: social_presence
  • Description of presence experience: Joe watches the TV, seeing himself and his wife in the future - where he kills her. He finds this experiece of passive witnessing himself in the future to be quite disturbing.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: yes.
  • Valence of experience: unpleasant.
  • Specific responses: involvement, distorted memory and social judgments, fear, confusion, anger.
Long-term consequences:

sad. although he tries not to, he does kill her.

Other:

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