The Twilight Zone Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1959–1964) Online

Thanks to both Richard Matheson (who wrote it) and William Shatner (who played it), NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET is one of the more memorable episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Richard Donner (who would go on to infamy as the man who helmed the Christopher Reeve version of SUPERMAN) does a decent enough job as director, though there are several rough spots here and there (not the least of which is the gremlin himself, who, as everybody and his brother has pointed out, looks like a giant teddy bear). Shatner plays it as written, with his initial nervousness and paranoia giving way to self doubt and, finally, outright fear. It's a tour-de-force performance by Shatner. The idea of "gremlins" would later be misappropriated by lesser lights in a series of lackluster Big Budget films.

This is part of Americana. That gremlin on the wing. William Shatner, the only one who can see it. He's suffered a breakdown and is on another plane with his cute wife. She manages to keep her calm for quite a while as he fidgets and twists in his seat. Obviously this episode is way before airline regulations. It wouldn't be hard for some nut case to do just about anything on an airplane. Shatner is pretty good. He is trying so hard to act normally, but the spirits are out to get him. It's a rainy night an he sees that furry thing on the wing, tearing up one of the engines. Things move along quite nicely where he gets so frustrated that he utters the words, "Even if we crash." But he will not be dissuaded. He manages to be a hero, even though no one may know it. This said, the one thing that I can't forgive is the monster. He is about as idiotic looking as one can imagine. He is obviously wearing some kind of pajamas with those feet that girls wore when I was in college. His face is more interesting, but that doesn't help much. I know I am nit picking but it has always bothered me. Match this up with John Lithgow's more frenetic performance in Twilight Zone; The Movie. That creature was a bit more threatening.

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" directed by Richard Donner one of his first works, is just wonderful it features William Shattner as a panic stricken man on an airplane. This episode is wonderfully done, and well remembered for one of the Twilight Zone's best and is well known over the years in pop culture memory. The plot has the Shattner character as a man that's just recently gotten out of rehab, because he had suffered a mental and nervous breakdown, and getting on a plane will almost certain test his limits. In fact his last breakdown was due to a flight. And boy does his imagination take a turn for the worst when he sees outside on the wing of the plane a furry like creature! This creature stares him in the face! The big question is it really real, or just a test of imagination, because he's the only one to see it. Really a well done episode mostly remembered for Shattner and the terror on a plane with a creature on the wing, this episode just plays with your mind and imagination so well.

I can't say I'm a big fan of The Twilight Zone; I used to watch it now and again as a kid but, to be honest, I've forgotten most of what I've seen. I've just seen this episode, however, and have just had a stark reminder of how good these twenty five minute episodes of terror can be! Nightmare at 20,000 feet is one of the most famous episodes of The Twilight Zone, partly because of the excellent Simpsons' parody of it. We follow an aeroplane passenger who has recently been the victim of a nervous breakdown. Upon peering out of the window, he spots a gremlin trying to take the plane apart - only problem is, it disappears whenever anyone else looks out; and nobody is willing to take his word for it! The reason why this little tale is so good is because of the way it draws us into the lead character's plight; this really is an impossible situation, and watching him get out of it is lots of fun, and often very funny! Almost the entire episode is set inside of an aeroplane, which gives the tale a very claustrophobic feel, which in turn helps it to be more frightening. This episode stars future Captain Kirk, William Shatner - who does a fine job as the paranoid lead, and an interesting little bit of trivia, is that it's directed by Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner. I cant say how this episode stands up to the best of the rest of The Twilight Zone - but in it's own right; it's damn good, and miles better than most of the rubbish they put on TV these days. Highly recommended viewing!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf did so when there was no wolf. Bob Wilson cries "wolf" . . . and there actually IS a "wolf" . . on the wing no less.

Scared the HELL out of me when I was a kid; still brings shivers to me from time to time. To this day (some 40 years later) I can not look out a window at night without this episode coming to mind. It is especially strong when flying on an airplane at night (would be great for an in-flight movie ;-).

God, Serling and the other writers were good! John Lithgow reprized the Bob Wilson (Shatner) roll in "Twilight Zone: The Movie" (1983). Almost as good as Shatner's and with improved creature effects. Worth making but I'll stick with the original - even with the "Teddy Bear" creature.

The funniest send up of this Zone episode was on an episode of "Third Rock from the Sun" staring Lithgow and guest staring Shatner.

Shatner's character was relating to Lithgow's how, on his flight that day, he had seen "something" on the wing of the airliner. Lithgow's response was an excited, ". . . the same thing happened to MEEE! Absolute brilliant writing and perfect delivery by both Shatner and Lithgow!!!! Classic moment. Laughed myself to tears.

Soon-to-be prolific big-budget director Richard Donner was at the helm of this episode which is one of the more famous ones in the series. William Shatner plays Bob Wilson, a white-knuckled passenger on a plane who has recently recovered from a nervous breakdown. With his overly active imagination working at full-speed, it doesn't take long for him to begin hallucinating during a violent and stormy flight. He swears there's some kind of monster (or gremlin) out on the wing of the aircraft and the darn thing looks like it's causing severe engine damage. Despite assurances from his wife (a sympathetic Christine White) and an equally concerned stewardess (Asa Maynor), old Bob is convinced that something has to be done to save the plane from certain destruction, and all the sedatives in the world won't change his mind. Maybe shooting the ugly thing off the wing will do the trick.

Written by Richard Matheson, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" taps into man's fear of the unknown and especially the sense of helplessness when one is on a turbulent flight during the bleakest of nights. Until the final minute, viewers are kept in the dark about whether Shatner is dreaming up the whole thing in his mind or if a real monster is out there. Since this is the Twilight Zone, the latter makes more sense. This episode put Shatner's unique talent squarely on the map with US audiences and he's been going great guns ever since. It didn't have the same effect on Christine White's career, however. Except for a brief role in "Magnum Force" with Clint Eastwood, she hasn't been seen much over the years. Of course, Richard Donner went on to much bigger and better things with the "Superman" film franchise and a host of other Hollywood blockbusters.

William Shatner stars as Bob Wilson, recently released from psychiatric care after a nervous breakdown, and now taking an airliner back home with his wife(played by Christine White). Bob seems cured, but becomes alarmed when he sees to his horror a big furry creature on the wing, tearing part of it off! Frightened that the plane may crash, he desperately tries to convince anyone of this happening, but of course he isn't believed, and in fact begins to wonder if poor Bob is having another breakdown... Well-remembered and regarded episode is at least worthy of that distinction, being quite suspenseful and entertaining, with a knockout performance by Shatner and an effective climax and close.

This is one of the most famous episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and has been parodied several times--most notably on "The Simpsons". In addition, when they made the TWILIGHT ZONE MOVIE, this episode was remade with John Lithgow reprising the same role originally done by William Shatner on TV. Needless to say, it's an important part of our culture.

The episode is very simple. There's a nervous guy on a plane (Shatner) and he keeps seeing a horrible monster running about outside the plane as it's flying! The monster is tearing apart the wing and will bring down the plane. However, nobody will believe him, so he decides to take action. The film ends with an excellent twist.

Overall, a great episode. The only serious problem is that the creature is pretty silly--sort of like a guy dressed up in a teddy bear costume! Still, it's enjoyable from start to finish and did will with Shatner's ability to extremely emote!

I was 15 in 1963 when I was fortunate to see the final scene being filmed. I had been visiting my father in California by way of Detroit, Mi. He knew someone who worked at MGM studios in Culver City. I remember the wet sound stage, ambulance, and an airplane fuselage and of course William Shatner who kept laughing really loud and having to do at least one retake.

This is a TV classic!! I believe it will survive way into the future because it encapsulates so many aspects of sixties American culture. Shattner chews the scenery in the way he made famous on 'Star Trek.' An interesting note, now known only to us rapidly ageing early TV Sci-fi fans, is that Ed Kemmer played Commander Buzz Cory on 'Space Patrol.' Space Patrol was the top TV Sci-fi show of a generation earlier than Star Trek. Buzz Cory was the Captain James T. Kirk of an earlier generation. That show had the best production values of the top three in the early fifties. (The other two were 'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet," and 'Captain Video.'

***SPOILERS*** Base on Richard Matheson's 1961 short story "Alone by Night" the "Twiight Zone" episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is about a recently released man from a mental institution Bob Wilson, William Shatner, who was committed there after he suffered a nervous breakdown six months earlier while on a passenger plane flight.

Feeling that he's overcome his fear of flying Wilson soon is confronted with a horror that may well have him re-committed or even, if in fact that horror is true, have him and every one on the plane killed! Seeing on the left wing of the plane a what looks like a Gremlin, Nick Cravat, Wilson starts to freak out! Not knowing if it's, the Gremlin, real or just his overworked imagination Wilson pleads with his wife Julia,Christine White, to tell the pilot and flight examiner,Ed Kemmer, to check out the window and see if what in fact what he's seeing is real!

With Julia and the flight examiner Seeing nothing but a rain storm hitting the left wing Wilson clams down a bit but later when he sees the Gremlin start to tamper with one of the planes engines he really goes off the deep end! Getting more and more paranoid by the minute Wilson in trying to prevent the Gremlin from causing the plane to crash takes matters, and a cop on boards gun, into his own hands! Breaking open the planes emergency window Wilson blast the little bugger, Germlin, away before he can do any more damage!

***SPOILERS*** With the plane safely on the ground and Wilson,in a straight-jacket, on the way to the nearest medical facility for mental observation we see that he may well have been right, and normal,in acting the way he did. As the camera pans away from the scene and focuses on the left wing of the plane that Wilson was a passenger on we see in fact he was right! Right in acting the hysterical way he did while on that fateful flight! But it's only Wilson and us in the audience who know that for sure!Or do we?

Very iconic, engrossing, and mostly good episode. Bob Wilson (William Shatner) is the passenger with a fear of flying who comes face to face with tragedy and madness in the form of a gremlin. The big drawback here is the gremlin looks quite ridiculous. Despite that, Shatner is excellent as the man who hopes he's recovered from a mental breakdown. The wife is played by Christine White (from 'The Prime Mover', season two) and her expressions say it all- that he must have finally flipped. Enjoyable, and in some ways memorable as Shatner fearfully looks out of through the rain soaked window. Oddly for the era, the man is seemingly hysterical while the wife and air hostess (Asa Maynor) are calm and protective. Great piece of television.

While I agree with most reviewers on here about this episode, I find it funny that many disparage the outfit that Nick Kravat was forced to wear for this show as the "gremlin." You have to remember that this show was made in 1963. Special effects at that time were much more primitive than they are now. Add to that, I'm sure CBS had The Twilight Zone on a shoe-string budget. So, they had to improvise and quickly, since it was just a 2- or 3-day turnaround for each weekly episode.

When I first saw this episode as a 12-year-old, even the hokey creature on the wing left an indelible impression on me. So, I give them a pass.

A top-notch episode from a top-notch television series.

If you had a *greatest hits* collection of Twilight Zone's very best, it is inevitable you'll see "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" somewhere at the top. I think so, too, although the episode is probably in my lower part of a Top 10. Considering there are so many TZ episodes I love, that is a compliment of the highest order.

All that said, William Shatner has a hell of a career. The TZ episode, Star Trek, and Boston Legal: he has built a fantastic television resume, although some might consider him a bust in many of his forays into the picture business. This character is one of his very best: he's animated, but his facial reactions are spot on as the situation his Bob Wilson encounters would leave anyone in distress, paranoia, panic, and doubting the credibility of their senses.

Bob had a recent mental breakdown. It was on a plane. After six months away, his mental state is fragile but he's trying to face his demons. His wife, Julia (Christine White; some might know her as the ex-wife of Mitchell Ryan's troubled cop in the Dirty Harry film, Magnum Force), humors him, but it's clear she is concerned about his mental welfare.

I think the laughable gremlin in a furry costume with puffy lips is given a pass because it is the idea of its presence on the wing of a plane that is scary not necessarily the creature itself. I agree that if the direction had went with a "less is more" approach, this could have been home run. Still, the rain and wind on the wing with the creature appearing, disappearing, and re-appearing, as Bob cannot get others on the plane (his wife, stewardess, and a pilot) to see what he does, the situation is a real nail-biter and his dilemma is certainly palpable. How could you not sympathize with someone who has just recovered one breakdown, gets on a plane to test his resolve, sees a gremlin trying to destroy machinery on one of the plane's wings, attempts unsuccessfully for others to see what he does, and emerges as a lunatic? The tight enclosure of the plane (preferably focused almost exclusively into Shatner's face and in his space), and the terror and torment that so vividly communicates to us what it would be like to struggle in his place are what I think have kept this episode so close to the minds and hearts of TZ fans and newcomers introduced to the show for the first time. When you think TZ, this episode is one of the the standard-bearers that immediately come to mind. Kudos to Shatner for his performance; this is some of his best work, for sure.

Still, in all honestly, my favorite TZ episode with Shatner is his underrated, Nick of Time. That also gave Shatner a great actor's platform to impress with differing emotional upheavals and complications to overcome. I think in "Nightmare..." he is at his best when trying to explain what he knows to others, having a hard time saying it where others will believe him. The rejection others present (trying to mask their disbelief so that he won't be in further despair) when he does, and his reaction to them lend a great deal of pathos in Shatner's character's favor.

By the fifth and last season a lot of steam had run out of "The Twilight Zone." Serling had just about written himself out, and Buck Houghton, an effective producer, had left for greener pastures. (That's show business.) Writer Charles Beaumont was suffering from a degenerative neurological disorder and farming "his" stories out to other writers.

But this episode is as good as the best in any of the earlier season, written by Richard Matheson. It puts recently discharged mental patient, William Shatner, aboard an airplane that is flying through a thunderstorm and the engines of which are being slowly pried open and pulled apart by an apparition -- a "gremlin", Shatner calls them. The anomalous creature disappears whenever anyone other than Shatner is looking at him. Shatner is finally forced to take drastic measures to rid the airplane of the threat, but he's justified in the end.

Shatner makes a convincing young, handsome, man recovering from a psychotic episode. He's a nervous wreck as the beast outside systematically demolishes the engine. The climax is dramatic.

I've always rather liked Shatner, who mostly gave the impression of an actor enjoying his role. Now he appears in commercials, older and squat, and he hams it up outrageously, as lovable as ever.

Everyone else in the cast does a good job in this suspenseful thriller too. Except, well, I must say that it's impossible to tell whether or not Nick Cravat does well or not. He's the short, sinewy guy who is bundled up in that Gremlin's absurd monkey suit. Not only does he resemble one of Bo Peep's lost sheep, but he wears a grotesque rubber mask. He was adequate in many of Burt Lancaster's movies, hired because he had been Lancaster's pal when they were both circus acrobats.

Yet the plot sticks Cravat out on the wing of an airplane flying at some 200 miles per hour, and he's able to stand upright and stroll around peering into the chthonic depths of the airplane's engines. It reminds me of an old photo of two crouching men strapped to opposite end of the upper wing of a mile-high biplane, both holding tennis rackets at the ready, a tennis net between them.

There is no social commentary on Nightmare at 20 000 Feet. The episode is just pure terror. A very young William Shatner plays a paranoid character excellently. William Shatner plays a man who is recovering from a nervous breakdown, who is an airplane passenger, who sees a creature on the wing of the airplane. Of course, no one believes Shatner. Is the creature/saboteur real or is it just in Shatner's head? I will not ruin the ending. The ending is a classic and unforgettable. Shatner's over acting plays perfectly for an unbalanced person. Most of Twilight Zone episodes are forgettable but 20 000 feet stands outs. My personal favorite. I give 20 000 feet a nine out of ten.

The gremlin episode is probably the best remembered and most celebrated one of the Twilight Zone franchise, probably on a lot of viewers' top ten lists as well. I like it for Shatner's calculated performance as a recovering mental patient, but it's offset by that goofy monster get up we're supposed to get all worked up about. Nothing scary there, except when that face presses up against the window, actually pretty creepy for the split second it appears on screen.

I'm glad William Shatner overcame his fear of flying to take on interplanetary space travel. I just picked up the three season Star Trek series, so will be watching and reviewing those just as soon as my Twilight Zone gig is complete. It's always cool to revisit these shows from my childhood to see how they've aged over the years. The good ones, like TZ, mellow like fine wine, even if there's a sour grape in the mix along the way. This one's up there for being one of the more memorable entries, but with an ending that probably would have been better left to the imagination.

Amazing to say, I had never seen the original Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, even as it's one of the most notorious/popular episodes (two sides of the same Rod Serling coin). Needless to say I already knew what was coming- it's a major credit to the episode that the episode spurred on many imitators and homages (I saw it first redone on the Simpsons during one of the Treehouse of Terror segments). In its original form, with the "gremlin" that appears on the wing about as hokey as a third-rate Halloween costume (albeit with a decent job with the face makeup). But it's sort of crucial for the period for it to be a very simple creature, as it may (or may not) all be in Bob Wilson's consciousness (or subconsciousness). Today they would've done the episode in CGI, with an overly terrifying costume and makeup job, or at the least using an animatronic character. As goofy and at first unintentionally funny it is, it works really well as a springboard for Bob's visions.

The real focus isn't the gremlin, anyway, but the reactions to the claim being made, and the mounting apprehension to it, and just outright 'what?' attitude to him. It's not to say that a lot of this is outright scary; Shatner isn't the only one who over the passing of time has laughable facial expressions (the wife, played by Christine Wilson, gives a few glances that inspire laughter more than complete terror). But there is always an underlying tension though, and supplied by Richard Matheson the buildup and climax does work to an intense effect. The line does straddle from displaying the paranoia and mind-set of this guy and being silly, and luckily directed by Richard Donner there's always a clear enough story with a few great images (Shatner almost flung out of the plane, shooting the gun, is an indelible image). Sure, it's gone tame, sure it's got Shatner pre-Star Trek going through dialog like it's all his own to chew, and sure the conclusion is a given. But it's got a deft skill all the way.

Pity poor William Shatner. He's just been released from the laughing academy, so now he's on his way home, a little shaky but apparently cured. Except, of course, he's boarded a flight on Twilight Zone Airlines. Trouble is there's a non-paying passenger on board, who looks like the abominable snowman and prefers riding on the wing instead of sampling the delights of the airline's dinner tray. Even worse, he's heck-bent on tearing the wing apart so he can get a look at what makes this 10-ton tin coffin tick. And, naturally, only the recovering looney Shatner sees him. You can imagine the strain.

Rather amusing exercise in personal paranoia as Shatner delivers convincing performance-- still and all, it's hard to take the drama seriously since the snowman appears to have wandered away from a Disneyland parade of warm and fuzzies. And then there's the cop-out ending. For some reason this is one of series' most celebrated entries. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because some of us have had a similar experience after romancing our favorite 12-pack.

I saw this episode from the Twilight Zone and I thought it was great. I love how William Shatner acted as a paranoid man thinking he's seeing something on the wing of a plane that he is on but nobody else sees it. I just got the Audiobook with this story in it from Audible.com and I am listening to it right now.

This episode has gained fame because William Shatner did it and when a movie version was done years later, John Lithgow redid Shanters role. There can be no doubt Shanter did it better. Lithgows has been sold at a discount on Price-Line to compare. The movie had the tragic death of Vic Morrow in another segment which made more headlines than the actual movie which was okay.

The story here is done well as we are not quite sure if Shatner is crazy, or not. When he did another Zone with the fortune telling machine in the diner, there is no doubt he is crazy and obsessed. Here, he appears to have plenty of reason to be just crazy. He makes the people around him wonder about his behavior and gives the stewardess and crew a very difficult time.

Richard Donner did a lot of tv directing, and he does well here though I prefer "The Night of The Murderess Spring", the Dr. Lovelass episode of The Wild Wild West he directed as a better effort among his 1960's TV work. Ironically it was the influence of The Wild Wild West that later caused Shatner to do so many fights on the original Star Trek series. They had to compete.

There's something on the wing, trying to disable an engine and bring down the plane. Shatner's character is the only one who seems to see it. He finally finds a way to stop it, despite all the efforts of everyone around him to paint him as crazy and stop him from doing anything about it. This still holds up as a good episode.

For the life of me I've never understood the appeal of this. As a stand-alone story of irrationality (Wilson's or the world's, take your pick) it's OK.

But the best TZ episodes have an interior logic, a sense that even as you're agreeing with the people on screen "This can't be happening", you know that somehow, somewhere, it could.

This, however, is so simplistic and artificial - how long do you have to watch before realizing that no one else is going to see the creature? And more importantly, that the writer and director are so palpably engineering it that they might as well be visible - like boom shadows - on the screen.

Lame, lame, lame. The stars are for Shatner.