This is like The Twilight Zone. Somehow we got on a train that ended up inside Rose’s mind.

Blanche, “Bedtime Story”

The second season episode of The Golden Girls, “Bedtime Story,” has some of the most hilariously memorable scenes of the whole series. Dorothy pretends to be God to get Rose to shut up and go to sleep, and Blanche tells the story of the elephant dolls to, well, try to get Rose to shut up and go to sleep. There are lots of other funny one-liners, especially from Sophia. The episode ends with the Girls recalling how they had to spend the night in a railway station on the way back from Edna McCarthy’s funeral. They miss their connection to Miami in Appalapachobee and encounter a wacky stationmaster who’s on the same mental wavelength as Rose, not to mention a troupe of grumpy clowns. Cue Blanche’s reference to The Twilight Zone. The original television series was created by Rod Serling and aired on CBS from 1959 to 1964. Its often allegorical episodes are well-known for including elements of suspense, science fiction, the supernatural, and of course twist endings. Fortunately, in this episode there’s a reasonable explanation for all the clowns: the 9:20 to Sarasota’s a circus train!

Over five seasons The Twilight Zone featured a who’s-who of actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood and television including William Shatner, Agnes Moorehead, Burgess Meredith, and Ida Lupino, to name just a few. In another fun twist, many of these actors later guest starred on The Golden Girls! So travel with me to “a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man,” to discover some of them . . .

Anne Francis

I’m going to start off with none other than Trudy McMann (Anne Francis) because she starred in one of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone, “The After Hours.” She played Miss Marsha White, a young woman shopping in a department store for a gold thimble as a gift for her mother. Of course, everything is not as ordinary as it seems, and we find out why as the episode unfolds. I love how the episode with Trudy, “Till Death Do We Volley,” kind of plays on the twists in “The After Hours” as Trudy and Dorothy prank each other. If you’ve never watched The Twilight Zone before then you absolutely cannot go wrong in starting the journey into the unknown with “The After Hours.” Anne Francis also starred with Bea Arthur in the 1988 made-for-TV film, My First Love.

Lois Nettleton

Everyone’s favorite lesbian (lesbian?), Jean (Lois Nettleton), starred in one of the most prescient episodes of The Twilight Zone, “The Midnight Sun” as Norma, an artist who’s living with her landlady as one of the last two residents of New York City. It’s almost midnight, but it’s 110-degrees outside because the Earth’s orbit has suddenly changed, moving ever closer to the sun. Or is it? This episode was a metaphor for nuclear warfare when it first aired in 1961, but it certainly fits the challenges of climate change today.

Nan Martin

Frieda Claxton (Nan Martin) was quite the stunner before she hated people and trees! In “The Incredible World of Horace Ford,” she played Laura Ford, the wife of a toy designer who revisits his childhood neighborhood only to discover that he was tricked by his nostalgic memories. Nan Martin also starred in two episodes of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone. You can also find her confused co-star who kicks Claxton’s coffin, Amzie Strickland, in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.”

Lloyd Bochner

Patrick Vaughn/Eduardo (Lloyd Bochner), appeared in “To Serve Man” as a cryptographer who’s tasked with translating a book left behind by a race of big-headed aliens who’ve come to Earth. It’s easy to see why all the Girls were gaga for him in “The Actor” because he was definitely dashing in his younger days. This episode also features lots of fun vintage footage of the United Nations Secretariat Building and the General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. TV Guide put this episode at number 11 (spatula!) on its 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time list, and the twist ending is just as good today as it was in 1962.

George Grizzard

George/Jamie Devereaux (George Grizzard) starred in two episodes of The Twilight Zone, “The Chaser,” above, and “In His Image.” The latter episode mirros his dual roles on The Golden Girls as he played an android who discovers that he was created by a human as his physical double. Grizzard was also well-known for his work on and off Broadway, finally winning a Tony Award in 1996 for best actor in the Edward Albee play, A Delicate Balance. Although Grizzard played a gay fashion designer and activist in the 2006 play by Paul Rudnick, Regrets Only, he was never open about his own sexuality. His 2007 obituary noted that he was survived by his longtime partner, William Tynan. Ironically, the two met when they acted together in a 1969 Florida production of the groundbreaking play about a group of gay men, The Boys In the Band.

Harold Gould

Arnie/Miles/Nicolas Carbone/Samuel Plankmaker (Harold Gould) starred in “Probe 7, Over and Out” as General Larabee. He communicates with Adam, an astronaut who crash landed on a planet similar to Earth, but they can’t send a ship to rescue him. Then there’s an enemy attack that ends up killing the rest of civilization. But all hope is not lost when he meets an alien named—you guessed it—Eve. This isn’t one of the better episodes of The Twilight Zone, in my opinion.

Meg Wyllie

Candy, the flight attendant from the “Nothing to Fear, But Fear Itself” episode, played the imperious Sister Florence in one of the earlier episodes of The Twilight Zone, “The Night of the Meek.” Eddie the love machine (John Fiedler) is also in this episode! And I think Meg Wyllie might have the distinction of being the most frequent guest actor on The Golden Girls as she played four different characters in four episodes. Don’t quote me on that, though! But remember the big bolt came off the beverage cart. Yes, that’s it. The beverage cart…

Jeanette Nolan

Rose’s mother, Alma Lindstrom (Jeanette Nolan), most notably starred in the “Jess-Belle” episode of The Twilight Zone as a witch named Granny Hart. Anne Francis is in this episode, too, as the title character. Come to think of it, I’m more than a little weirded out now by how many of these actors were also part of Rose’s storylines. Maybe we really are on a train inside Rose’s mind!

Burt Reynolds

Last but certainly never least, it’s none other than Mr. Burt Reynolds! He played an actor named Rocky Rhodes (yes, really) in “The Bard,” the last hour-long episode of The Twilight Zone in the fourth season. His character is a parody of Marlon Brando who’s in the cast of a film written by William Shakespeare, conjured via black magic by an unsuccessful screenwriter. Rod Serling wrote this episode as a humorous call-out to his distate at having to deal with network executives and sponsors who often censored his work.

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The Twilight Zone is an enormously influential television show that has been referenced and parodied countless times over the years. This is due in large part to Rod Serling who, like the cast and crew of The Golden Girls, was passionate about social justice issues. One of the first scripts that Serling wrote in 1956, “Noon on Doomsday,” for an earlier television series was based on the murder of Emmett Till. Although the casts of The Twilight Zone were overwhelming white, this was not by Serling’s choice and he often explored themes of racism and political issues in his scripts. The SyFy channel airs a marathon of The Twilight Zone on New Year’s Day and July 4th, but you can watch most of the episodes featured in this post for free any time on Pluto.

But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it, just how normal are we? Just who are the people we nod our hellos to as we pass on the street? A rather good question to ask . . . particularly in the Twilight Zone.

Closing narration of “The After Hours”