A World of Difference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the book by Harry Turtledove see A World of Difference (Harry Turtledove)
“A World of Difference”
The Twilight Zone episode

Scene from A World of Difference
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 23
Written by Richard Matheson
Directed by Ted Post
Guest stars Howard Duff : Arthur Curtis/Jerry Raigan
Eileen Ryan : Nora Raigan
David White : Brinkley
Gail Kobe : Sally
Peter Walker : Sam
Susan Dorn : Marian Curtis
Frank Maxwell : Marty
Bill Idelson : Stagehand
Featured music Nathan Van Cleave
Production no. 173-3624
Original airdate March 11, 1960
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" "Long Live Walter Jameson"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"A World of Difference" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Contents

[edit] Opening Narration

“ You're looking at a tableau of reality, things of substance, of physical material: a desk, a window, a light. These things exist and have dimension. Now this is Arthur Curtis, age thirty-six, who also is real. He has flesh and blood, muscle and mind. But in just a moment we will see how thin a line separates that which we assume to be real with that manufactured inside of a mind. ”

[edit] Synopsis

Arthur Curtis is a businessman. One day, he finds his phone no longer works, and is surprised to hear a voice yell, "Cut!" Suddenly he is faced with the fact that his office was actually a set on a soundstage. He is told that "Arthur Curtis" is merely a role he was playing, and that his real name is Jerry Raigan, a declining movie star. He tries to find Arthur Curtis's house, but cannot find any evidence of it; Raigan's agent tells him that the show with Arthur Curtis in it is being canceled because they believe he has had a nervous breakdown. Raigan/Curtis rushes back to the set, which is being dismantled, and demands not to be left in the uncaring world of Jerry Raigan. Raigan/Curtis and his "wife" board a plane which then "vanishes". Raigan's agent shows up on the set to find Curtis/Raigan has vanished-as the set is being dismantled, a teaser shows the "Arthur Curtis" show script being thrown into a wastebasket.

[edit] Closing Narration

“ The modus operandi for the departure from life is usually a pine box of such and such dimensions, and this is the ultimate in reality. But there are other ways for a man to exit from life. Take the case of Arthur Curtis, age thirty-six. His departure was along a highway with an exit sign that reads, 'This Way To Escape.' Arthur Curtis, en route to the Twilight Zone. ”

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The Eerie, Indiana episode, "Reality Takes a Holiday", follows a similar premise where the main character, Marshall Teller, discovers his world to be a Hollywood studio for a TV show called "Eeree, Indiana", and where everyone else he knows is a character played by TV actors (who, in turn, refer to him by the name of his actor); much of his time is spent trying to return to the town of Eerie that he knows.

This episode was parodied on Saturday Night Live, with the cast of the original Star Trek forced to confront their show's cancellation.

The Truman Show also had a very similar presence. The lead character's life is pre-determined to be a 24 hour TV show.

Stephen King's short story "Umney's Last Case" follows a similar premise with a character in a book.

[edit] External links

Languages