View source for People Are Alike All Over

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{More footnotes needed|date=August 2010}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series       = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image        = Paul Comi (Twilight Zone).jpg
| caption      = [[Paul Comi]] as Marcusson
| season       = 1
| episode      = 25
| airdate = {{Start date|1960|03|25}}
| production   = 173-3613
| teleplay     = [[Rod Serling]]
| based_on     = {{Based on|"Brothers Beyond the Void"|[[Paul W. Fairman]]}}
| director     = [[Mitchell Leisen]]
| guests       = * [[Roddy McDowall]] as Sam Conrad
* [[Susan Oliver]] as Teenya
* [[Paul Comi]] as Warren Marcusson
* [[Byron Morrow]] as First Martian
* [[Vic Perrin]] as Second Martian
* [[Vernon Gray]] as Third Martian
| music        = 
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 1
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev         = [[Long Live Walter Jameson]]
| next         = [[Execution (The Twilight Zone)|Execution]]
}}
"'''People Are Alike All Over'''" is episode 25 of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|You're looking at a species of flimsy little two-legged animal with extremely small heads, whose name is Man. Warren Marcusson, age thirty-five. Samuel A. Conrad, age thirty-one. They're taking a highway into space, Man unshackling himself and sending his tiny, groping fingers up into the unknown. Their destination is Mars, and in just a moment we'll land there with them.}}

==Plot==
Two [[astronauts]] discuss an impending mission to [[Mars]]. One of them, Marcusson, is a positive thinker who believes that people are alike all over, even on the Red Planet. The other astronaut, Conrad, has a more cynical view of human interplanetary nature. After their [[rocket]] lands on Mars, the impact is so severe that Marcusson is critically injured. Knowing that he is dying, Marcusson pleads with Conrad to open the door of their ship so he can at least see that for which he has given his life. Conrad refuses, still fearful of what may await outside, and Marcusson dies.

Now alone, Conrad hears a [[rhythm]]ic sound reverberating upon the ship's hull. Expecting some unnamed, alien evil, his apprehension turns to joy when he opens the hatch and sees [[Martian]]s that indeed appear to be human, have mind-reading abilities, and give the impression of being most amicable, especially the beautiful Teenya, who welcomes and reassures him. Conrad believes the Martians speak [[English language|English]] but they tell him he is speaking their language through a kind of hypnosis. 

They lead Conrad to his residence — an interior living space furnished precisely in the same manner as one on Earth (specifically, a living space in middle-class America) would have been. The locals leave and Conrad asks if he will see Teenya again. She doesn't respond, but another local assures Conrad he will see her again. Conrad relaxes, but soon discovers that his room is windowless and the doors cannot be opened. One of the walls slides apart, and Conrad realizes that he has become a caged exhibit in a Martian alien zoo. Conrad picks up a sign saying ''EARTH CREATURE IN HIS NATIVE HABITAT'', and throws it on the floor as Teenya leaves distraught. In the episode's closing lines, Conrad grips the bars and proclaims, "Marcusson! Marcusson, you were right! You were right. People ''are'' alike... people are alike everywhere."

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|Species  of animal brought back alive. Interesting similarity in physical characteristics to human beings in head, trunk, arms, legs, hands, feet. Very tiny undeveloped brain. Comes from primitive planet named [[Earth]]. Calls himself Samuel Conrad. And he will remain here in his cage with the running water and the electricity and the central heat as long as he lives. Samuel Conrad has found The Twilight Zone.}}

==Production notes==
This episode was based on [[Paul W. Fairman]]'s "Brothers Beyond the Void", published in the March 1952 issue of ''[[Fantastic Adventures]] '' and also included in [[August Derleth]]'s 1953 anthology collection ''Worlds of Tomorrow''. In this renowned short story, Sam Conrad remains on Earth and it is the lone pilot Marcusson who has the too-close encounter with smaller, more alien Martians. In adapting the tale, Serling made key changes that would deepen the irony and heighten the impact. He installed the apprehensive, defeatist Conrad as the protagonist, easing his fears, only to have them ultimately confirmed; and he presented the Martians as a human-like superior race whose apparent benevolence would make their climactic treachery seem even more shocking, as well as decrease the budget that would have been expended on costumes and makeup.

The [[Martian]] exteriors are taken from the oversize painted background [[diorama]]s seen in the 1956 [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] film ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''. Additionally, a set of four lights on the wall of the inside of the space ship are reuses of the [[Forbidden Planet|Krell]] power gauges from the same film.

Marcusson is portrayed by [[Paul Comi]], a frequent guest star in TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s, including ''Star Trek''.  His other ''TZ'' work was in the second season's "[[The Odyssey of Flight 33]]", where he played the co-pilot, and the fourth season's "[[The Parallel (The Twilight Zone)|The Parallel]]".

Actor [[Byron Morrow]] twice appeared as an admiral on ''Star Trek''.  Actor [[Vic Perrin]] was later the "Control Voice" of ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'', and—like Oliver, Morrow and Comi—would also become another veteran of ''Star Trek''.

==Themes==
Cat Yampell, comparing the show to other science fiction stories such as ''[[Planet of the Apes (1968 film)|Planet of the Apes]]'' (also starring Roddy McDowall) and ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'', wrote: "Alien caging of humans provides commentary on the barbarity of the practice of turning sentient beings into public spectacles."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title= Animals and Zoos |encyclopedia= The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 1 |author= Yampell, Cat |date= 2005 |editor= Gary Westfahl |editor-link= Gary Westfahl |publisher= [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport, CT |page= 36 |isbn=0-313-32951-6}}</ref>

==Influence==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2025}}
The original [[Television pilot|pilot]] of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' ("[[The Cage (TOS episode)|The Cage]]", later reworked into the two-part episode "[[The Menagerie (TOS episode)|The Menagerie]]") included plot points similar to that touched upon in this episode, particularly the aspect of humans being put on display for study. Coincidentally, that pilot also co-starred [[Susan Oliver]] in a similar role (Vina, a female has the task of making the captive feel more at ease). The ''Star Trek'' animated episode "[[The Eye of the Beholder (Star Trek: The Animated Series)|Eye of the Beholder]]" would also feature some of the crew of the USS ''[[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|Enterprise]]'' being placed in a zoo by the inhabitants of Lactra VII.

The band Space Monkey Death Sequence released their similarly titled debut album, "People Are Alike All Over", containing many samples from the episodes, citing the installment as the influence for the album.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thorley |first=Andy |date=2016-01-01 |title=Monkey Business |url=https://maximumvolumemusic.com/monkey-business/ |access-date=2025-10-10 |website=Maximum Volume Music |language=en-US}}</ref>

The second episode of the television series ''[[The Orville]]'', which is titled ''Command Performance'', revolves around the two main characters, Captain Ed Mercer and Commander Kelly Grayson, being placed in a zoo along with other captured alien species.

==See also==
*[[Human zoo]]

==Further reading==
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-136-0}}
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9703310-9-0}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb episode|0734611}}

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

[[Category:1960 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Fiction about alien zoos]]
[[Category:Mars in television]]
[[Category:Television episodes about death]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Works about astronauts]]
[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]