The Twilight Zone

Button, Button - S1-E50

Trivia: The original ending of the episode would have Norma pressing the button and getting the money after Arthur dies in a train accident. When Norma asks the stranger why Arthur had to die, the stranger responded, "Did you really think you knew your husband?"

Button, Button - S1-E50

Trivia: "Button Button" was based on a short horror story of the same title by prolific and legendary sci-fi author Richard Matheson. Matheson's original story was first published in a 1970 issue of Playboy Magazine. Having written some of the most famous teleplays for the original Twilight Zone TV series in the 1960s, Matheson was asked to adapt his own story "Button Button" for the new 1985 Twilight Zone series. After he submitted the teleplay, it was significantly rewritten. Matheson was so angered by the rewrite that he refused to allow his real name in the episode credits and instead used his pseudonym, "Logan Swanson."

More mistakes in The Twilight Zone

Examination Day - S1-E14

Question: At the end of the episode, Dicky's parents are called and informed that the government has killed him? Why did they do this?

Answer: They live in a totalitarian state where people who are deemed too smart (and therefore a threat to the authorities) are done away with. That's the point of the test, to eliminate potential troublemakers.

Brian Katcher

Answer: It's the opposite - not smart but dumb. The voice said he failed to get a perfect score, less than one hundred percent.

Quote: "We regret to inform you that your son's intelligence quotient has EXCEEDED the government standard, according to section blah blah blah of the New Code." As in the original short story, they were eliminating intelligent people.

Brian Katcher

Where can I find the short story?

It's in the compilation "100 Great Science Fiction Short Stories" edited by Isaac Asimov.

Brian Katcher

It's by Henry Slesar and a quick Google search will show you some online copies. It's only two pages.

Brian Katcher

According to Wikipedia, it was first published in the February 1958 issue of Playboy magazine; it may have been reprinted elsewhere since then.

zendaddy621

More questions & answers from The Twilight Zone

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.