That's Not Fair! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith won great acclaim for the role of Henry Bemis and went on to star in three other episodes of "The Twilight Zone". Henry Bemis was a henpecked bookworm who worked as a bank teller. He was picked on by both his boss and his wife.

His roles in the other "Twilight Zone" episodes were as follows: In "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" (1961) he played the title role as a weak timid man who aliens give superhuman strength to. In "The Obsolete Man" (1961) he played a librarian sentenced to death by a totalitarian society that has outlawed books. In "Printer's Devil" (1963) he played the Devil himself who makes a bargain with a local newspaper editor that the editor soon regrets. This tied him with Jack Klugman for the most starring roles in the series. He also appeared in two episodes of Rod Serling's series "Night Gallery" and was the narrator for the 1983 movie "Twilight Zone: The Movie".

Meredith also played the Penguin in twenty-six episodes of "Batman". He tied Cesar Romero, who played the Joker, for the most appearances on the series. John Astin played the Riddler and Roddy McDowell played Bookworm.

Meredith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Rocky's trainer, Mickey Goldmill, in the original "Rocky" (1976). He went on to play the role in "Rocky II" (1979) and "Rocky III" (1982). Although his character died in the third movie, he appeared briefly in "Rocky V" (1990).

Answer: If

"If" was the sci-fi magazine and "If-" was the poem. "If" or more accurately "If: Worlds of Science Fiction" launched in 1952 and was published by Quinn Publications. "If" became a force in the world of sci-fi in the 60s, winning the Hugo Award for best professional magazine in 1966, 1967, and 1968.

The teleplay for the episode was written by Serling based on Venable's story. It was the eighth episode of season 1 and was directed by John Brahm. Brahm won the Director's Guild award for the episode in 1960.

I found it interesting that the original short story was published in "If" because "Time Enough at Last" in many ways can be seen as the opposite side of the coin of the ideals put forth in the poem "If-". "If-" embraces all that is good in mankind and in man's attempts to survive the struggles that are life. "Time Enough at Last" embraces the darkness that can be mankind and the self-destructive bent humanity sometimes gravitates towards. Where "If-" leaves off on a highly upbeat note, "Time Enough at Last" leaves off on a very dark note.

Answer: Washington Irving

Washington Irving's "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" was one of the most popular English language biographies of Christopher Columbus from its publication in 1828 until the release of the Pulitzer Prize winning "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" by Samuel Eliot Morison in 1942. Irving had been invited to Spain to translate source material on Christopher Columbus into English but instead decided to use this material for his own biography.

Modern research has called into question much of his work; especially his assertion that Columbus' voyage is what finally convinced Europe that the earth was not flat.

The idea that Europe believed the earth was flat has been called one of the greatest misconceptions by the Historical Association of Britain (1945) and other modern scholarship, chief among them Morison's book.

Answer: Contemplation of suicide

A headline from the newspaper Mr. Bemis is reading says "H-Bomb Capable of Total Destruction". A few moments later a giant explosion takes place outside and Mr. Bemis is knocked unconscious. When he awakes and emerges from the vault he finds his city completely destroyed. As the realization of what has happened sinks in Mr. Bemis contemplates suicide with a revolver he has found.

When one considers the historic time period in which this episode aired, it is amazing that it was allowed to air at all. The threat of the Soviet Union and of a nuclear war that would wipe out most of the world was a very real prospect in 1959. TV broadcasters were very careful about what they aired and about being controversial. To have a TV show that dealt with the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust was extremely daring. Had this episode aired earlier in the season before "The Twilight Zone" had established itself as a surreal show, it may have never seen the light of day. But by the time it aired, the show had indeed established itself as having a surreal vision of the world not necessarily grounded in what most would perceive as reality. This allowed the show to delve into areas and themes that would normally be off limits to more traditional shows.

Answer: The breaking of his glasses

Henry Bemis quickly came to terms with the fact that he was the last remaining human when he saw all of the books he would be able to read in peace and quiet. He quickly put them in piles so he could begin the task of reading to his heart's delight. But as he bends over to pick up the first book, he stumbles and his glasses fall off, shattering on the ground.

When he picks the glasses up and sees he will not be able to read he says, "That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was all the time I needed...! That's not fair!" He bursts into tears and the episode ends.

Answer: Robert Burns

Robert Burns wrote "To a Mouse" in the Scots language. Here is the original language of the pertinent lines from the poem:
"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!"

And the English translation:
"The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"

Serling's closing monologue is notable for a couple of reasons. First, his words draw heavily upon the language of Burn's poem. The poem describes a little mouse and Serling uses this same language to describe Bemis. Second, Meredith actually starred in the 1939 movie adaptation of Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" playing George. It was his first leading role and one for which he received high praise.

Answer: Albert Brooks

The opening scene has Albert Brooks driving the car and Dan Aykroyd as his passenger. As they drive along they end up talking about the TV show "The Twilight Zone" and Brooks says that episode scared him so much he bought a second pair of glasses just so that couldn't happen to him.

Then in true "Twilight Zone" fashion Aykroyd's character asks Brooks' character if he wants to see something really scary to which Brooks reluctantly replies yes and pulls over. Aykroyd turns away and when he looks back he has transformed into a demon and attacks Brooks.

Answer: The Drew Carey Show

"The Drew Carey Show" started off season 5 with this episode entitled "Y2K, You're Okay". It originally aired in September of 1999, at the height of the worries over the Y2K bug in computers. After a failed test of the computer system at work Drew becomes convinced that worse things lie ahead so he builds a bomb shelter. The episode ends with Drew sitting alone in the shelter imagining he is the last person alive with nothing but time to read his "Playboy" magazines. Then he realizes his glasses are broken so he cannot read the magazines and he cries just like Mr. Bemis.

Other TV shows have also spoofed the episode. Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report" spoofed it on the DVD release of his 2008 Christmas special "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!" with an alternate ending. In the "Airport 2010" episode of the sitcom "Modern Family", Jay has his eReader destroyed and when he opens the cover the broken glass tinkles into his lap and he mutters, "it isn't fair, it just isn't fair" in homage to "Time Enough at Last".

Answer: The Fall

Adam and Eve would not have been fans of The Fall since their fall from grace is what led to their being kicked out of the Garden of Eden. The Fall were formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester and named themselves after the 1956 Albert Camus novel of the same name. Original founder and lead singer Mark E. Smith has been the only constant in the group over the years. They released their first studio album in 1979 and have been releasing albums every year or so ever since.

Their 1992 album "Code: Selfish" featured the song "Time Enough at Last" which was somewhat of a departure from their normal harsh, driven sound in that it was more mellow and melodic. It still maintained their style of repetitive lyrics though with the title being repeated well over 20 times with very few other lyrics.

Answer: Futurama

Episode 3 of season 2 of "Futurama" titled "A Head in the Polls" begins with "The Scary Door" on TV and the spoof of "Time Enough at Last" airing. The spoof ends the same way as the original but the main character realizes he can still read large print at which point his eyes fall out. Then he declares he can read Braille so his hands fall off. He screams and his tongue falls out and then his head falls off. The regular "Futurama" character Bender then says, "Cursed by his own hubris."

Other animated series who spoofed "Time Enough at Last" are "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius", "SpongeBob SquarePants", "Family Guy", and "The Simpsons". The PC game "Fallout Tactics" also has a scenario where a librarian in a post-apocalyptic world tasks the player with finding his glasses so he can read his books.