Where is Everybody? Probably Hill Valley

May 1, 2023

We have a lot of streaming services. Probably too many, if I’m being honest. At the moment, we subscribe to: Netflix, HBO Max, Disney, and Paramount. We also have Amazon Prime (but we get it by default, as part of our Prime membership).

Paramount was a recent addition, as we wanted to catch up on Picard, so that we could watch the Season 3 premiere with our friends. And of course, with all the other Star Trek content… we stuck around.

One thing I learned that Paramount also has? All the old Twilight Zone episodes. Which is pretty fantastic.

Over lunch this week, I pulled up the first episode, “Where is Everybody?” It’s a classic, and though it’s some 64 years old now… I’m still going to try to avoid any spoilers.

All you really need to know is that the main character, Mike Ferris, finds himself in a town that is uninhabited. Despite his explorations, as well as numerous signs of life (a lit cigar, a pot of coffee boiling on a stove)… he’s unable to come across another human being.

At one point in the episode, he finds a telephone booth and attempts to talk with the operator. He experiences relief at first, on being able to speak to another person… but that relief slowly devolves into despair as he realizes the voice on the phone is a recording.

The camera starts to pan around, from inside the booth, showing glimpse of the town outside. And it’s at this point that I think Hey, that looks kind of familiar.

And even this stretch of buildings seems oddly… familiar.

After a bit of digging, I verify my hunch – it looks like Hill Valley – the town from Back to the Future.

This definitely felt similar to the reaction I had, when I realized the connection between the Dead Milkmen and Twelve Monkeys.

I love little tidbits like this, fictional worlds colliding so many years apart. I’m guessing it’s the same movie lot, but the time between the Twilight Zone episode and the filming of Back to the Future is crazy. Add to that the distance between my viewing both pieces, and track it to now… that’s a good span of time.

Always fun when our imaginary worlds overlap.

nostalgia

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