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| * At ] ], in the library room before entering the service elevator, where the video is seen, there is a book on the back shelf with alien writing and a card that says "To Serve Man." | * At ] ], in the library room before entering the service elevator, where the video is seen, there is a book on the back shelf with alien writing and a card that says "To Serve Man." | ||
| * ], with the permission of (and due acknowledgment to) Damon Knight, has published a book-length work titled 'To Serve Man' which consists almost entirely of straightforward recipes for meat dishes, ostensibly intended to require "long pig" (human flesh) as their main ingredient. On legal advice, Scithers published the book under a pseudonym ("Karl Würf"), but he has made no secret of his authorship. | * ], with the permission of (and due acknowledgment to) Damon Knight, has published a book-length work titled 'To Serve Man' which consists almost entirely of straightforward recipes for meat dishes, ostensibly intended to require "long pig" (human flesh) as their main ingredient. On legal advice, Scithers published the book under a pseudonym ("Karl Würf"), but he has made no secret of his authorship. | ||
| * There is a book entitled '' |
* There is a book entitled ''To Serve Man: a Cookbook for People,'' by Karl Würf (author) and Jack Bozzi (illustrator). Published by ''Wildside Press'' in December 1979. ISBN 978-1880448823. | ||
| * On The ] Show, Miller often plays a sound bite from the final scene. | * On The ] Show, Miller often plays a sound bite from the final scene. | ||
Revision as of 11:40, 23 November 2007
"To Serve Man" is a science fiction short story written by Damon Knight, later adapted for use as a Twilight Zone episode. See also To Serve Man (The Twilight Zone). In 2001, the story was awarded a Retro Hugo Award for the Best Short Story of 1951.
Synopsis
The story involves helpful alien emissaries, the telepathic Kanamits, giving mankind all the necessary tools to survive and to end wars and famine. As a further token of friendship they even freely transport humans to their paradise-like planet.
The aliens accidentally leave behind a book. A United Nations official (Mr. Chambers) and his staff take their time in deciphering the book by means of a rudimentary Kanamit-English dictionary. Eventually they are able to translate the title as "To Serve Man". Mr. Chambers signs up for a flight to the alien home world, but as he climbs on board the ship for the trip, his assistant yells to him not to get on: "It's a cookbook!" The irony of the story is that instead of 'serving man' by providing for his needs, the aliens were literally 'serving man' as a meal on their home planet.
Appearance in other media
- The story was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons during the first "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween episode, Hungry are the Damned.
- TSM's plotline was later adapted as part of the story of V
- In Futurama, the phrase is printed on an apron worn by Bender in the episode My Three Suns.
- It is also mentioned in Spooky Castle as a cookbook in the cooking section of the level "The Library".
- In the movie The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Lloyd Bochner (parodying his own role in The Twilight Zone) can be seen holding a book titled "To Serve Man" shouting hysterically "It's a cookbook. A COOKBOOK!"
- The television show Buffy The Vampire Slayer also referenced the story, with Buffy's sister Dawn saying "I know! You never know what's coming, the stake is not the power, To Serve Man is a cookbook, I love you! Go away!".
- In Warcraft III if you click various times on a Troll Witch Doctor he screams "It's a cookbook! A COOKBOOK!"
- In World of Warcraft, ogre and troll enemies sometimes drop an item called "An Exotic Cookbook". If you read the cookbook, the title is "To Serve Man".
- The story itself was later collected in "Bruce Coville's Book of Aliens".
- A history book for predators turns out to be a cookbook (with thanks to Rod Serling) in the February 22, 2007 strip of Kevin and Kell.
- In the series Millennium it is referenced in the episode Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense. While discussing a case, Frank Black mentions that a clue is left in a novel titled "To Serve Man" to which Peter Watts replies, "Don't tell me it's a cookbook".
- In the NewsRadio third season finale, a cookbook titled 'How To Serve Man' is given to the people of the station by Jimmy James.
- In Madagascar, inside the plane where King Julian is holding a meeting. He says "Foosa!" and the meeting explodes into chaos. One lemur is shown holding a book called 'To Serve Lemur', shouting "It's a cookbook".
- In 2007, listener-supported radio station WFMU published a collection of recipes by the station's staff as a fund-raiser premium. The title of the book is "To Serve Man: A Musical Cookbook".
- In the CD "Song Poem Hits of 2007, Vol. 2" by The David Dubowski One Man Band, track 8 is "To Serve Man".
- In the television show Married...With Children episode "Sofa So Good" Al can be heard over the phone in Wanker County yelling, "Peg, To Serve Man, it's a cookbook!"
- The American deathgrind band Cattle Decapitation released an album in 2002 titled "To Serve Man."
- In John Ringo's first book, A Hymn Before Battle,"To Serve Man" is mentioned as a classic example of aliens seeming to be benevolent, while in fact using humans for their own purposes.
- This scene was also parodied in one episode of Cartoon Network's "What a cartoon" series. During the alien attack one of the running men screams the phrase while holding the book entitled "To serve man".
- At Disney's MGM Studios' Tower of Terror, in the library room before entering the service elevator, where the video is seen, there is a book on the back shelf with alien writing and a card that says "To Serve Man."
- George Scithers, with the permission of (and due acknowledgment to) Damon Knight, has published a book-length work titled 'To Serve Man' which consists almost entirely of straightforward recipes for meat dishes, ostensibly intended to require "long pig" (human flesh) as their main ingredient. On legal advice, Scithers published the book under a pseudonym ("Karl Würf"), but he has made no secret of his authorship.
- There is a book entitled To Serve Man: a Cookbook for People, by Karl Würf (author) and Jack Bozzi (illustrator). Published by Wildside Press in December 1979. ISBN 978-1880448823.
- On The Dennis Miller Show, Miller often plays a sound bite from the final scene.