The Scary Door: Futurama Writer Recalls Origin of Twilight Zone’s Ultimate Parody

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Among the numerous parodies of “The Twilight Zone,” which is often shown on SYFY, one stands out as exceptional: the “Scary Door” joke from “Futurama.” This recurring gag has been a part of the animated comedy series since its second season. It derives its name from Rod Serling’s signature introduction, “You open this door with the key of imagination…

In an email conversation with SYFY WIRE, J. Stewart Burns, a veteran writer from The Simpsons, expressed that the concept of people in the future watching a show about their own future seemed amusingly peculiar. He admitted it took some thought to figure out how to bring this idea to life, as he pondered, “What does that mean?

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Futurama writer talks origin of the show’s Twilight Zone parody, “The Scary Door”

In a playful, affectionate manner, the reoccurring “Scary Door” gag was first introduced in “A Head in the Polls.” This bit, reminiscent of classic “Twilight Zone” twist endings, became iconic, has cast member Maurice LaMarche providing the voiceover. His performance was a witty parody of “Time Enough at Last,” a well-known Twilight Zone tale where Burgess Meredith portrayed the lone survivor of a nuclear disaster.

We all know the ending of the story: Meredith, a devoted reader, finds himself in a predicament when he breaks his eyeglasses. Meanwhile, his counterpart from “The Scary Door”, also voiced by LaMarche, experiences an extraordinary misfortune, losing not just his glasses but also his eyes, hands, tongue, and head.

In the whimsical universe of Futurama, where the extraordinary is commonplace, what event might seem implausible? Surprisingly, not much, as Burns points out. If we were to label something as impossible, like perhaps ghosts, it would limit our storytelling potential in the future. For instance, we wouldn’t have created ‘The Honking.’ Instead of finding a solution to this conundrum, I opted to imitate – or let’s say pay tribute to – an earlier episode from The Twilight Zone. The episode ‘Time Enough at Last’ was one that stood out as particularly well-known, and I had recently rewatched it. Thus, the problem was resolved.

After more occurrences of the “Scary Door”, it was pushed to its limits – the most daring one merging key elements from various iconic episodes of The Twilight Zone, such as “The Fever”, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”, “A Nice Place to Visit”, and “The Man in the Bottle”. This amalgamation was compressed into a brief timeframe.

In an amusing yet thought-provoking turn of events, the funniest scene unfolds post-credits in “Spanish Fry.” Here, a mad scientist (portrayed by Billy West) concocts a chilling blend of DNA from Earth’s deadliest animals to spawn the ultimate deadly creature. The final product? A shocking revelation that echoes the profound simplicity and inventiveness we’d expect in an episode from the original broadcast of _The Twilight Zone_.

In this groundbreaking anthology, they were envisioning possibilities and questioning them, leaving us in awe with their responses. It was essentially the same approach we aimed for at Futurama, but they did it before us. Given that, it seemed fitting to acknowledge them. Moreover, they had a penchant for irony, and there’s an enduring quality about irony when it resonates. The irony in ‘Gift of the Magi’, though I can’t recall anything specific about it, is something I will always remember. That particular brand of irony was what we aimed to capture in our ‘Scary Door’ shorts.

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2025-06-18 20:31