Shatner and Lithgow United For A Great Twilight Zone Reference

Today William Shatner turns 85 years old. You might remember him from the Priceline commercials, as Denny Crane in Boston Legal, or as Captain Kirk in Star Trek. He was also in one of the more famous Twilight Zone stories, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, from season 5, episode 3.

The story goes, Shatner is Bob Wilson, who is traveling on an airplane. Wilson sees a gremlin on the wing. He continues to try to convince people but we learn he had a nervous breakdown on an airplane just 6 months before. No one believes Bob, so he takes matters into his own hands and grabs a sleeping police officer's gun. Proceeds to open the Auxiliary Exit hatch, and fire the weapon at the gremlin.

After the plane has landed and Bob is being carted away in a straight jacket, Rod Sterling lets the viewing audience know that Bob's time away might not be that long as the camera pans out and shows the wing of the plane damaged by the gremlin.

This story was brought back in the 1983 movie Twilight Zone: The Movie, this time with Jon Lithgow playing the roll of the man who sees something on the wing of the plane. Now, fast forward about 20 years to an episode of the 3rd Rock From the Sun and Shatner and Lithgow poking fun at it.