To Serve Man

In High School, I’d stay up until past midnight (unbeknownst to my parents) to watch the Twilight Zone show. Now, at 40-something, I own many of the episodes on DVD and have watched them at least three times. One of the most memorable episodes is titled To Serve Man, a story that any TZ fan will certainly know.

But even more than the iconoclastic themes of the episodes, its the theme music of the original Twilight Zone that will resonate for fans.

Many years ago, when I was sharing a house in Boston with three other people, one of my roomates was learning to play guitar and the TZ theme was one of the first tunes that he learned. Two decades later, I’m sometimes reminded of him playing the tune when I hear it.

 

Bollywood Big Bang

It had to happen. Last week Outsourced; this week Bollywood invades The Big Bang Theory. Great job by “Bernadette” in capturing some of the signature Bollywood dance gestures.

 

Bollywood “Outsourced”

“Outsourced”, a prime-time NBC show set in an office in India, opens today with a song and dance sequence similar to those in Bollywood films. Normally there is no singing or dancing in this show. It’s a half-hour sitcom with a story which relies on the culture clash as a white American manager runs an American company with Indian employees.

The show airs on Thursday nights but I TiVo it and usually watch over the weekend. As I eat my cereal and watch the bright and shiny rainbow colored high energy movements of the dancers, I let the music wake me up with it’s bubbly enthusiasm.

The music doesn’t last long however because the manager wakes up the employee who is daydreaming about being a Bollywood star, and the real story of “Outsourced” starts to take shape. I am not disappointed. The song and dance it nice and refreshing change but I’ve tuned in for comedy.