Movies - TV
The One Twilight Zone Episode Censors Successfully Changed
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Per Marc Scott Zicree's book “The Twilight Zone Companion,” the 10th “Twilight Zone” episode, titled “Judgment Night,” is the show’s only episode a studio censor managed to alter.
The censor had no issues with the episode’s plot or message, but they feared a British character drinking tea would clash with the show's sponsor, Sanka, a coffee manufacturer.
In the episode, a British man orders a tea service during a conversation with the main character. The show, however, was sponsored by Sanka Coffee’s parent company, General Foods.
With Sanka ads running during "Twilight Zone" broadcasts, the corporate overlords were concerned that depicting someone drinking tea would be seen as shilling for a competitor.
Ironically, General Foods did manufacture tea as part of Maxwell House, a coffee company it acquired. However, the British man’s dialogue eventually ended up being altered.
By making the character ask for “a tray” instead of “tea,” the studio left no explicit reference to tea, even though the character was ultimately served a tray with a teapot on it.