"To Serve Man" is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...

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The story is based on the short story "To Serve Man

To Serve Man

"To Serve Man" is a science fiction short story written by Damon Knight. It first appeared in the November 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and has been reprinted a number of times, including in Frontiers in Space , Far Out and The Best of Damon Knight...

," written by Damon Knight

Damon Knight

Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...

. The title is a play on the verb serve, which has a dual meaning of "to assist" and "to provide as a meal." The episode is one of the few instances in the series wherein the actor breaks the fourth wall

Fourth wall

The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...

 and addresses the viewing audience at the episode's end.
As the episode opens, Michael Chambers is seen lying uncomfortably on a cot in a spartan interior.