Editing Time Enough at Last (section)

==Impact==

===Critical and fan favorite===
"Time Enough at Last" was a ratings success in its initial airing and "became an instant classic".<ref name="PresMcGee">{{cite book|author1=Presnell, Don |author2=McGee, Marty |name-list-style=amp |title=A Critical History of Television's the Twilight Zone, 1959–1964|page= 41}}</ref> It "remains one of the best-remembered and best-loved episodes of ''The Twilight Zone''" according to Marc Zicree, author of ''[[The Twilight Zone Companion]]'',<ref name="zicree" /> as well as one of the most frequently parodied. When a poll asked readers of ''Twilight Zone Magazine'' which episode of the series they remembered the most, "Time Enough at Last" was the most frequent response, with "[[To Serve Man (The Twilight Zone)|To Serve Man]]" coming in a distant second.<ref name="sander">{{cite web|url=http://www.gordonsander.com/article.php?p=295 |author=Gordon Sander |title=Twilight Zone: A Serling Performance |work=The Sander Zone |access-date=2007-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929015238/http://www.gordonsander.com/article.php?p=295 |archive-date=2007-09-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In [[TV Land]]'s presentation of ''[[TV Guide]]'''s "100 Most Memorable Moments in Television", "Time Enough at Last" was ranked at No. 25.<ref name="tvland">{{cite web|url=http://www.tvland.com/originals/100moments/page4.jhtml |title=TV Guide and TV Land presents The 100 Most Memorable TV Moments |publisher=[[TV Land]] |access-date=2007-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704020154/http://www.tvland.com/originals/100moments/page4.jhtml |archive-date=2007-07-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In an interview, Serling cited "Time Enough at Last" as one of his two favorites from the entire series (the other was "[[The Invaders (The Twilight Zone)|The Invaders]]", with [[Agnes Moorehead]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blastr.com/2010/09/rod_serling_picks_his_2_f.php|title=In lost interview, Serling reveals his favorite Twilight Zone eps|work=[[Syfy Wire]]|last=Cohen|first=Jon|date=2012-12-14|access-date=2017-06-08|archive-date=2016-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512092407/http://www.blastr.com/2010/09/rod_serling_picks_his_2_f.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The episode has been referenced many times in popular culture. For example, [[The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror]], a theme park ride at [[Disney's Hollywood Studios]] and formerly [[Disney California Adventure Park]], displays a replica of Henry Bemis' broken glasses in the lobby. It is noted that, while they are indeed reading glasses, Burgess Meredith wears them the entire episode to make Bemis look more bookish.<ref name="ride">{{cite web|url=http://www.emuck.com/aotw/tower.htm |author1=Bruce A Metcalf |author2=Ronnie O'Rourke |name-list-style=amp |title=Twilight Zone Tower of Terror or, Iago & Zazu Learn the Ups & Downs of the Hotel Business |work=Iago & Zazu's Attraction of the Week |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928212510/http://www.emuck.com/aotw/tower.htm |archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref> On one appearance of the TV show ''[[Futurama]]'s'' [[show-within-a-show]] "The Scary Door", a parody of ''The Twilight Zone'' and ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'', a man like Bemis is presented in a library as "the last man on earth". After he loses his glasses, the show pokes fun on the fact that he can still read books with large print and even in braille, so he successively loses various body parts until the scene ends.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zachary |first1=Brandon |title=Futurama's Pitch-Perfect Twilight Zone Parody, The Scary Door, Explained |url=https://www.cbr.com/futurama-twilight-zone-parody-scary-door-explained/ |website=CBR |access-date=25 October 2023 |language=en |date=5 June 2021}}</ref> The [[personal computer|PC]] game ''[[Fallout Tactics]]'' (2001) includes a librarian in a desolate world who wants the player to find his missing glasses so he can read his books.<ref name="fallout">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamebanshee.com/fallouttactics/walkthrough/macomb.php |title=Fallout Tactics |work=Game Banshee |access-date=2007-08-30}}</ref> In a 2022 expansion for the game ''[[Fallout 76]]'' entitled “the Pitt”, players may come across a small room featuring a pair of glasses, a gun, and a note called “Time Enough at Last”, containing lines of dialogue from the character of Bemis. In an episode of ''[[Modern Family]]'', Jay's glasses are sat on by Luke, breaking them. As he picks up his book, the shattered pieces of his glasses fall out. "It's not fair. It's not fair," he sarcastically utters.