View source for Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

==In popular culture==
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2017}}
<!-- This section gets completely out of control when the dozens and dozens of pop culture allusions get added. Only add if it's cited and significant. -->
The episode is considered one of the most popular of the series and parts of the plot have been repeated and parodied several times in popular culture, including television shows, films, radio and music:

===Parodies===
* On the October 20, 1984, episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', in a skit with guest host [[Jesse Jackson]], [[Ed Grimley]] sits next to Jackson on a plane, sees the gremlin, and disturbs Jackson, who eventually walks off the set.
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Treehouse of Horror IV]]" (1993) is a segment called "[[Treehouse of Horror IV#Terror at 5 1/2 Feet|Terror at 5 1/2 Feet]]". It takes place on a school bus rather than an aircraft, and puts [[Bart Simpson]] in the role of Bob Wilson. An [[AMC Gremlin]] driven by [[Hans Moleman]] drives alongside the bus.<ref name="Simpsons">Groening et al. 1997, pp. 124–125.</ref>
* The music video for the 1998 song "Inside Out" [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]] closely resembles this episode, though with the passenger seeing Anthrax themselves playing music on the wing.
* In the ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'' episode "Dick's Big Giant Headache: Part 1" (1999), [[John Lithgow]]'s character meets a character played by Shatner as he gets off an aircraft. When Shatner describes seeing something horrifying on the wing, Lithgow replies, "The same thing happened to me!"<ref>[http://www.scifiupdates.com/main/component/tag/william-shatner.html "William Shatner Trivia."] ''Sci-Fi Updates'', August 8, 2013. Retrieved: October 13, 2014. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917074259/http://www.scifiupdates.com/main/component/tag/william-shatner.html |date=September 17, 2013 }}</ref> This references not only Lithgow's portrayal of the nervous passenger in the 1983 ''Twilight Zone'' remake, but also an earlier ''3rd Rock'' episode "Frozen Dick" (Season 1, Ep 12, 1996) when he and [[Jane Curtin]]'s characters were due to fly to Chicago to pick up awards before Dick panicked about something on the wing while the plane was still on the tarmac and gets them both kicked off the plane.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
* On the March 16, 2010, episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', guest host [[Jude Law]] plays Shatner's original role, while cast regular [[Bobby Moynihan]] is the gremlin on the wing of the jet. At one point, musical guest [[Pearl Jam]] are all on the wing as well, talking with the gremlin.<ref>Holmes, Chris. [http://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/snl-funny-nightmare-at-20000-feet "SNL Funny: 'Nightmare at 20,000 feet'."] ''grayflannelsuit.net'', March 16, 2010. Retrieved: October 13, 2014.</ref>
* In the July 7, 1996 episode "Whoopi Goldberg" of ''[[Muppets Tonight]]'', [[Miss Piggy]] is bothered by a gremlin while riding in an airplane.  Miss Piggy goes to tell another passenger, who turns out to be William Shatner (playing himself). Shatner looks at the Gremlin and nonchalantly says, "Oh. Him again." He claims that he has been complaining about the gremlin for years, but nobody does anything about it.
* In the ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' episode "[[Tapping a Hero]]", the episode is parodied in a sketch.
* In ''[[Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls]]'', [[Jim Carrey]] parodies Shatner and his character in this film.
* In the ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' episode "The Man Who Cried Clown", which is part of "The Zone Where Normal Things Don't Happen Very Often," Johnny sees an evil clown on the wing of the aircraft and is having difficulty convincing the pilots and anyone of its existence which even included a cameo by someone resembling William Shatner who quotes "Oh no you don't! I'm not falling for that again." When he catches and beats up the clown in the airplane's restroom, he is confronted and informed by the pilots that the clown in question and another clown were needed to keep the aircraft in balance during flight. The pilots and some nearby people beat up Johnny and make him take the incapacitated clown's place.
* In ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'' episode "Dag's List", Barry the bear is repeatedly launched into the air, landing on the wing of a plane owned by Dairy Airlines. [[Wally Wingert]]'s secondary character, credited as "[[Passenger 57]]", exclaims in a halted, Shatner-style voice: "There's a bear... on... the wing!"
* In the movie ''[[Sharknado 2: The Second One]]'', Fin Shepard checks the wing of the plane, and sees a shark on the wing of the plane. The flight attendant tells him to calm down.
* The 1995 ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' special ''Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery'' features a segment named "Gremlin on a Wing", which parodies "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", with Plucky Duck in William Shatner's place, accompanied by Hamton J. Pig in an aircraft, and a gremlin similar to that which appeared in the Bugs Bunny short ''[[Falling Hare]]''.
* ''[[The Lego Batman Movie]]'' features gremlins from the film ''[[Gremlins]]'' attacking a plane.
* In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "[[I Dated a Robot]]", the main characters watch a TV show entitled ''The Scary Door'', which features a gremlin damaging a plane along with parodies of other story-lines from ''The Twilight Zone''. In the season 9 episode, “Zapp Dingbat,” Zapp Brannigan says to Kif Kroker, “Kif, I’m bored. What say you go out on the wing and pretend you’re a gremlin.”
* In the beginning of the film ''[[Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa]]'', Alex the lion gets scared by a gremlin on the plane wing, who turns out to be Mort (a [[mouse lemur]]), who is soon swept away by the wind.
* In the 2015 sketch "Airplane Continental" of sketch comedy show ''[[Key & Peele]]'', Peele's character encounters a gremlin while looking out the airplane window.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vkgnlwi9w8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/1vkgnlwi9w8| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Key & Peele - Airplane Continental|last=Comedy Central|date=September 13, 2015|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Interestingly, Peele would later produce a non-parodic remake of this story for the 2019 Twilight Zone series, although omitting the gremlin (see above).
* In the 2011 ''[[Dragon Ball Z Kai]]'' episode "The Hunt for Cell Is On!  Goku, Back in Action!", Cell has knocked Krillin's head through the wall of an airplane and is about to absorb him.  Piccolo and Tien arrive just in time to stop Cell, but before he goes, standing on the wing of the plane, Cell wags his finger at them and leaps off of the plane like the gremlin in the movie remake.
* In the Netflix series ''[[Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show]]'', the episode “Ice Cube Day” has a sketch parodying the episode directly. Instead of a gremlin, the passenger sees a woman “[[twerking]]” on the wing of the plane.
* In the episode "Scream Because I Know What You Did To That Psycho Last Summer" (Season 2, episode 1), of the cartoon TV show ''[[Being Ian]]'', Ian sees a creature flattening the Kelly families car tire and no one believes him. Near the ending of the episode, when the family is getting ready to go home, Ian peeks out his window to once again see the gremlin sabotaging the engine of the car with a small club. The gremlin turns to face him and puts his index finger over his mouth, as to tell him not to speak.

===Other references===
* UK band [[Pop Will Eat Itself]]'s 1990 album ''[[Cure for Sanity]]'' include the song "Nightmare at 20,000 feet". The track is said to be inspired by singer [[Clint Mansell]]'s fear of flying.
* The episode inspired the opening sequence of the 2000 slasher movie ''[[Urban Legends: Final Cut]]'', directed by [[John Ottman]].<ref>{{anchor|Ottman}}[[John Ottman|Ottman, John]]. ''Urban Legends: Final Cut'' (2001). [[Audio commentary]] (DVD). [[Columbia Pictures]] Home Entertainment. (0:02:08).</ref>
* In the 2014 horror film ''[[Flight 7500]]'', a character watches the episode as part of the in-flight services, paralleling their own dire situation.
* A 1973 made-for-television horror film, unrelated to this episode of The Twilight Zone, similarly titled ''[[The Horror at 37,000 Feet]]'', also co-stars William Shatner.