Twilo-ites - Alien race featured on episode No. 51 "It May Look Like a Walnut" (2/6/1963) on the classic sitcom THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW/CBS/1961-66. The Twilo-ites were the product of a nightmare experienced by comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) after he watched a late show thriller about aliens from outer space.

In his dream Rob discovers that he is the last earthling who has not yet been possessed by aliens from the planet Twilo. The Twilo-ites had eyes in the back of their head, ate walnuts, and spoke with a British accent. They subdued earthlings by exposing them to the chemical Absorbitron.

The Twilo-ite's leader Kolak took the form of Danny Thomas, an eloquent man dressed in bowler hat and cane who happened to be billed as the weekly guest star on "The Alan Brady Show."

As Rob returned to the safety of his home, he opened his front entry closet only to find his wife, Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) inside lying on top of thousands of walnuts (the favorite food of Twilo-ites). As Rob's nightmare climaxed, Kolak and all those possessed by him encircled him. But just then, Rob woke up.

Laura on a mound of walnuts

TRIVIA NOTE: Over 600 pounds of walnuts (TV Guide says 1700 walnuts) were used to film the closet scene where actress Mary Tyler Moore came sliding out of the closet atop a pile of walnuts. At one point in filming, the weight of the walnuts caused the closet door to jam shut. This surreal episode was nominated as the fifteenth all time favorite episodes in a survey of "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time" (TV Guide 6/28/1997). See also - CHEMICALS, DRUGS & POTIONS - "Absorbitron"