Night Gallery - Lost Tales
These were included on my Season Three DVD set.
“Die Now, Pay Later” is a tale that was written by Jack Laird but didn’t air on network television. It is a minor conversation piece between Sheriff Slim Pickens hoping to convince Undertaker Will Greer to cut out a sale on funeral items such as caskets, flowers, and urns because “business has picked up” ever since he started it. People dying off, Pickens can’t prove they are being murdered but rumors, many fueled by his demanding wife, seem to indicate plenty of motives out there for each fresh victim. Greer goes about his parlor, tending to his various items on sale as Pickens follows, practically begging him to cut out the clearance sale in order for folks to stop murdering those they dislike in cold blood! Not much to it except that Laird includes the possibility that Greer is a warlock, since his ancestor was burned at the stake in Salem as one. Pickens particular style of vernacular and speech always brings an audience but his dialogue has very little meat on the bone and the singular location is quite claustrophobic. It doesn’t appear that this was shot to be anything more than a bookending attachment to an episode with a more significant story. Greer tries to sink his teeth into the role and forward as best he can the idea that behind the uptick in sales is a sinister puppeteer pulling the strings…the final phone call where Pickens is being scolded by his wife for spending time with old pal Greer and the agreed delay in folding the clearance sale seems to gel with that idea. 2/5
"Room For One Less" is another Laird attachment never aired--and rightfully so--on network television that shows an elevator stuffed to its limit and how an alien gets rid of one of the occupants in order to stay on it. 0/5
"Witches' Feast" features a lively Agnes Moorehead and two others as witches preparing for a feast, stirring up all kinds of concoctions in their fuming cauldron. Moorehead deserves better than this. They cackle well, so there's that. They are waiting on a fourth witch to bring them food, with Agnes snatching a sandwich. 1/5 (this once bookended another episode but was cut and replaced in subsequent broadcast).
"Little Girl Lost" was shown as complete with 5 more minutes of but footage. Many know this as following "The Caterpillar" and focuses on a scientist lost in delusion after his daughter's death that he sees her as alive, brushing the hair and talking to a fabrication of his mind. An injured government employee (Ed Nelson), with a bum leg due to an accident with an ejection mechanism and co-worker's incompetence, is tasked with helping to gain the trust of William Windom (just aces as the clearly mentally unbalanced chemical genius) by aiding in his delusion, accompanying him to an amusement park and staying at a resort, "taking care of her" while he can complete results on created fission from non-radioactive material for a possible bomb. A missing plate at a table as Nelson fights off a customer looking to snatch an empty chair leads to Windom's realization that his girl is truly dead...and that due to the incompetence of man, no one should be allowed to live. That we are all better off dead! Strong performances and dialogue about the perils of the traumatized mind really set this off well. And the conclusion where Windom's grief and instability truly results tragically for all mankind is quite a Twilight Zone type shocker of an ending. This is where Night Gallery excels and all those Laird misfires fail to even scratch the surface of such a tale as "Little Girl Lost". 4.5/5
While writing reviews this weekend, I just often let the special features of the DVD run with an excerpt of the iconic Night Gallery score play on loop, looking over at Serling, in black suit and tie, hands folded, standing in some dark corridor. It set the mood nicely as a thunderstorm, complete with lightning, brings down the intense rain outside. Lights off in the bedroom, just typing away, I conclude with not the best that this series had to offer but nonetheless I am appreciative of Serling's contributions to television. I don't think Night Gallery truly treated him as Twilight Zone did, but when he truly could provide the right story, acted by capable talent, we were still provided access to his genius.
“Die Now, Pay Later” is a tale that was written by Jack Laird but didn’t air on network television. It is a minor conversation piece between Sheriff Slim Pickens hoping to convince Undertaker Will Greer to cut out a sale on funeral items such as caskets, flowers, and urns because “business has picked up” ever since he started it. People dying off, Pickens can’t prove they are being murdered but rumors, many fueled by his demanding wife, seem to indicate plenty of motives out there for each fresh victim. Greer goes about his parlor, tending to his various items on sale as Pickens follows, practically begging him to cut out the clearance sale in order for folks to stop murdering those they dislike in cold blood! Not much to it except that Laird includes the possibility that Greer is a warlock, since his ancestor was burned at the stake in Salem as one. Pickens particular style of vernacular and speech always brings an audience but his dialogue has very little meat on the bone and the singular location is quite claustrophobic. It doesn’t appear that this was shot to be anything more than a bookending attachment to an episode with a more significant story. Greer tries to sink his teeth into the role and forward as best he can the idea that behind the uptick in sales is a sinister puppeteer pulling the strings…the final phone call where Pickens is being scolded by his wife for spending time with old pal Greer and the agreed delay in folding the clearance sale seems to gel with that idea. 2/5
"Room For One Less" is another Laird attachment never aired--and rightfully so--on network television that shows an elevator stuffed to its limit and how an alien gets rid of one of the occupants in order to stay on it. 0/5
"Witches' Feast" features a lively Agnes Moorehead and two others as witches preparing for a feast, stirring up all kinds of concoctions in their fuming cauldron. Moorehead deserves better than this. They cackle well, so there's that. They are waiting on a fourth witch to bring them food, with Agnes snatching a sandwich. 1/5 (this once bookended another episode but was cut and replaced in subsequent broadcast).
"Little Girl Lost" was shown as complete with 5 more minutes of but footage. Many know this as following "The Caterpillar" and focuses on a scientist lost in delusion after his daughter's death that he sees her as alive, brushing the hair and talking to a fabrication of his mind. An injured government employee (Ed Nelson), with a bum leg due to an accident with an ejection mechanism and co-worker's incompetence, is tasked with helping to gain the trust of William Windom (just aces as the clearly mentally unbalanced chemical genius) by aiding in his delusion, accompanying him to an amusement park and staying at a resort, "taking care of her" while he can complete results on created fission from non-radioactive material for a possible bomb. A missing plate at a table as Nelson fights off a customer looking to snatch an empty chair leads to Windom's realization that his girl is truly dead...and that due to the incompetence of man, no one should be allowed to live. That we are all better off dead! Strong performances and dialogue about the perils of the traumatized mind really set this off well. And the conclusion where Windom's grief and instability truly results tragically for all mankind is quite a Twilight Zone type shocker of an ending. This is where Night Gallery excels and all those Laird misfires fail to even scratch the surface of such a tale as "Little Girl Lost". 4.5/5
While writing reviews this weekend, I just often let the special features of the DVD run with an excerpt of the iconic Night Gallery score play on loop, looking over at Serling, in black suit and tie, hands folded, standing in some dark corridor. It set the mood nicely as a thunderstorm, complete with lightning, brings down the intense rain outside. Lights off in the bedroom, just typing away, I conclude with not the best that this series had to offer but nonetheless I am appreciative of Serling's contributions to television. I don't think Night Gallery truly treated him as Twilight Zone did, but when he truly could provide the right story, acted by capable talent, we were still provided access to his genius.
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