Night Gallery - You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan / Smile, Please
The novelty of Ozzie and Harriet in a Night Gallery episode
will perhaps lend a helping hand to “You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan”, a
rather tragic teleplay from Rod Serling with a predictable but rather amusing (at
least to me) ending. Ozzie’s Uncle Henry is a scientist always trying to
invent something of significance to impress the scientific community but year
after year, experiment after experiment, results in absolute failure. In his
latest experiment, he gathers a smaller collection of scientists (including a
young Michael Lerner, complete with afro) due to Harriet’s Helena failing to
remember to ship out invites on time. Part of what made this episode quite
depressing to me was how it did appear Helena was falling prey (or succumbing
to, if you prefer…) senility or dementia. While Henry tries to perfect an “immortality
serum”, his nephew, George Beaumont (Roger Davis, of Dark Shadows), is
concerned for Helena’s worsening health.
Later both Henry and Helena reveal to George that the former is poisoning the latter (with her permission!) so that when she dies his serum will resurrect her from the dead! She so believes in her husband’s capabilities as a scientist/inventor—despite every reason to be persuaded otherwise!—that Helena is willing to die by slow-acting poison while George tries desperately to stop Henry from killing her! But when it doesn’t appear Helena will be reawakened by Henry’s formula and George informs him that he has told the police about the poisoning, tragedy unsurprisingly results. But what if Helena is just “late as always”? Henry just nonchalantly killing his wife and totally believing that his serum will be successful while George is left bewildered and astonished at such blatant crime even while Helena willingly gives up her life despite history dictating yet another failure—and the episode seeming to confirm that once again Henry did fail—perhaps gives the episode a black comedy edge, particularly since those involved are the wonderfully square and wholesome classic marrieds, Ozzie and Harriet. Henry nearly blowing up his colleagues in a failed experiment that was supposed to turn rock into gold through a concoction of chemicals proving quite dangerous, leaving the living room in shambles, is hilarious. But it is bookended with Henry left disappointed and Helena struggling to remember something he told her just seconds after. I think it was meant as just a moment among many moments of absentmindedness, but I think those who have experienced losing loved ones to increasing dementia will feel this hits close to home. 3/5
Later both Henry and Helena reveal to George that the former is poisoning the latter (with her permission!) so that when she dies his serum will resurrect her from the dead! She so believes in her husband’s capabilities as a scientist/inventor—despite every reason to be persuaded otherwise!—that Helena is willing to die by slow-acting poison while George tries desperately to stop Henry from killing her! But when it doesn’t appear Helena will be reawakened by Henry’s formula and George informs him that he has told the police about the poisoning, tragedy unsurprisingly results. But what if Helena is just “late as always”? Henry just nonchalantly killing his wife and totally believing that his serum will be successful while George is left bewildered and astonished at such blatant crime even while Helena willingly gives up her life despite history dictating yet another failure—and the episode seeming to confirm that once again Henry did fail—perhaps gives the episode a black comedy edge, particularly since those involved are the wonderfully square and wholesome classic marrieds, Ozzie and Harriet. Henry nearly blowing up his colleagues in a failed experiment that was supposed to turn rock into gold through a concoction of chemicals proving quite dangerous, leaving the living room in shambles, is hilarious. But it is bookended with Henry left disappointed and Helena struggling to remember something he told her just seconds after. I think it was meant as just a moment among many moments of absentmindedness, but I think those who have experienced losing loved ones to increasing dementia will feel this hits close to home. 3/5
Laird’s “Smile, Please” is a minor footnote as offering a
brief cameo of Lindsay Wagner (“The Bionic Woman”), as an archeologist looking
to take a photograph of a vampire with Cesare Danova as a guide who provides
the subject she’s looking for. It is really unimportant and over with before
you can take a couple breaths. Why Laird decided to shoot this is beyond me. It
isn’t that long or even memorable enough to remain on the mind at all. In fact
if you were to go to the fridge for a quick drink it would be over when you
return. 1.5/5
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