Rod Serling: Some one-hundred-odd years ago, a motley collection of tough moustaches galloped across the West and left behind a raft of legends and legerdemains, and it seems a reasonable conjecture that if there are any television sets up in cowboy heaven and any of these rough-and-wooly nail-eaters could see with what careless abandon their names and exploits are being bandied about, they're very likely turning over in their graves – or worse, getting out of them. Which gives you a clue as to the proceedings that will begin in just a moment, when one Mr. Rance McGrew, a 3,000-buck-a-week phoney-baloney discovers that this week's current edition of make-believe is being shot on location – and that location is the Twilight Zone.
Air date: February 2, 1962
Rance McGrew (Larry Blyden) is the leading actor of a Western TV series, in which he plays a heroic protagonist of the same name. While the fictional Rance McGrew is a dashing, courageous, and valiant marshal who always wins against the villains, the real Rance is an absolute prima-donna who is used to getting his own way with everything, showing up late, snapping at the production crew, and using a stuntman for even the most simple scenes. During one particular day of shooting, Rance is suddenly and inexplicably transported to the real Wild West, where he meets none other than Jesse James (Arch Johnson) himself. Sick and tired of the way that he and other outlaws of his day are depicted on Rance's show, Jesse intends to teach the leading man a lesson and knock his character down a few pegs.
Showdown with Rance McTropes:
- Artistic License – History:
- In-Universe. The actor playing Jesse James objects to a scene in where Jesse attempts to shoot Marshal McGrew In the Back, since his research indicates that the real Jesse never fought dishonestly. The change was done to appeal to Rance's ego, as he claims that fighting dirty is the only way anyone could ever hope to defeat his character.
- The real Jesse wasn't especially tall, since wanted posters from the Old West give his height between 5'8" and 5'10", which is nowhere near tall enough to tower over a Hollywood leading man. Regardless, it still suits the episode's story.
- Bar Slide: This is attempted during shooting of Rance's latest episode. The first take sees the bartender slide a bottle of rotgut over to Rance... who doesn't stick his hand out far enough to catch it. He promptly blames the bartender for "[putting] English on it".Bartender: "Putting English" on a bottle? [muttering to the extras] Guy needs a catcher's mitt.
- Brick Joke: Upon entering the real Wild West, an annoyed Rance screams that he was given whiskey to drink when he asked for ginger ale. Upon returning to the present, as he's yelling out for Jesse, the bartender states that he didn't give him whiskey. Just ginger ale.
- Canon Sue: In-Universe. The fictional Rance McGrew is the Fastest Gun in the West, as well as a brave and universally admired hero who never loses. In contrast, the actual Rance McGrew is a cowardly prima-donna who demands that everything run as he wants it to run and is nowhere near a match for the actual Jesse James.
- Chekhov's Gun: Rance's gun is a literal case, as he repeatedly struggles to unholster it, even when Jesse is after him.
- Chromosome Casting: This episode does not feature any women in speaking roles, given its Western nature.
- Cry Laughing: Rance's director starts laughing when the actor throws his gun into the mirror and breaks it for a second time, but then he starts crying after a while.
- The Danza: In-Universe. Conceited actor Rance McGrew plays a heroic marshal named after himself in a Western TV series. He quickly proves himself to be no match for the actual Jesse James once he's placed in the real Wild West.
- Dirty Coward: Though his character never shows fear in the face of danger, Rance himself gets on his knees and begs Jesse James to let him live, pleading that he'll do anything he wants.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While talking to Rance about the characterization of himself and others on his show, Jesse mentions that Sam Starr is a very loving son.
- Failure Hero: Once he becomes Rance's agent, Jesse seems interested in turning his character from a winner to a loser, demonstrated when he pitches two ideas about himself and Billy the Kid thwarting Rance's attempts to stop them.
- Fake-Out Opening: The episode begins with what appears to be a pair of cowboys in The Wild West, who are discussing whether a man will show up, seemingly for a gunfight. Rance then drives up in his long-horned Ford Thunderbird, revealing that the cowboys were actors who were wondering when the star of their show was going to turn up for shooting.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Inverted. After assuming the role of Rance's agent in the present day, Jesse manages to drive his car with ease.
- Foreshadowing: Upon arriving in the Old West, Rance, still thinking he's on set, storms out to get his agent and complain, only to run right into Jesse James. After his trip to the West, Jesse himself becomes his agent, who promises to turn his character into less of a winner.
- He Went That Way: When Jesse announces that he's looking for the marshal, Rance attempts to act like just another person in the saloon by claiming he went in another direction. Jesse doesn't buy it.
- Historical Domain Character: Jesse James is a major character.
- The Kid with the Leash: Implied with Jesse James. He's not only become Rance's agent, but is now going to be actively keeping Rance on a leash, to ensure that he to behaves himself in the future.
- Lighter and Softer: The episode is a parody of the Western TV shows common to the original series' era, starring a haughty and pretentious actor who comes face to face with one of the most infamous outlaws of the Wild West.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: While the fictional Rance is extremely courageous and never hesitates in the face of danger,
the actor of the same name turns up late for work, snaps at the director and crew at every opportunity, and demands that a stuntman be used for even the simplest scenes. - Oh, Crap!: Once he's face to face with the real Jesse James, Rance, desperately hoping he's still on set, calls for the scene to cut.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Jesse James returns from the grave to tell Rance that he, his brother Frank, Billy the Kid, Sam Starr, and the Dalton brothers, among others, are pretty angry at the inaccurate way in which they are depicted on TV, particularly on his show. In the end, Jesse assumes the role of Rance's agent to ensure that the series is more accurate from now on, which means Rance's character becomes more of a loser than he was before.
- Please, I Will Do Anything!: When Jesse puts his gun to his face, Rance begs him not to shoot, promising that he'll do anything he asks. Jesse takes the deal, and his demands include taking over as Rance's agent, hoping to make the bad guys of the show tougher.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: Rance tells Jesse James that he has been nominated for two Emmys. The unimpressed James thinks that he didn't deserve the nomination.
- Second-Face Smoke: Jesse does this to Rance to showcase his tranquil anger.
- Show Within a Show: Rance stars in a popular Western TV series about a heroic marshal of the same name. Jesse James and numerous other long dead outlaws grow pretty peeved with how they're depicted, and Jesse ultimately becomes Rance's agent to make the show more realistic.
- Side Bet: Implied. When Rance practices twirling his prop gun and accidentially launches it into the mirror of the saloon set, Sy sticks his hand out to the director, who proceeds to give him a dollar and tell him "You win."
- It's outright confirmed later on, when he's slipped another dollar after Rance again launches his gun in the middle of filming.
- Take That!: This episode is an extended diss to the Western TV series of the 1950s and 1960s, which Rod Serling utterly hated because he thought they were unrealistic and predictable. In fact, after the series ended, but before he created Night Gallery, Serling created his own short-lived Western called The Loner, which he strove to make as realistic as possible.
- Furthermore, Rance is a parody of actors in general, being arrogant, conceited, and temperamental.
- Time Travel Episode: Rance McGrew, an actor who stars in a Western TV series, is transported back in time and gets to experience the actual Wild West firsthand.
- Tuckerization: The Old West funeral parlor is run by C. Nyby, a reference to the episode's director Christian Nyby.
Rod Serling: The evolution of the so-called "adult" Western, and the metamorphosis of one Rance McGrew, formerly phony-baloney, now upright citizen with a preoccupation with all things involving tradition, truth and cowpoke predecessors. It's the way the cookie crumbles and the six-gun shoots in the Twilight Zone.
