"Fix your set okay, Mister? You will recommend my
service, won't you?"
service, won't you?"
Rod Serling: Portrait of a TV fan. Name: Joe Britt. Occupation: cab driver. Tonight, Mr. Britt is going to watch 'a really big show,' something special for the cabbie who's seen everything. Joe Britt doesn't know it, but his flag is down and his meter's running and he's in high gear – on his way to the Twilight Zone.
Air date: March 13, 1964
Joe and Phyllis Britt are an old married couple who do not get along. Joe (William Demarest) comes home from his job as a cab driver late one night and Phyllis (Joan Blondell) accuses him of seeing another woman. In the meantime, a television repairman (Sterling Holloway) is in the next room fixing their broken set. Irritated, Joe harasses the repairman about the inconvenience and cost. The repairman abruptly closes the open TV panel and announces the TV is fixed. He leaves and the TV starts getting channel 10, a station showing the past, present and future of Joe and Phyllis' lives, which, however, only Joe can see. The TV shows Joe killing Phyllis in a fight, his trial and conviction for murder, and his execution in the electric chair. Phyllis is convinced that Joe has lost his mind and taunts him. Joe, angered, attacks her and kills her by accident, just as he had seen on the television screen. As Joe is taken away by the police, he comes face-to-face with the TV repairman, who asks if he will recommend him to others. He smirks to the audience as Joe is taken away.
What's in the Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: How Joe kills Phyllis. Despite it being an accident, it will still lead to Joe facing execution.
- Ambiguously Human: The TV repairman. How is it that he can tap into and reveal private secrets of Joe's life? Is he a human who has some sort of psychic ability, or some sort of demon? The fact that it's never revealed just what he is only helps to make him more unsettling.
- Aside Glance: In both of his scenes, the TV repairman steals a glance at the camera, although the second time leans more towards Breaking the Fourth Wall (as he does it in the middle of the ending narration).Repairman: (halfway out the door) Well, you can't... win 'em all. (glances at the camera; leaves)
- Awful Wedded Life: Joe and Phyllis constantly complain about and insult each other, even on the heels of tenderer moments.
- Black Comedy: The final fight between Joe and Phyllis is remarkably over the top.
- Bottle Episode: This episode takes place entirely in the Britts' apartment.
- Business Trip Adultery: A variant; Joe admits to fooling around on Phyllis when he was supposed to be taking fares. This is partly while the couple has financial issues in addition to the unhappy marriage.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Discussed. Dr. Saltman believes that Joe seeing himself kill Phyllis on television is a delusion caused by an inability to distinguish between TV and his own life.
- Deadpan Snarker: Joe Britt and the TV repairman.
- Deconstruction: The episode can be seen as a Deconstruction of the sitcom formulas (like in the The Honeymooners), where the husband is an aggressive man trying his best and the wife is a compulsive nag, with their relationship bordering on Henpecked Husband.
- Destination Defenestration: During his brutal attack on Phyllis, Joe punches her in front of an open window and she falls to her death. Although he had not intended to kill her, the glimpses of the future shown on his television indicate that he will be convicted of murder and executed for his crime.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Maybe. The TV repairman acts at the end as if he orchestrated everything that went on in the episode. And all because Joe complained about the cost of the TV repair...
- Downer Ending: Joe does kill Phyllis, despite his efforts to avoid it, and is taken off to prison and eventual execution.
- Faint in Shock: Joe passes out after the TV shows scenes from his own life.
- Gaslighting: Discussed. Joe accuses his wife and the TV repairman of plotting to drive him crazy after his recently fixed TV shows him incriminating scenes of his life.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Both Joe and Phyllis get their just desserts for their attitudes toward each other.
- No Name Given: The TV repairman and Joe's mistress are not named.
- Post-Modern Magik: It's implied the tv repairman may have magic powers, or at the very least is not entirely human. Assuming it was intentional, his revenge is to enchant a television set to show future events, somewhat akin to a crystal ball.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Pretty much the premise of this episode. Joe tries to make up with Phyllis after seeing himself kill her on the TV set. Because of his confession, they get into a knockdown, dragout fight that ends with him hitting her out a window.
- Shout-Out: In his opening narration, Rod Serling says that Joe is in for a "really big show", and he pronounces "show" as "shew." This is a reference to Ed Sullivan's catchphrase and his distinctive pronunciation of "show" on his long-running variety show. Like The Twilight Zone, The Ed Sullivan Show aired on CBS.
- Softspoken Sadist: The softspoken TV repairman altered the television so that Joe would see visions of his past and future when it was turned to Channel 10. This ultimately led to Joe killing Phyllis, for which he will be executed. The repairman's smirk at the end of the episode implies that he did it for his own amusement.
- Too Dumb to Live: Joe is clearly teetering on the verge of a violent breakdown after he witnesses his execution on the television. So what does Phyllis think is the best thing to do? Continue egging him on. Note that he was executed in his vision for killing her.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Joe attempts to avert the future that he saw on television in which he killed Phyllis but his efforts lead directly to the brutal physical attack on her that resulted in her death. It happens exactly as he had seen on TV.
Rod Serling: The next time your TV set is on the blink, when you're in the need of a first-rate repairman, may we suggest our own specialist? Factory-trained, prompt, honest, twenty-four-hour service. You won't find him in the phone book, but his office is conveniently located in the Twilight Zone.
