Act Break
"Maury Winkler, struggling playwright and occasional bill payer. Maury knows that all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. What Maury doesn't know, is he's about to take center stage in an off-off-off-Broadway production — in the Twilight Zone."
Struggling playwright Maury Winkler (James Coco) is behind in his rent, and as such, he needs to come up with a play that won't close after one night. During a particularly intense writing session, Maury's partner Harry (Bob Dishy) suffers a heart attack and dies. Before he does so, Harry gives Maury the amulet he wears around his neck, which he says grants one wish per person. Rather than wish Harry back to life, Maury instead wishes to be partners with the greatest playwright who ever lived, which doesn't go as well as he had hoped.
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: Playwright Maury is played by James Coco, who has performed in numerous musicals and theatrical productions over the years. Maury's partnership with Harry is also an allusion to Coco having collaborated with Neil Simon and Terrence McNally, and the fact that all of Maury's plays closed on opening night is a reference to the similar failure of Coco's East of Eden musical, Here's Where I Belong.
- As You Know: James and the dying Harry spell out the origins and purpose of the latter's amulet for the benefit of the audience.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Maury wishes for a better partner to write with instead of wishing Harry back to life. He finds himself sent back to Elizabethan England, where he meets William Shakespeare. When Shakespeare spies the amulet he took from Harry, he ends up taking it from Maury and wishes for him to work with him. As a result, Maury ends up with every line Shakespeare ever wrote in his memory, and is forced to become Shakespeare's ghostwriter, without getting any of the credit himself.
- Breather Episode: The short is nice and goofy to start things off easily, compared to the darker and more intense episodes that follow.
- Chromosome Casting: There are only four characters, all of which are male.
- Destination Defenestration: Discussed. Maury and Harry's latest play features an English aristocrat named Roger who kills his lover Ethel, but they're stumped as to how he should do it. Harry suggests Roger throwing Ethel out the window, but Maury says that the room they're in is on the first floor of Roger's house, and people don't die from getting thrown out first story windows. This prompts Harry to debate that she could potentially fall into a swimming pool that's being excavated.
- Historical Domain Character: Maury meets William Shakespeare after he wishes to work with the greatest playwright ever.
- Irony: Instead of using his sole wish on the amulet to bring Harry back to life like Harry told him to, Maury instead wishes to be partners with the greatest playwright ever. He ends up being transported into Shakespeare's house, who swipes the amulet and wishes for Maury to work with him. The result is that Maury now knows all of the Bard's plays from memory and is forced to become his uncredited ghostwriter. As a bonus, Harry and Shakespeare are played by the same actor.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Maury selfishly uses his wish to work with the greatest playwright ever instead of bringing his partner Harry back to life. He ends up forced as William Shakespeare's ghostwriter and getting none of the credit for his work. As the cherry on top, the same actor who plays Harry also plays Shakespeare, as if Harry himself is getting the last laugh.
- Late to the Realization: Harry suffers a heart attack while he's brainstorming lines to Maury. When he collapses, Maury keeps writing down what he thinks are lines and actions, including his groaning and gurgling during the heart attack, before he finds Harry on the floor.
- Lighter and Softer: This short is very silly compared to the much darker episodes that come after it.
- Loser Protagonist: Maury is a dismally unsuccessful playwright whose 17 plays have nearly all been flops that closed on opening night. He's also forced to work in a filthy and cramped office that smells like low tide, and his fishmongering landlord is inches away from throwing him out for being late on the rent. When he gets a free wish, he decides to use the wish to work with the world's greatest playwright instead of bringing Harry back to life. As a result, he ends the episode as William Shakespeare's uncredited ghostwriter. All of his suffering throughout the short is Played for Laughs.
- No Name Given: Maury's landlord, a fishmonger who keeps harassing Maury for the rent he's owed.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: While conversing with the Bard himself, Maury offhandedly mentions Hamlet to William before he's written it, prompting him to explain the plot and Shakespeare to like his ideas.
- Stable Time Loop: Maury uses Harry's amulet to wish for a better writing partner instead of wishing Harry back to life. He is transported to Elizabethan England and immediately meets William Shakespeare. After explaining the plot of Hamlet to him, Shakespeare takes the amulet from Maury and wishes for Maury to work with him. Maury's mind is then filled with every line from all of Shakespeare's plays, and it turns out that the Bard's greatest works were written by Maury, using his newfound knowledge.
- Three Wishes: Discussed. As Harry succumbs to a heart attack, he gives an amulet he received from a group of Burmese monks who saved his life in the war to Maury, but tells him that anyone who wears it gets only one wish, and asks Maury to use his wish to bring him back to life. Maury laments why he doesn't get three wishes, since that's the standard deal. So instead of saving Harry's life, Maury wishes to work with the greatest playwright in the world, and is transported back in time to William Shakespeare's house in Elizabethan England.
- Time Travel Episode: Maury is sent back in time to Elizabethan England and becomes the uncredited ghostwriter of William Shakespeare.
- World of Ham: Maury, Harry, Shakespeare, and Maury's landlord are all rife with ham, considering that first three are playwrights and the latter is played by a noted stage comedian.
- Writers Suck: Maury and Harry are a pair of middle-aged playwrights who have written 17 plays in 22 years, all of which took six months to a year to write, and most of which closed after only one night, none of them ever getting anywhere near Broadway. They're also two months behind on the rent for their filthy, cramped office, and their fishmongering landlord is threatening to throw them out.
The Burning Man
In 1936, on the hottest day of the year, young Doug (Andre Gower) is traveling with his Aunt Neva (Piper Laurie) across the Kansas countryside. On their way to the lake for a swim, the pair meet a crazed old man in a dirty white suit (Roberts Blossom) on the side of the road. Upon giving him a ride, their passenger begins raving about "genetic evil", and how people naturally born malevolent uncontrollably eat people. When Doug grows concerned with the man's rantings, his aunt throws the man out of their car, but they soon discover that the man wasn't so crazy after all.
Tropes
- Ambiguously Human: The old man compares the "genetically evil" (which includes himself) to locusts, who hibernate in the dirt for 17 years, before undergoing a molt and eating everything and everyone in sight.
- Aside Glance: Doug and his aunt share a nervous one when the boy they pick up questions them about genetic evil.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The genetically evil old man "molts" into a young boy, and he is hinted to kill and eat Doug and Neva.
- Cassandra Truth: Doug and his Aunt Neva pick up a dirty, disheveled man in a white suit while driving through the countryside. This man immediately begins ranting and raving about genetic evil; people who are born wicked and malevolent, telling Doug and his aunt that they should be wary of said people. He compares these people to seventeen-year locusts, and warns that they eat people "fried, cooked, boiled, and parboiled." Aunt Neva finally has enough of his wild stories and throws him out of the car. That night, the two of them pick up a strange boy in a white suit who claims to have been left behind after a town picnic. After making the car stop, the boy asks them, "Have you ever wondered if there was such a thing as genetic evil in the world?". The headlights of the car then go out, implying that he is going to kill Doug and Aunt Neva.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: The old man who Doug and his aunt pick up, who rants about the heat and the genetically evil out to get them.
- Creepy Child: Doug and Aunt Neva pick up a strange boy in a white suit while they drive back from the lake. They soon discover that he is the reincarnation of the seemingly crazed, disheveled man they met earlier that day, and hints that he was genetically evil all along. It is then implied that the boy kills them and eats them.
- Deadly Closing Credits: In the final scene, the lights of Doug and Neva's car go out after the strange boy they picked up asks them if there was such a thing as genetic evil.
- Evil All Along: The old man/young boy who questions Doug and his aunt about genetic evil is revealed to be such an example himself.
- Foreshadowing:
- The opening shot features a couple of cicada husks clinging to a blade of grass. The old man later rants about the genetically evil, comparing them to insects for their unique rebirthing process. He later undergoes this process himself.
- He also first appears near a dried up mud puddle, which he later reveals is such a place where the genetically evil hibernate.
- Heat Wave: The episode is set in 1930s Kansas, which Aunt Neva says is experiencing its hottest July in 16 or 17 years.
- Hypocritical Humor: The old man rebukes Neva as being "nuts" for leaving him on a country road in a monster heat wave, despite the fact that he was ranting about genetically evil people who eat everything in sight to her nephew, terrorizing him in the process.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Those who are genetically evil apparently eat people in any fashion they want.
- No Name Given: Neither the disheveled man who rants about genetic evil, nor the strange boy in the white suit he apparently molts into, are named.
- Reincarnation: The genetically evil old man evidently molts into the creepy boy Doug and Neva encounter that night, before he makes them his dinner.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: The boy whom Doug and Neva pick up is wearing a very expensive looking white suit. He's hinted to be the old man wearing a similar suit the duo met early in the day, having shed his old appearance for a new body.
Dealer's Choice
"Just a friendly game of cards. It doesn't take much to buy into this game, but buying out may be something else entirely. You see, there's a wildcard on the table, in a deck that's been reshuffled and cut — in the Twilight Zone."
Close friends Tony, Pete, Jake, and Marty (Morgan Freeman, M. Emmet Walsh, Garrett Morris, and Barney Martin) are enjoying their usual poker night, drinking, smoking, and shooting the breeze. The usual fifth player in their group, Norman, is mysteriously absent from tonight's game, and a strange man named Nick (Dan Hedaya) says that he's playing on his behalf. When it's noted that every one of Nick's winning hands consists of three sixes, the group come to realize that Nick is the Devil, having come for one of their souls. When it looks as though Pete, the oldest of the group, is on his way to damnation, his friends stand up to Satan and allow him to play a last game with Pete, the winner gaining his soul.
Tropes
- Affably Evil: Nick/Satan proves to be far more pleasant than most depictions of him appear. He only takes souls because it's his job, and he shows that he's a good sport when he's caught cheating and loses the game, even rewarding the men with a huge feast and a fully stocked fridge.
- Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely in Pete's living room and kitchen.
- Chess with Death: Pete, Jake, and Tony correctly deduce that Nick, who has taken Norman's place at their regular poker game, is the Devil, and that he is here for one of their souls. Nick suggests that they make a game of it: whoever picks the highest card "wins" and gets to go with him to Hell. Tony picks an eight, Jake picks a seven, and the unfortunate Pete picks a jack. Tony then suggests that Pete and Nick play a game of one-on-one for his soul. Nick agrees and attempts to put up $18, but instead puts up $19 at Pete's insistence. As the game is dealer's choice, Pete chooses a game of lowball, where the lower hand wins and players don't want matching cards. Being the Devil, Nick has been getting three sixes in every hand. Pete gets four fives and Nick gets three sixes, meaning Pete loses. However, Marty, who is too innocent for the Devil to trick, reveals that Nick's "Death" Tarot card is actually a fourth six. After he's caught, Nick leaves empty handed, but on good(ish) terms with the men. As a reward for beating him, he fills Pete's empty kitchen with food and beer.
- Chromosome Casting: No women appear in this episode, though the guys keep mentioning their wives.
- Comically Missing the Point: Marty, the most innocent and dimmest member of the gang, describes A Streetcar Named Desire (which he incorrectly calls Streetcar Called Desire) as a great movie all about poker. His friends humorously say that he's right.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Pete and his friends get to keep their souls, and Nick proves himself to be a good sport by rewarding them with a feast and a fridge full of beer when he's been bested. The guys also plan to start going to church and treating their wives better to make sure Nick doesn't host the next poker night.
- The End... Or Is It?: Even though Nick takes his loss gracefully, he drops a sly remark that he isn't through with the players yet, since he hopes to host their next poker night. The guys are heard in the end planning to start treating their wives better and going to church regularly to ensure that's not the case.
- I Gave My Word: The guys learn that Nick is the Devil, and he's come to claim one of their souls. After they draw cards to determine who he'll take, he offers Pete, the loser, a chance to win his soul back with one last hand. When Pete wins with some help from Marty, Nick, rather than lamenting or pulling a trick, accepts his loss, leaves without a fight, and even rewards the guys by conjuring up a massive feast and a fridge packed with all kinds of beer for them.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness / Kindhearted Simpleton: Marty, the Nice Guy of the friend group, is the dimmest in their circle, thinking that A Streetcar Named Desire is a movie about poker, and is in the bathroom reading the label on a bottle of Mr. Bubble for a good portion of the episode. Despite this, he's the one who ultimately defeats Nick when accidentally touches the "Death" Tarot card he pulled during his fatal poker hand with Pete. It turns out that Marty's innocence and faith are anathema to Nick's evil, and the spell on the card is broken, revealing it to be a fourth six and making Pete the winner.
- Just Doing My Job: While Satan has come to take one of the men's souls, he holds no ill will against them, since he's just doing his job.
- Louis Cypher: The gang of friends find that "Nick", the stranger claiming to be filling in for their regular player Norman, keeps getting three sixes in every hand he's dealt.
- Meaningful Name: The Devil uses the name "Nick" when he plays poker with Pete, Jake, Tony, and Marty. "Old Nick" is a common nickname for the Devil.
- Number of the Beast: Pete, Jake, and Tony find it odd that Nick, who is filling in for their regular player Norman, always gets three sixes in every hand he's dealt, and come to the conclusion that he's the Devil, which is correct. Later on, when Nick agrees to play a hand for Pete's soul, he puts up $18, which Jake points out is another three sixes. This prompts Pete to insist that he instead put up $19.
- Place Worse Than Death: The episode is set in Newark, and Jake makes a crack about how New Jersey would be just the kind of place for the Devil to live.
- Satan: He's Nick's true identity, and even though he's come for Pete's soul, he proves himself to be a pretty affable guy.
- Stealth Pun: Pete plays a game of one-on-one with Nick, who is actually the Devil, for his immortal soul. In the closing narration, it is pointed out that Pete did not heed the old saying "Never deal with the Devil."
- Sympathy for the Devil: The Devil/Nick is actually a friendly, pleasant fellow who doesn't revel in taking souls; it's just his job. Similarly, when he loses the poker game he sets up, he accepts his defeat gracefully and bows out, even leaving the other players a parting gift in the form of a giant pile of snacks and a fridge filled with beer.
- Take That!: As mentioned above, when asked what the Devil could be doing in New Jersey, Jake jokes that he must live there.
- True Companions: The gang have been friends for as long as they can remember, always joking and swapping stories during their poker nights. Though each of them try telling Nick to take one of the others' souls when it seems they're on the chopping block, they work together to help Pete beat Nick in a one-on-one hand so his soul can be saved.
"There's an old saying, oft told, but seldom heeded: "Never deal with the Devil." But if by chance you must, it's nice to know he can be a good sport. Just a friendly game of cards among a friendly group of guys, who have just come back — from the Twilight Zone."
