"The Dead Man" (9 stars out of 10)
Night Gallery as a series started off with a bang in this spooky and compelling episode. Doing double-duty as writer and director, Douglas Heyes pulled from the "mad scientist" genre, but his script effectively anchors the story in two believable central characters rather than surrendering to the temptation to do this is high camp. The Redford character's rising obsession with manipulating the human psyche to cure disease plays less like Dr. Frankenstein, and more like that of an inventor becoming more and more amazed (and, self-satisfied) with what he has been able to accomplish. This growing obsession helps to fuel the pace of the first half of the story, leading to the tragic plot twist; at this point, the focus shifts to the drive of the Talmadge character to find what has gone wrong to ramp up the energy, leading to the Grand Guignol climax. Heyes' direction is equally up to the task, using his camera to reflect the increasing chaos at the climax of the episode.
If Heyes' script sets the train in motion, the story is helped immeasurably by the two powerful lead performances at its center. Betz is superb as Redford, correctly choosing to rest his portrayal on a believable sense of scientific wonder and self-absorption, tempered by a very believable descent into almost paralyzing grief; Corey is every bit his match as his conventional counterpart - on the one hand, he is Redford's conscience, while on the other he is almost maddeningly conventional. If there is one sore spot in the episode, it is Sorel as Redford's wife, who seems to go from bland to hysterical in almost no time at all. Fortunately, her time on screen is limited.
Although Serling would write the majority of the strong episodes of Night Gallery, this episode served to demonstrate that the format, even at its best, was not of Serling's sensibility, but rather rooted in classic horror. So long as the quality of the horror writing was at this level, the series would succeed; unfortunately, outside of Serling's script, that level of quality was not generally to be seen.
"The Housekeeper" (8 stars out of 10)
One of the more loathsome elements of Night Gallery as a series was the tendency to resort to schlocky "comedy" bits, in the form of the infamous "blackout" skits. The Housekeeper shows that it the series' forays into comic territory didn't have to be so juvenile and, once again, Douglas Heyes' scriptwriting, served by a wonderfully offbeat comic performance from Hagman, deserves the credit. Hagman's portrayal is marvelous just to right or left of center, keeping the audience off-balance as to whether his intentions are sinister or merely eccentric. Nolan is solid as always as a woman with very low self-esteem, who can't quite believe her luck, and while Suzy Parker's performance is not a masterstroke of acting, she's perfectly cast as someone her oddball husband intends to be a literal vessel for his own desires.
Night Gallery as a series started off with a bang in this spooky and compelling episode. Doing double-duty as writer and director, Douglas Heyes pulled from the "mad scientist" genre, but his script effectively anchors the story in two believable central characters rather than surrendering to the temptation to do this is high camp. The Redford character's rising obsession with manipulating the human psyche to cure disease plays less like Dr. Frankenstein, and more like that of an inventor becoming more and more amazed (and, self-satisfied) with what he has been able to accomplish. This growing obsession helps to fuel the pace of the first half of the story, leading to the tragic plot twist; at this point, the focus shifts to the drive of the Talmadge character to find what has gone wrong to ramp up the energy, leading to the Grand Guignol climax. Heyes' direction is equally up to the task, using his camera to reflect the increasing chaos at the climax of the episode.
If Heyes' script sets the train in motion, the story is helped immeasurably by the two powerful lead performances at its center. Betz is superb as Redford, correctly choosing to rest his portrayal on a believable sense of scientific wonder and self-absorption, tempered by a very believable descent into almost paralyzing grief; Corey is every bit his match as his conventional counterpart - on the one hand, he is Redford's conscience, while on the other he is almost maddeningly conventional. If there is one sore spot in the episode, it is Sorel as Redford's wife, who seems to go from bland to hysterical in almost no time at all. Fortunately, her time on screen is limited.
Although Serling would write the majority of the strong episodes of Night Gallery, this episode served to demonstrate that the format, even at its best, was not of Serling's sensibility, but rather rooted in classic horror. So long as the quality of the horror writing was at this level, the series would succeed; unfortunately, outside of Serling's script, that level of quality was not generally to be seen.
"The Housekeeper" (8 stars out of 10)
One of the more loathsome elements of Night Gallery as a series was the tendency to resort to schlocky "comedy" bits, in the form of the infamous "blackout" skits. The Housekeeper shows that it the series' forays into comic territory didn't have to be so juvenile and, once again, Douglas Heyes' scriptwriting, served by a wonderfully offbeat comic performance from Hagman, deserves the credit. Hagman's portrayal is marvelous just to right or left of center, keeping the audience off-balance as to whether his intentions are sinister or merely eccentric. Nolan is solid as always as a woman with very low self-esteem, who can't quite believe her luck, and while Suzy Parker's performance is not a masterstroke of acting, she's perfectly cast as someone her oddball husband intends to be a literal vessel for his own desires.