The Cube

The Cube was shown on NBC as part of a series called Experiments in Television. To my knowledge it was only shown twice, but it was a wonderfully surreal program unlike anything I had ever seen before.

The series showed other unusual things like a series of cartoons that were written by British playwright Harold Pinter.

I certainly wish NBC would find these shows and re-air them, because in the year 2003, they would still look incredibly modern!

On February 23,1969, a Sunday afternoon, the anthology show NBC EXPERIMENT IN TELEVISION aired a one-hour teleplay by Jim Henson, then best known for being the man behind "Ralph the Dog" on the JIMMY DEAN SHOW. This unique film, titled simply THE CUBE, starred Richard Schaal as a man trapped in a white cubical room. He had no idea how he got there or where it was. And although anyone could enter, he couldn't leave....

In 2002 I posted the original IMDb comment on THE CUBE and started the long struggle to expand the credits on this long-lost, long-forgotten classic. Soon other IMDb users were regaining their memories of this odd but invasive show. After a few months of this it seemed a good idea to create a common place to share thoughts, memories, and discoveries about THE CUBE.

And another place online where you can show people and go AH-HAH! SEE! I TOLD YOU IT EXISTED!!!!

Location: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JImHensonTheCube/

In the three years of existence, we've gone from the barest of information online to full cast lists and a reconstructed script. Next, actual screen images from THE CUBE. Come join us! Feel free to add anything you want, anything you can find, from personal thoughts to actual files and images!

-------Postscript, 29July2008------- Six years later and we've accomplished much of our goals. The biggest success was bringing out of hiding both BW and COLOR copies of this lost masterpiece. Those copies are now available online, both for free and in the form of pirate copies others have made. We're still hoping that Henson's kids will bring out a legit, newly-remastered edition.... In the mean time, we've reconstructed the original script, collected a mass of screen caps, and seen the creation of TWO stage versions (one in US, one in Germany).

--David

Like so many others here, I too saw it, when it was first run, as a teenager - WOW. And yes, I too can't get it out of my head, and just today learned that it was Jim Henson!!! The man WAS a genius!!! And, like the rest of you - I want a copy!!! Just to prove to my friends that I'm not as crazy as you think I am.

I remember the band playing "You'll never get out.. You'll never get out... you'll never get out of the cube.."

Towards the ending, when he's shown the casket... and given the gun... oh man.. that scene is vivid in my mind right now, 30+ years later after having seen it that one time, in', as we used to say, living color.

But really.. isn't life all just strawberry jam?

Not to just repeat what others have said, but memories of this show have been floating around in my head for some 30 years now!! I must have been no more than 5 or 6 and I only remember tiny bits of it. I often started to wonder if I had just dreamed the whole thing! But this is most definitely it.

I remember the people telling the guy in the cube, "This is my door, you can't use it", so much so that when somebody does offer to let him escape he protests, "I can't, that's your door!". I also seem to remember that it was shot on videotape, not film. That's about all I can picture. I must have missed the ending.

It seems so appropriate to find out that this show was done by Jim Henson! Because I also have memories of watching 'Hey Cinderella' and 'The Musicians of Bremen' at about the same time (early 70s).

I was recently at an obscure movie party some friends of mine held and got to see this rare little gem of a flick. I was very surprised to see it was produced, directed and co-written by Jim Henson as the film began, and thought that I was probably in for a treat. I was not wrong. This film says volumes in the 50 minutes or so that it runs and definitely leaves the viewer with something to ponder. The acting is also not bad and the film being black and white somehow makes it more impacting. This is Henson at his best in my opinion. I hope this film becomes more available and gets some of the attention it most definitely deserves. And to think this was a movie on television in 1969..