A Fear of Spiders/Junior/Marmalade Wine/The Academy

I remember this show from when I was a child. At the time, all I remembered was being scared to death. :) As an adult, I'm more impressed with the great storytelling and artful direction. I once had arachnophobia and therefore this episode stuck out in my mind from childhood. But even when I saw it back then, I had an appreciation for the relationship dynamics between the female and male lead. And that's really the magic of Night Gallery - being able to scare you but still having a solid story to do it with. I wish that today's TV shows and movies would take a hint from Night Gallery. It's OK to have CGI (which wasn't available back when Night Gallery was done) but don't get so caught up in it that the story suffers (or is nonexistent). Thank goodness for hulu.com. Maybe some television executive will revive this series at some time in the future or at least learn from its craftsmanship. You can't beat a good story.

This was a very broad set of stories. After the first three I gave it a "6" rating. Changed to an "8" after watching Rod Serling's spine chilling adaptation of The Academy. I wonder who it was exactly that tapped Pat Boone for this role? Genius. Like all of Serling's work it's precise, no words are wasted. What a talent! I only recently got the series on disk, not having seen them since they originally aired. So there were many I missed, many I didn't recall. All have been wonderful to revisit. Don't let the bright blue sky and spotless building fool you. The Academy is pure horror; brilliantly acted by Boone.

This was one of the quirkier short segments of the controversial series, and it starred Rudy Vallee and Robert Morse as doctor and photographer, respectively. The abode of Dr. Deeking(Vallee)looked like it was suspended in air and/or outer space, and I did enjoy that atmosphere, even though it looked totally fake, but it still worked for me. Robert Morse's character was Roger Blacker, and he was both a photographer and an accidental foreseer, as certain things he mentioned to Deeking came to fruition, like the horses and the stock market. I'm not sure why he said these things to the doctor, and even though he later admits that he just made these predictions up, they still rang true. I believe he stumbled upon Deeker's dwelling in order to photograph or interview him, but their conversations were strange, as was this episode. Deeker serves Blacker a few glasses of marmalade wine to get him drunk, and after he finally passes out, he wakes up in bed by himself. The next few lines uttered are weird indeed, as Deeker informs his guest that his predictions rang true and made him lots of money, even though Blacker didn't intend for this to happen. After this discussion ends, Blacker tries to get out of bed, but can't move, as he thinks his new boots are tied too tight. The real reason why Blacker can't move is that Deeker liked the man's predictions so much, he decided to amputate Blacker's feet so that he's stuck in bed, and it's funny the way Deeker informs him. I would recommend this mainly because it's both weird and original, and it's not too long to be that boring.

The fourth episode of the second season features four segments.

The first "A Fear of Spiders" is the episodes primary story. O'Neal and Stanley both do good here, in a very fun story. Stanley's character comes off as rather annoying and I couldn't really relate when the episode tries to play the sympathy card with her, despite O'Neal's character being very dickish. The one shot of the spider a giant puppet being pulled across the floor always remained in my memories as a kid.

The second "Junior" is another short vignette, and man I can defiantly see why Serling couldn't stand these things there so out of place and not near as funny as producer Jack Laird thought they were. Plus they seem to make no freaking sense at all, Wally Cox makes an appearance though.

The third "Marmalade Wine" is a very interesting tale that I found myself enjoying a lot, It's filmed very surreal like with the segments opening sets and rain storm looking so fake that it almost helps the surrealness of it, it also has some nice camera work, however the problem is it's to short and if extended upon, we might could have really had something here, and Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee both play off each other really well.

The fourth and final "The Academy" is decent despite the fact it's rather predictable, anyone can pretty much figure out whats going on here, and you feel like it takes our protagonist forever before he finally gets it. However theirs some good star power with Leif Erickson and Pat Boone.

Overall, a pretty good episode with a great primary story, two decent secondary stories, and a throwaway vignette.

Two major episodes that involve the milk of human kindness. In "A Fear of Spiders" a food critic who is being hounded by a rather unattractive woman in his building, goes off on her, saying very cruel things. Apparently, she has become quite a nuisance and he just can't get any work done because of her constant interruptions. He returns to work but is waylaid by dripping faucet. When he goes to investigate, he sees a tiny spider in the sink He washes the spider down the drain, but it soon reappears, just a bit larger. This reoccurs until one the size of a dog shows up in his bedroom. He has an incredible fear of the little eight legged guys and is in a panic. He gets his super, a sarcastic New Yorker, to help but all he gets is dismissive banter and accusations of being gay (though that word is never used). Eventually, he seeks the companionship and aid of the woman upstairs. She sees his desperation as fuel for a counterattack. This is a good episode.

"Junior" stars Wally Cox. Wally's wife forces him to get a glass of water for their son, who won't let the sleep. The results are for you to find out.

In "Marmalade Wine," Robert Morse stumbles down an expressionistic path through stylized trees, where he runs into Rudy Vallee (who made a comeback for some reason). Morse claims to be taking pictures of mountain lions. It is raining and Vallee invites him in. While he drinks excessively, he tells his host he has the gift of prophecy. Vallee wants a couple of tips and the young man wakes up in bed with a hangover. Somewhat remindful of "Misery," the Stephen King story and film.

"The Academy" finds Pat Boone, obviously a very rich man, arriving at a military academy, hoping to enroll his son. He gets the grand tour. There is discipline everywhere. Drilling, manual of arms, all kinds of this stuff. He gets to talk extensively with the headmaster who takes him on a tour. It is obvious that no matter how long it takes, whoever comes to this school will eventually be changed. As he continues the tour, he realizes that some of the men are in their thirties and older. He meets Larry Linville (yes, Frank Burns from MASH) who is still at the academy. This is the harshest of environments and the executive must make a decision concerning his fifteen-year-old.