Die Now, Pay Later

I do consider myself a fan of Night Gallery's funny segments for the most part, but I've read that these segments have come under scrutiny, and that Rod Serling wasn't exactly happy with the direction of this controversial series. From what I read on this site, this particular short segment was only shown in syndication(say that 3 times fast), so someone involved in the show probably didn't like it, but I thought it was actually decent, and had star power with both Will Geer(Sam Peckinpah)and Slim Pickens(Sheriff Ned Harlow). Back to the story, it begins with a cool painting, and a Rick Wakeman-esque style of organ music playing at a funeral. Funeral director Peckinpah is having a clearance sale of everything in his business, and it turns out that many locals in town are dying in a rather bizarre coincidence. Very early on, Harlow is seen begging and/or yelling at his old friend to end the sale in order to stop this coincidence, and he seems to think that it's more than just a coincidence, considering that Harlow's wife, Etta, believes that a distant relative of Peckinpah's was a warlock many years ago, although neither man really believes her. There's a black cat clumsily hanging around, then seen walking and meowing, and the same scene repeats itself a few times, and every time we see the cat, cheesy sinister music plays, so it's safe to assume the cat is evil, but the segment is so short that we don't get any answers. The scene I'm about to explain is where I can see how fans lament Laird's writing this show as a comedy instead of horror; as the men are discussing ending the sale, Harlow gets a call from Etta, but what we hear are loud and silly noises, kind of like the teacher in any Charlie Brown cartoon, as we don't know what's being said as we hear rambling. As soon as Harlow hangs up the phone, Peckinpah mentions something about perhaps having the sale just one more day, to which his old friend agrees. For the next scene, guess who was found dead in her car? I'm not telling, but it's an easy answer. All in all, I thought this segment was worth airing back then, as I've seen several worse episodes of the Night Gallery, and this was probably better than average, although not a great one when you consider the added comedy aspect which wasn't really needed.

Slim Pickens stars as small town sheriff Ned Harlow, who has become concerned by the escalating death rate among its more unpopular citizens, which he traces back to funeral director(and rumored Warlock) Walt Peckinpah(played by Will Geer) whose January clearance sale of caskets has gone very well indeed... Mediocre tale is fitfully amusing mostly due to its two well-matched stars, otherwise forgettable.

This only aired as part of the syndication package that the studio created, which now notoriously re-edited many episodes with new material or old studio footage, including the separate series "The Sixth Sense" shoe-horned in as well. At least now "Night Gallery" can be found complete and unedited on DVD, though not "The Sixth Sense" yet.

Not part of the original series' run, this was a tale only given a second chance once the series went into syndication. It stars the lovable pair of Will Geer and Slim Pickens, cast as undertaker Walt Peckinpah and flustered sheriff Ned Harlow. Peckinpah is having a "January Clearance Sale", and Ned is frustrated because this sale seems to have sparked a rash of deaths in their community. What's more, the people dying are unsympathetic types who others would enjoy seeing dead. Ned is harboring the suspicion that there might be foul play at work here.

Despite the teaming of two engaging actors, this is minor-league fare, scripted by Jack Laird from a story by Mary Linn Roby. It's a two-character piece without much dramatic tension or impact, despite the fact that Neds' nagging wife (who actually phones the business while the two men are having their confrontation) believes an ancient relative of Peckinpahs' to have been a 17th century warlock. The ending is particularly unsatisfying.

In any event, it IS quite possible that one or more people didn't much care for this segment when it was first filmed. But at least the syndication package allowed the audience to see it so they could make up their own minds.

One of the best things about this was the dragon-like sculpture Mr. Serling poses next to in his introductory segment. It led this viewer, anyway, to expect something a little better from this yarn.

Directed by Timothy Galfas ("Sunnyside").

Six out of 10.