1.46 --- Cold Reading
 Directed by : Gus TrikonisWritten by : Martin Pasko & Rebecca Parr Starring : Lawrence Poindexter, Dick Shawn First aired : 14th of February, 1986. Milo Trent (Lawrence Poindexter), an aspiring radio drama actor back in the '30s, is invited as a last-minute replacement to a famous weekly show "Dick Noble, the African Explorer". The show is a creation of famous writer Nelson Westbrook (Dick Shawn, The Producers), who often does rewrites on the fly while in the studio with the actors. But, when Westbrook accidentally wishes for realistic special effects while holding an ancient voodoo artifact, he gets what he wanted - and more ! As the actors in the studio read out their lines, the exact things happen to them - first there is a storm (inside the studio), then african tribesmen appear, followed by monkeys, parrots, rifles in the distance etc. Realizing very well that their safety is in peril, Westbrook feverishly rewrites the show so nothing drastic happens, writing around a plane crash and an earthquake amongst other things. With all hazards averted, the cast brings the show to an ending and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The relief turns out to be a rather premature one, as you can imagine what happens when the show host announces next week's episode : Dick Noble and the invaders from Mars ! *** Fourth quarter of first season opens on a high note, with an amusing little comedy directed by Broadway dancer turned TV director Gus Trikonis. The period detail is faithfully recreated, and Dick Shawn's over-the-top character adds extra flavour. The downfall of this episode could have been, again, special effects, but this time disaster is averted - all the gags are rather well executed, including the rousing finale. Job well done, I'd say. |
posted by Mairosu at 4:14 PM
Comments on "1.46 --- Cold Reading"
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Adrock said ... (10:27 PM) :
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Love this story. Dick Shawn is terrific as the Orson Welles-like radio impresario. Love the use of the Marius Constant TZ music in the episode itself, too, as the Martian saucer crashes.
Dick Shawn died on stage about a year later, literally in the middle of a comedy act about lying down. A very TZ way to go. In fact, he died almost in the exact way that his character unleashes the Twilight Zone within this episode .....
A very avg, barely silver ep, but love Dick Shawn. He was the hipster beach boy in it's a mad mad mad world, and cold miser in year without a Santa Claus, and a good tales from the dark side as well.
I became a big fan of old-time radio when I was a kid in the 70s, so I loved this episode! Martin Pasko wrote for the comic books I read in the 70s and 80s And I think Shawn's character reminds me of the boss (Alan Brady) in the old "Dick van Dyke Show." Comedy didn't always work in the Twilight Zone but this one did!