'The Waiting Room'. A Rod Serling original, directed by Jeannot Szwarc. Steve Forrest plays Sam Dichter, a notorious gunslinger who comes to a sparsely populated saloon one dark, cold night. The gentlemen there will have an unfortunate surprise in store for him, as they all await something inevitable. Now, this segment doesn't really represent Mr. Serlings' best work, as it's not hard to see where it's going. Overall, it's predictable. But it has a decent atmosphere, plus excellent work by a capable ensemble - Buddy Ebsen, Lex Barker, Albert Salmi, Jim Davis, Gilbert Roland - keeps it very watchable. The incidental music composed by John Lewis and Robert Bain is superb at setting the mood. Forrest is amusing as a man who is either too thick-headed to get the point, or who just doesn't want to admit the truth.
Slightly more interesting is 'Last Rites for a Dead Druid', written by Alvin Sapinsley (a 'Night Gallery' regular) and also directed by Mr. Szwarc. An engaging Carol Lynley is Jenny Tarraday, a young woman who enjoys antiques and bargains. One day, she is encouraged by her friend Mildred (a delicious Donna Douglas) to buy a statue since they believe it resembles Jenny's husband Bruce (Bill Bixby). The person who posed for the statue long ago turns out to be a sorcerer, Bruce the Black, who just might be an actual ancestor of the present-day Bruce. Soon, present-day Bruce is falling under the evil spell of the statue. This episode is really not fleshed out all that much - it could have been expanded to fill an entire episodes' run time to add more details to the story. But Bixby is very damn good as a born skeptic who begins to crack. At one point, it looks as if he might drop a cat into a barbecue! Ultimately, you feel bad for this character, since he was NOT an evil sort to begin with.
A good episode in general.
Seven out of 10.
Slightly more interesting is 'Last Rites for a Dead Druid', written by Alvin Sapinsley (a 'Night Gallery' regular) and also directed by Mr. Szwarc. An engaging Carol Lynley is Jenny Tarraday, a young woman who enjoys antiques and bargains. One day, she is encouraged by her friend Mildred (a delicious Donna Douglas) to buy a statue since they believe it resembles Jenny's husband Bruce (Bill Bixby). The person who posed for the statue long ago turns out to be a sorcerer, Bruce the Black, who just might be an actual ancestor of the present-day Bruce. Soon, present-day Bruce is falling under the evil spell of the statue. This episode is really not fleshed out all that much - it could have been expanded to fill an entire episodes' run time to add more details to the story. But Bixby is very damn good as a born skeptic who begins to crack. At one point, it looks as if he might drop a cat into a barbecue! Ultimately, you feel bad for this character, since he was NOT an evil sort to begin with.
A good episode in general.
Seven out of 10.