Producer Fletcher Markle's eighth and final episode (but the only one he directed) provides a rare leading role for political comedian Mort Sahl as an innocent bystander who overhears a kidnapping plot being discussed in the booth next to his in a local watering hole. By the time he exits the bar, the villains are well aware of his unwanted presence and take violent steps to ensure that he chooses not to interfere. Sahl himself opts to kidnap the socialite victim (Sue Randall) after her wealthy father (Hollywood veteran Frank Albertson) refuses to believe his warning of danger. That's about as complicated as it gets as a genuinely intriguing premise is undone by the weak script and performances, especially its "Man in the Middle," Mort Sahl, who comments throughout that everything he's done has turned out wrong. As the lead villain, a low key Werner Klemperer (HOGAN'S HEROES) proves to be just as bland as the hero, engendering no menace whatsoever. Sharp eyed viewers can spot former silent film comedian Snub Pollard in a silent unbilled walk on as a waiter in the bar. All of Fletcher Markle's eight episodes had the same uninspired look and feel so it was quite justified that he be removed as producer, with William Frye handling the horror entries and Maxwell Shane handling the crime ones, at least until Frye became the sole producer by episode 27. From the seventh episode on, THRILLER became a different series and viewers were rewarded thereafter.