Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
Based on the short story "Temperature Days on Hawthorne Street" by Charles L. Grant.
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 2 (click to see context) from:
to:
-> Screenplay By: Donald Wollner
-> Story By: Charles L. Grant (orig. title "Temperature Days on Hawthorne Street")
-> Directed By: John Strysik
-> Story By: Charles L. Grant (orig. title "Temperature Days on Hawthorne Street")
-> Directed By: John Strysik
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
Struggling artist Garry Cooley (Creator/RobertForster) suffers from both financial troubles and a desire for a second child, ever since his wife Ruth (Shannon Wilcox) became infertile after their son Sandy (Chad Allen) was born. His neighborhood looks much like any other, save for one notable difference: the Milkman, a mysterious, unseen being in the attire of a civil servant who is able to grant wishes of residents who leave him a note in their milk boxes. After hearing about him, Garry tries to have the Milkman grant his wishes for money and job offers, even as the neighbors warn him not to take advantage of the Milkman's talents. Garry also learns, the hard way, that the Milkman can mix up the meanings of his customers' notes if they're written metaphorically, as he's in for a shock when Ruth manages to give birth again.
to:
Struggling artist Garry Cooley (Creator/RobertForster) suffers from both financial troubles and a desire for a second child, ever since his wife Ruth (Shannon Wilcox) (Creator/ShannonWilcox) became infertile after their son Sandy (Chad Allen) was born. His neighborhood looks much like any other, save for one notable difference: the Milkman, a mysterious, unseen being in the attire of a civil servant who is able to grant wishes of residents who leave him a note in their milk boxes. After hearing about him, Garry tries to have the Milkman grant his wishes for money and job offers, even as the neighbors warn him not to take advantage of the Milkman's talents. Garry also learns, the hard way, that the Milkman can mix up the meanings of his customers' notes if they're written metaphorically, as he's in for a shock when Ruth manages to give birth again.
again.
Based on the short story "Temperature Days on Hawthorne Street" by Charles L. Grant.
Based on the short story "Temperature Days on Hawthorne Street" by Charles L. Grant.
Added DiffLines:
* LiteraryAllusionTitle[=/=]PunBasedTitle: The title of the episode (but not the story it was adapted from) puns on Creator/EugeneONeill's play ''Theatre/TheIcemanCometh''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CheatingWithTheMilkman: A literal, inadvertant example occurs to set up the twist ending, as the Milkman rapes Ruth in her sleep to give Garry his second child.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Ruth disappears after the second commercial break, being confined to her bed while her pregnancy advances. We can only guess how she reacted to her new child.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,3 (click to see context) from:
An unsuccessful artist named Garry Cooley (Creator/RobertForster) learns about the Milkman, an unseen figure who grants wishes. He leaves a note in his mailbox with his wishes. He starts with small requests, then he wishes for his infertile wife to have a baby.
!!Tropes present in this figure
* RapeAsDrama: Garry’s wife Ruth was raped by the Milkman after he asked for a baby girl
!!Tropes present in this figure
* RapeAsDrama: Garry’s wife Ruth was raped by the Milkman after he asked for a baby girl
to:
Struggling artist
!! Tropes:
* AsYouKnow: Sandy reveals the Milkman's existence and the fact that he grants
* AwfulWeddedLife: As Garry gets utterly absorbed in the wealth that the Milkman has given him after 8 months, as well as the apparent power he has over him, his relationship with Ruth starts taking a nosedive when the latter gets tired of the former quitting his job and getting rich through "unnatural" methods.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The mysterious, unseen, inhuman Milkman goes around Garry's neighborhood granting wishes to anyone who leaves a note for him in their milk box. Garry begins to take advantage of his
** Before that, it's shown that his neighbor Howard had been wishing for new cars and "a sweet, young thing" after he and his
!!Tropes present
*
* DownerEnding: Garry discovers that Ruth was raped by the Milkman to grant the artist's wish of having another child, and the blank stare Sandy gives his dad as he announces the news indicate that the birth of his new "sibling" traumatized him.
* ExactWords: The climactic reveal comes about because Garry begs the Milkman to give him a second child. The Milkman accomplishes this by ''raping his wife'', giving him a child that resembles itself more than a human being.
* TheFaceless: The Milkman never shows his entire appearance, the only exposed part of him we see being his hand.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Garry's opening act exposition about Ruth losing their unborn daughter in pregnancy, as well as the fact that he writes about it in his note to the Milkman, sets up the ending reveal, where the Milkman gives him that baby girl in his own "unique" way.
* GoodParents: Garry promises Sandy, who's looking for his watch, that he'll buy another one for him tomorrow, even though the family is down to their last $200 and losing their lease. His actions throughout the episode, including his treating the Milkman like a servant, come about because he wants the best for himself and his family, even though it drives a notable wedge between himself and Ruth.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: InUniverse and out, the Milkman is never fully revealed at any given point, save for his shadow, his uniform, and the brief glimpse we get of his utterly inhuman hand. Garry twice tries staying up until dawn so he can hopefully meet his benefactor in person, but he ends up making the Milkman run off the first time and passes out drunk the second time.
* HumanoidAbomination: The Milkman, whose arms are shown to be green and reptilian, and has the magical properties associated with genies.
* INeedAFreakingDrink:
** After Garry and Ruth argue about their finances and the Milkman, we see that Garry had drunk himself to sleep in the kitchen, but not without setting his alarm clock to check if the Milkman had come around and left something in the milk box, even trying to see him in person.
** Near the end, Garry's neighbor Howard downs a glass in one gulp when he reveals his wife Edna died in a car crash, in one of the new cars he asked the Milkman for, after angrily writing a note for a younger woman to replace her after a fight.
* JackassGenie: Partially with the Milkman, who has trouble understanding the more metaphorical notes he's given, which often results in the notes' writers getting some pretty bad luck.
* LiteralGenie: As Garry discovers, if your notes to him are more metaphorical than literal, the Milkman will grant your wishes by ''any means necessary''.
* MeaningfulName: The neighborhood gets its milk from a company named "While You Sleep Dairy", which is fitting considering the Milkman granting the wishes of his customers overnight.
* NonMaliciousMonster: The Milkman isn't intentionally evil, but his wishes can bring disaster to those who aren't specific enough about them, nor are the means through which he grants them.
* NothingIsScarier: We never learn where the Milkman came from or what exactly he is. As far as we can tell, he's just ''there'', and most likely has been since the neighborhood was constructed.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Anyone who isn't specific about what they ask the Milkman for in their notes will have it backfire, as the Milkman gives them what he thinks they're asking for by ''any'' means.
* RapeAsDrama: The ending reveals that the Milkman raped Ruth to grant Garry's wish of having another child sooner.
* RecurringRiff: An ominous synth tune, similar to the theme that [[Music/{{Yes}} Rick Wakeman]] composed for ''Film/Creepshow2'', plays over and over throughout the episode.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: As he and Ruth spy the Milkman making his latest delivery, Garry tries to approach the door to see him, prompting the Milkman to run off into the darkness. He does the same thing when Garry begs him to let his new child be born sooner, but eventually relents and grants the wish when Garry cries himself to sleep on the porch.
* ShoutOut: The episode's title is a clear allusion to ''Theatre/TheIcemanCometh''.
* SinisterSilhouettes: The Milkman's shadow is seen through Garry's window, illuminated by dawn's early light, twice in the episode.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Garry's son Sandy is the first character to mention the Milkman and how he gives the neighborhood residents "presents", and this gets the gears in Garry's head turning.
* StarvingArtist: It's established early on that Garry isn't having any good luck financially or career-wise, Ruth even reminding him that their lease is nearly gone and they're down to their last $200. His need for finances and a better standing at work is one of the reasons he invokes the Milkman's miraculous abilities. After the TimeSkip below, he reveals that he quit his old job and is going to try writing a novel for better cash, though Sandy is able to see that his dad is just pretending to write a novel while planning to leech off the Milkman's powers so he doesn't have to do any actual work, sharing his disappointment with him.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: While high on the power that the Milkman's wishes give him, Garry reveals to Ruth that he told all the "sad sack ad men" at his old job that they could shove it.
* ThousandYardStare: Sandy has one when he presents his new "sister" to his father at the end of the episode.
* TimeSkip: After the opening act, the episode skips 8 months into the future, where Ruth is pregnant again and the family's money problems are nearly solved.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Howard notes to Garry that the Milkman has a taste for chocolate, having been leaving boxes of it along with his notes. Garry does the same thing to entice the Milkman to grant him his new child, but the Milkman only takes the box after Garry falls asleep on the porch.
* WritersSuck: Garry lies that he's going to try writing a novel to help solve the family's money problems after he
-----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
General clarification on work content
Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
Rape as Drama: Garry’s wife Ruth was raped by the Milkman after he asked for a baby girl
to:
!!Tropes present in this figure
* RapeAsDrama: Garry’s wife Ruth was raped by the Milkman after he asked for a baby girl
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
Rape as Drama
to:
Rape as DramaDrama: Garry’s wife Ruth was raped by the Milkman after he asked for a baby girl
