Air date: May 12, 1961
Archibald Beechcroft (Shelley Berman) is a misanthropic grouch who despises people. His surliness with his fellow man makes it clear during a typical day at work, during which he's crammed into a crowded elevator like a sardine in a can, has to deal with the constant stream of noise that an office environment provides, and keeps getting coffee spilled on him by his incompetent co-worker Henry. As an apology for spilling his coffee, Henry gives Beechcroft an occult book titled The Mind and The Matter. Beechcroft gradually grows intrigued with the book, reading it for hours on end. Eventually, the book teaches Beechcroft about the powers of concentration and willpower, which he then utilizes strongly enough to make the entire human race disappear. While he initially enjoys his newfound isolation, Beechcroft quickly grows bored. Rather than willing everyone back, he instead concentrates on creating a whole world of people exactly like him... which shows Beechcroft that mankind isn't really as bad as he makes them out to be.
The Mind and the Tropes:
- Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: After willing the human race to vanish, Beechcroft revels in his newfound solitude. He soon realizes, however, that while things are a lot less irritating, they're also a lot more boring.
- Jerkass: Archibald Beechcroft is a mild version. He's not malicious or evil, just grouchy, surly, rude, and very low on patience. He wises up when he manifests a world of people who look and act just like him, letting him be on the receiving end of his own attitude for once.
- Lighter and Softer: This is one of the few Twilight Zone episodes with no tragic sequences or cruel twists. It's a lighthearted, comedic episode about a run of the mill Jerkass who hates people learning a valuable lesson about humankind and coming out a better person from his experience.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: Once he's willed humanity away and grows bored, Beechcroft's reflection suggests ways for him to use his new-found mental powers, prompting Beechcroft to conjure an earthquake and a lightning storm.
- Me's a Crowd: When he grows bored with his newfound isolation, Beechcroft uses his new abilities to remake the human race to be exactly like him. To his chargin, this means Beechcroft now has to put up with a world of people who are just as rude and grouchy as he is.
- No Social Skills: Beechcroft is pretty lacking in this department, though he doesn't care much, being a misanthropic curmudgeon.
- Reality Warper: Beechcroft develops the ability to manipulate reality through sheer willpower after reading the titular book. He uses his newfound powers to make everyone disappear, since he utterly hates people. After he gets bored being the only person on Earth, he creates an earthquake and an electrical storm, but it doesn't really help. Beechcroft ultimately gets the idea to create a world full of people just like him, but he quickly discovers that a lot of himself is just as irritating as a lot of everyone else, if not moreso.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: One of the few Twilight Zone episodes with no cruel twist. After experiencing his grouchiness firsthand, multiplied by the hundreds in fact, Beechcroft gains a new outlook on his own life and changes his attitude.
- Today, X. Tomorrow, the World!: After Beechcroft removes his landlady from existence, he excitedly declares "Today the landlady, tomorrow the world."
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Mind and The Matter, an occult book Henry gives to Beechcroft as an apology for spilling coffee on his lap. He finds it interesting enough to read throughout his shift, his train ride home, and while he has his dinner, and the book either teaches or grants him the ability to control reality itself via sheer concentration.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In the end, Beechcroft becomes a nicer person, having grown a lot more understanding of people's faults, as well as his own.
