The Shadow Man
"When you're thirteen years old, you're supposed to be beyond those childhood fears of things that go bump in the night. Supposed to be. But for Danny Hayes, those fears are about to rear up before him, from the shadows — of the Twilight Zone."
Danny Hayes (Johnathan Ward) is known by the students of Willow Creek Junior High as the biggest coward in school, prompting Eric the jock (Jason Presson) to continuously torment him with gruesome and horrific pranks. As Danny nearly falls asleep, a dark specter rises from under his bed. When asked who or what it is, the being identifies itself as "The Shadow Man", telling Danny that it will never harm whoever sleeps in the bed it lives under before escaping into the night. Over the next couple of days, someone who matches the Shadow Man's description has started attacking citizens. Danny claims to have seen the culprit and lived to tell about it, turning him into the most popular kid in school, treating the specter as a personal bodyguard. When Eric challenges Danny to a fight over his new status, the Shadow Man appears before Danny again, but not for the reasons he believes.
Tropes
- Affectionate Nickname: Danny's only friend Peter frequently refers to him as "Sherlock."
- Ambiguous Ending: Was it truly a Shadow Man from under someone else's bed that attacked and likely killed Danny? Or was it his own Shadow Man all along, having no longer recognized him as the meek-but-polite boy it introduced itself to?
- Anti-Villain: The Shadow Man claims to Danny that it won't hurt him, since he sleeps on the bed it lives under, but it's possibly averted when it (or one of its brethren) throttles him at the end of the episode.
- Broken Record: The only thing that the Shadow Man says is its name, and its decree that it never harms the person who sleeps in its bed.
- Bystander Syndrome: While he knows it won't attack him, Danny does absolutely nothing to stop the Shadow Man from attacking other kids in his school, riding on the popularity that his apparent bravery has given him.
- Decoy Damsel: Lianna appears before Danny and entices him to approach so Eric and his crew can scare the daylights out of him.
- Downer Ending: Despite the ambiguity involved, the episode ends with the Shadow Man (or perhaps a different Shadow Man) making Danny its latest victim, having turned on him after he let his false bravery go to his head.
- It's shown that before that, Danny essentially ended his association with Peter, the only friend he ever had, while he was on his fame high. Unless his new fake friends weren't actually fake, no one but Danny's family will ever care about his potential death.
- Even though Danny's out of the picture at this point, the Shadow Man (at least the one who throttles him) is free to keep attacking people indiscriminately.
- Dutch Angle: Several of them are used when Eric confronts Danny in the park, and when the Shadow Man attacks Danny himself shortly afterwards.
- Everyone Has Standards: Eric enjoys bullying Danny every day, and he has every intention of beating him to a pulp when he's challenged to a fight. However, when he sees the Shadow Man, who has already put several people in the hospital, he tells Danny to run before he flees himself.
- Evil Is Bigger: The Shadow Man is absolutely massive, especially next to kids.
- False Friend: Danny grows to realize that the Shadow Man will never hurt him since it's his bed it's living under. His apparent bravery in going over to Lianna's house at night after the specter has been brutally attacking people earns him many new fake friends, including Lianna herself and various other students who used to either ignore or make fun of him. In the process, Danny tosses Peter, his only true friend, to the curb.
- For the Evulz: Though it spares Danny at first (possibly), the Shadow Man lurks throughout Willow Creek in the dead of night and attacks and maims several children for no given reason.
- Gang of Bullies: Several boys led by Eric ambush Danny on his way home, frightening him with monster costumes and plastic chainsaws, since he has the reputation of being "the biggest chicken in Willow Creek."
- Laser-Guided Karma: Danny treats the Shadow Man like a bodyguard, and does nothing to stop it from attacking innocent people, since he's reveling in the popularity that his supposed encounter with the being has earned him. When he challenges Eric to a fight in MacGyver Park to prove his newfound bravery, the Shadow Man itself throttles him... if not a Shadow Man from under someone else's bed.
- Living Shadow: The titular entity is a living silhouette that dwells under Danny's bed. It has no features of any kind, and resembles a man in a hat and trenchcoat.
- Loser Protagonist: Danny, a nerdy coward who is picked on by everyone else at school, scared of the dark to the point where he sleeps with his lights, radio, and TV set on. The only time the student body gives him praise is when they believe he bravely went out at night while the Shadow Man was prowling about.
- Love Triangle: Danny has a crush on Lianna Ames, the most popular girl in school, but she is already dating Eric, a member of the swim team who frequently bullies Danny.
- Nothing Is Scarier: What in the actual hell is the deal with the Shadow Man? Where did it come from? How long has it been under Danny's bed? Why does it indiscriminately attack children? And is there truly one of itself, or multiple ones under different kids' beds? We never get any indication as to its origins or motives besides the fact that it seemingly never harms the person whose bed it lives under, and even then, it's ambiguous as to how that works given the possibility that Danny's Shadow Man turned against him. For all we know, it's just... there.
- Only Friend: Peter is Danny's only friend, as all the other students bully him or ignore him. It isn't until they learn of his apparent bravery in going out after dark, when the Shadow Man is on the prowl, that they treat him as the most popular kid in school. Danny himself turns his back on Peter when the fame gets to his head.
- Riddle for the Ages: Who or what is the Shadow Man? Where did it come from? Why does it attack anyone, let alone children? How does its loyalty work? Is there a whole race of them? And if so, how do their powers work? Your guess is as good as ours.
- Shout-Out: Danny watches The Valley of Gwangi in his room while he tries to go to sleep.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Danny's mother turns his lights, TV, and radio off so her son can overcome his fear of the dark, allowing the Shadow Man to rise from under his bed for the first time.
- The Spook: Absolutely nothing is known about the Shadow Man. Where it came from, its powers, its motives, its morality, how it chooses someone to protect, why it attacks children. It's all just one big question mark.
- There Are No Adults: The primary cast of the episode is composed of children. The only adults featured are the school librarian and Danny's mother, both with only a minute of screen time.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The titular entity takes up residence under Danny's bed, thus offering him immunity to its attacks. It turns out in the end that there's more than one of them. Maybe...
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Danny's mother trying to get her son to stop being scared of the dark ultimately leads to said son being throttled to death by the Shadow Man.
- Wham Line: The Shadow Man attacks Danny at the end and repeats his claim that he will never harm the person under whose bed he sleeps. When Danny asks why he's attacking him then, the Shadow Man reveals that he is the Shadow Man from under someone else's bed.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Shadow Man attacks several of Danny's classmates at Willow Creek Junior High, including Mark, Wendy, and Chip. In the final scene, Danny himself is attacked by either the Shadow Man, or a different one who lives under someone else's bed.
- You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: Danny tried telling his parents about the Shadow Man at one point, but he could tell that the look on their faces meant they wouldn't believe him. Peter lampshades that Danny does have a reputation for imagining things and being scared of the dark, which wouldn't have helped.
The Uncle Devil Show
Little Joey (Gregory Mier) is a huge fan of the Tim Ferret & Friends cartoons, and his father picks up a tape of said cartoons on his way home from work. While his oblivious parents rebuke the parenting styles of their neighbors, they plop Joey in front of the TV so he can watch his new tape. An eccentric man named "Uncle Devil" (Murphy Dunne) appears on the tape to host segments between the cartoons, encouraging kids to participate in bad behavior and teaching them magic tricks. Intently following Uncle Devil's instructions, Joey uses what he learns from the videotape to conjure all sorts of wacky phenomena in and around the house.
Tropes
- An Aesop: Parents should take responsibility in raising their kids instead of expecting television to do it for them, as some programs, like Uncle Devil's show, may teach kids awful messages.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Through his Custom Fun Kit, Joey turns his plush dinosaur Binky into a real life T. rex.
- Binary Suns: Joey creates a fantasy world with two suns by following Uncle Devil's instructions. When his mother tells him to come inside before the sun goes down, he asks her "Which one?"
- Bottle Episode: The short takes place entirely in Joey's living room and kitchen.
- Breather Episode: The short is incredibly more goofy than the episodes it's sandwiched between, allowing the viewer to just take a break and laugh.
- Denser and Wackier: Little Joey spends the whole short performing outrageous magical feats he learns from Uncle Devil, who mysteriously hosts his own segments between his cartoons.
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: Uncle Devil is a comedic and largely harmless version, since all he does is give kids bad morals and teach them actual magic tricks.
- The End... Or Is It?: In the end, Uncle Devil's segments end, causing everything to go back to normal. Joey finally gets tired of watching TV and leaves the living room... only for a cockroach to crawl out of the vase he attempted to summon flowers from.
- Extra Eyes: Joey uses the magic that he learns from Uncle Devil's show to give Ben, the family dog, four eyes.
- Free Prize at the Bottom: Uncle Devil promotes Beelze Bits, a very sugar-heavy cereal for kids to eat with even more sugar piled on top. As Uncle Devil notes that every box has a prize inside, the box he has on hand tips over to reveal its "prize" is a live snake.
- Joey is also noted to have sent multiple box tops from the cereal so he could get one of Uncle Devil's Custom Fun Kits.
- Functional Magic: Uncle Devil teaches Joey how to perform actual magic through his Tim Ferret & Friends video. With his Uncle Devil Custom Fun Kit he got in the mail, Joey is able to make cockroaches come out of a vase (though he meant to conjure flowers), give his dog Ben four eyes, give his oblivious parents the heads of a lizard and wolf, let his toy bulldozer come to life and tear down a wall, create a fantasy world outside his living room, and turn his stuffed dinosaur Binky into a real Tyrannosaurus rex.
- Hypocrite: Joey's parents spend the whole short insulting the parenting styles of their neighbors. In the meantime, they barely lift a finger to teach their son good morals, just placing him in front of the TV set and expecting it to do it for them.
- Living Toys: Joey uses the magic he learns from Uncle Devil to bring a toy bulldozer to life, watching as it tears down the living room wall to reveal a fantasy world.
- Parental Obliviousness: Joey's parents are entirely oblivious that their son is practicing devilish magic he's learning from his Tim Ferret & Friends video, even when he's actively changing the world around him and giving them the heads of a lizard and a wolf.
- Satan: He could perhaps be Uncle Devil's identity, if the magic he teaches children is any indication, as well as the fact that the cartoon that comes on after he's finished is called "Tim Ferret in Hell".
- Show Within a Show: The Tim Ferret & Friends cartoon that Joey loves watching.
- Stock Sound Effects: These are heard playing from the TV as Joey watches his cartoons.
- Unnamed Parent: Joey's mother and father.
Opening Day
"The perfect crime is the one nobody realizes has been committed. Every day, we commit a dozen perfect crimes in our mind, and we never get punished, because those crimes never happen. That's the way it is in the real world. But murder, like a bad meal, has a way of repeating, especially when the bloody stroke is struck — in the Twilight Zone."
Wealthy socialite Sally Wilkerson (Elan Oberon) enjoys a party that her husband Carl (Jeffrey Jones) is throwing. During this party, she privately talks with Joe Farrell (Martin Kove), Carl's golf instructor and her lover, and asks him to kill her husband so the two can be together. Though quite hesitant, Joe invites Carl to the opening day of duck hunting season to put the plan into action, but accidentally knocks him overboard and is forced to watch as he drowns. After the incident, Joe finds that he has inexplicably swapped lives with Carl, reliving the same day from his point of view, and worrying that the alternate Carl might kill him.
Tropes
- Awful Wedded Life: It's heavily implied in the beginning. While Sally and Carl seem happy together on the surface, their speech patterns imply that the relationship is rocky and abrasive at best.
- Bittersweet Ending: Carl is able to return to his regular life after Joe's alternate self dies, thus never finding out about the affair or the murder plot, but he's clearly saddened by the death of his friend and Sally is still stuck with him, which she hints at through her disappointed tone of voice.
- Bookends: The episode begins and ends with a closeup of a photograph of Sally and Carl.
- Creator Cameo: Director John Milius plays a party guest in the opening scene who tries to grope Sally.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: While in the alternate universe, Joe thinks that Sally and Carl are having an affair behind his back and are planning to kill him. When he accidentally falls in the lake and starts drowning, Joe refuses Carl's attempt to save him, afraid that he'll kill him. Between Sally's disbelief and Carl's heartfelt statement to the police, it's safe to say that Joe's theory couldn't be further from the truth.
- Gold Digger: Sally is actively cheating on her husband while leeching off his wealth.
- Hunting "Accident": Joe reluctantly goes along with Sally's plan to kill Carl by making it look like he accidentally drowned while duck hunting. After Carl is killed, the police believe that the death was simply an accident. Joe returns to what used to be the Wilkerson house to find that it's the day before the hunting trip, and he is now Sally's husband. When Carl takes him on the ill-fated hunting trip, Joe becomes convinced that he's going to be killed and falls into the lake. He refuses Carl's attempts to help him and essentially lets himself drown.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Joe arranges for Carl to die in a Hunting "Accident" so that he and Carl's wife Sally can be together. When the deed is done, Joe finds out that he and Carl have swapped lives, and fears that Carl now plans to kill him in the same manner. When they go hunting, Joe falls into the water and dies after refusing Carl's genuine efforts to save him.
- Love Triangle: Sally is married to Carl, but is having an affair with their golf instructor Joe. During a duck hunt, she has Joe arrange for Carl to be killed in a Hunting "Accident" so the two of them can finally be together. When Joe does so, he finds that he and Carl have swapped lives, and he is now Sally's husband while Carl is her lover, whom he thinks is trying to kill him.
- Ripple Effect Indicator: After Joe kills Carl in a Hunting "Accident", Carl's image in a photograph of him and Sally is replaced by one of Joe, as he has become her husband. The next day, Joe himself drowns when he thinks that Carl is trying to kill him. The photo then reverts to its original state.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In the alternate universe, Joe quickly becomes as cold, ruthless, and heartless as Carl was. On top of that, he also becomes jealous and paranoid that Sally is having an affair with Carl.
- Took a Level in Kindness: As opposed to his former self, Carl is reincarnated as Joe's golf instructor. He's friendly, honest, and compassionate to the point that it's beyond his comprehension why his drowning "friend" wouldn't take his hand.
- Tranquil Fury: During the party, Sally and Carl have a fight about whether or not they'll be going to their traditional vacation spot. Since they're having this fight in front of guests, they argue with each other in pleasant and agreeable tones to save face.
- With Friends Like These...: Joe and Carl are close friends who play golf and go hunting together. The former is also in an affair with the latter's wife and is tasked with killing him so they can be together. The situation repeats itself when their lives are swapped.
