- Christmas Episode: All three episodes have Christmas themes.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Since all three episodes are Christmas-themed, they all have cheerful, happy, and optimistic endings for the protagonists, releasing them from the strife and troubles they experience.
Night of the Meek
Henry Corwin (Richard Mulligan), a poor alcoholic who takes a seasonal job as a department store Santa Claus, is fired for coming to work drunk by his abusive boss. As he wanders into an alley, he discovers a bag that magically produces any present asked of it. With this in mind, Henry goes around delivering gifts to all the neighbors and children on his block, but his former boss gets suspicious when he suspects Henry is selling stolen merchandise from his store.
Tropes
- Adaptation Deviation: This remake of the classic episode makes the bag's magic far less ambiguous, as it produces receipts from Dundee's store to prove that Henry is innocent of theft. The same receipts are then seen literally vanishing from Dundee's hand. Even before Henry finds the bag, dollar bills magically appear in the pocket of his Santa suit, allowing him to pay for his drinks.
- Similarly, the present that turns Mr. Dundee into a somewhat nicer person isn't a bottle of vintage brandy, but a fur coat for his wife and a baseball signed by the 1961 Yankees for himself.
- Henry also discovers that he's the real Santa Claus when his fake beard won't come off, and he turns himself into a cloud of magic dust and zooms up the chimney. The original episode had Henry returning to the alley and finding a sleigh, some reindeer, and an elf who tells him that they have a lot of work to do.
- The magic bag was originally found in an alley that Henry walks down. In this version, it's originally a bag of trash Henry is taking to throw away, when its contents suddenly turn into toys and presents.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In this version of the episode, Mr. Dundee is a considerably bigger jackass, berating a junior salesman and another employee who accidentally sold the custom-made fur coat he intended to give his wife for Christmas and demanding that the pair be in his office at 9 o'clock on Christmas Day. The original episode had Mr. Dundee considered a Mean Boss largely because he's just stressed out from the holiday hustle and bustle, but mellows out when he's given a bottle of his favorite booze by Henry. This version of Dundee, on the other hand, hates Christmas with a passion and sees it solely as an opportunity to make money, pointedly saying "Good night" when another employee wishes him "Merry Christmas" and kicking a Christmas tree on his way out.
- The most significant alteration to Dundee's character is that the version seen here is a racist. He comments that it would not surprise him in the least if Henderson, an African-American security guard at his store, helped Henry Corwin sneak the allegedly stolen merchandise out of the place. Henderson's reaction makes it clear that it was intended as a racist remark.
- The Alcoholic: As in the original episode, Henry is a chronic drinker. When Mr. Dundee fires him for showing up drunk and collapsing on a bunch of customers, he blames him for ruining Christmas for the children who wanted to see Santa Claus. Henry angrily tells Dundee that the children present will get everything that they want for Christmas, but there are other children who can't enjoy the holidays as easily, since their families are struggling to put food on the table. He admits that he drinks just so he can forget about how miserable the world is for a while.
- Bad Boss: Mr. Dundee is noticeably a lot nastier in this version, being a racist and demanding that a pair of employees be in his office on Christmas morning.
- Becoming the Costume: Henry goes from being a Mall Santa to the real deal, turning into a cloud of magic dust and zooming off to the North Pole so he can get started for next Christmas.
- Canon Foreigner: This version of the episode adds a new character named Henderson, an African-American security guard in Mr. Dundee's store who is essentially Henry's only friend, and later helps him distribute the presents from his magic sack.
- Continuity Nod: A news report heard on Mr. Dundee's car radio states that the Tim Ferret & Friends videos are selling extremely well for Christmas. This is the same cartoon series where Joey learned how to perform magic in "The Uncle Devil Show", three episodes ago.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Henry becomes the real Santa Claus after spending the whole night giving presents to everyone in town.
- I Always Wanted to Say That: Henry is delighted to find out that he's become the real Santa Claus, shouting "Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!" as he magically goes up the chimney.
- Karma Houdini: Even though he mellows out just like his original counterpart, Mr. Dundee suffers no consequence for his deplorable behavior and forcing two employees to work on Christmas. Hopefully he changed his mind after the episode ended.
- Pretty in Mink: Mr. Dundee had a fur coat custom-made for his wife as her Christmas present, and is furious when a junior salesman accidentally sells it to a customer. Henry later pulls the exact coat out of his magic bag and gives it to Dundee, along with his signed baseball.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The cops who investigate Henry for theft note that such a high number of expensive gifts is unusual, but they also note that one man couldn't have possibly carried them all himself without difficulty. When Henry has no physical evidence to prove that he didn't steal anything, the officers are forced to take Henry to the station and confiscate all the presents, only for the bag to clear Henry's name by producing a bunch of receipts from Dundee's store.
- The Scrooge: Mr. Dundee was already an unpleasant grump in the original episode, but the version here cranks it up several notches.
- Setting Update: The original episode takes place on Christmas Eve, 1960. This episode updates it to Christmas Eve, 1985, as it features an unflattering depiction of yuppies in Mr. Dundee.
But Can She Type?
Karen Billings (Pam Dawber), an overworked secretary thorougly demeaned by her boss Burt Nelson, is sent to make copies of a specific document. By using an unusual-looking, "out of order" photocopier to get the job done, she initially thinks that nothing out of the ordinary happens when she's bathed in a flash of light. When she heads to a Christmas party later in the day, she finds out that she has entered a parallel world where secretaries are treated like celebrities, as all the guests flock to her to hear stories of her secretarial adventures.
Tropes
- Alternate Universe. Karen is accidentally sent to a parallel world by an unusual photocopier. She soon discovers that in this world, being a secretary is the most glamorous and exciting job imaginable. At a Christmas party, all the other guests are enthralled by her stories about her job, and a highly paid fashion model tells her that her dream job is to be a secretary. Karen eventually decides to move to this world permanently after Burt once again berates her. She accepts an offer to organize a fashion company's Paris office and is driven to the airport in a limousine.
- Bad Boss: Karen's boss Burt continously gives her work to do while treating her like total shit. The episode ends by having her quit the company and retreat to the secretary-glamorizing parallel world permanently.
- Bullying the Dragon: Karen is so skilled in secretarial work that her company literally rides on her employment there, since her boss Burt needs her to remind him of what everything is and what to do with it. Burt berating her and all secretaries in general as "bubble-headed bimbos" isn't exactly his brightest idea, for soon after he says this, Karen quits her job and moves back to the parallel world while his business is left to potentially face bankruptcy.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After being demeaned for her life as a secretary, Karen is finally able to escape to a world where her work means something, being treated like a celebrity and heading off for a new life in Paris.
- Hate Sink: Burt has no redeeming qualities of any sort, and the audience will applaud Karen when she has enough of his shitty treatment of her and quits his company, leaving him helpless as to what to do.
- Happiness in Minimum Wage: Even though she hates the abuse Burt heaps onto her, Karen genuinely enjoys working as a secretary, and that's before she enters the other world.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Burt has nothing but contempt for secrataries and the female gender in general, which bites him in the ass when Karen resigns.
- Karmic Jackpot: Karen, the underappreciated and overworked secretary, is accidentally transported to a parallel world where being a secretary is considered incredibly glamorous. Fed up with Burt's abuse of her, she quits his company and retreats to this world permanently.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Karen was already considering working for a different business, even before she discovers the parallel world. Burt demeaning her and secretaries in general as "bubble-headed bimbos" was what finally convinced her, and he's presumably left to be ruined when she's gone.
- Plucky Office Girl: Karen actively enjoys working as a secretary, despite the constant abuse Burt gives her. The photocopier she finds in the storage closet gives her a way to enter a parallel world where secretaries are treated like supermodels.
- Take This Job and Shove It: After her first trip to the parallel world, Burt once again rakes Karen over the coals for being a copy short of the document he needed copied. This prompts her to type out a blunt letter of resignation on her computer and retreat to the parallel world before the copier is taken away.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After years of Burt treating her like a piece of dog shit on his shoes, Karen quits his company and moves to the parallel world for good, able to live in a place where she's given the respect and admiration she was always denied.
"What do you get the woman who has everything, but respect? Ask Karen Billings; recipient of a very unusual and definitely non-returnable present. Because this year, for Christmas, Karen Billings received — the Twilight Zone."
The Star
On a lengthy space exploration aboard the survey ship Magellan, two crewmembers, Dr. Chandler (Donald Moffat) and Matthew Costigan (Fritz Weaver), are engaged in a debate over the existence of God, when the ship suddenly picks up a signal emitting from a long-dead planet. Investigating the surface, Magellan's crew discovers that the planet was inhabited by an advanced extraterrestrial race, as determined through a collection of recovered artifacts. The crew learns that the inhabitants of this world were wiped out by a supernova eons ago, and the nova's light was visible from Earth, identified as the Star of Bethlehem. Being a Jesuit preist, Costigan is left in unimaginable misery that the birth of his saviour was heralded with the destruction of a benevolent people, leaving it to Dr. Chandler to try and cheer his friend up with something the inhabitants left behind.
Tropes
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The short story ended with the priest left in agony when he learns the truth behind the supernova that wiped out the aliens. The episode's ending is extended so Chandler shows Father Costigan a poem that the aliens left behind, saying that they lived their lives to the fullest and shouldn't be grieved for. The optimism noted in the poem gradually brings Costigan out of his funk.
- Artistic License – Space: The episode seems to exchange the definition of "nova" with "supernova".
- Canon Foreigner: The commanding officer of Magellan is a woman named Captain Durant. She does not appear in the short story by Arthur C. Clarke.
- Casting Gag: In the original series episode "The Obsolete Man", Fritz Weaver played the leader of a futuristic society that outlawed religion. In this episode, he plays a Jesuit priest in a futuristic society.
- Crisis of Faith: Father Costigan, being a priest as well as a fully-trained astronaut, realizes that the star that went nova and eradicated the planet's inhabitants was the Star of Bethlehem. He has a Heroic BSoD when he learns the signal of Christ's birth wiped out a thriving civilization thousands of years more advanced than his, but Chandler reads him a poem the people of the planet had written, which declares that their long history of peace was worth dying for.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending the episode's second half in a Heroic BSoD, Father Costigan is cheered up and has his optimism renewed when Chandler reads him a final poem the aliens wrote before they were wiped out. The poem says that the aliens weren't frightened of their extinction because they lived their peaceful and happy lives to the fullest, hoping that their knowledge can be passed down to a new generation and grieving for others who have yet to see the sun.
- Face Death with Dignity: The aliens left a final poem in a collection of their artifacts, stating that even though they were about to die, the 1,000 years of peace the endured was Worth It in the end.Mourn not for us — for we have seen the light, have looked on beauty, have lived in peace and love. Grieve but for those who go alone, unwise, to die in darkness, and never see the sun.
- Fling a Light into the Future: The crew of Magellan discovers a vault on the outermost planet of a solar system that was destroyed when its sun went nova in 3120 B.C.E. The vault was created by an advanced civilization that lived on one of the other planets in order to preserve their history, art, music, literature, and scientific knowledge, so their legacy could live on when they themselves could not.
- Heroic BSoD: Father Costigan undergoes a powerful one when he learns the truth about the Star of Bethlehem.
- Hollywood Atheist: Averted with Dr. Chandler, an atheist scientist who's close friends with Father Costigan, a Jesuit priest. When we first meet them, they're having one of their frequent debates on whether God truly exists, when their ship picks up a signal from an ancient civilization whose star had gone nova thousands of years ago. When Costigan discovers that the light of the supernova seen from Earth was identified as the Star of Bethlehem, he has a massive crisis of faith, questioning why or how God would possibly allow an entire race of kindly and peaceful aliens to die in unimaginable agony to herald His son's birth. Chandler, however, apologizes for his prior criticism upon seeing Costigan so distraught, and shows him a final message that the aliens left. In the message, the aliens tell whoever finds it not to mourn for them, because they lived full, rich, happy lives, and instead grieve for others who have yet to see the light, a sentiment they both find uplifting. This is a much kinder ending than the original story, in which the priest despairs at what he's learned, with no message from the aliens to save his faith.
- Left the Background Music On: The music from the aliens' cube eventually becomes the soundtrack.
- Lighter and Softer: The ending of the original story left the priest in despair after finding out how an advanced and peaceful civilization perished under the signal of Christ's birth. The episode reverses this ending when Dr. Chandler shows Father Costigan a poem that the civilization wrote before they perished, saying that they should not be grieved for as they were peaceful and joyful, but to grieve instead for those that are still in the dark.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Survey ship Magellan is named after 16th Century explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
- Named by the Adaptation: The priest's name is Father Matthew Costigan in the episode, while he is unnamed in the short story.
- Odd Friendship: Father Costigan, a Jesuit priest, is close friends with Dr. Chandler, an atheist scientist and one of his shipmates aboard Magellan. They frequently engage in polite discussion about whether God is real, and whether the beauty of the universe is a result of His design, or whether it was crafted via random occurences.
- Ragnarok Proof: The pylon discovered on the dead planet, which was designed to withstand the blast of a supernova.
- Star of Bethlehem: It's a focal point of the plot, as it's revealed to have been a sun in a distant solar system that went nova and wiped out a civilization of peaceful aliens. Learning that his lord and saviour's birth was heralded by such a destructive event leaves Father Costigan borderline inconsolable.
- Utopia: The aliens that were wiped out when their sun went nova are heavily implied to have lived in one of these.
"The survey ship Magellan, bearing with it the last legacy of a long-dead people. A legacy to be kept and cherished and, in time, bequeathed to a world still unborn. From the current inhabitants — of the Twilight Zone."
