Rod Serling: Good evening. We welcome you to this paladium of art treasures that range from the kooky to the uncommon. From the bestial to the bizarre. And I'd like to take you on a guided tour through the Night Gallery. A collection of paintings on display for only the most discriminating, because it's best that they be seen both after and in the dark.
A Fear of Spiders
Based on the short story "The Spider" by Elizabeth Walter.
Teleplay by: Rod Serling
Directed by: John Astin
Rod Serling: The story behind this offering, a word which we've coined just for the occasion: arachnid-phobia. It means, for our purposes, a special distaste for those crawly little beasties with the multi-legged, hairy bodies. In other words: A Fear of Spiders, the title of our first painting in this, the Night Gallery.
Gourmet critic Justus Walters (Patrick O'Neal) is bothered by phone calls and visits from his amorous neighbor Elizabeth Croft (Kim Stanley), who he wants to leave him alone. Soon after, Justus sees a spider in the sink and washes it down the drain, but discovers it crawling back out. Before long, the spider has grown to a gigantic size, as Justus hears it screech and finds it on his bed. Left with Elizabeth as his only ally in this situation, Justus calls her for aid, but perhaps he should have thought about calling a woman he's rebuked so frequently to help him.
Tropes
- Abhorrent Admirer: Elizabeth and Justus went on a few dinner dates in the past, but largely because she was the most convenient woman around. She wants to keep the relationship going (largely by calling and visiting him when he's busy) while he wants to break it off, and it's largely for this reason why she decides to let the spider eat him.
- Asshole Victim: Elizabeth leaves Justus to die at the fangs of the giant spider he kept seeing after being denied a date and rebuked one too many times.
- Caustic Critic: Gourmet magazine critic Justus. His reviews aren't cruel themselves, but he himself is pointedly cruel to Elizabeth and the building supervisor.
- Giant Spider: The spider that harasses Justus grows almost every time he sees it. By the end of the segment, it's as big as a large dog.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The spider finally killing Justus is censored by Elizabeth's smiling face as she hears him die, followed by a thud on the other side of the door.
- Hell Is That Noise: The chittering squeak of the spider, when it grows big enough for Justus to hear it.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Justus tells Elizabeth about the spider when it takes up residence in his apartment, after he had sent her away earlier that night. His doing this allows Elizabeth to play dumb and let the spider eat him as revenge for his attitude.
- Ironic Echo:
- In her rebuking of Justus when he lets her know about the spider, Elizabeth throws right back at him his claim of how he's not cruel, but "refreshingly blunt".
- At the end, she also copies his rebuttal to their earlier meeting about how she was tough to get rid of as he begs her to open the door.
- Jerkass: Justus, who rebukes everyone around him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Justus is killed by his greatest fear, and is tricked into doing so by the woman whose heart he cruelly fooled with.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's not stated whether the spider is a supernatural being intending to kill and eat Justus as revenge for trying to wash it down the drain, or a hallucination Justus is suffering because of his arachnophobia.
- Spiders Are Scary: Justus is deathly terrified of them, especially the one that he tries washing down the sink, which grows in size and is out for his blood.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Justus states that his one true fear is of spiders, the sight of one putting him in a cold sweat.
- Woman Scorned: Elizabeth wishes to keep her relationship with Justus, but he keeps turning her down with verbal thrashings. It's for this reason she plays dumb about the spider and lets it kill him.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Just after she wishes that Justus could be helpless for a change, Elizabeth pretends to trip on a staircase and beg Justus to help her. The critic simply slams the door, leaving Elizabeth to pick herself up.
Junior
Written by: Gene R. Kearney
Directed by: Theodore J. Flicker
A man (Wally Cox) and his wife (Barbara Flicker), asleep in bed, hear their child "Junior" crying out for a glass of water. When the father goes to get the water in question, we learn that Junior isn't like most children.
Tropes
- All for Nothing: Just after the father gives his "son" water, "Junior" wastes the water by splashing in his face Ted Stryker-style.
- Foreshadowing: When Junior wakes them up calling for water, the wife tells her husband that Junior is his baby. At first, you could ignore it as one of those arguments parents have about midnight child care, but given the reveal that Junior is a Frankenstein's Monster, he is the husband's child and not hers.
- Frankenstein's Monster: For whatever reason, Junior, the "child" asking for water, is a fully-sized Frankenstein's Monster in a crib.
- Manchild: In a sense, given that the parents' child is a full-sized Frankenstein that behaves like a kid.
- The Reveal: Inexplicably, Junior is a Frankenstein lying in a crib.
- Vocal Dissonance: The Frankenstein that is "Junior" speaks in a high-pitched voice fitted for a little kid.
Marmalade Wine
Original story by: Joan Aiken
Teleplay by: Jerrold Freedman
Directed by: Jerrold Freedman
Rod Serling: Item number three in the Night Gallery. We call it: Marmalade Wine. Look at it, if you will, with gentle and restrained eyes. The way you'd look at a maniac in the woods, because that's the story it tells. Hold out your glasses and get ready for a very special Night Gallery.
Roger Blacker (Robert Morse), an amateur photographer lost in a rainstorm, winds up taking shelter in the isolated home of former surgeon Dr. Francis Deeking (Rudy Vallee). Over glasses of marmalade wine, a drunken Roger lies that he can see the future as a means to impress his host, with Deeking taking great interest in Roger's "predictions". Roger is also certain that he's heard some stories about Deeking, but can't place what exactly they are until the next day, when the doctor gives his guest, the first he's had in a long time, an "extended stay".
Tropes
- Affably Evil: Deeking is a disgraced doctor who is very clearly insane, but he's genuinely appreciative of Roger's company, even though he locks him up so he can keep having that company.
- An Arm and a Leg: Roger, a habitual liar, makes the mistake of telling the not-quite-there Dr. Deeking that he can see the future. Deeking believes him, and amputates his feet so he can keep giving information about his "visions".
- Be Careful What You Wish For: While drunk, Roger lies that he can see the future as a means to impress Deeking. He certainly does end up impressing him when the ability is apparently "true", so much so that the doctor keeps him locked up and amputates his feet to keep getting "visions".
- Chiaroscuro: The segment has a rather surreal, dream-like atmosphere, with its black void setting, the stark-white scenery, and how Deeking appears to vanish into the shadows and reappear at random.
- Consummate Liar: Roger turns out to be a habitual liar, especially when he's drunk, as he fools Deeking into believing that he can see the future, which the doctor takes to heart and locks him up for more visions.
- Contrived Coincidence: Roger's initial "predictions" were on which horse would win a race and the results of the Richmond City Council special election. Both of his claims come true at random, and it gives Deeking incentive to keep him locked up, even when Roger admits that they were coincidences.
- Deadly Doctor: Dr. Deeking, who is said to have lost his mind and cuts off Roger's feet to keep hearing him predict the future.
- Everybody Lives: Both characters are alive, but Roger loses his feet and will most likely remain Deeking's prisoner for the rest of his life.
- Heel Realization: While he checks the horse race to see if Roger's first prediction is correct, Roger, left by himself, realizes that he's drunk and he just shamelessly lied to a famous doctor, deciding to apologize to him when he comes back.
- Ignored Aesop: Continuing from above, unfortunately, when Deeking asks him about the special election, Roger ends up making another prediction that randomly comes true.
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Roger gets lost in a violent thunderstorm while photographing mountain lions, and ends up taking shelter at Dr. Deeking's house.
- Karma Houdini: Dr. Deeking receives no punishment for amputating Roger's feet and keeping him prisoner.
- Mad Doctor: Francis Deeking, a noted surgeon who went insane and had his license revoked for unrevealed reasons. He fully believes Roger's claims of seeing the future, and amputates his feet and locks him up so he can keep getting more predictions.
- Minimalist Cast: Roger and Deeking are the only characters to appear.
- Noodle Incident: We never learn why Deeking went mad and "wasn't allowed to practice medicine anymore", but given what he does to Roger, the implications are unnerving.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Dr. Deeking initially appears in the shadows when he and Roger first meet, but soon pops up next to him to say hello, frightening Roger.
- Seers: Drunk off his ass from the titular wine, Roger lies that he can see the future to impress Dr. Deeking. The mad doctor takes his claim to heart when his predictions come true on a lark, cutting off his feet to keep him from leaving.
- Splash of Color: The segment is shot like an avant-garde theatrical production, set in an apparent black void with white trees and furniture that resemble stage props. The only articles of color are the men's clothes and the orange of the titular wine.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Dr. Deeking's titular marmalade wine, which he offers to Roger. He quickly blabs his future-seeing lie to the doctor while drunk on the stuff, and it's soon after that he finds himself prisoner in his home.
The Academy
Original story by: David Ely
Teleplay by: Rod Serling
Directed by: Jeff Corey
Rod Serling: A small item for the pedagogs amongst you. A little something to be found in a drawer, alongside the old school ties. Picture, if you will, a very special school, where the students don't matriculate, but rather, are marooned. Where the scholars are not enrolled, but rather, sentenced. The painting is called: The Academy.
The wealthy and widowed Holston (Pat Boone) steps out of his limousine at the entrance of Glendalough Military Academy. Holston explains to the Director (Lief Erickson) that his son Roger has no motivation or discipline, and asks if he could enroll. The Director takes Holston on a tour of Glendalough, where he notes that all the cadets look rather old for their rank, even recognizing one of them from an assault case from years before. It soon becomes apparent that Glendalough has a dark secret to its workings, but it's a secret that Holston isn't that particularly unnerved by.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Holston wants his troubled son Roger out of his life, and after he learns the truth about Glendalough, he's still plotting to dump the kid there. It's implied that every "student" at the academy was thrown in there by parents who wanted nothing to do with them anymore.
- Academy of Evil: Glendalough Military Academy, where the "students" never graduate and are left to suffer excruciating drills for the rest of their lives. This is because it's a prison for rotten kids, where they are simply left to rot rather than be reformed.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the original story, Holston is a well-meaning father who wants help for his wayward son, and is genuinely oblivious to Glendalough's true nature. In the episode, he discovers the true nature of the school, but still decides to send Roger there to get him off his hands.
- All for Nothing: This is what the drills and lessons at Glendalough amount to for its "students", since they're kept there to rot instead of being rehabilitated.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Holston and the Director come out victorious, with Roger set to become the newest cadet of Glendalough Military Academy.
- Boarding School of Horrors: On the surface, Glendalough is a military institution for troubled children. In reality, it's a dumping ground for rotten kids whose equally rotten parents don't want to deal with them. It's all but said that the "students" never graduate, as the gatekeeper Holston meets at the end is still a cadet at 55 years old. The school's statue is of a military officer leading a young boy towards the grounds to further illustrate that Glendalough's cadets will treat the institution as their entire world.
- Chromosome Casting: All characters present are male, fitting the military/prison motif.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: The opening scene has a drill instructor forcing a line of recruits into drills as Holston's limo pulls up to Glendalough, the man himself later running across them on his way to meet the Director. The cadets have the army mentality ingrained in their very being, standing at attention during lessons and even in the dorms, and the sergeant's drills can be heard in the background throughout the whole segment.
- Even Evil Has Standards: As their conversation about Roger veers into the rumors about what happened on the day his wife died, the Director tells Holston that he doesn't have to tell the whole story if it clearly troubles him, assuring that Glendalough isn't a court of inquiry, and that they only care about a cadet's behavioral aspects instead of their records.
- Hellhole Prison: Glendalough Military Academy, where rotten kids with parents who don't want to deal with them anymore are kept to perform drills and learn useless information until the day they die.
- Noodle Incident: Holston's chat with the Director has him bringing up his wife's death. She and his then 10-year-old son Roger were on a rowboat in the Thousand Islands, which capsized and caused her to drown. The undertones in their conversation, as well as Holston's mention of "rumors", imply that Roger may have actually killed his mother himself, though nothing is concretely proven.
- World of Jerkass: Glendalough's Director and his staff are malicious enough with what they do to the "cadets", but the broader picture implies that every cadet was/is a rotten kid whose equally-rotten parents dumped them at the school just so they wouldn't have to deal with them anymore.
