(1971)
Dir - William Hale
Overall: GOOD
For "Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay", Jeanette Nolan pops back up in more old crone makeup and again plays the title character in a story with a similar body swapping by way of black magic premise as the previous season's "The Housekeeper". Hamming it up to eleven as the smirking and conniving witch with a scheme to inhabit the body of a woman that she claims to be related to, (even though the "aunt's" grave is easily discovered), Nolan is the star of the show, appropriately outshining the real life married couple of James Farentino and Michele Lee. Jonathan Harris is also here as the professor with all of the witch lore at his disposal for expository dialog purposes, and even though the story fails to pack in any surprises, it is still a fun and ghoulish installment to the program.
(1971)
Dir - Jeannot Szwarc
Overall: MEH
Adam West playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Sure, why not? Night Gallery, (or particularity, producer Jack Laird who authored this mini-vignette as he did others), continues its insistence on casting big names to drop in for a quick cameo to appease a nyuck nyuck quota that the program hardly needed. Piling on an extra mad scientist cliche, this version of Jekyll has a grotesque hunchback assistant ala Frankenstein, portrayed under heavy guise by Laird himself. West gets one line and it is embarrasingly not funny, but at least he was a sport and got a day's paycheck during his typecast-as-Batman period. There are worse ways to pay the bills then to make some wacky faces while colorful lab equipment decorates the screen and the producer tries to out-mug you in his closeups.
(1971)
Dir - Jerrold Freedman
Overall: GOOD
Another tongue-in-cheek look at a man who finds himself trapped in hell, (or at least trapped in a hellish scenario that will send his doomed soul to its permanent place for atonement), "The Flip-Side of Satan" is a play on words that finds Arte Johnson as an arrogant and possibly murderous disc jockey that takes a new gig in a remote market, only to find himself spinning records of ominous horror movie ambience and demon-summoning incantations. Johnson is the only actor that we see or hear, but we get enough of his backstory when he calls up two different chaps before the phone lines inevitably stop working and his means of escape become nil. Based on a short story by Hal Dresner, it is another lighthearted yet macabre offering that fittingly leans into its genre with a nod and a wink.
(1971)
Dir - John Astin
Overall: GOOD
Rod Serling adapts and John Astin directs this adaptation of Elizabeth Walter's 1967 short story "The Spider", here given the more specific title of "A Fear of Spiders". Another ideal premise to feature in any horror anthology program since there is a sure-fire bet that a large percentage of the viewers will share some mild to severe form of arachnophobia, this one pits Patrick O'Neal against a six-legged critter that inexplicably shows up in his bedroom, coos, and is "the size of a dog". This is after O'Neal shuns his homely and overbearing neighbor that has the hots for him and said neighbor delivers some form of a curse upon him, which ushers in a series of increasingly larger arachnids that send O'Neal into a rage of frustration and heart-attack-inducing terror. The presentation is played for laughs as much as it is creepiness, getting the job done in both areas.
(1971)
Dir - Theodore J. Flicker
Overall: WOOF
Another ridiculous groaner of a blackout sketch that inexplicably credits three different people as screenwriters, "Junior" is one of the dumbest of the lot. Wally Cox is brought on board here as a father who is woken up in the middle of the night by the grating, babyish, and oddly unwholesome voice of his "son" in the other room asking for a glass of water. Once we find out who the baby is, (see picture), anyone watching is bound to roll their eyes back into their skull, and even though the whole thing is short, it is anything but sweet. Night Gallery was at its worst when it broke up an already efficient formula and indulged in cheap childish gags for some asinine reason, (perhaps simply to get more big names on board for cameos), and this is a textbook example of such a faux pas.
(1971)
Dir - Jerrold Freedman
Overall: MEH
Written and directed by Jerrold Freedman, "Marmalade Wine" is a curious Night Gallery installment, presented on unnatural sound stages with flat black backgrounds and minimal set dressing. The story itself is also peculiar, where Robert Morse calls out in the rain and Rudy Vallée answers him from somewhere up high, though it is unclear if he is an ethereal being in the sky or simply calling from a window that we cannot see. Both characters are equally mysterious, though Vallée's friendly hospitality clearly alludes to there being something nefarious afoot, while Morse just seems like a dopey sap who was unfortunate enough to run into him. It is also amusing that Morse looks like a poor man's Oliver Reed while Vallée looks like he could have been character actor Edward Herman's father.
(1971)
Dir - Jeff Corey
Overall: GOOD
One of the least horror-adjacent works to appear on Night Gallery, "The Academy" is nevertheless a strong one, ideally suited to Rod Serling's social commentary sensibilities. Though Serling penned the teleplay, it is an adaptation on the 1965 novel of the same name by David Ely, the Glendalough Military Academy in question being one that prides itself on relentless discipline and structure, and also on the steadfast principal that they will spend as much time as it takes to mold their cadets into upstanding, authority-following "young" men. The twist arrives midway through once we discover the institution's disturbing secret, though yet another subversion emerges when Pat Boone's concerned father who is touring the facility in order to determine if he is going to send his son there does not run away appalled, but actually finds the place ideal for he and his child's situation. It all says something about the lengths that parents will take in order to get their offspring on the right path, but it says more about how they can justify abandoning their own parental responsibility by delegating it to others.
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