Lawrence blogged about our “Night Gallery” watching last night. At least, mostly about “Professor Peabody’s Last Lecture” and They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar”. A few notes I want to add:
- Lawrence is right: “Riley’s Bar” is a great story, with an ending I didn’t expect coming.
- William Windom is very good (he was nominated for an Emmy) but I’d also like to put in a good word for Diane Baker. Indeed, that’s pretty much the main reason I’m writing this post. She’s pivotal to this episode and…well…
…I’m sorry, but she’s just stunning in my books. (That image is from “Marnie”, not “Riley’s Bar”; I think she looks even better in the latter, but I can’t find a still from it.) If Ms. Baker ever comes down to Austin, I would be honored to take her out for a cheeseburger and the amusing house wine. It would be a chaste dinner: I’d just like to listen to her tell stories, as she’s had an interesting career. In addition to “Marnie”, she was Senator Martin in “Silence of the Lambs”, and Blythe House (among her other credits). And she’s still working. - We also watched “The Diary”. This is a well-executed and creepy episode, with an ending I didn’t see coming. But: can Patty Duke act? Her performance was basically one shrill note, held through much of the episode. And it struck me as being, in tone, very much like her performance in the “Hawaii 5-0” episode, “Thanks for the Honeymoon“.
- I know “Big Surprise” is based on a Richard Matheson script of one of his stories. I have a tremendous admiration for Matheson. It pains me to say that this segment didn’t work for me.
- I’d call “A Matter of Semantics” a bad “Saturday Night Live” skit, but it knows when to end. And it is very short. And there’s much to be said for this:
- It may just pale in comparison alongside “Riley’s Bar”, but I didn’t much like “The Last Laurel“, either.