Tonight: "Escape Clause" celebrates its 50th anniversary. This episode is The Twilight Zone's first attempt at comedy, and it succeeds brilliantly (later attempts, such as "Mr. Bevis" and "Mr. Dingle, the Strong," would fall flat on their respective faces; we'll get to those in time). Written by Rod Serling, directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring David Wayne, it's the sharp little tale of a hypochondriac who wants to live forever. He gets his wish... sort of.
"Escape Clause" marks the first appearance of a certain individual who will appear several times throughout the series.... what shall we call him? Satan? The Devil? The Prince of Darkness? He calls himself "Mr. Cadwallader" here because, in his own words, "it has a nice feeling on the tongue."
David Wayne signs away his immortal soul.
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