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I love how nearly everyone in this episode got a happy ending, and that Hector managed to not only improve his own life, but Helen and Smithers' as well. An enjoyably light episode, and a change from the usual dark, harrowing fare!
Even in York's other TZ episode, "The Purple Testament", he showed how likable and engaging how much of an actor he was, despite only being a supporting character. I wish that he'd been in more episodes.
Me too. You can kind of see "what might have been" in Dick York's "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episodes (which are not on RU-vid, but are on the free version of Peacock TV) which also show off his talent and range. He was on it six times, but some standouts are as a young hitman for the mob in season 2's "The Vicious Circle," season 5's "The Blessington Method" as a creepy Crispin Glover-esque professional granny-killer from the future (sort of Twilight Zone-y), and so is season 6's "The Doubtful Doctor," where he's (no joke) an advertising man with a pretty blonde wife who is zapped through time.
This goes to show you that the ability to read other people's minds are both a blessing and a curse. It may have gotten Poole and his colleagues what they wanted but it was for the best that he didn't keep that gift. There are some things people would think about that you really shouldn't know.
I highly concur. That gift would be a nightmare to handle 24/7, and it's just as well that Poole only had that gift temporarily. At least he was able to help both himself and his coworkers during the short time he had the ability.
It might not be so bad as long as it could be turned on or off at will. I wouldn't want to use it on my friends, but there are times when it would be useful. Imagine checking out a used car and hearing the salesman thinking "Don't try to roll down the back passenger side window! Don't try the window!"
@@snowangelnc I don't know if Poole was able to control it at will. But it would be more useful if he or anyone could. Especially if you want to avoid getting ripped off.
@@melissacooper4282 No, it didn't look like Poole was able to control it at will. What I mean is that it would be a bad thing, but if that one detail could be changed then it would be ok.
I was binge watching Bewitched but took a break. I'm getting ready to start up again. I still haven't made it to the Dick Sergent seasons yet but I don't feel like he was as memorable as York was.
@@justingarrett1675 Dick York said something very Twilight Zone-y in a 1965 issue of TV Guide. Maybe he had psychic powers after all... In a question about who was more interesting on the show, the witches or his portrayal of a mere mortal: "Maybe it's me. I don't think so, but the only way to tell if it's me or not is to kill me off in one show, give the witch another husband and see if I'm missed." Four years later, guess what happened...
@@arfies I thought the show lost it's spark after Dick York left. I couldn't watch it anymore he made the whole show in my opinion. His reactions and crazy facial expressions were so good and made it funny.
This is 1 of my favorite episodes of the series. Part of why I enjoy it is that it's 1 of the few episodes that has a happy ending where everyone is better off at the end compared to the beginning.
There's one other writer besides Matheson, Beaumont and Johnson with notable credits on the show; Earl Hamner Jr., the future creator of "The Waltons", who had eight episodes starting in S3.
I feel like the blackmailing thing could be looked at as a Robin Hood move, doing a bad deed for a good purpose. That scenario wouldn't work at all if he hadn't asked for the Bermuda vacation for the old man, it'd just be a selfish move, but adding it in does help to show he's not selfish nor a bad man in general and doesn't make bad choices on the daily like Bagby with his affair.
I say the blackmail was actually a needed part. A bit of kosmic karma happening to the boss character. He was getting his comeuppance and was called out for his BS. Everybody in the end won because of it so in the end it was all good.
I disagree with the verdict -- it's an essential, but an essential for young children. I happened to catch this in rerun in the 80's, and it ended up being a formative aesop about privacy, as well as the difference between thoughts and actions when judging someone's character.
This was one of the first Twilight Zone episodes I ever watched, so it holds a lot of nostalgia for me. I like this one a lot. It's cute, fun, charming, and kind of sweet. One of those "little" episodes of the show that has a lot to offer, and is a nice comedic relief amidst some of the series' darker entries. Also, I was always under the impression that it was a penny he'd dropped on its side, not a quarter, given the title of the episode. But I guess newspapers wouldn’t be that cheap, even in the 60s!
A really enjoyable episode, the comedy works and it stars Dick York, whom I love. I was happy at the end that the elderly employee got to go to Bermuda. Unlike any other TZ episode.
Penny for your thoughts is one of my favorites... a simple, short premise that is well paced across the runtime. While it lacked the "twist" some twilight zone episodes have, it ends on a decent note.
I love Dick York in this role. He's delightful and it's especially nice to see him have a more lighthearted reaction to the supernatural elements, which is in contrast to how he is in Bewitched, where he's the straight man to all the magical stuff. (which has always been kind of a bummer for me, because as we can see, Dick York is very good with comedic stuff.) And I like Smithers' speech at the end. I feel it.
I agree; he's delightful in this. "Bewitched" does give him plenty of comical things to do, though, and he really earned that Emmy nomination. Aside from Dick York's hilarious Jim Carrey-esque reactions to magic on the regular, some of my favorite episodes are the ones where he gets to show off his comedic chops, namely season 2's "Divided He Falls" (Darrin is split into his utterly boring "work side" and insane ADHD "fun side"), "Trick or Treat" (a young Maureen McCormick turns him into a werewolf), "A Very Special Delivery" (Endora casts a pregnancy spell on Darrin), season 4's "My, What Big Ears You Have" (lying causes his ears to grow), and "Business, Italian Style" (he completely forgets English in favor of Italian).
A fine actor, York appeared in the film Inherit the Wind in 1960. He suffered a debilitating back injury while filming They Came to Cordoba in 1959. Of course, he was famous for starring as Darrin in Bewitched. I always enjoyed this episode.
"Thats Homer Simpson, sir, one of the chair warmers from Sector 7G. Most of the major events in your life in the last few years have involved him in some way."
It's a good episode. The title always sounded to me like it could have also served well for an alternate for "Nick of Time", which is about a machine that tells fortunes for a penny.
Love Dick York! I really enjoyed this episode. It was funny and had heart. The joke where he couldn't hear any thoughts from the "dumb blonde" because her head is empty, hilarious.
'What Women Want' definitely stole at least one joke from this episode - the part at 6:09 where he tries to listen to the blonde's thoughts only to find she doesn't have any.
I wonder if writers would use that one..like they used the TZ 5 CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT..for TOY STORY? In this room, were 5 people. But didnt know they were toys..inside a box In TOY STORY it was only Buzz, who thought he was real
Extramarital affairs were common back then and more 'permitted' so long as discretion was used. Having someone else learn about it was very detrimental to that point so of course Bagby had to hush him up. Odds are he cut ties with that woman and was more faithful to his wife in the future given he couldn't afford another slip
Being commonplace and socially acceptable doesn't make it ethical. A person who cheats on their partner and then goes back to the partner's bed with them none the wiser is a cad who doesn't deserve a marriage, because they value their own pleasure and convenience above their partner's right to know (Informed Consent for continuing the relationship).
@@Arkylie I agree it wasn't ethical. Its presented as an open secret in the episode just for that. Informed consent wasn't a thing in 1960s America. DV was a "lovers spat" and women weren't even allowed a credit card unless the husband agreed
Dick York said something very Twilight Zone-y in a 1965 issue of TV Guide. Maybe he had psychic powers after all... In a question about who was more interesting on the show, the witches or his portrayal of a mere mortal: "Maybe it's me. I don't think so, but the only way to tell if it's me or not is to kill me off in one show, give the witch another husband and see if I'm missed." Four years later, guess what happened (and I wonder if a light appeared on his face first...)
Oh $h!t, it did, and I unintentionally creeped myself out just now remembering what happened his last day on the "Bewitched" set. (He was suffering from his previous back injury from the 1959 film "They Came to Cordura," plus the side effects from the painkillers, plus he was sick). He was being lit for a special effects scene 15 feet up in the air with Maurice Evans: "They were setting an inky-that's a little tiny spot that was supposed to be filling in my eyes. Someone kept passing his hand back and forth in front of the light to see where the light was falling, all very difficult, but somehow that flickering made me feel weird and I'm sitting on this platform up in the air and Maurice is sitting there too and I'm trying to go over my lines . . . Anyway, I'm running those lines back and forth and they're making less and less sense to me and this light is flickering off and on and I turn to Gibby, a friend of mine on the set who was just down below, and I said, 'Gibby, I think I have to get down,' and I put my hand on his shoulder and he said, 'Sure, Dick.' He really looked concerned and he started to help me down and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up on the floor, somebody had me in their arms. I didn't quite know who, people looked so unfamiliar . . . That's about all I remember about that incident. I seemed to be in and out of consciousness. I remember being strapped on a stretcher and an ambulance coming to the door of the set, racing me over to the hospital.” Poor guy. Really an underrated actor. Dick York was excellent in everything he's been in, comedy or drama.
Personally, I love that he stands up to his boss in the end. It's that moment every wage slave wants - the chance to blackmail their boss and make things better for everyone. And you hope that, because he's a swell guy, he takes that promotion and gives the wife a call after all, lol
Honestly, i'm fine with the "blackmail", because he was cheating on his wife, and that's WAY worse. The co-called "blackmail" was used on a terrible person in order to do good things. I'm fine with it.
Dick York... and Hayden Roarke in the same TZ?! (York & Roarke!) Makes it seem like, in surreal TZ fashion, there was another universe where Tony Nelson was getting in trouble with his, boss Larry Tate, over magic shenanigans (twist ending: ...over an ad campaign for a toy NASA space ship!)
You know, it's a good thing the protagonist didn't test the potential of his mind-reading capabilities. The episode would be much different if he decided to play a high-stakes card game or participate in a game of "How many jelly beans are in this jar?"
Exactly one year after his debut on Twi Zone (The Purple 💜 Testament), we meet with "Darrin" again, and a week after "Endora", and his performance shines. At last, a TZ comedy that MAKES sense!! See you here tomorrow, Walter, for "Twenty-Two". I'm dying to see what you think of the companion pece to "Perchance To Dream".
I mean it. This is ONE rare TZ comedy not oversized for its' britches, considering the "Toilet Zone" qualities of "Mr. Bevis" and worse still "Cavender Is Coming". This non-Serling skit stays on Planet Earth all through twenty one minutes. Poole pays for his discomforting telepathy, but in the end, it pays off without the balderdash of a guardian angel. Poole leaves work with no hard feelings from Smithers, a hero for saving the bank from a slimy customer, a job promotion, a gift to Smithers, AND the beginning of a new, overdue friendship with a warm, attractive co-worker, and we can say as the comedy ends, and Poole loses his power, THANKFULLY, that the ending was a "Happily Ever After". Poole was no Darrin Stephens; and I must say to any detractors of this episode that "While you're all entitled to your opinions, quote, I don't GIVE a Darrin if you don't warm up to this episode. It's a second season high point!", end of quote!
I love York's timid sweet character in this, unlike the sometimes pompous arrogant Darrin. I love the subplot with Smithers. Sure we all dream of doing terrible things but never follow through.
There's not much to say beyond what Walter brought up, but I certainly enjoyed this one. I would like to know how they achieved the effect of getting the quarter to land on its side; magnets maybe? Whatever they did, I couldn't figure it out. I will say that I thought there was something off about the ending. I thought that Poole gained his powers after being hit by the car, something like a knock to his head activated his ESP and that the coin landing on its edge was just a metaphor for how rare the occurrence was. For the power to disappear at the end just because the coin fell over seemed unnecessary... and slightly lame. I knew he'd lose the power, I assumed he was going to hit his head again, so in a way the big unexpected twist for me was that *that* was how it happened. It's so odd that I kind of feel like George Clayton Johnson reverse-engineered the episode; like he picked the title and then came up with the narrative and its twist to match it. I appreciate that they treated the mind reading as a nuisance. When people talk about what superpower they wished they had, telepathy often gets brought up, but it really seems like a violation to me. People ought to have the privacy of their thoughts and while this episode treated the concept a little cheerily (in real life Miss Turner probably wouldn't have been *that* thrilled), it nonetheless reinforced the theme that thoughts and actions are separate and Poole was glad to be rid of the power. The only other thing of note for me is the lead actor, I'm probably one of the few people not that familiar with Bewitched so at first I thought Poole was played by Roddy McDowall (compare 1960s pictures of him and Dick York, they really did look similar) at least until he opened his mouth and spoke without a British accent. This might not be the most impactful episode (comedic/lighter tone episodes tend to pale in comparison to their bleak/grim counterparts), but it's still entertaining. As I build my tier list of Twilight Zone episodes I wouldn't actually call it one to skip as I still liked it more than "Dust." Plus any episode where you learn how much of a top-tier guy Rod Serling was is okay by me.
Same. It's rare for Twilight Zone to do a really good Comedy episode. Especially one that's meant to be lighthearted. However, the creative team really pulled it off. I didn't really go into it in my comment, but I actually liked the concept. A coin landing on its edge isn't really that out of place in a show like this and I felt it was an original and unique way for Dick York's character Poole to have mind reading powers. Plus, like you, I enjoyed how his temporary power was treated like an annoyance rather than some great gift.
Penny for Your Thoughts expresses an essential moral and for you to not consider it "essential" is preposterous. It mirrors completely Serling's idea for what the TZ was, which was to serve as a form of didactic entertainment the likes of which commercial TV had never seen before (as young an industry as it was). Serling was completely transparent about it. Penny for your Thoughts is classic TZ didacticism.
My guess was either magnets under the table or reversing the shot with the coin starting on edge and being pulled up by wires -- but I don't see any wires and in those days you couldn't just Photoshop them out.
When I first heard of the title, I thought it was gonna take place in an authoritarian hell where you have to pay money to have your own thoughts for a day or two
