I can tell you that I don\u2019t like this episode.\u00a0 I vaguely remember it. I usually skip it when it is on TV.\u00a0 None of the actors or actresses appear to be names that I am remotely familiar with, which isn\u2019t shocking given the time frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picture of a woman looking at a picture. Movie great of another time, once-brilliant star in a firmament no longer a part of the sky, eclipsed by the movement of earth and time. Barbara Jean Trenton, whose world is a projection room, whose dreams are made out of celluloid. Barbara Jean Trenton, struck down by hit-and-run years and lying on the unhappy pavement, trying desperately to get the license number of fleeting fame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barbara Jean Trenton is a former star, or at least got some decent work.\u00a0 SHe\u2019s wealthy and lives in her film room and just watches films of her performances.\u00a0 Danny Weiss shows up her house and Sally, her maid, lets him in. He\u2019s gonna have a chat with Barbara.\u00a0 He tells her how nice it is outside in Beverly Hills, 84 degrees and he\u2019s in a suit. Fudge that, way too warm.\u00a0 He tries to convince her that her behavior isn\u2019t healthy, just sitting in her room all day watching movies. Wait, that just described me too much.\u00a0 Screw you, Danny! He has an audition or a gig lined up for her, and she is super stoked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They meet at Marty\u2019s office at 3 that afternoon.\u00a0 Marty offers her not a big role, but a nice showcase.\u00a0 The role is to be of a 40-ish-year-old vibrant mother. She ain\u2019t having it, it\u2019s a waste of her time. She keeps running her mouth and Marty puts her in her place and calls her an aging broad and tells her any role that she will get at this agency will strictly be through charity.\u00a0 Danny is upset at Marty, but Marty was right for being sick of her prima donna behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back at Barbara\u2019s house, she pretty much says that this is why she is so comfortable at home because she can shut out the outside world.\u00a0 She is living 25 years in the past and she is not a fan of rock n\u2019 roll. She gets pissy at Danny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, Danny tells Sally that one of Barbara\u2019s former leading men, Jerry, will be paying her a visit.\u00a0 She isn\u2019t interested in seeing friends, but when Danny name drops Jerry\u2019s name, Barbara is super excited and is going to get changed and put on some makeup.\u00a0 She sees Jerry and man, he looks old as hell. She is delusional. She thought that he would be dressed as he was 20 years ago in the movies. Jerry runs some supermarkets outside of Chicago, no more acting for him.\u00a0 She is such an ungrateful bitch to Jerry and tells both men to go away. Jerry says goodbye but she ain\u2019t having it. Danny can\u2019t believe that just happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barbara goes into her film room and watches her and young Jerry.\u00a0 She wishes she could be there with young Jerry. Sally comes to give Barbara some coffee.\u00a0 Barbara is nowhere to be found. Sally is shocked, she screams and she drops her tray. Danny rushes over.\u00a0 Barbara cannot be found in the house, not in the way that Danny and Sally are. Danny is going to run the film now.\u00a0 Sally is familiar looking to me. Oh man, she was in the classic \u201cIt\u2019s a Good Life\u201d episode of Twilight Zone as Aunt Amy.\u00a0 Anyway, Danny yells at Film Barbara, and she gets close to the screen, gives a kiss and walks off-screen with young Jerry. Yup, she got her wish and lives inside that one film that she had a copy of that nobody else is going to see.\u00a0 What a terrible wish. Oh, she threw a scarf before she left and Danny found it outside the room. What a TWEEST. Danny seems happy for her. WHY?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the wishes that come true, to the strange, mystic strength of the human animal, who can take a wishful dream and give it a dimension of its own. To Barbara Jean Trenton, movie queen of another era, who has changed the blank tomb of an empty projection screen into a private world. It can happen – in the Twilight Zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find this story to be boring.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like any of the leads aside from Marty.\u00a0 I get why Barbara is like that. As a former local TV star that at least 17 people knew, I get the vibe of being a washed-up celebrity.\u00a0 I get the idea is staying in a room for most of my life just staring at a screen and wishing for glory days. I get it! But it\u2019s still a dumb story.\u00a0 It\u2019s a dumb wish. As I said, nobody is going to watch that copy of that film again, most likely. So she kinda killed herself, and we\u2019re supposed to be happy for her.\u00a0 And I can even get behind that to a certain extent. I am a firm believer in suicide in all honesty. There\u2019s a lot to be said for going out on your own terms. With all of the things that I agree with, none of it makes for a compelling story or episode.\u00a0 That is my biggest gripe. Not every episode can be memorably good. This isn\u2019t for me despite appreciating all of the themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Final Rating:\u00a0 3.7<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I can tell you that I don\u2019t like this episode.\u00a0 I vaguely remember it. I usually skip it when it is on TV.\u00a0 None of the actors or actresses appear to be names that I am remotely familiar with, which isn\u2019t shocking given the time frame. Rod Serling\u2019s Opening Narration Picture of a woman looking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[837,5,831],"tags":[850,668,851,832,844],"class_list":["post-16902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-season-1","category-television","category-twilight-zone","tag-aging-actress","tag-nostalgia","tag-the-sixteen-millimeter-shrine","tag-the-twilight-zone","tag-twilight-zone"],"yoast_head":"\n