What You Need (The Twilight Zone)
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"What You Need" is episode 12 of the
American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...
anthology series ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
''. It is based on the short story of the same name by
Lewis Padgett Lewis Padgett was the joint pseudonym of the science fiction authors and spouses Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore,Nicholls 1979, p. 445. taken from their mothers' maiden names. They also used the pseudonyms Lawrence O'Donnell and C. H. Liddell, as wel ...
(
Henry Kuttner Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Early life Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and Amelia Bush (c. 1834–1911), the ...
and
C. L. Moore Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and ...
), which was published in the October 1945 issue of ''
Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'' magazine.


Opening narration


Plot

Pedott, a
peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used fo ...
, has the curious ability to give people exactly what they need before they need it. He enters a bar, where he first gives a woman a vial of cleaning fluid. Then he gives a down-on-his-luck ex-
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player a bus ticket to
Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. Moments later, via the establishment's pay phone, the ball player receives a job offer in Scranton. He is to meet the General Manager of a team he has been hired to coach and wishes the spot he notices on his jacket could be cleaned away, so he could look his best. The woman approaches and offers to use her cleaning fluid to remove it. The two are clearly drawn to each other. Fred Renard, a frustrated, arrogant loser-type, asks Pedott to give him what ''he'' needs, and the peddler gives him a pair of scissors, which save Renard's life when his scarf later gets caught in an
elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
's doors. Renard shows up at Pedott's apartment, asking for another thing he "needs", and the peddler produces a leaky fountain pen which predicts a winning
racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
when a drop of its ink lands on a newspaper racing column. Renard continues menacing Pedott for more and then helps himself to a pair of new shoes from the peddler's case. The shoes are too tight and the soles are slippery, but Renard insists Pedott clarify if they are what he needs and what he should do now that he is wearing them. The peddler makes cryptic remarks that do not satisfy Renard; he advances threateningly on the older man. In the wet street, he slips for a moment and, as he is regaining his footing, a car approaches. Renard cannot get out of the way and is struck and killed. The shoes, Pedott explains to Renard's corpse, were what ''Pedott'' needed, because he foresaw that Renard in the future would kill him. Shortly, as people gather at the scene, Pedott gives a man a comb, which he uses to groom himself just before he and his wife are photographed as witnesses for a newspaper story covering the accident that has killed Renard.


Closing narration


Production information

The original story featured a machine that could foretell an individual's probable future. In the story, the man owns a shop where he has such a machine and then gives people what they need to provide the best possible outcomes; also, the Renard character is killed not by a car but by falling off a subway platform while a train is coming into the station. This version of the story aired on a 1952 episode of the anthology series ''
Tales of Tomorrow ''Tales of Tomorrow'' is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as ''Frankenstein'' starring Lon Chaney Jr., ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' st ...
'', changing the death of the Renard character from a fall to being hit by a car. For his version, Serling replaced the science-fiction element with a street peddler who could magically perform the same function. The final shot before the first commercial (while Serling is concluding his narration) is actually played backwards; looking carefully, one can see smoke returning to Renard's cigarette. During the scene in Mr. Renard's hotel room, a
bellhop A bellhop (North America), or hotel porter (carrier), porter (international), is a hotel employee who helps patrons with their luggage while check-in, checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform (see bell-boy hat), like certain other Page (a ...
brings him a
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
. Renard then opens it and spreads it out on the floor. The movement is quick, but the front page of the newspaper is visible, indicating that it is the same front page used in another ''Twilight Zone'' episode, "
Time Enough at Last "Time Enough at Last" is the eighth episode of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone''. The episode was adapted from a short story written by Lynn Venable (writer), Lynn Venable. The sho ...
". The headline reads "H-Bomb Capable of Total Destruction". Once Renard opens the paper and looks at the racing page, several
in-jokes An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...
or
Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...
are apparent in the names of the listed jockeys, which include "Serling", "Clemens" (referencing director of photography George Clemens), "Houghton" (referencing producer
Buck Houghton Archible Ernest "Buck" Houghton (May 4, 1915 – May 14, 1999) was an American television producer and writer best known for producing the first three seasons of ''The Twilight Zone'', as well as many other television programs and independen ...
), "Butler" (referencing set decorator Rudy Butler), and "Denault" (referencing assistant director Edward Denault).


References

*Zicree, Marc Scott: ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition) *DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. *Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.


External links

* {{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes 1959 American television episodes Television episodes about death Television shows based on short fiction The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 1) episodes Works published under a pseudonym