"A Thing About Machines" is episode 40 of the
American television
Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...
anthology series ''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
''. It originally aired on October 28, 1960, on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
.
Opening narration
Plot
Lonely, ill-tempered
gourmet
Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
magazine
critic
A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...
and
misanthrope
Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the Human, human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitu ...
Bartlett Finchley berates a repairman after the latter fixes his television and tells him to stop abusing his appliances over mild inconveniences. Believing the machines are conspiring against him, however, Finchley continues to do so. Fed up with his paranoid behavior, his secretary quits. Following this, his
typewriter
A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...
types out the message "GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY" repeatedly on its own and the TV displays a program with a woman saying the same message. While trying to shave, his
electric shaver
An electric shaver (also known as the dry razor, electric razor, or simply shaver) is a razor with an electrically powered rotating or oscillating blade. The electric shaver usually does not require the use of shaving cream, soap, or water, kno ...
rises and lunges at him before his telephone repeats the typewriter and TV's message despite Finchley ripping the telephone out of the wall earlier.
Finchley hears a siren outside and goes to investigate, finding that his car rolled down the driveway and nearly hit a child. After rudely dismissing the attending police officer and neighbors, Finchley returns to his house, drinks, and passes out. When he awakens, the machines repeatedly tell him to leave while his razor slithers downstairs after him. He runs outside, only to be chased by his car until he ends up drowning in the pool and sinking to the bottom. After the police pull him out, neither they nor the ambulance personnel can explain how he sank without being weighted, and theorize he may have had a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
.
Project MUSE
/ref>
Closing narration
Cast
*Richard Haydn
Richard Haydn (10 March 1905 – 25 April 1985) was a British comedian.
Early life
George Richard Haydon was born in 1905 in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. After working as a music hall entertainer and overseer of a Jamaica, J ...
as Bartlett Finchley
*Barbara Stuart
Barbara Stuart (born Barbara Ann McNeese; January 3, 1930 – May 15, 2011) was an American actress.
She had a recurring role of Sgt. Carter's girlfriend Bunny on '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.''
Early years
Born in Paris, Illinois, Stuart was ...
as Edith Rogers
*Barney Phillips
Bernard Philip Ofner (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s '' Dragnet'' television ser ...
as TV repairman
*Jay Overholts as Intern
*Henry Beckman
Henry Beckman (26 November 1921 – 17 June 2008) was a Canadian stage, film and television actor.
Career
Beckman appeared in well over 100 productions in the United States and Canada, including recurring roles as Commander Paul Richards in th ...
as Policeman
*Margarita Cordova
Margarita Cordova (born February 26, 1939, in Saginaw, Michigan) is a retired American dancer and actress.
Early life
Cordova was born in Saginaw, Michigan, but grew up in Mexico City. When she was 14, she moved to Los Angeles.
Career
St ...
as Girl on TV
See also
* List of ''The Twilight Zone'' (1959 TV series) episodes
References
* 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
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thing About Machines, A
1960 American television episodes
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 2 episodes
Television episodes written by Rod Serling
Technophobia
Television episodes about technology