"Invisible" is a heart-rending, thought-provoking piece of "what if?" fiction regarding a parallel society that sentences those who might not be actively embracing to those around them ("cold" and "distant") to a year of "invisibility" where a scar on the forehead tells those unencumbered by this "crime" to not communicate or recognize them or else face a sentence themselves. Cotter Smith is the poor soul who thinks being ostracized is great until he realizes what being ignored and unacknowledged means as others treat him as if he were a leper. It's a cruel penalty even as others sentenced like him are unable to speak to each other for fear of extra years. It really gets bad when he can't get medical attention after being hit by a car and has a spotlight put in his face when going to listen to a comic at a club! Question is will he be like others when his sentence is over and ostracize those that are in his previous spot? Speaks a message about recognizing others exist and deserve not to be distanced from. It also questions how we as a society could alienate others deemed unworthy to walk among us. Kind of a relevant and potent message for today's fractured ideological and societal climate.
In "Tooth and Consequences", David Birney is a dentist who is self-loathing, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, desperate for romance (all the girls want to date "lawyers and airplane pilots"), and about ready to commit suicide! He receives a trip from the "tooth fairy" (Kenneth Mars, the great comedian, looking like a bored businessman), literally catching Birney in his arms! Yep, Birney isn't competent enough to string a rope around his light and hang himself! Disastrous results come when Mars actually grants Birney his desires: a fine gal (the cute blond Teresa Ganzel), a blessed dental rep, and a rising clientele. Too bad he tires of all of them quickly! Mars is among all the clients, coming from all over to get that dental treatment from Birney, and eventually he departs totally knowing that yet another dentist is unsatisfied with the wishes he granted. The hop on the trail car, escaping it all, as others (who were also dentists!) do the same is the punchline of this silly farce. Twilight Zone, the revival, much like Tales from the Darkside, has their fair share of comedy tales, but I am kind of partial to the creepier, unsettling, and thought-provoking episodes. I don't mind them if they have their charms: I think this one does.
In "Tooth and Consequences", David Birney is a dentist who is self-loathing, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, desperate for romance (all the girls want to date "lawyers and airplane pilots"), and about ready to commit suicide! He receives a trip from the "tooth fairy" (Kenneth Mars, the great comedian, looking like a bored businessman), literally catching Birney in his arms! Yep, Birney isn't competent enough to string a rope around his light and hang himself! Disastrous results come when Mars actually grants Birney his desires: a fine gal (the cute blond Teresa Ganzel), a blessed dental rep, and a rising clientele. Too bad he tires of all of them quickly! Mars is among all the clients, coming from all over to get that dental treatment from Birney, and eventually he departs totally knowing that yet another dentist is unsatisfied with the wishes he granted. The hop on the trail car, escaping it all, as others (who were also dentists!) do the same is the punchline of this silly farce. Twilight Zone, the revival, much like Tales from the Darkside, has their fair share of comedy tales, but I am kind of partial to the creepier, unsettling, and thought-provoking episodes. I don't mind them if they have their charms: I think this one does.