James Daly plays a tired and unhappy businessman named Gart Williams who is stuck in a job he hates, working for an obnoxious man he despises. His wife is decent but equally unsatisfied, and obviously regrets marrying him. Gart takes a train to and from work each day, and becomes obsessed with an idyllic town named Willoughby that he has vivid dreams about, and becomes convinced actually exists, and that he is now determined to get too for good... Classic episode much like earlier 'Walking Distance' is even better, with a most believable performance by Daly as a man who yearns for a simpler life that fate denied him, and will risk all to attain. Will resonate more with older viewers for obvious reasons.
50 Reviews
The best episode of "The Twilight Zone"
oversplayer14 May 2006
Gart Williams is a harried, miserable Madison Avenue ad exec with a social climber of a wife, a relentlessly demanding boss, and an ulcer that won't quit. Riding the commuter train home to Connecticut one evening, he falls asleep and awakens on an 1890's train stopping at "Willoughby," a bucolic village where "a man can live his life full measure." He quickly returns to the present, but can't stop dreaming of the simple life for which he longs in a place where a band plays in the town square and kids carry fishing poles. There is little doubt that, when the pressures of modern day life become truly unbearable, Gart Williams will pay a visit to the place of his dreams. Rod Serling's most personal episode. When I had the privilege of seeing him in person in 1970, he described it, along with "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," as his two personal favorites. The final scene drew multiple gasps from the audience.
A Great Conclusion
Hitchcoc3 October 2008
I could just feel for this guy. The fifties ad agency where everyone is expected to spend every waking hour working, trying to come up with some insipid slogan or campaign. The bosses yell, the wives demand, the pressure builds. I have to say that this episode makes me tired. That poor man, doing something for which he is not cut out. And the wife, who in the fifties would have expected to be treated to everything in life. Her price: Marrying him. Anyway, somewhere exists this dreamland, this Willoughby, where things are calm and gentle and there is a band playing. Where stress is not a part of the picture. And we can see that this is still something we long for. But where is it? And why is it always summer. Well, if you're a Twilight Zone fan, you know where Willoughby is.
One Twilight Zone episode that sticks in the mind
Redcitykev29 May 2009
Of all of the episodes from The Twilight Zone it is this one that seems to stick in my mind most - alongside the episode entitled (I think) 'Terror at 10,000ft'.
Why 'A Stopover at Willoughby' should have such an effect on me I can not really say, but there is something about the idea of a place which you have never actually visited yet you know every street, building, shop, person, even the dogs on the streets that appeals to something deep within - maybe a psychological yearning for a place were you are eternally safe and free from worries. I have often had dreams like that and I guess that is what this episode taps into deeply, as do the very best of the rest of this amazing series.
The other thing that has stayed with me after watching this episode - which was some many moons ago! - is the train conductor saying "Willoughby, this is Willoughby...Willoughby, this is Willoughby..." When I am travelling on a bus (and, occasionally, the train) and it is idling at some stop somewhere I find myself saying these words in my head - now there are not many programmes that have the power to last that long in the brain!
Why 'A Stopover at Willoughby' should have such an effect on me I can not really say, but there is something about the idea of a place which you have never actually visited yet you know every street, building, shop, person, even the dogs on the streets that appeals to something deep within - maybe a psychological yearning for a place were you are eternally safe and free from worries. I have often had dreams like that and I guess that is what this episode taps into deeply, as do the very best of the rest of this amazing series.
The other thing that has stayed with me after watching this episode - which was some many moons ago! - is the train conductor saying "Willoughby, this is Willoughby...Willoughby, this is Willoughby..." When I am travelling on a bus (and, occasionally, the train) and it is idling at some stop somewhere I find myself saying these words in my head - now there are not many programmes that have the power to last that long in the brain!
Wonderfully sentimental and thought-provoking
grantss17 January 2020
An ad exec is at the end of his tether, with a bullying, aggressive boss and an unsympathetic, selfish wife. Then he falls asleep on the train home one night and dreams of an idyllic town called Willoughby.
The average episode of the Twilight Zone was entertaining and intriguing but not always profound. The worst episodes were quite predictable with a twist and/or ending you could see a mile off.
This episode is more than intriguing and entertaining, it's also wonderfully sentimental and thought-provoking. It will appeal to anyone who has ever wanted to escape the rat race and go somewhere peaceful and serene. Add in a great twist towards the end and this almost the perfect episode.
The average episode of the Twilight Zone was entertaining and intriguing but not always profound. The worst episodes were quite predictable with a twist and/or ending you could see a mile off.
This episode is more than intriguing and entertaining, it's also wonderfully sentimental and thought-provoking. It will appeal to anyone who has ever wanted to escape the rat race and go somewhere peaceful and serene. Add in a great twist towards the end and this almost the perfect episode.
That Brilliant First Year
dougdoepke12 June 2013
This entry very much reflects the button-down collar of the 1950's when success was identified with rising in the corporate world. I suspect Serling was reaching deep within himself with recollections of an uncluttered childhood as contrasted with the pressure of TV advertising surrounding a successful writer-executive.
Daly both looks and acts the junior executive part perfectly. And I like the traveling train as a metaphor for time passage. In a sense, Williams must depart the real world train to find the contentment he seeks. One thing to note – a 30-minute time frame doesn't leave much leeway for character development of supporting players, so Williams' "push, push" boss and grasping wife become shorthand caricatures for the pressures he faces. Nonetheless, it's a particularly poignant entry, deftly handled, with what I suspect is near universal appeal.
Daly both looks and acts the junior executive part perfectly. And I like the traveling train as a metaphor for time passage. In a sense, Williams must depart the real world train to find the contentment he seeks. One thing to note – a 30-minute time frame doesn't leave much leeway for character development of supporting players, so Williams' "push, push" boss and grasping wife become shorthand caricatures for the pressures he faces. Nonetheless, it's a particularly poignant entry, deftly handled, with what I suspect is near universal appeal.
'Push,push,push'.
darrenpearce11110 December 2013
This is a TZ that might be worth viewing twice. The story can seem a bit lacking in excitement and a little disappointing first time around. Yet the overall experience of Gart Williams (James Daley) and the fineness of details is worth reliving. The subject matter is trademark Serling. A man finding the cut and thrust of the modern working world slightly inhuman was also used, (much more wonderfully) by Serling for the only episode of 'Night Gallery' to reach TZ standard of greatness ('They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar'). Willoughby is the restful place Gart longs for.
Willoughby inadvertently raises the question 'what should life be about?'. Howard Smith is repulsively excellent as the terrible big boss, Misrell (the name fits the character in a Dickensian fashion). He loathsomely barks 'push, push, push' out the corner of his mouth. Patricia Donahue shines as an absolutely heartless wife to Gart, making his state of mind all the more understandable.
Leave now and catch the train. Get a return ticket as this may grow on you.
Willoughby inadvertently raises the question 'what should life be about?'. Howard Smith is repulsively excellent as the terrible big boss, Misrell (the name fits the character in a Dickensian fashion). He loathsomely barks 'push, push, push' out the corner of his mouth. Patricia Donahue shines as an absolutely heartless wife to Gart, making his state of mind all the more understandable.
Leave now and catch the train. Get a return ticket as this may grow on you.
"Next time I'm going to get off".
classicsoncall26 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Simply through sheer circumstance, this is probably my most viewed episode of the Twilight Zone. It's also one of my favorites, certainly making my personal Top Ten, and near the top of the list at that. The story connects with anyone who's ever been hassled by the pressure of every day job stress and matrimonial discord. Rod Serling was virtually perfect with the writing for this story. When his character Gart Williams (James Daly) admits he wasn't built for competition, you can almost hear the collective sigh of disillusionment and regret many folks have with the 'push, push, push, all the way, all the time' treadmill of their own lives. And then you stop and think, this was a story written fifty years ago! It's only gotten worse, as advances in science and technology haven't been able to deliver any measure of relief or comfort since then.
By this point in the series, this being the thirtieth episode, I find it interesting that most of Serling's main characters were in their thirties; Gart Williams was thirty eight. Serling was in his mid-thirties when he wrote the series, and there's definitely an autobiographical slant to many of the episodes. Even without knowing a lot about his life, one can infer a good deal about the way the man felt about his place in the world with the existential approach he took. He was certainly able to connect with his audience in a unique way, and I'm sure I speak for a lot of fans who grew up with the series when I say that the Twilight Zone is my favorite TV show of all time.
The odd thing is, the twist ending of 'Willoughby' isn't such a shocker, even if it ostensibly deals with the main character's suicide. It depicts one man's response to the overwhelming agony of life in self imposed incarceration to status, money and a social climbing spouse. Other episodes of TZ handled it in different ways; Martin Sloan (Gig Young) was given a second chance to reconsider his lot in episode #1.5 - 'Walking Distance'. Both Homewood and Willoughby offered their characters a way to slow down to a walk and live life full measure, with the viewer's response in each case tempered by one's individual approach to life and it's challenges.
By this point in the series, this being the thirtieth episode, I find it interesting that most of Serling's main characters were in their thirties; Gart Williams was thirty eight. Serling was in his mid-thirties when he wrote the series, and there's definitely an autobiographical slant to many of the episodes. Even without knowing a lot about his life, one can infer a good deal about the way the man felt about his place in the world with the existential approach he took. He was certainly able to connect with his audience in a unique way, and I'm sure I speak for a lot of fans who grew up with the series when I say that the Twilight Zone is my favorite TV show of all time.
The odd thing is, the twist ending of 'Willoughby' isn't such a shocker, even if it ostensibly deals with the main character's suicide. It depicts one man's response to the overwhelming agony of life in self imposed incarceration to status, money and a social climbing spouse. Other episodes of TZ handled it in different ways; Martin Sloan (Gig Young) was given a second chance to reconsider his lot in episode #1.5 - 'Walking Distance'. Both Homewood and Willoughby offered their characters a way to slow down to a walk and live life full measure, with the viewer's response in each case tempered by one's individual approach to life and it's challenges.
Rod Serling's personal favorite for the first season
merrywood13 August 2008
Along with Rod Serling's choice as writer, A Stop at Willoughby is one of the all time favorite of many fans in the entire Twilight Zone series. Its theme is classic and recalls the never-never Utopias of a human heart desperate to escape the pressures of every day reality.
Shangri-La from James Hilton's Lost Horizon and Brigadoon, the musical by Alan Jay Lerner (based on an old German story, Germelshausen by Freidrich Gerstacker) are just two of these places. Hilton's Shangri-La is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
In this memorable series show Serling's Willoughby takes its place among the literary Utopias. It was expanded into a TV movie in 2000, entitled, For All Time, starring Mark Harmon with a new teleplay by Vivienne Radkoff.
Many of us have from time to time dreamed of such a place where we could leave all of our cares behind and live an idyllic life. As in the best of The Twilight Zone episodes we are given that moment of revelation in the end and this time with a twist that some might call tragic while others might see it as hopeful.
Shangri-La from James Hilton's Lost Horizon and Brigadoon, the musical by Alan Jay Lerner (based on an old German story, Germelshausen by Freidrich Gerstacker) are just two of these places. Hilton's Shangri-La is based on the concept of Shambhala, a mystical city in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
In this memorable series show Serling's Willoughby takes its place among the literary Utopias. It was expanded into a TV movie in 2000, entitled, For All Time, starring Mark Harmon with a new teleplay by Vivienne Radkoff.
Many of us have from time to time dreamed of such a place where we could leave all of our cares behind and live an idyllic life. As in the best of The Twilight Zone episodes we are given that moment of revelation in the end and this time with a twist that some might call tragic while others might see it as hopeful.
Love this Ep
priscilla52782-29-742872 January 2012
This is definitely one of my top 3 favorite episodes. Most people can definitely relate. What time era do you think Willoughby took place in? Even though I am in my 20's I would love to live in a more laid back serene atmosphere. Watching this episode makes me hope I dream tonight of a place similar to Willoughby. Does anybody live in a small town similar to Willoughby? I am surprised nobody asked this question yet. I live in a big crazy city. I would love to move to a place similar. If it exists. Please by kind and let me know what city if any. Thank you! Also thank you to my Dvr for recording the twilight zone marathon. It is tradition to watch it every year.
A Stop at Willoughby - its not boring
langinger12 February 2008
The really sad thing is the comment someone made that A Stop at Willoughby is dull. It may have moments where the victim is simply sitting on the train, with little happening, but I think this is the point. After years apparently dealing with Mr. Misrell, anyone would wish for peace and a slowed down environment. I guess everyone is entitled to their personal opinion. But, certainly, anyone who would truly see the episode for the first time, would be blown away by the ending. Dull, this I don't understand. The idea is extremely relevant today, in our hyper-speed society, where people get mad if a car honks at them for driving bad while text messaging. I think we don't come close to smelling the flowers often enough.
Promise Land
hellraiser725 August 2018
This episode is another honorable mention that I really like. Some would see this episode as tragic but me I kind of see this episode as bittersweet, as it's a simple tale about a man that is looking for peace in his life.
I really like how there is a bit of commentary on the upper class and the corporate and overly busy and complex subculture going on and how problematic it is. Gart is a protagonist that you really feel sympathetic toward and even emphasize with a little. He really is a person that is just struggling to get by in where he works but due how tough and fast things go he just can't keep up, which is understandable these days it's literally impossible.
This guy we see is just miserable in his life, it's taken its toil on him psychologically but also physically as we see in the beginning holding on to his chest a bit which I can't help but sense might be more than anxiety pains but possibly heart disease of some sort. Not just is he suffering from deep stress in his hostile work environment, but he's got no one to turn to as there is just insensitivity all around.
From his blowhole of a boss whom bullies him but also his so-called wife Jannie whom I really hate the most. She is just a cold, frigid, gold digging b.... that doesn't give a toss about Gart and his feelings except for the money and high status. I really like the little monologues that Gart gives when he says some people aren't built for competition which I believe is true with all of us whom are good at certain things in life but not everything that's just human nature, you can't alter or manipulate it anyway you want it never works that way or ever will.
Even like another little monologue when he says he's just an average guy. Here he was being truthful to her, he was admitting who he really is as a person. That monologue just shows that money and success doesn't always equal happiness or a meaningful life. Sure, he has the house, country club membership, money and everything but those are just things they don't define his identity and also despite his status at the end of the day he's just a human being like everyone else.
It's interesting how Gart dreams or maybe isn't dreaming, personally I felt the character Gart was actually dying throughout the story but didn't know it, if you remember in a scene or two how he was holding on to his chest in pain, maybe not just anxiety pain but could be heart disease. And the times he was sleeping, he wasn't really sleeping but on the brink of death and just seeing heaven. I don't know I'll let you decide, but it's interesting that the promise land he had in mind is a late 18th century town. Seeing that has awakened some feelings long dormant in him, the feeling of belonging where he can do and be anything he wants and most importantly enjoy life to its fullest.
This episode sort of gets at our deep desire to find a promise land of our own, to live life in simplicity, the way you want to, with little to no complexity. Yeah sure the competitive corporate world and high status has its perks, but at the end of the day you realize how meaningless and unfulfilling it really all is, and one thing in common the people in that world have is no one was having any fun, their all too busy worrying about their worthless greed.
The promise land isn't just around the bend but inside us.
Rating: 4 stars
I really like how there is a bit of commentary on the upper class and the corporate and overly busy and complex subculture going on and how problematic it is. Gart is a protagonist that you really feel sympathetic toward and even emphasize with a little. He really is a person that is just struggling to get by in where he works but due how tough and fast things go he just can't keep up, which is understandable these days it's literally impossible.
This guy we see is just miserable in his life, it's taken its toil on him psychologically but also physically as we see in the beginning holding on to his chest a bit which I can't help but sense might be more than anxiety pains but possibly heart disease of some sort. Not just is he suffering from deep stress in his hostile work environment, but he's got no one to turn to as there is just insensitivity all around.
From his blowhole of a boss whom bullies him but also his so-called wife Jannie whom I really hate the most. She is just a cold, frigid, gold digging b.... that doesn't give a toss about Gart and his feelings except for the money and high status. I really like the little monologues that Gart gives when he says some people aren't built for competition which I believe is true with all of us whom are good at certain things in life but not everything that's just human nature, you can't alter or manipulate it anyway you want it never works that way or ever will.
Even like another little monologue when he says he's just an average guy. Here he was being truthful to her, he was admitting who he really is as a person. That monologue just shows that money and success doesn't always equal happiness or a meaningful life. Sure, he has the house, country club membership, money and everything but those are just things they don't define his identity and also despite his status at the end of the day he's just a human being like everyone else.
It's interesting how Gart dreams or maybe isn't dreaming, personally I felt the character Gart was actually dying throughout the story but didn't know it, if you remember in a scene or two how he was holding on to his chest in pain, maybe not just anxiety pain but could be heart disease. And the times he was sleeping, he wasn't really sleeping but on the brink of death and just seeing heaven. I don't know I'll let you decide, but it's interesting that the promise land he had in mind is a late 18th century town. Seeing that has awakened some feelings long dormant in him, the feeling of belonging where he can do and be anything he wants and most importantly enjoy life to its fullest.
This episode sort of gets at our deep desire to find a promise land of our own, to live life in simplicity, the way you want to, with little to no complexity. Yeah sure the competitive corporate world and high status has its perks, but at the end of the day you realize how meaningless and unfulfilling it really all is, and one thing in common the people in that world have is no one was having any fun, their all too busy worrying about their worthless greed.
The promise land isn't just around the bend but inside us.
Rating: 4 stars
A golden age.
rmax3048238 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the better episodes of the series, though it's no more than a variation on a common theme of Serling. (The best example is called something like "A Short Walk to Town," with Gig Young.) Here, J. D. Cannon is Serling's alter ego, a business executive constantly being shouted at and told to "Push! Push! Push!" He commutes to his home in Connecticut by train, falls asleep, and is awakened by a conductor who tells him that this stop is Willoughby. As he looks out he finds everything to be a golden age of good nature and innocence, everything the world he lives in is not. But he doesn't leave the train and when he wakes up next he is back home, facing his irritable wife.
At the next confrontation with his boss he walks out, takes the train, falls asleep, and awakes again at the Willoughby stop, which he has learned doesn't exist. He gets off the train and joins the Tom-Sawyerish kids and listens to the town band, while the train departs.
Fade: A hearse is picking up Cannon's body from the tracks after he jumped off the train. The hearse is from the Willoughby Funeral Home. Willoughby, for whatever weight of significance it may hold, is a small town in Ohio near Yellow Springs, where Antioch College is located.
Heaven lies in the past. Anyone who argues otherwise is under twenty-one and is right. Serling led a constructive and turbulent life -- wounded in the paratroops -- a nice Jewish kid who went to Antioch on the GI Bill. He seems never to have forgotten his boyhood in Binghamton, New York, a small unattractive town at the time, with slate sidewalks. But to him -- well, he died in his 50s of endocarditis. One hopes heaven is like Willoughby.
At the next confrontation with his boss he walks out, takes the train, falls asleep, and awakes again at the Willoughby stop, which he has learned doesn't exist. He gets off the train and joins the Tom-Sawyerish kids and listens to the town band, while the train departs.
Fade: A hearse is picking up Cannon's body from the tracks after he jumped off the train. The hearse is from the Willoughby Funeral Home. Willoughby, for whatever weight of significance it may hold, is a small town in Ohio near Yellow Springs, where Antioch College is located.
Heaven lies in the past. Anyone who argues otherwise is under twenty-one and is right. Serling led a constructive and turbulent life -- wounded in the paratroops -- a nice Jewish kid who went to Antioch on the GI Bill. He seems never to have forgotten his boyhood in Binghamton, New York, a small unattractive town at the time, with slate sidewalks. But to him -- well, he died in his 50s of endocarditis. One hopes heaven is like Willoughby.
One of Serling's favorites--certainly not mine
planktonrules29 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I read a book about Rod Serling years ago and I found him to be a brilliant but rather sad man in some ways. He was a major workaholic and despite his brilliant career, was plagued by self-doubts. This episode is supposedly one that was very close to Serling's heart, as it was, in a way, an expression of his inner desire to chuck the "rat race" and just retire to a perfect old fashion world like Willoughby. For Serling, this was naturally a very poignant and personal expression. I can respect this.
However, for me, I have no desire whatsoever to retire to Willoughby. I already take time to "smell the flowers" and I am not particularly plagued with all these doubts. So what was a profound problem for Serling just never hit home for me. As a result, I just found the whole thing dull--and rather like being Serling's analyst listening to him talk about wish fulfillment. Interesting? Yes. But that's really all.
However, for me, I have no desire whatsoever to retire to Willoughby. I already take time to "smell the flowers" and I am not particularly plagued with all these doubts. So what was a profound problem for Serling just never hit home for me. As a result, I just found the whole thing dull--and rather like being Serling's analyst listening to him talk about wish fulfillment. Interesting? Yes. But that's really all.
"A Stop At Willoughby" is a sudden one
chuck-reilly16 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Veteran actor James Daly (Tyne's father) stars as Gart Williams, a burned-out New York City Advertising Executive who's being driven to an early grave by his demanding job and miserable blustery boss, Mr. Misrell (Howard Smith). Williams' wife Janie (Patricia Donahue) is equally unsympathetic to his frustrations and pressures and continually berates him for his perceived weakness. She's only interested in him making it to the top, no matter what the cost to his health and happiness. On the train coming home to his house in a nearby Connecticut suburb, Williams has a dream about an idyllic small town called Willoughby. It's just the place he's looking for because it's stuck in the past (1890's) and nobody seems to be under any 20th Century pressures. The sun is shining, the boys are out cat-fishing and the band is playing in the town square. "Next stop, Willoughby" he hears from a late 19th Century conductor. But it's all a dream and he soon awakens to reality. However, the vision of Willoughby reappears in his dreams and Williams soon becomes entirely enthused about the idea of being a citizen of this newfound town. After more stressful days on the job, Williams unfortunately decides to get off the next time the train "stops" at Willoughby. As it turns out, there truly IS a Willoughby nearby---but not the same one he was looking for.
Willoughby is a place that writer Serling clearly had in mind for people like Gart Williams---and himself. It's serene, peaceful, and a place where a man can take full measure of his life. Serling was under constant pressure himself during his career and he may have been writing about his own need to literally "jump off the train." That's exactly what poor Gart Williams does. Whether he truly ends up in a nice place similar to Willoughby is left to the viewer's imagination. One thing is certain, this quaint little town called Willoughby is located in the Twilight Zone.
Willoughby is a place that writer Serling clearly had in mind for people like Gart Williams---and himself. It's serene, peaceful, and a place where a man can take full measure of his life. Serling was under constant pressure himself during his career and he may have been writing about his own need to literally "jump off the train." That's exactly what poor Gart Williams does. Whether he truly ends up in a nice place similar to Willoughby is left to the viewer's imagination. One thing is certain, this quaint little town called Willoughby is located in the Twilight Zone.
The Twilight Zone-A Stop at Willoughby
Scarecrow-882 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Next time I'm gonna get off. The next time I'm gonna get off at Willoughby.
Gart Williams(James Daly)has reached a point in his life when the "push, push, push" of a demanding career in the business world and an uncaring, unfeeling wife only concerned with what success reaps has him on the verge of an anxiety attack. We see Gart clutching his chest and grimacing/aching as others, such as his vicious boss, Mr. Misrell(Howard Smith)tear into him like rabid dogs. Wife Jane(Patricia Donahue)is the reason Gart has even reached the executive position, because it gets her into country clubs and the lavish, expensive apartment, the lifestyle he cares nothing about and would rather abandon. So Willoughby, a fantasy dream town where a train ride takes him when he sleeps, is perhaps a stopping-off point where Gart can escape this miserable existence and experience solace and serenity, peace and contentment. I love this episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE because I can sympathize with Gart's position. He just isn't cut out for the life "chosen for him" and Gart would prefer something not so hostile to his mind and body, so THE TWILIGHT ZONE provides a place where he can get off and alleviate the psychological trauma often compassing him about. I think many of us have the same dream as Gart, to find that "happy place" which gives us a comfort when life compounds/heaps upon us pressures and stress. And Daly competently shows the effects which have caused his troubles and harm. The ending is appropriate, I think, because Gart was on the brink and so wrapped up in breaking free, the net result of his pursuit probably couldn't end any other way.
Gart Williams(James Daly)has reached a point in his life when the "push, push, push" of a demanding career in the business world and an uncaring, unfeeling wife only concerned with what success reaps has him on the verge of an anxiety attack. We see Gart clutching his chest and grimacing/aching as others, such as his vicious boss, Mr. Misrell(Howard Smith)tear into him like rabid dogs. Wife Jane(Patricia Donahue)is the reason Gart has even reached the executive position, because it gets her into country clubs and the lavish, expensive apartment, the lifestyle he cares nothing about and would rather abandon. So Willoughby, a fantasy dream town where a train ride takes him when he sleeps, is perhaps a stopping-off point where Gart can escape this miserable existence and experience solace and serenity, peace and contentment. I love this episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE because I can sympathize with Gart's position. He just isn't cut out for the life "chosen for him" and Gart would prefer something not so hostile to his mind and body, so THE TWILIGHT ZONE provides a place where he can get off and alleviate the psychological trauma often compassing him about. I think many of us have the same dream as Gart, to find that "happy place" which gives us a comfort when life compounds/heaps upon us pressures and stress. And Daly competently shows the effects which have caused his troubles and harm. The ending is appropriate, I think, because Gart was on the brink and so wrapped up in breaking free, the net result of his pursuit probably couldn't end any other way.
Stop the train, I want to get off!
BA_Harrison14 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Stressed advertising executive Gart Williams (James Daly) hates his high-pressured job and suffers the daily whining of his dissatisfied wife (Patricia Donahue). After he falls asleep on the train home after a particularly tough day at work, he is surprised to find the train pulling into the small town of Willoughby in the summer of 1888, a peaceful place where 'man can live his life to full measure'. His visit to the idyllic town turns out to be a dream, however, when he wakes to find himself still in the present: November 1960.
At home he tells his dream to his wife, who doesn't understand the appeal of such a place. When the same thing happens the next day, Gart almost leaves the train, but once again wakes in the present. He makes a promise to himself that if it happens again, he will get off the train to stay in Willoughby for good.
Like the excellent earlier The Twilight Zone episode Walking Distance, A Stop at Willoughby explores a man's desire to escape to a simpler, more serene time and place, where one can forget about the stresses and strains of modern life. In this tale, the dream is attainable, but only if one is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. A bitter-sweet ending sees Gart finally being welcomed into Willoughby by the genial townsfolk; in reality, he has ended his life, having jumped from the moving train. Either way, Gart has finally found the peace he longed for-in The Twilight Zone.
At home he tells his dream to his wife, who doesn't understand the appeal of such a place. When the same thing happens the next day, Gart almost leaves the train, but once again wakes in the present. He makes a promise to himself that if it happens again, he will get off the train to stay in Willoughby for good.
Like the excellent earlier The Twilight Zone episode Walking Distance, A Stop at Willoughby explores a man's desire to escape to a simpler, more serene time and place, where one can forget about the stresses and strains of modern life. In this tale, the dream is attainable, but only if one is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. A bitter-sweet ending sees Gart finally being welcomed into Willoughby by the genial townsfolk; in reality, he has ended his life, having jumped from the moving train. Either way, Gart has finally found the peace he longed for-in The Twilight Zone.
Somewhere in dreamland ...
praxistens18 February 2010
A few years ago, when we found that the "SyFy" channel had a Twilight Zone marathon, me & the missus sat down to watch. I'd seen many of these as a kid; she'd seen almost none.
This is one of her favorites: a dream of Willoughby is the ideal antidote to Mr. Misrell's (Mr. Miserable's?) relentless "push, push, push!" James Daly is outstanding as the exhausted & disillusioned ad manager, on the cusp of what they probably still call "a breakdown." Soon, there is nothing to separate the commuter train he rides each evening from the one his dreams.
Dozens of Twilight Zone episodes involved seeking solace in small towns (think: Of Late I Dream of Cliffordville, with Julie Newmar): this one of the best.
This is one of her favorites: a dream of Willoughby is the ideal antidote to Mr. Misrell's (Mr. Miserable's?) relentless "push, push, push!" James Daly is outstanding as the exhausted & disillusioned ad manager, on the cusp of what they probably still call "a breakdown." Soon, there is nothing to separate the commuter train he rides each evening from the one his dreams.
Dozens of Twilight Zone episodes involved seeking solace in small towns (think: Of Late I Dream of Cliffordville, with Julie Newmar): this one of the best.
Willoughby, next stop Willoughby
stoneyburke24 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
or...PUSH PUSH PUSH PUSH. Anytime I mention Twilight Zone it never fails that someone responds with, "Did you see that Willoughby episode?" Like another reviewer mentioned it is definitely up in the Top 10 or best yet the Top 5... You all by now have read the set-up..even knowing the ending does not ruin repeat viewings of this fantastic episode. James Daly was gifted with talent and very pleasing looks..he also convinced me that he has that everyman persona that could very well have been in a high ulcer producing vocation. His life at home only added to his pressure. Think of it, a pushy boss and an unsympathetic wife so what was this guy supposed to do. This episode is a viewing treasure.
Tired of pushing
bkoganbing31 October 2018
Our protagonist in this Twilight Zone story is James Daly a forty something advertising executive who is really under the pressure from his boss Howard
Smith. As Smith is fond of saying it's a 'push push push' business they're in and
no room for failure.
On the home front wife Patricia Donahue is tired of being married as she sees it to a failure.
But on that commuter train to their little Eisenhower era palace in Connecticut Daly is suddenly on this 1880s era train coming into a town called Willoughby which he can't recall. It looks like the kind of small town Booth Tarkington might written about with a slower pace of life. Looks ideal.
Daly really makes this episode work with his performance as an every man type character. This could really have worked as a feature film and I could have seen Jack Lemmon in the lead. And Howard Smith is great as the tyrannical boss who loves being a tyrant.
On the home front wife Patricia Donahue is tired of being married as she sees it to a failure.
But on that commuter train to their little Eisenhower era palace in Connecticut Daly is suddenly on this 1880s era train coming into a town called Willoughby which he can't recall. It looks like the kind of small town Booth Tarkington might written about with a slower pace of life. Looks ideal.
Daly really makes this episode work with his performance as an every man type character. This could really have worked as a feature film and I could have seen Jack Lemmon in the lead. And Howard Smith is great as the tyrannical boss who loves being a tyrant.
Crazy train
Calicodreamin1 June 2021
Unsympathetic?? Mad Men??
darbski4 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I note most positive reviews, and this one still sticks in my head from when I was a kid. It is one of the greats. As we grow up and have to put up with bosses (notice I DIDN'T say leaders), who are arrogant blowhards, and in this subject's case, A nagging, spiteful, shrewlike Medusa for a wife. I often wonder why Willoughby wasn't the last step off the gallows. All other observations aside, This one is a keeper. Oh, by the way, I actually did keep it. I bought the entire first two seasons from Amazon; yeah, it's cool.
Work, pressure and Willoughby.
AvionPrince1626 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
So yeah we follow a man who is under pressure at work and in his own private life with his wife and we witnessed also that he wants some peace and to enjoy life; he is not really ambitious and get pretty overwheilmed with his work. And there is this place Willoughby. I dont really know how to see things but i will say that Willoughby its a place where everyone is accepted and we have that society who just accept people who is ambitious, greedy (the contract they lost at the beeginning) and who clearly reject other people who dont follow the rythm or just different and work in other way. It was pretty interesting. Because Willoughby in the real world of the protganist is a cemetary and Willoughby in the other world is a place where he found himself paceful. So i clearly think that just want to reflect the society and how it can reject people without trying to understand them and make us believe that they are the wrong ones because they dont fit but in the other world we found a place where there is no judgment and just a place to live in. It become pretty dramatic at the end; but the rejection and the rules of society we can feel like this: rejected and not understand us; feel like dead.
"Look on the Bright Side of Suicide"
TheFearmakers11 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
That's a quote from, ironically, a Nirvana song, written by one of the most famous people to ever commit suicide, Kurt Cobain, and when it comes down to it, this episode is about exactly that. The most important thing is not the idyllic town, or his boss PUSHING him, but the fact that to find peace, he leapt out of the train to his own death. He committed suicide to reach his own form of heaven. Which makes the irony a little bit twisted, but is it in a good way?
If you have a lousy job with an even lousier boss, quit. Find heaven on earth, first. This is an extremely dark and creepy episode, and not one of the best. And it's not that the twist ending is negative or bad for humanity. It's simply... a kind of creative cheat to the audience. Though most don't take it that way.
If you have a lousy job with an even lousier boss, quit. Find heaven on earth, first. This is an extremely dark and creepy episode, and not one of the best. And it's not that the twist ending is negative or bad for humanity. It's simply... a kind of creative cheat to the audience. Though most don't take it that way.
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