User Reviews

A couple of years ago, inspired by The Twilight Zone, I had an idea for a short story illustrating the perils of failing to look before you leap. An irascible, introverted author is constantly interrupted by a nagging wife, noisy children, and friends who ring while he's trying to write. A genie appears and offers to fix it so he can be alone with his thoughts. He agrees, and next day wakes up not in bed but with his decapitated head kept alive by wires and tubes in a fish tank. AAARGH!

So I was naturally intrigued to discover the idea had long since been brought to fruition. Terminally ill William consents to have his brain surgically removed, intending to carry on tyrannising his long suffering wife. As the one other reviewer says, it has a good cast and is well acted. However it does rather fail to milk the obvious horror of the situation. I hate to be a plot hole pedant but would any sane person volunteer for such a hellish, inhuman existence, even if the only alternative is death? Even the dimmest bulb would realise his wife would henceforth have the upper hand. One naturally hesitates to try and improve on Dahl but it could have been better.

Like other episodes of "Way Out", it's introduced by Roald Dahl. And, like the others, his script and delivery is very, very weird--and quite funny--in a black sort of way.

While the names won't be household names, this first episode of "Way Out" has an amazing array of actors--strong supporting and character actors. Think about it--Fritz Weaver, Barnard Hughes, Henry Jones (who is GREAT here) and Mildred Dunnock all together for one show! The show begins with a NASTY old man (Jones) being told he has only weeks to live. Instead of being sad, however, he spends his time treating his poor wife like a dog--barking orders to her and being a total jerk. A bit later, a doctor comes and discusses a breakthrough operation that COULD keep the brain alive indefinitely. He won't be able to do much--but he would be kept alive. He agrees to the surgery for one reason--to stick around and make his wife's life a living hell! But, like many of the other episodes of "Way Out", there is a nasty little twist that makes it all very enjoyable.

Considering how wonderful many of the episodes were (especially this one), it's amazing that not even a full season's worth of episodes were aired. It seemed like the perfect lead-in for "The Twilight Zone" at CBS, but somehow the plug got pulled on what was a delightful series.

By the way, listen for the funny historically significant line "Watson come in here, I need you!" This is in the show and was also what Alexander Graham Bell supposedly said the first time his telephone worked!