Uncle Simon
- Episode aired Nov 15, 1963
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
Caregiver Barbara Polk receives a surprise after her uncle's death.Caregiver Barbara Polk receives a surprise after her uncle's death.Caregiver Barbara Polk receives a surprise after her uncle's death.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaProbe 7, Over and Out (1963), the next episode of The Twilight Zone (1959), would not air for two weeks. The broadcast of the following week's episode on November 22, 1963, which was to have been Night Call (1964), was canceled due to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas that day.
- Quotes
Barbara Polk: I am no longer sowing, Uncle Simon. As of this moment, I am going to REAP!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Limitless: Fundamentals of Naked Portraiture (2016)
Featured review
Sir Cedric! You evil but awesome old man!
Call me vicious, call me sadist, but my personal favorite "Twilight Zone" episodes (favorite movies in general, in fact) are the ones where the protagonists are pure evil. Not just committing evil deeds, but evil to the bone, with rotten personalities and deliberately dedicating their lives to mentally torment others. Someone like Uncle Simon in this TZ-episode with the same name, for instance, and I couldn't think of an actor more fit to depict him than Sir Cedric Hardwicke ("The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Ghost of Frankenstein")
The idea behind "Uncle Simon" is preposterous, but delightfully entertaining. Old and sickly Simon Polk is a loathsome tyrant to his niece Barbara, who lives in with him and spends her days acting as a nurse and taking care of the household. Uncle Simon continuously insults and humiliates her, but the woman literally awaits his death and the inheritance. Still, only after his passing, it will become clear to Barbara why Uncle Simon spent so much time in his laboratory in the basement.
You could easily state that writer/creator Rod Serling intended this story to be a complaint towards typically human vices like greed and selfishness, but I prefer to see it simply as a pitch-black comedy and a showcasing of Sir Cedric Hardwicke's amazing talent for playing ultra-villainous roles.
The idea behind "Uncle Simon" is preposterous, but delightfully entertaining. Old and sickly Simon Polk is a loathsome tyrant to his niece Barbara, who lives in with him and spends her days acting as a nurse and taking care of the household. Uncle Simon continuously insults and humiliates her, but the woman literally awaits his death and the inheritance. Still, only after his passing, it will become clear to Barbara why Uncle Simon spent so much time in his laboratory in the basement.
You could easily state that writer/creator Rod Serling intended this story to be a complaint towards typically human vices like greed and selfishness, but I prefer to see it simply as a pitch-black comedy and a showcasing of Sir Cedric Hardwicke's amazing talent for playing ultra-villainous roles.
helpfulβ’21
- Coventry
- Sep 28, 2022
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content