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"The Twilight Zone" Nick of Time (1960)


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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Strange oddities...., 15 August 2006
10/10
Author: MarieGabrielle from United States

and William Shatner in this episode of "Twilight Zone". What more could the audience want?. A seemingly innocent road trip, two honeymooners in middle America; all is safe and pleasant.

Until they have to stop in a small town, to eat lunch and get their car repaired. An innocent soothsaying machine, with a snaggle toothed devil's head on top of it, is Shatner's past time as he starts to place coins in the machine, to see if he and his wife will ever get out of this town. The wife, as portrayed by Patricia Breslin is appropriately amused, at first.

After awhile, the answers the fortune-telling machine gives Shatner are ominous, and he develops a fixation on the machine: ..."What if...?"... he keeps wondering.

You will truly enjoy this episode, and anyone who knows if the props are available, I would be interested in the devil fortune-telling machine!. 10/10.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"Nick of Time" covers a lot psychological areas, 24 July 2008
Author: (chuck-reilly) from Los Angeles

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

William Shatner and Patricia Breslin play a honeymooning couple who stop to get a bite to eat at a small-town diner while their car is being repaired. In their booth, a strange penny-for-your-fortune machine (complete with a wobbling devil's head) attracts their attention while they await their food order. Shatner decides to insert a penny to see how his luck is going. The brief and terse answer that pops out turns out to be exactly what happens to the couple after they leave the diner. Intrigued by the possibility that the machine may have some innate power, Shatner and his new wife head back to the diner to find out some more information about their "future." It doesn't take long before Shatner becomes a slave to the devilish device and can't wait for the next answer, and the next...

"Nick of Time," written by Richard Matheson, explores many psychological areas, the most obvious being the nature of superstition itself and a lesser one involving thought inducement from suggestive persuasion. The answers Shatner and his wife receive are nothing but ordinary statements (e.g. "You'll find out soon enough," "That is to be determined" etc.). Unfortunately, they misinterpret them as all-knowing and all-omniscient and begin to completely fall under the control of the inanimate machine. It takes all their collective will-power to finally break free from the diner and resume their lives. As they leave the scene, another much older couple enter the diner and put a penny into the devil's slot. It appears the honeymoon is over for them.

Shatner does a great job as the young and confident married man who seems to have all the answers until he meets his match with the devil's own device. Patricia Breslin provides fine support as his loving but increasingly desperate wife who tries her best to tear him away from the diner before he loses his soul. "Nick of Time" is truly an original premise that has plenty to say about man's fears, superstitions and psychological problems. It's one of the more interesting episodes in the Twilight Zone series and has a real "hidden" message for viewers.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A great episode, 3 August 2008
9/10
Author: sephiroth3298 from New Zealand

The acting was great although that might be because I'm a fan of William Shatner. The story is about a young couples encounter with a fortune telling machine. and it is a treat to see how the events uncover. I can't compare this to other twilight zone episodes because this is the first episode I've seen so far. but the morale of the story is a good one. and it would be a shame for you to not apply it, outside of the context it presents in. sure they maybe called gullible but really there are many unreasonable fears that dictate our lives. and that's the point here. the beginning was a little slow but it ends well.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Penny 's Worth of Trouble, 26 May 2007
7/10
Author: dougdoepke from Claremont, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Writer Richard Matheson and director Richard Bare manage to squeeze maximum worth out of this very slender premise. One of those bobble-head fortune teller novelties from the fifties proves to be more than just a teenage amusement. This devil's head claims to predict the future and actually does-- or at least appears to. There it sits booth-side in a cheap diner waiting for some unsuspecting customer to get caught up in the clairvoyant vortex. Unsuspecting newly-weds Pat Breslin and William Shatner make for very charming victims. Notice how Bare shifts camera angles as the couple falls under the demonic spell. He uses Breslin's mounting anxiety in the foreground to communicate emotions as Shatner gets caught up in the background. It's very effective. (Also-- consider how the couple gets a hearty lunch for under two dollars. Sign me up!)

The better TZ's usually posed an interesting philosophical question. Here the quandary is what you would do if you believed your future was already mapped out. Would you try to duck it? Could you avoid it? Or is fate unstoppable? Breslin doesn't want to find out, and when it comes down to it, neither does Shatner. Maybe their choice is the wisest. Live your life as though you are in charge. Let the gods sort out the rest. All in all, a worthy little episode.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
" It's not possible to predict the future, is it?"- It all depends on your point of view, 22 January 2007
10/10
Author: mlraymond from Durham NC

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This episode is like a good short story. It's tightly focused on two specific characters in a specific situation, building to a strong ending, but with an even more ironic conclusion than any viewer might guess.

William Shatner and Patricia Breslin are both excellent as the honeymooning couple. The small town diner has a realistic feel to it and the whole storyline is based in the every day world, but with a hint of the unknown and occult suggested ambiguously. The grinning devil head that bobbles on top of the fortune telling machine seems to mock Shatner's eager quest for answers.

One of the best moments occurs when the wife asks him, "Don't you realize you could get the same answers from a dozen machines just like it in this place?" The husband fails to see the logic of her idea and responds by saying " The same kind of answers maybe, but not the exact right answers." He insists that every one of the random answers the machine has given him is a literal prediction and confirmation of things that have happened recently. The way that he stares at the machine in fascination makes it seem almost a rival for Patricia Breslin's affections.

This is a powerful and absorbing episode that stands as one of the series' best.

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10 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
A napkin dispenser that knows your future..., 9 March 2006
8/10
Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England

Episodes of The Twilight Zone are always based on intriguing ideas that make you think, and this one takes its plot from the idea of superstitions. Nick of Time was the follow up to the stunning 'Eye of the Beholder', and as you might expect; it can't live up to that episode. However, this tale benefits from its good natured humour and intriguing premise. We follow a honeymooning couple, who have to stop in a small town after their car breaks down. They go for a bite to eat in the local café, and soon become obsessed with the gimmicky napkin dispenser that will predict your future for a penny. When several of its predictions come true...they come to believe that there may be more to this item that its gimmicky exterior suggests. This tale is very dialogue based, and most of the plot stems from the chatter between the couple. This dialogue is well written, and the tale constantly pulls you into their plight. Nick of Time then climaxes nicely with a stimulating finale that is typical of Rod Serling's TV show. Sure, it's not the best episode of the series; but as usual, this tale is well worth 25 minutes of your life.

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The Jukebox in this episode, 17 August 2009
9/10
Author: javadud from United States

I really like this episode. Most of the TZ episodes are good. I agree with most of the other posts on this one.

The thing I wanted to add was something about that jukebox in the background. My parents own one that is the same model. It is a Wurlitzer model 1050. I was very surprised to see the same model in an episode. They have owned theirs since the 60s.

Anyway, if you watch the jukebox throughout the episode, they have turned it off during the closeup shots. There is a light at the top towards the back that is on and off throughout the episode. This would probably qualify as a goof.

The other thing is, the particular model had to search out the disc and then bring it up for play. It would not have come on as fast as it does in this episode.

That is a bit of a long winded explanation, but oh well. We have had that machine in our family for over 40 years. It's cool to see one on a TV show.

Now, the fortune machine...I have never seen one like that anywhere.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Great episode..., 3 January 2009
9/10
Author: charihar from United States

Don't let anyone fool you.

This is a great episode that you can relate to. It sounds foolish and downright laughable, but really, you can feel it in your bones. I truly mean that, too. Seriously, think about it for a moment...

Whether eating a fortune cookie or looking at your horoscope (and we are a horoscope culture), you cannot deny the practical transportability of this episode. One can easily succumb to the downfall presented in this situation, no matter how far fetched it may initially seem. It can easily relate to any superstitious moment you've ever had in your everyday lives. I especially recommend you waiting for a very politically incorrect moment by William Shatner when he berates handicapped children. Now that was unexpected.

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0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Beam Me Up, Scotty!, 13 November 2008
8/10
Author: Hitchcoc from United States

William Shatner, a superstitious man, and his new bride are forced to spend some time when their Ford needs a new water pump. They go to a hole in the wall diner and order lunch. They notice there is a fortune telling machine on the table. It has a little bobble head devil on top. For a penny, they can ask questions. The answers are like those from the old Magic 8 Ball. Inconclusive, yes or no answers. As Shatner asks questions and there seems to be an inkling of truth in them, he begins to smolder and obsess. His wife does what she can to get him to stop, but he continues. They even return to ask more questions. His own base superstition takes over. This is a lightweight episode but it does keep one in suspense and the conclusion is fairly satisfying.

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0 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
What?, 25 June 2008
5/10
Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Los Angeles, California

I borrowed Season 2 of the Twilight Zone from my mother-in-law about a week ago (my brother's wife's mother. Is that my mother-in-law? Stepmother-in-law?), and this was the first episode that I watched, just because I was surprised to see that William Shatner was starring in it. He looks absolutely nothing like the William Shatner that we now know and love (seriously, nothing at all. If it wasn't for his voice it would be hard to believe it's the same guy), and the second thing that struck me was that there was nothing at all strange or paranormal taking place in the episode from beginning to end, which is something that I haven't come to expect from a Twilight Zone episode.

Shatner stars as Don Carter, and one day he and his wife Pat go into a cafe that has a little penny machine on the table that tells your future. Casually, he puts in a few pennies and asks a few yes or no questions, and is absolutely astonished by the generic answers that he gets. Why is he so stunned by the answers? Never once does the machine give anything but a generic response, and never once does it give either a yes answer or a no answer to one of Don's yes or no questions.

All he ever gets are things like "What do you think?" and "It has already been taken care of," and "Your chances are good." Don is blown away. I would hate to see this guy reading some fortune cookies or his horoscope, he might lose his mind! The black and white lighting, as usual, is one of the best elements of the episode, and the music does a fine job of lending a tone of otherworldly presence in a show whose most otherworldly thing is the incredible gullibility of the main characters. Even though the episode is ultimately disappointing in its lack of content, it's still another interesting look at that Back to the Future set at Universal Studios and the early career of one of science fiction's most recognizable stars.

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