Russell Kimball did the art direction on this and other episodes and he's never given the credit he deserves. He was a master at creating spotless, modern, arid spaces. Nothing was out of place. The paintings on the walls came out of Motel 6. Picture perfect, in no way meant to suggest everyday settings but rather a virtual milieu completely devoid of character.
The same can't be said about the gypsies, who are the villains of this piece. They swindle old ladies out of their retirement money, the swine. They operate like the Mafia but without the violence, and they're organized into solidary gangs who sometimes compete with one another.
In this instance they try to bribe Jack Webb into shutting down their opponent's illegal fortune telling operations while protecting their own. The manager of this arrangement is the ever-popular Virginia Gregg. The attempted bribe doesn't work.
The gypsies are an interesting lot. They appeared in Europe about 1500 AD, having come in two waves. Blood types and linguistics trace their origin back to India, with extended stopovers in Turkey and the Balkans. Their languages are their own but we've borrowed a few expressions and words, like "gyp someone", "shiv", "togs", "lollipop", and "pal."
There's a reference here to the king of the gypsies who has just died. That king's name was something like Stepanovich and he's buried in the plot set aside for gypsy burials in Evergreen Cemetery in my home town of Hillside, New Jersey. The king's grave is magnificent, surrounded by windmills, little statues, empty liquor bottles, and other artifacts left as tributes. Swindlers they may be, but their group pride and loyalty must be envied.
The same can't be said about the gypsies, who are the villains of this piece. They swindle old ladies out of their retirement money, the swine. They operate like the Mafia but without the violence, and they're organized into solidary gangs who sometimes compete with one another.
In this instance they try to bribe Jack Webb into shutting down their opponent's illegal fortune telling operations while protecting their own. The manager of this arrangement is the ever-popular Virginia Gregg. The attempted bribe doesn't work.
The gypsies are an interesting lot. They appeared in Europe about 1500 AD, having come in two waves. Blood types and linguistics trace their origin back to India, with extended stopovers in Turkey and the Balkans. Their languages are their own but we've borrowed a few expressions and words, like "gyp someone", "shiv", "togs", "lollipop", and "pal."
There's a reference here to the king of the gypsies who has just died. That king's name was something like Stepanovich and he's buried in the plot set aside for gypsy burials in Evergreen Cemetery in my home town of Hillside, New Jersey. The king's grave is magnificent, surrounded by windmills, little statues, empty liquor bottles, and other artifacts left as tributes. Swindlers they may be, but their group pride and loyalty must be envied.
