User Reviews

This was one of the truly scary episodes of "Night Gallery". Granted, I was only 9 years old in 1971, but the combination of claustrophobia (one actor, windowless studio, the door locking him in); parochial paranoia (my having grown up with a semi-religious background made any kind of devil/demon references particularly real and frightening); and, finally, the in-your-face moment of truth (the pictures and dates of previous disk jockeys on the wall) made this a pretty taut and well-done episode. Who can forget how scary it was when the DJ goes from record to record, only to hear the same intonation of demons? EEEK! Also having Arte Johnson, whom we all knew as a comic actor from "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" was an interesting casting choice.

"Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay" - College professor Craig Lowell (a solid performance by James Farentino) suspects that the elderly Aunt Ada Burn Quigley (splendidly played to the sinister hilt by Jeanette Nolan) is a witch with dastardly plans for his wife Joanna (a charming portrayal by the lovely Michele Lee). Director William Hale ably crafts an eerie atmosphere and builds a good deal of tension. Nolan makes for a great evil old bat while Jonathan Harris lends sturdy support as occult expert Professor Nicholas Porteus. However, while the climax delivers the exciting goods, the ending is a bit too vague.

"With Apologies to Mr. Hyde" -Really lame and brief comic short with a dopey punchline.

"The Flip-Side of Satan" - Callous and selfish jerk disc jockey J.J. Wilson (well played to the slimy hilt by Arte Johnson) lands a gig working at a hellish radio station located in the middle of nowhere. The cramped setting and weird incantatory chanting on the records that J.J. is forced to spin give this particular tale a genuinely unnerving and claustrophobic off-kilter mood. Better still, Johnson has a ball with his obnoxious hipster character who ultimately meets a satisfying nasty fate.

Rod Serling opened this show with a self deprecating comment, comparing himself to an undernourished Alfred Hitchcock. I guess that's one way of looking at it, both had an interest in the oddball and the macabre so I guess it fits.

'Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay' has actress Jeanette Nolan in a familiarly typecast role as an old witch, preparing herself to take over the body of Joanna Lowell (Michele Lee) when all the tea leaves settle. Joanna's husband (James Farentino) has his suspicions about Aunt Ada, and confirms them when he locates her gravestone in a neighboring town's cemetery. It appears that Craig Lowell manages to save his wife in the nick of time when midnight strikes following an Autumn moon, but the conclusion of the story leaves room for doubt, in a tale that might have been right at home in Rod Serling's 'Twilight Zone'. I mention that because Jeanette Nolan was featured in a Season Four episode of that series titled 'Jess-Belle'. In that one, she had the part of, what else, a wicked mountain witch.

The second segment here featured former campy Batman, Adam West in the role of Dr. Jekyll with unusual advice for his Igor-like assistant, portrayed by the series producer, Jack Laird. It was actually kind of dumb, and I won't mention it here. If you really must know, you'll have to catch the show.

'The Flip-Side of Satan' had a gruesome twist with Arte Johnson as a stuck on himself disc jockey, newly assigned to a radio station in Podunk, Nowheresville, USA by way of New York City. One has to wonder how he ever lasted fifteen years in the Big Apple because his schtick is atrocious and grating on the ear. You get the idea he won't last very long in his current assignment, as it looks like he's being primed for underground radio.

***SPOILERS*** Much like the "Tales from the Darkside" episode 'The Devil's Advocate" this "Night Gallery" episode has to do with a big time DJ, disk jockey, getting his comeuppance for all the nasty things he did in his life that he felt that he had gotten away with.

J,J Wilson, Arte Johnson, who was #1 in the ratings in the Big Apple NYC is now driven out of town by his creditors to this out of the way town population 100 in the middle of the Nevada Desert to do his new radio music show aptly called "The Sounds of Insomnia". Forced by his boss, guess who he is, to play depressing funeral and hard rock satanic like music J.J starts to flip out and go mental. Even in J.J trying to play normal rock & roll & pop music all that comes out from the disks he's spinning is the same old and depressing songs about suffering and death!

It now becomes obvious to J.J that his agent Sidney who got him the job is getting even with him for driving his emotionally challenged wife Emily to kill herself whom he was having a secret affair with. This soon becomes certain to us in the audience when J.J in an act of desperation calls his good friend Burt telling him to tell Sidney if he ever gets in touch with him that the two were out fishing when J,J in fact was having his affair with Emily.

***SPOILERS*** It takes a while for J.J to realize the truth of the situation that he now finds himself in but before the morning sunrise he becomes history. Just like the other more or less like himself, rotten to the core, disk jockeys who's portraits like his own are hanging on the wall of the radio studio, station KAPH, along with his! Yes J.J Wilson did make the radio "Hall of Fame", or better yet "Hall of Flames", but not exactly the kind of "Fame" that he was expecting to get.

'Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay'. A professor, Craig Lowell (James Farentino), is married to the lovely Joanna (Michele Lee, the real life Mrs. Farentino at the time). Her Great-Aunt Ada (Jeanette Nolan) has been staying with them for a while, and Craig soon discovers that the old crone is actually a witch who has nefarious plans for his wife. It's all about Farentinos' performance here, as he makes you feel for a practical, logical character who has to become a believer in a short amount of time. But special guest star Nolan, who once played Lady Macbeth opposite Orson Welles, is clearly having a high old time as a genuinely spooky character. There's atmosphere to spare in this solid segment that takes up over 50% of the total episode running time. Scripted by Alvin Sapinsley, based on a story by A.E. van Vogt, and directed by William Hale ('The Time Tunnel', 'The Invaders').

'With Apologies to Mr. Hyde'. Another short and pretty lame comic vignette from series producer Jack Laird, who also appears on screen as the Igor to a Dr. Jekyll (Adam West), whose special potion is not to his liking. This is just a waste of time, with an extremely mild punch line, but at least it's a VERY short segment. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc, one of the most prolific of 'Night Gallery' directors.

'The Flip-Side of Satan'. A good, fun, spookshow of a segment, and an engaging vehicle for Arte Johnson of 'Laugh-In' fame. He plays J.J. Johnson, an obnoxious (and, it turns out, callous and rotten) disc jockey relegated to working the graveyard shift at a remote European radio station. Johnson, the only person on screen throughout this segment, is excellent, and the viewer will soon realize that there will be some major comeuppance for a damned character such as J.J. Written by Malcolm Marmorstein and Gerald Sanford, based on a story by Hal Dresner, and directed by Jerrold Freedman, who'd worked on two previous episodes.

Seven out of 10.

Michele Lee and James Farentino (who were married in real life at the time) star as a happy married couple with a slight wedge in between them: "Aunt Ada," a relative who's come to stay with her niece at her home, much to the chagrin of her husband. Through a little research and the advice of his colleague (nicely played by Jonathan Harris, in campy doom-and-gloom mode), it's found that this woman is an impostor. She's a witch, looking for a new young body for her soul, and Lee's will do just fine, thanks. The pleasure of this clever and slightly shivery episode is the chess game between Farentino and Jeanette Nolan (who seems like she's having a lot of fun as the old witch), each trying to keep Michele Lee's character to themselves. Lots of neat little visual tricks (as witches gather en masse, disappear, burn...)and a dollop of humor from scriptwriter Alvin Sapinsley and William Hale, who know very well this story's best served with a wink. This is one of those stories that Rod Serling might have criticized for just 'stopping' instead of 'ending,' but the episode ends on a deceptive point of 'normalcy' ("Is she, or isn't she?") which is very satisfying. There are a few blips in the screenplay (What college class meets around the midnight hour??) but overall, this is a most enjoyable story.

Ever since this episode aired decades ago, I have not been able to get it out of my mind. For years and before the benefits of the internet, (to look it up and understand more of the details of it's creation), I have wondered about this specific episode.

The only problem that I have with the story is this....

What was the Professor and his students doing in the classroom at midnight?

I know that there had to be a reason for his wife to be away and be safe, but let's face it, no educational institution would ever be teaching their students at midnight.

Otherwise, a very frightening subject...... and especially.... at the conclusion when you understand exactly what happened.

I love this program. I even bought it in a pack of several CD's that I love to continue to enjoy.

As I started discussing last week, the second season of Night Gallery is all about the split between Rod Serling and Jack Laird and their two visions for the show. This episode speaks to that and is the first to not have a story written by Serling.

"Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay" is a very 1970s occult story, as Professor Craig Lowell (James Farentino, Dead and Buried) comes to believe that his wife Joanna's (Michele Lee, Karen from Knots Landing) elderly Aunt Ada (Jeanette Nolan) is not related at all but instead an incredibly powerful and quite evil magical being.

Directed by William Hale, written by Alvin Sapinsley and taken from "The Witch" by A. E. van Vogt, this story is also blessed by a small role for Jonathan Harris as a true occult believer of a teacher.

This totally could be an entire episode - and I wish it was - but it moves quickly and is a blast.

"With Apologies to Mr. Hyde" is another Jeannot Szwarc and Jack Laird quick story, this time with Adam West as the literary villain. Laird is in this as a hunchback as well, just to confirm that when people want to be known for being creators in the wrong way, they show up in their own material.

"The Flip-Side of Satan" has J. J. Wilson (Arte Johnson) as a DJ who soon learns that he is in Hell and on the air for the last time. This story worked so well that Tales from the Darkside also did a version with Jerry Stiller transforming into a monster as he takes calls for all of his eternal punishment in a story written by George A. Romero and directed by Michael Gornick.

This story is written by Jerrold Freedman, whose last directing job was as the Alan Smithee who made The O. J. Simpson Story, as well as much better TV movie work like A Cold Night's Death, The Boy Who Drank Too Much, Victims and the theatrical Racquel Welch roller derby movie Kansas City Bomber, and written by Malcolm Marmorstein (who somehow both wrote Mary Mary Bloody Mary and Pete's Dragon) and Gerald Sanford from a story by Hal Dresner (Sssssss, Zorro the Gay Blade), this is a welcome return to form after that quick Laird story.

If you can skip that moment of Adam West overacting, well, you just may like this episode.

The third episode of the second season features three sedgments.

The first "Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay" is our primary tale. It features a very 70s suburban couple who one day get a visit from the wife's little old aunt. However as the story progresses we later learn that kindly Aunt Ada seems to have ulterior motives and it up to the husband to come to the rescue. This is a pretty fun story that's really fast paced and holds your attention threw out. The great visual effects along with Jeanette Nolan's performance really boost it above the standard affair. The twist is also really fun to.

The second "With Apologies to Mr. Hyde" is another short comedy sketch. There's really nothing of note to say about it other then it stars Adam West and producer Jack Laird. The ending punchline is rather lame.

The third and final tale "The Flip-Side of Satan" has Arte Johnson as a cocky radio DJ who has been banished from his big city gig due to an affair with a worker friends wife, which led her to kill herself. Johnson seems to be at first ok with his new job, but, doesn't realize till to late that he is paying for his sins. this episode is made by the score which was composed by Gil Mellé on electronic instruments which he owned himself, its very devilish sounding and really creates a dense terrifying situation with this episode. While the ultimate demise of our lead is rather head scratching this is still one of my all time favorites from the series.

The witch one has the viewer enthralled with what will happen next. Is that really the aunt? What was the witch up too? The Professor wonder about the wife at the ending? All three story devices evolve perfectly as the tension builds. Well acted and directed which make the viewer really feel for the poor professor. The middle installment gives the viewer a comic break with a silly Adam West (Batman) take a formula from Igor with the comic line needs more vermouth. The dis jockey one starts out strong, but was like a one room play. Dated with the music and location. Well some media personalities can be jerks and a spell/revenge part ending was lame for all the build up. 7 stars not bad!

"Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay" stars Jeanette Nolan as Aunt Ada, James Farentino and Michelle Lee. Farentino begins to suspect that his wife's elderly Aunt is a witch--and an evil one at that. It's all apparently true, as the Aunt shows magical skills--ones that, frankly, look like they are from a kids' show not a horror anthology for adults. Plus, there are several dumb story elements that are unexplained. How many college classes last until midnight?!?! And, how could the professor NOT notice his wife leaving in this small classroom?! Creepy and scary for kids, but pretty dumb otherwise. I'd give this one a 2--and that's pretty generous. This particular episode shows an immaturity that is a marked contrast to the reasonably good season one shows.

"With Apoligies to Mr. Hyde" is comedy short starring Batman Adam West. It ain't funny. I'd give this one a 2.

"The Flip Side of Satan" features Arte Johnson as a disk jockey in a very lonely studio. He's the only one there and he has explicit written orders to ONLY play the music provided--and it's all creepy and haunting stuff than no one on this planet would enjoy. As it plays, he makes several phone calls--calls that reveal exactly who he is...a total creep. All in all, it's pretty good and I give it a 8--in an otherwise lousy episode.