Does the mere idea of stepping into another mall, watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the zillionth
time, or talking to your loved ones make you throw up? Then settle your bowlful
of jelly into the La-Z-Boy® and deck your hall with today’s installment of Psychobabble’s 12 Days of X-Mas Episodes instead!
Merry vegetating!
Series: Twilight Zone
Episode: “The Night
of the Meek”, in which a drunken, skinny department store Santa crosses over
into that dimension of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. Rod
Serling writes one of his finest episodes, capturing the crushing sadness of a
man who cannot deal with society’s endless ills, so he drinks his life away. Art
Carney’s performance is raw with emotion, but also very funny and perfectly
natural. Sadly, this was one of those Twilight Zones shot on video to save
money during the second season, so it looks like crap. But despite the episode’s
aesthetic deficiencies, its humanity and humor still manage to fight through the
fuzz, and if it doesn’t reduce you to a blubbering blob, you might have a serious
dose of Scrooge-itis. Happy holiday!
