The Dummy

"The Dummy"
The Twilight Zone episode
Cliff Robertson in "The Dummy"
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 98
Written by	Rod Serling (Based on an unpublished story by Lee Polk.)
Directed by	Abner Biberman
Featured music	Stock
Production no.	4826
Original airdate	May 4, 1962
Guest stars
Cliff Robertson: Jerry Etherson/Voice of Willie/Voice of Goofy Goggles Frank Sutton: Frank George Murdock: Willie (as ventriloquist) John Harmon: Georgie Sandra Warner : Noreen Rudy Dolan: The M.C. Ralph Manza: Doorman Bethelynn Grey: Chorus Girl Edy Williams: Chorus Girl
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List of Twilight Zone episodes

"The Dummy" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

Synopsis

The episode opens with ventriloquist Jerry Etherson and his dummy Willie in the middle of one of his acts, somewhere in New York City. After the act he goes back to his dressing room and begins to drink from a liquor bottle he'd had hidden in a drawer. His agent comes in and is upset that he's drinking again. He tells his agent that Willie is alive and that he is at the mercy of the dummy. The agent does not believe him and thinks he might need psychiatric help.

Jerry decides that he is going to perform with a different dummy, "Goofy Goggles", for his next act (and all acts in the future) and locks Willie in a trunk. After the second act, his agent tells him that he is quitting, but Jerry says he is leaving to go to another city and try to get away from Willie. His agent tells him that it doesn't matter where he goes; he'll still have this delusion if he doesn't deal with it here and now. While he's standing outside of the back door to the theater, he hears faint whispers of Willie's voice. He sees the dummy's shadow and continues to hear his voice until a coworker from the theater walks up and asks if anything is wrong. Jerry invites her to get a coffee, but does it nervously and eccentrically, thereby causing the woman to become frightened and run away.

As soon as she leaves, he hears Willie's voice again and runs back into the theater. He goes into the dark dressing room, opens the trunk and throws the dummy on the floor, smashing it. But when he turns on the light, he realizes that he smashed the ""fake" dummy that he was going to use in his future acts. He can't understand how he could have been mistaken. He sees Willie sitting on the chair, laughing. Jerry asks how he can be real when he's made of wood, and Willie tells him that it was he, Jerry, who made him alive.

The scene cuts to a stage in Kansas City announcing that the next act will be "Jerry & Willie", and we see the beginning of the act from the back of the man who walked out. As the camera rotates to the front, it is revealed that the man is actually Willie, and he is holding a dummy that looks just like Jerry.

Closing narration

Preview for next week's story

Announcer: "And now, Mr. Serling".

Trivia

Abner Biberman also directed "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You".

Willie can be seen at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the dark corner of a barred off exhibit to the side of one of the elevator exits of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. Whether or not this dummy was used in the actual episode is unconfirmed.

References

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

• "The Dummy" at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com episode page