Slim Pickens and Will Geer in Night Gallery (1969)

Will Geer

Slim Pickens

Rod Serling

Jack Laird

Mary Linn Roby

Sheriff Ned Harlow thinks that the skyrocketing death rate in town is tied in to funeral director Walt Peckinpah&apos;s January clearance sale.

Timothy Galfas

Die Now, Pay Later

Not bad, but NOT prime &apos;Night Gallery&apos;.

Not part of the original series&apos; run, this was a tale only given a second chance once the series went into syndication. It stars the lovable pair of Will Geer and Slim Pickens, cast as undertaker Walt Peckinpah and flustered sheriff Ned Harlow. Peckinpah is having a &quot;January Clearance Sale&quot;, and Ned is frustrated because this sale seems to have sparked a rash of deaths in their community. What&apos;s more, the people dying are unsympathetic types who others would enjoy seeing dead. Ned is harboring the suspicion that there might be foul play at work here.

Despite the teaming of two engaging actors, this is minor-league fare, scripted by Jack Laird from a story by Mary Linn Roby. It&apos;s a two-character piece without much dramatic tension or impact, despite the fact that Neds&apos; nagging wife (who actually phones the business while the two men are having their confrontation) believes an ancient relative of Peckinpahs&apos; to have been a 17th century warlock. The ending is particularly unsatisfying.

In any event, it IS quite possible that one or more people didn&apos;t much care for this segment when it was first filmed. But at least the syndication package allowed the audience to see it so they could make up their own minds.

One of the best things about this was the dragon-like sculpture Mr. Serling poses next to in his introductory segment. It led this viewer, anyway, to expect something a little better from this yarn.

Directed by Timothy Galfas (&quot;Sunnyside&quot;).

Six out of 10.

Not part of the original series' run, this was a tale only given a second chance once the series went into syndication. It stars the lovable pair of Will Geer and Slim Pickens, cast as undertaker Walt Peckinpah and flustered sheriff Ned Harlow. Peckinpah is having a "January Clearance Sale", and Ned is frustrated because this sale seems to have sparked a rash of deaths in their community. What's more, the people dying are unsympathetic types who others would enjoy seeing dead. Ned is harboring the suspicion that there might be foul play at work here.

Despite the teaming of two engaging actors, this is minor-league fare, scripted by Jack Laird from a story by Mary Linn Roby. It's a two-character piece without much dramatic tension or impact, despite the fact that Neds' nagging wife (who actually phones the business while the two men are having their confrontation) believes an ancient relative of Peckinpahs' to have been a 17th century warlock. The ending is particularly unsatisfying.

In any event, it IS quite possible that one or more people didn't much care for this segment when it was first filmed. But at least the syndication package allowed the audience to see it so they could make up their own minds.

One of the best things about this was the dragon-like sculpture Mr. Serling poses next to in his introductory segment. It led this viewer, anyway, to expect something a little better from this yarn.

Directed by Timothy Galfas ("Sunnyside").

Six out of 10.

Sheriff Ned Harlow thinks that the skyrocketing death rate in town is tied in to funeral director Walt Peckinpah's January clearance sale.

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