"A Stop at Willoughby", Poll and discussion thread

A harried advertising man (James Daly) asleep on a train dreams of waking up in 1888.
Originally aired May 6, 1960.

Full video of the episode on CBS.com
List of musical cues

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Let the discussion begin!

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the best thing to me was the decor of the old train and the props on the streets of willoughby as the man looked out and saw the town.
i never really liked this one, even though i know many do like it. had a decent ending though.

Fine episode.

I like this one a lot, the dialogue is terrific and the characters vivid. I think the writer Sherwood Anderson would have liked this one, with it's questioning of the American mania for "getting ahead'" that Anderson disliked. Getting ahead at all costs is a terrible price to pay for "success".

I like it, this is a good one.

Janie Williams would be enough to drive any man to drink! No wonder Gart walks in the door and goes right to the booze.

And the great eps of the season keep rolling along. I like the feel of this show which would still work today. Is it really possible we could be more stressed than Gart??? Only thing is Janie would have a high level position now. Bitch! Best bitch of the Zone IMHO.

-Working in the city
-Commuting by train to the suburbs
-Snowing outside
-Willoughby itself

I love this one!

Leen

Did anyone else realize that the third to last episode of thirtysomething was entitled "A Stop at Willoughby"? The story line as given in TV Tome is as follows: "The stress of working at DAA becomes too much for Michael." I have never seen the TZ connection specifically acknowledged in any reference works, though, and it wasn't mentioned when I watched the episode years ago.

The TV Tome link to this episode is http://tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePage...203/epid-60399/ .

I like it - but I would've liked it better if it showed more of Willoughby and less of his real life.

Here's a Season 1 coincidence (?) that dawned on me only yesterday:

In this episode, James Daly plays Gart Williams.

In "And When the Sky Was Opened," Jim Hutton plays William Gart.

Could either name have belonged to someone in Rod's life?

This great episode is in my 2nd 10. I too like the old railway car decor (and how the car changes to symbolize going back in time, like the lampost did in "Back There") . Since I like Stephen Foster music and collect old railroad pocket watches, is it any surprise that my favorite scene is near the end when the conductor pulls his watch out to check the time against the old clock as "Beautiful Dreamer" plays. Wonderful scene - one of my favorites of the series. This is obviously a companion piece to "Walking Distance". I prefer the latter but get a better sense of satisfaction for Gart. Martin must still deal with the pressures of modern life (albeit with a better attitude) whereas Gart has fully escaped to his Nirvana.

I finally saw this episode and I didn't think I was going to care for it much. The idea of dreaming of a quaint little town (Willoughby) set in the 1880s just wasn't very appealing. I also wasn't enjoying another "Walking Distance"-like episode...too much longing for the "simpler times" in some of these episodes (although, Gart was just stepping back in time, not into his past)

Anyway, I thought for sure Gart Williams was just going to get off the train and escape, ala Arthur Curtis in "A World of Difference". Boy! Did I get a surprise! I didn't see the ending coming and it was great fun to get whapped upside the head by it.

Willoughby is a top tenner for me on my list so I give it a 10. Love the snow, "Beautiful Dreamer" as Crown 85 said and just the whole shooting match. Just an awesome ep!

i love this episode its very funny

i like this one better than 'walking distance'. i believe martin sloan is looking for a simpler time whereas gart is just looking for himself. it just happens that gart's idyllic life would be in the 1880's. (like janie says he was born to late.)

Or you could say Martin wasn't really looking, but he found it. Gart is definitely looking ,although Willoughby came to him as well.

Perpetual top three. I feel something extra every time I watch it.

Rod said that Martin was looking, but ...

"Somewhere up the road he's looking for sanity. And somewhere up the road, he'll find something else."

Wasn't the set for Willoughby the same set for "No Time Like The Past"?

not sure, but..

i think gart williams and james b w bevis work in the same building.
i noticed when watching 'mr bevis' that the view from bevis' office building as seen when bevis and hempstead are talking in the hallway is the same view as seen from the conference room in 'a stop at willoughby'.

This is correct.

Posts from the good ol' days of carousels and ten-cent ice cream sodas.

George Painter: A very good episode in every way. The best part, though, is Patricia Donahue's acting. She may have been playing an ice cube, but she certainly knew how to play one. I nominate her for best supporting acting job in the first season.
I never tire of watching her scene. She slinks down that stairway like a cat going after prey. She has that elegant voice and manner of walk that tells us she went to the best finishing school in the East. Yet, she has those ice-pick eyes just waiting to plunge into you.
I'd love to have seen her playing Nora in A World of Difference. I think she would have had a much more fascinating take on the character
Becky129: Don't try suicide, nobody's worth it
Don't try suicide, nobody cares
Don't try suicide, you're just gonna hate it
Don't try suicide, nobody gives a damn
Aaaaanyway......this episode is just plain average.
Response: James B. W. Bevis: Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th ed.
sui-cide, n. 1) the act of killing oneself intentionally (emphasis mine) 2) ruin of one's interests or prospects through one's own actions, policies, etc. 3) a person who commits suicide
None of these really applies here. Gart Williams believes he is getting off a stopped train in Willoughby in 1888--and in a very real sense, of course, he is--so 1) doesn't apply. Apparently he lives happily ever after, so 2) doesn't apply. And since 1) doesn't apply, 3) doesn't apply.
There is another issue, which is "Would some people who are depressed and/or under great stress be more tempted to commit suicide after watching this?" I'd answer "Probably, but the episode shouldn't be blamed for that." According to a bio of Serling that I read, though, it is no coincidence that "A Stop At Willoughby" was followed only two weeks later by "A Passage For Trumpet."
Response to the Response: Becky129: Well, how do you know in those final moments that Gart didn't realize that "Willoughby" was Heaven and he did know he was jumping off a moving train? It's all in the interpretation. I'm stretching a bit there, I know. I think he probably didn't know because he was having delusions. But, if a mentally disturbed person kills themself, what would the cause of death be? They might rule it "accidental death", but in most cases, it would probably be "suicide".
Anyway, that's not the point. And I didn't suggest in any way that the episode would encourage someone to commit suicide. I don't believe anyone or anything can make a person do that if they don't want to. I'm just saying that the way the episode comes across to me is that Gart hated his life and wanted out, so he got out. Whether it was suicide or accidental, it still seems to glorify the after-life in favor of a grueling life on Earth. I don't see Willoughby as an actual place in time that he escapes to, but I think it is Gart's version of Heaven. To me, the fact that the funeral home's name is Willoughby solidifies the fact that it is Heaven, or some type of afterlife. You could even go so far as to say that Gart knew the funeral home's name was Willoughby (how couldn't he if he lived in the town?) and was so sick of his life, he thought about ending it all. Maybe he started thinking something along the lines of "when I die I'll go to Willoughby" and then his imagination just took over. He created the place Willoughby to make the act of suicide easier to take. Again, this probably isn't the case but who knows? Here's Rod's closing narration:
Willoughby? Maybe it's wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man's mind, or maybe it's the last stop in the vast design of things, or perhaps, for a man like Mr. Gart Williams, who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it's a place around the bend where he could jump off. Willoughby? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity, and is a part of the Twilight Zone.
It's left up to the viewer to decide what Willoughby really is. At any rate, the was it suicide or wasn't it issue isn't really the problem with this episode. I've just never really been able to get into it. I don't hate it, but it's just around the middle for me. Then again, it's certainly prompted me to come up with this long-winded discussion about it, so maybe It deserves another chance. I have seen it quite a few times though and my opinion of it has never gone up or down much either way. I do have to say that it has one of the best lines with "Fat boy, why don't you shut your mouth?" That alone is worth watching for. I'd LOVE to say that to my boss!!
_________________

i love this episode it cracks me up alot

The scene where he tells his boss "Fat boy, why don't you shut your mouth" IS funny! Janie is one of the worst females of the entire series Btw, it's one of the best episodes, a solid 10!

A solid 10 in every way imaginable. This episode was quite the source of inspiration for a lot of my lyrics.

An audio sample of this episode segues into the first song on my bands' debut CD, Bleeding Anxiety.

You can listen to and/or download the MP3 here:

http://www.comatosemusic.com/Dislimb_Bleeding_Anxiety_01.mp3

The lyrics of that song (though most people can't understand them) really fit with the theme of this episode. I have heard this particular audio clip from ASAW more than any other, simply because of the way we used it. Three years later there is more hype about Dislimb than ever before and the album is going to be reissued on an Italian label called Permeated Records this summer.

There's also clips from Living Doll, Deaths-Head Revisited, The Four Of Us Are Dying, Shadow Play and Long Live Walter Jameson on our debut. The funny thing is that we haven't had any problems with copyrights so far. It's been over 3 years since the CD was officially released by Comatose Music so I doubt we ever will.

More info about Dislimb can be found here:

D I S L I M B

An extremely good episode with Patricia Donahue giving one of the Zone's best performances.

8
A classic, but gets waaaayyyy too much praise

I tend to think that it doesn't get enough praise. It has a similar premise to Walking Distance, but has a much more complex story. I think you can tell by my username that I am practically in love with this episode . I also like how open-ended it is and that it leaves alot to the imagination. 1. The ending can be interpreted(sp?) as happy or depressing. 2. I like that not much of Willoughby is shown. It gives it a sort of mysterious quality which I think works perfectly. I give it a 10, but only because there is no number higher than it on the scale we're using .

Welcome, Mayor!

I look forward to hearing your opinion on other episodes.

Welcome aboard, Mayor. Does your user name mean that you're an undertaker?

Welcome aboard, Mayor. Does your user name mean that you're an undertaker?

You could say that. I know for sure, whenever there's a Willoughby discussion, I'll be there. To defend it's honor . I hope I can contribute to some of the wonderful discussions here at The Twilight Zone Cafe.

This is one of my favorites, too. Love the "one liner" at the end with "Willoughby & Son Funeral Home". Glad you like it.

"Willoughby" is off the hook--almost.

This post has been edited by Iron Maiden on March 29, 2006 08:31 pm

Sorry, but my sympathies are completely reversed from yours.
I felt truly happy for Gart once he escaped from his job and that shrew of a wife.

I, for one, am on the side of Gart's wife--imagine your husband coming home after a hard day's work explaining that he's giving up on his career! You have a mountain of bills to pay, a mortgage and miscellaneous other expeditures and this spineless, Tom Saywer wanna-be is talking about runnign away to a place he conjured up in his dream! What's up with that?

Well I guess in the area of marriage Gart and Janie, they chose...........poorly.

I'm a Gart fan. Working hard, never getting ahead, can't catch a break. Then having to go home to that, blecch. I'd be fantasizing about another place too.

You've convinced me, IM, Gart is a pussy. Now a real man, he would be slapping that "ho" around! (Not. )

No, seriously, I still give ASAW a "10" and find Gart to be a gentle and likeable character. But other perspectives are possible.

Professor Frink: The sarcasm detector is way off the chart.
Comic Book Guy: Oh, that's a useful invention!
*BOOM!!*

I just don't see an executive allowing himself to be treated like a punching bag.

I don't think he was ever meant to be an executive. He strikes me as a guy doing precisely the wrong thing with his life, a square peg in a round hole. He wasn't a good executive because he never should have gone into that kind of life. He'd have been much happier herding sheep in Montana. Or fishing in Willoughby.

I've been reading your posts and your re-scoring. Didn't Santa bring you what you wanted for Christmas or the various other holidays celebrated?

This isn't going to be pretty I fear.

well imagine calling home and begging for help and being hung up on.