"A Kind of a Stopwatch"

"A Kind of a Stopwatch"

A man is given a stopwatch that halts time.

Stars Richard Erdman, Herbie Faye, Leon Belasco.
Original air date: October 18, 1963.

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This is in my top 10. It's probably my fav. of season 5.
The ending is similar to that of TEaL.

I enjoy this episode too. I would love to have a stopwatch that could stop time. For instance, I am not looking forward to getting back to school Monday, not just yet. Now, if I only had McNulty's stopwatch....
I've seen this episode several times, and it was not until watching it now and talking to my girlfriend about it that I came to the same conclusion as you dan62, I, too, realized how similar it was to TEAL.

Just saw this one too again. It just goes to show having all the money you want is just no fun without people around so one can gloat!!!

Leen

A very likeable episode. McNulty is likeable if though annoying, but still those types are everywhere. There's a guy sort of like that at my favorite bar...quotes Henny Youngman a lot...

This one is terrible. It's on my 'Do Not Watch' list.

It took me a long time to get used to McNulty here, but I finally did. That's not to say I like him, just that he doesn't make the episode almost unbearable for me. I'm even starting to get used to the "BWAH BWAH BWAH" music from Nathan Van Cleave, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit. (If I can get used to that, what can't I get used to?) Some of the stock footage they use is still laughable, and it's disappointing to me that McNulty uses his power so ineffectively. But many parts are funny or at least enjoyable, and I like Doris Singleton. I give it a 6.

Very funny episode, I like it a lot. When he's messing around with his boss, Cooper, and he's saying: "Coochie coochie coo, coochie coochie Cooper." It always cracks me up.The words say nothing and yet they say everything. His boss is indeed a big bloated infant. Hysterical moment. I gave it an 8

Does that mean it's on your "Stop Watch" list?

This is one of those episodes where I agree with Zicree about its weaknesses, yet I still enjoy it, and that's the bottom line. I like to call it the lost episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, because all five of the most prominent "Stopwatch" actors appeared on it at one time or another: Richard Erdman, Herbie Faye, Leon Belasco, Doris Singleton, and Roy Roberts. So did Ray Kellogg. I have to believe this results from having John Rich as the episode's director, because he directed more Van Dyke episodes than anyone else.

When I saw the episode's premiere, I was thrilled to see that Rod had read my mind. As a child, I had dreamed up the exact same premise, except that I had a simple button device in mind instead of a stopwatch. In this regard Rod did me one better.

Did the stopwatch ever work for Potts the way it did for McNulty?

I have to praise Rich for doing a better job with the frozen tableaux than some of his predecessors. I've found the illusion to be very convincing, particularly that last scene in the office where a piece of crumpled paper is suspended in midair on its downward path to a wastebasket. I can detect a little motion in Joe the "beerkeeper" as McNulty talks to him at the end, but overall I feel it's done well.

There's one significant error in the scene that's cut from Sci Fi. McNulty claims that he moved second base at the Polo Grounds ten feet so that Ron Hunt would be safe instead of out. If a base suddenly appeared ten feet away from its original position (from the perspective of everyone but McNulty), it would be painfully obvious that something was amiss. Furthermore, a base can't be moved that easily. There's a short metal rod attached to its bottom that's inserted into a hole in the basepath, which keeps the base secure. McNulty would have to dig a similar hole first before moving the base there. On the other hand, it's nice to see proper acknowledgment of both the Mets' original home (Shea Stadium opened the year after this episode premiered) and their star second baseman of that time.

McNulty may be considered the prototype for Cliff Clavin of Cheers. In fact, the first time we ever saw Esther Clavin, Cliff's mother (played by Frances Sternhagen), Cliff tried to fix her up with a wealthy widower who had recently started coming to the bar. They became engaged, but the widower died from celebrating too much at his bachelor party. That widower was played by none other than Richard Erdman. You think about that now!

Fairly funny episode; not bad for a season 5.

8/10

Gave it a 10! Have always loved this episode! I identify with McNulty's personality too. Great ending!

Does anyone have any idea what the old man said to Mcnulty when he gave him the watch? I don't need the literal translation, maybe just some sort of an idea. It probably was a warning of some kind. I've just always been curious. Thanks!

He said "E Pluribus Unum", which is written on the back of a lot of US coins and bills. Litereally it means "from many, one" basically meaning "we are united." I can't help you as to why he said it, though; I've always wondered that myself.

It's Latin, but otherwise it's just the last of a series of unrelated slogans that Potts says for apparently no better reason than that they're floating around in his addled and besotted brain:

"54-40 or fight!" was a slogan of the 1840s:

"Oregon fever" swept the country in the early 1840s. Beginning in 1843, thousands of pioneers journeyed along the Oregon Trail and settled along the banks of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the Oregon Territory. The British, who were strongly established north of the Columbia, claimed the entire territory. The dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom had been "settled" in 1818 by an agreement for joint occupation. Now many members of Congress demanded an end to that agreement. They clamored for American possession of the territory, all the way north to the latitude of 54° 40'.

That latitude eventually became what is now approximately the southern border of Alaska, by the British Columbia coast.

"Damn the torpedos! Full speed ahead!" (also heard in "Sounds and Silences"):

Farragut, David Glasgow, (1801-1870), an American naval officer, won fame at the American Civil War battle of Mobile Bay with the slogan: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" Congress created the rank of full admiral for him in 1866.

"It takes a heap of living to make a house a home!" is the common way of misquoting the first line of an Edgar A. Guest poem that starts as follows:

It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,
A heap o' sun an' shadder, an' ye sometimes have t' roam
Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye lef' behind,
An' hunger fer 'em somehow, with 'em allus on yer mind.
It don't make any differunce how rich ye get t' be,
How much yer chairs an' tables cost, how great yer luxury;
I ain't home t' ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped round everything.

Hey! Even the Wizard of Oz used that phrase! hehe

Leen

thanks for the help, its clearer now!

10, baby. The best!!

You know, as I typed "the best" I was reminded of Banya from Seinfeld. I think he may be a direct descendent of McNulty.

okay episode.. loved the ending.

but this episode left me with a few (rhetorical) questions like..
why did potts give mcnulty the watch?? and (like someone else mentioned) does the watch work for potts the way it did for mcnulty?
why wasn't mcnulty upset when he lost his job?
mcnulty loved to talk to people so why would he even want a watch that could stop time for everyone but him??

i agree with bevis.. that stock footage scene wasn't good. it was kind of funny that you heard the clicking of the watch when the scene was 'frozen' and then the scene continued.

-ag

Adam, I think we all have known people sometime during the course of our lives who were just plain "not getting it." Those folks who were so annoying and just loved to hear themselves talk, that when someone told them to shut up they just kept going not fazed one bit.

McNulty incorporated this type of person. Why would he keep asking the secretary for a date? Why would he keep trying to get the boss to sell other inventions? And the guys at the bar not being able to enjoy their nightly beer.

Something tells me Rod ran into a McNulty or two himself.

You think about that now, Adam

Leen

i love this episode i love the tune they play when the man get up from the bed too feed the fish and stops the watch and then unstop it i love that music!!!!
man you guys don't know what your missing

A Kind of a Stopwatch still the best

6
Above-average attempt at comedy, but largely irritating and forgettable

Like "The Little People" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", I'd file this in the folder labelled THE SIMPSONS SPOOF WAS SUPERIOR.

Gee, I wonder why Rod never asked the audience to file episodes in this folder. Now that would have been hardcore Twilight Zone.

The concept is intriguing and the visuals are good.
Other than that, this one just does not grab me.
And McNulty is one of the most annoying characters of the series (after Horace Ford and that darn Clown).

best episode any ways

Thanks Becky! I've finally found somone who likes this ep as much as I do! You have good tastes!

I thought your favorite was "Probe 7-Over and Out".

I think "A Kind of a Stopwatch" could have been better if it had been rewritten and directed by someone else.

I thought your favorite was "Probe 7-Over and Out".

Damin seems to have a multi-episode tie...

I thought your favorite was "Probe 7-Over and Out".

Damin seems to have a multi-episode tie...

I've noticed that too

hey yall off topic

No we're not Damin, you've listed 10-15 eps as your favorites!

Seriously, I was just trying to explain the situation, Damin.

hey guys if you look closely at the end of the episode this guy head moves a little bit

A lot of other people moved a little too. Maybe McNulty's watch didn't stop time after all--maybe it just made it move really, really slowly....

really i just know that man moved.

Is it just me, or does Potts serve the same purpose for this episode as the H-Bomb did in "Time Enough at Last"?

Are these like McGuffins, IM? Are you savvy?

Main Entry: McGuffin
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: in film, a plot device that has no specific meaning or purpose other than to advance the story; any situation that motivates the action of a film either artificially or substantively; also written MacGuffin
Etymology: Alfred Hitchcock's term, based on a story where this device was used in a story set on a Scottish train

who else moved in this episode do you guys have a picture of it?

here's a picture of my favorite music is on:

here's the 2nd part of the music i love in this episode its just funny