Episode 377: Love and the Lonely One

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast welcome to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:36] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:36] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:37] Speaker B: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:43] Speaker A: This week we present Love and the Lonely One from Nightfall, an episode selected by our Patreon supporter, Simon. [00:00:52] Speaker C: Nightfall was a supernatural horror anthology produced by the Canadian broadcasting corporation between July 1980 and June 1983. Although inspired by the golden age of radio, Nightfall took a more modern approach to horror, pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable on Canadian radio at the time. Its intense situations, graphic sound effects and occasional use of strong language led some CBC affiliates to drop the series entirely. [00:01:22] Speaker B: Love and a Lonely One was the first episode of the series and the first of several plays by Montreal writer John Graham. His next play for the program, Hands off, is frequently cited among Nightfall's most controversial productions. Will Graham's debut play, Shock, as well. Let's find out. Here is Love and the Lonely One from Nightfall, first broadcast on the CBC, July 4, 1980. [00:01:43] Speaker A: It's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:02:06] Speaker D: In the dream. You are falling, lost in the listening distance as dark locks in Nightfall. Good evening. We begin tonight with the first play by a young Montreal writer, John Graham. It stands by itself as a tribute to the eccentricities of the human heart. He calls it Love and the Lonely One. [00:02:52] Speaker E: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Anatomy 4. I realize this is the first time most of the you will cut into a cadaver. But take it from me, you'll get used to it. I will remember my first such model patient. I christened him Henry. Now, when you all become doctors a few years from now, you'll find some of your patients very temperamental. And not my Henry. The more I cut him, the wider he grins. [00:03:54] Speaker F: You realize that? [00:03:55] Speaker A: What? [00:03:55] Speaker F: We're committing a felony. [00:03:57] Speaker D: What? [00:03:58] Speaker F: George, if they find out we stole this thing, they'll kick us out of school so fast. [00:04:03] Speaker D: Kick us out of med school? Come on, Freddy. Hang loose. It's only a stiff. They'll blame it on the engineers. [00:04:11] Speaker F: Do you think? [00:04:12] Speaker D: Sure. [00:04:14] Speaker C: Oh. [00:04:14] Speaker D: Hey. [00:04:15] Speaker C: Careful. [00:04:16] Speaker D: We're almost there, tiger. [00:04:17] Speaker F: Sorry. [00:04:18] Speaker D: Quiet. Wake up the whole damn sorority. [00:04:20] Speaker F: I can't walk backwards. [00:04:22] Speaker D: We'll turn around. Oh, God, look at her. Here, let me take the feet. Look at her mouth. Reminds me what tomorrow morning's gonna taste like. [00:04:38] Speaker F: George, are you sure we want to do this? What the hell? [00:04:43] Speaker D: Broadstood job, didn't she? [00:04:45] Speaker F: So what's the problem? [00:04:47] Speaker D: We're dropping off a valentine. [00:04:49] Speaker F: Valentine? The corpse of a dried up old lady. [00:04:53] Speaker D: But you're forgetting my pink ribbons. And look, I remembered a card. [00:04:58] Speaker F: A card? [00:04:59] Speaker D: Yeah, you're the guy who reads poetry, aren't you? I even looked it up. [00:05:05] Speaker G: Here, read it. [00:05:08] Speaker F: Dear Sally, the grave's a fine and private place, but none, I think, do their embrace. I'm beginning to think this is sick. Sick? [00:05:23] Speaker D: I'll tell you what sick is. It's listening to you moan every time anybody brings up that hose bag's name. [00:05:29] Speaker F: You know, Sally's not like that. Really? [00:05:32] Speaker D: Yeah, she's a real pain in the ass. How many times she stand you up this week? [00:05:39] Speaker F: Well, I don't know. [00:05:41] Speaker D: Come on, Freddy. Where's your pride? You want to sit around feeling sorry for yourself and you want to get even with her? Now, come on, Freddy. Enjoy your revenge. Well, come on. Grab the arms. Let's get this stiff up these stairs before somebody comes. Okay. Okay, that's it. One more step. No, just over here against the door. Now prop the whole bag up so she just sort of drops in when they open the door. Perfect. [00:06:13] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:06:14] Speaker D: Great. [00:06:14] Speaker F: Now let's get the hell out of here. [00:06:17] Speaker D: I can just see those sorority airheads scraping their heads off. Okay, this is it. Now, when I hit that doorbell, we get out of here and fast. You ready, Freddy? Hey, Freddy, you with me? [00:06:34] Speaker F: Huh? What'd you say? Are you ready? [00:06:38] Speaker A: Oh. [00:06:39] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. [00:06:45] Speaker D: Hey, what are you staring at the corpse for? Fred? Are you with me? For Christ's sake? They'll be here in a second. Let's move it, huh? [00:06:55] Speaker F: Oh. Oh, yeah. Here. [00:07:11] Speaker B: And here. [00:07:12] Speaker D: Behind Jay's. Freddy. You had me scared. [00:07:15] Speaker F: Sorry. [00:07:15] Speaker D: If they'd seen us. What were you staring at you in space or something? [00:07:21] Speaker F: I don't know. I. I saw her in the light. Her mouth was green and she was smiling at me. Hey, George, I hear Dr. Rob really lit into you on the wards this morning. [00:08:04] Speaker D: Yeah. So he gets your ass in a sling every now and then. [00:08:08] Speaker F: Sometimes I wonder why we're doing this, huh? Neuroanatomy. Midterm in two weeks. [00:08:14] Speaker D: It's a bitch, all right. Anyhow, I'm going skiing if it kills me. And if you knew what was good for you, you'd come, too. [00:08:20] Speaker F: No way. I can't spare the time. [00:08:22] Speaker A: Who can? [00:08:23] Speaker D: Look out. Cardiac arrest team. [00:08:26] Speaker F: They'll get us next time. Bunch of cowboys, but they save lives. [00:08:29] Speaker D: Don't count on it. See you back at the range, huh? [00:08:32] Speaker B: Pardon? [00:08:33] Speaker F: Yeah, See you later. [00:08:36] Speaker D: You. [00:08:37] Speaker H: Come here. [00:08:38] Speaker F: Doctor, get in here. Oh, I'm just on wards, ma' am. I really don't think. [00:08:44] Speaker H: You got two hands, haven't you? Grab those electrodes. Nurse, a syringe. Hold the electrodes on his chest. [00:08:54] Speaker F: This. Got it. [00:08:54] Speaker H: Right. Stand back. Hit the switch. [00:09:02] Speaker F: He moved. [00:09:03] Speaker H: King Tut would move if you ran that charge through him. How's the scan? Looks like he's had it. Try it once more. Stand back. Hit the switch. Nothing. Now that's it. Wrap it up. [00:09:28] Speaker F: Just leave him here? [00:09:29] Speaker H: Up to the orderlies. Now, you're. [00:09:31] Speaker F: You're not going to try it again? [00:09:33] Speaker H: Again? He had a hole in his heart you could drive a truck through. He was living on borrowed time. Look at him. What color is his face? [00:09:44] Speaker F: He's purple. [00:09:47] Speaker H: Dark purple. Lack of oxygen. Even if we did get his heart going, the brain damage would be massive at this point. Excuse me. There's a four year old in emergency. Nurse, get me the file, please. [00:10:02] Speaker F: So fast, as though nothing happened. Phew. Nurse. Nurse. Nurse. Oh, well, hello. Too south. [00:10:21] Speaker G: Hello, Fred. [00:10:22] Speaker F: Who's this? [00:10:23] Speaker G: A distant admirer. [00:10:25] Speaker A: Who? [00:10:27] Speaker F: What do you want? [00:10:28] Speaker G: Sure took a lot of nerve to pull off a stunt like that last night. [00:10:34] Speaker F: What stunt? [00:10:35] Speaker G: You wicked, wicked man. [00:10:38] Speaker F: I don't know what you're talking about. [00:10:40] Speaker G: I like wicked men. I scare a lot of men. But I bet I wouldn't scare you, eh, sport? [00:10:49] Speaker F: Are you a friend of Sally's? [00:10:51] Speaker G: Sally? Why don't you throw over that silly girl and find yourself a woman? [00:11:00] Speaker F: What are you getting at? [00:11:01] Speaker G: Well, would you like to talk it over? [00:11:04] Speaker F: Is this some kind of joke? [00:11:06] Speaker G: Oh, I certainly hope not. [00:11:09] Speaker F: Well, maybe. I mean, sure. Okay. [00:11:14] Speaker G: How about tonight? Where you dropped off the valentine last night? [00:11:22] Speaker F: Yeah, okay. Sure. See you later. By the way, how did you know where to reach me? [00:11:29] Speaker G: Oh, a friend told me. [00:11:32] Speaker F: Who? What friend? [00:11:34] Speaker G: The one right beside you until tonight. [00:11:37] Speaker F: Beside me? But there's nobody beside me, except. Except the corpse. Sam. [00:12:23] Speaker G: Hi. Esport. Step on in. [00:12:27] Speaker F: You bet. [00:12:32] Speaker G: What's the matter? You staying cool with Coolidge or just trying to think up something nice to say? [00:12:41] Speaker F: You. You sure look great. [00:12:44] Speaker G: What other way is there? Something tells me we're gonna get along swell. Like some champagne? [00:12:54] Speaker F: Champagne. Sure thing. I really like your dress. Sort of like a flapper out of the twenties. And the music. Nostalgia's really the thing these days, isn't it. [00:13:15] Speaker G: Bottoms up. Here's to better behavior. [00:13:22] Speaker F: Champagne. What are we celebrating? [00:13:25] Speaker G: A happy prohibition. And a short one. [00:13:29] Speaker F: Prohibition. By the way, where is everybody? [00:13:33] Speaker G: All the little butterflies flew too close to the flame. [00:13:37] Speaker F: What? What's that? [00:13:39] Speaker G: The banks are on holidays, darling. Forever. And all their daddies have told them to come home and work for. For a living. [00:13:47] Speaker F: No banks. Oh, the crash. And you're dressed to crash yourself. [00:13:55] Speaker G: Almost had you there. [00:13:57] Speaker F: Hey, before I forget, how did you know where I was this afternoon? And what's your name anyway? [00:14:04] Speaker G: Leave a lady a little mystery, will you? You'll find out soon enough. [00:14:10] Speaker F: Find out what? [00:14:10] Speaker G: Oh, don't be so serious, sport. Come on. The lady wants to dance. [00:14:16] Speaker F: I don't dance very well. [00:14:18] Speaker G: The Charleston's easy. Watch. [00:14:23] Speaker F: The Charleston. Are you kidding? [00:14:25] Speaker C: Nope. [00:14:26] Speaker F: Like this. [00:14:28] Speaker G: Don't be shy. [00:14:30] Speaker F: Okay. How's this, huh? How am I doing? [00:14:35] Speaker G: Well, you're doing great, Fred, just great. 23 skidoo. [00:14:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:41] Speaker F: Kalamazoo or bust. [00:14:43] Speaker C: SA. [00:15:21] Speaker F: This is fun. [00:15:23] Speaker G: It's the berries. Especially with the bubbly. More? [00:15:30] Speaker F: I don't know. Ah, why not? Thanks. It's kind of strange here, you know. I mean, where is everybody? I mean, really. [00:15:46] Speaker G: What's the matter, sport? Lonely? [00:15:49] Speaker F: No, I. [00:15:55] Speaker G: So distant. Hello. [00:16:00] Speaker F: Hi. I don't know. I mean, I don't know you or anything. [00:16:07] Speaker G: What do you want to know? [00:16:09] Speaker F: Anything. Where do you come from? Your hopes, your dreams, anything? [00:16:15] Speaker G: Hopes and dreams these days. [00:16:18] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:16:19] Speaker G: Watch out. I might tell you the truth. [00:16:22] Speaker F: I'm not afraid. [00:16:23] Speaker G: What do you want most of all? I want to distract handsome young men until they don't know whether they're coming or going. [00:16:36] Speaker F: Well, nobody ever. [00:16:37] Speaker G: Ever what? [00:16:39] Speaker F: Never mind. [00:16:40] Speaker G: Maybe we should get a little more private. Of course. Silly man. Wait here. I'll go in and get ready. [00:16:52] Speaker F: Hey, come on. [00:16:54] Speaker G: Easy, easy. I'll only be a minute, and then you'll get to see me as I really am. I mean, that's what you want, isn't it? [00:17:07] Speaker F: Are you ready? [00:17:08] Speaker G: I'm turning out the light. You can come in now. [00:17:16] Speaker F: Oh, here we are. You know, it's kind of funny. You just sort of know what I mean. When you meet someone special special, you kind of feel. Well, right from the start. [00:17:33] Speaker G: Right from start. [00:18:01] Speaker F: It was the same. [00:18:02] Speaker C: Old woman, I tell you. [00:18:04] Speaker F: The same corpse right in my arms. Christ, I can still smell the formalda. [00:18:09] Speaker D: How did they get you? [00:18:11] Speaker F: What's so funny? [00:18:12] Speaker D: Hey, I told you those sorority girls had a sense of humor tonight. We stole a body. They stole a body. Everybody's in the bodies. [00:18:22] Speaker F: Well, no one was in the house? [00:18:24] Speaker D: Oh, sure thing, tiger. Sure it was. [00:18:29] Speaker F: It was like she came back to life, but younger. As a flapper. I guess that that's when she was our age. [00:18:39] Speaker D: Oh, wise up, Fred. Believe me, those airheads were in the next room laughing their guts out. [00:18:46] Speaker F: Yeah, I guess so. But I didn't hear them. [00:18:50] Speaker D: Anyway, thanks for the news, tiger. About time to turn in for the night. [00:18:55] Speaker F: Yeah, maybe. If I could get some sleep. [00:18:58] Speaker G: Well, I sure can. [00:19:04] Speaker F: Night. Night. [00:19:09] Speaker D: Oh, hold it. [00:19:11] Speaker F: What? [00:19:12] Speaker D: Just make sure you're Al. Sam. Gonna be a great weekend. Seven inches and the snow's gonna stop tonight. Sure you won't change your mind? It's gonna be fantasy city up there. [00:19:57] Speaker F: No, I better stay here, get some studying done. [00:20:00] Speaker D: Aw, come on. It'll be the last good skiing weekend of the winter. Slopes and strokes for all. And you don't even have to ski. [00:20:09] Speaker F: Thanks anyway. [00:20:11] Speaker D: Better be going. There's Janie. See you in a couple of days. [00:20:15] Speaker F: Yeah, see you later. Peace and quiet. Thank God. Oh, hello. [00:20:30] Speaker G: Hello, sport. Or should I call you Tiger? You left in quite a hurry last night. [00:20:37] Speaker F: Who is it? [00:20:39] Speaker G: Oh, it wasn't really that surprising, was it? Why don't we get together? [00:20:44] Speaker F: Look, I don't know who you are, and I'm sorry. [00:20:47] Speaker G: You know who I am. [00:20:48] Speaker F: Fred, this has gone far enough. [00:20:52] Speaker G: Don't be afraid, Fred. We belong together. You know we do. [00:21:00] Speaker F: No. Oh, my God. My God. I'll take the phone off the hook, that's what. I'll just take it off the hook. I know who you are. Almost two o' clock. Feels like two days. Why can't I get some sleep? Oh, no. No. [00:22:07] Speaker G: Red. I couldn't wait any longer. [00:22:11] Speaker F: It can't be. It can't be. [00:22:14] Speaker B: It is. [00:22:16] Speaker G: And you know it's better when you wait. [00:22:20] Speaker F: Go away. [00:22:23] Speaker D: Please. [00:22:24] Speaker G: I can't. You took me from my bed. You can't send me back now. When you wake the dead, we come to stay. Or at least I do. [00:22:39] Speaker F: I didn't know. I didn't know. [00:22:43] Speaker G: How can we know in the beginning? [00:22:48] Speaker F: How can we? How can we? [00:22:53] Speaker G: Don't be shy. I promise I'll be good for you. No more loneliness no more fear. [00:23:04] Speaker F: No loneliness no fear. [00:23:08] Speaker G: The door, Fred, the door. [00:23:14] Speaker F: I'm coming. I'm coming. [00:23:23] Speaker G: Hi. [00:23:24] Speaker F: You're. You're not wearing any clothes. Aren't you cold? [00:23:30] Speaker G: Of course not. I've never felt so warm. Come on, Fred. Time to go. [00:23:40] Speaker D: Where? [00:23:41] Speaker G: To my bed. [00:23:47] Speaker F: The grave's a fine and private place. [00:23:50] Speaker G: But some, I think do their embrace. [00:24:21] Speaker E: I see we're one short today, George. Two weeks to midterm exams and your partner doesn't think it's worthwhile attending anatomy lab? [00:24:28] Speaker D: Fred's never missed one before, sir. I'm sure there's a good reason. [00:24:31] Speaker E: I hope so, for his sake. All right, let's get going then. Get out the cadaver. [00:24:36] Speaker D: Right, sir. [00:24:36] Speaker H: Okay, here we go. [00:24:44] Speaker E: What's going on there? [00:24:48] Speaker B: God. [00:24:52] Speaker F: Out. [00:24:53] Speaker B: Everybody out. Class dismissed. [00:24:56] Speaker I: The police. [00:24:57] Speaker C: Somebody call the police. [00:24:59] Speaker B: Close the free. [00:24:59] Speaker C: Sir. [00:25:04] Speaker F: Sir, I said close that door. [00:25:08] Speaker E: What are you waiting for? [00:25:13] Speaker A: They look. [00:25:15] Speaker F: So happy. [00:25:18] Speaker D: Sir. [00:25:40] Speaker J: You have just heard Love and the Lonely One by John Graham. Featured in the cast were Elva Mae Hoover as the girl, J. Bowen as Fred, and John Stocker as George, with Mignon Elkins as the hospital doctor and Graham Haley as the anatomy professor. Our recording engineer is John Jessup with sound effects by Bill Robinson. The senior script editor is John Douglas, and our production assistant is Nina Callahan. Nightfall is produced and directed for CBC Radio by Bill Howell. [00:26:15] Speaker A: That was Love and the Lonely One from Nightfall, here on the mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast once again. I'm Eric. [00:26:23] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:26:24] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:26:25] Speaker A: That was selected for us by our Patreon supporter, Simon. And thank you so much, Simon, for not only being a Patreon, for doing our work for us so we don't have to think. Pretty much appreciate that a lot. Just here, listen to this. So Nightfall. Yeah, the hit and miss. [00:26:44] Speaker F: Nightfall. [00:26:45] Speaker A: Nightfall. [00:26:47] Speaker C: Well, this is the very first episode of Nightfall. And one thing I will say for Nightfall is it came out of the gates, you know, knowing exactly what it wanted. To be sure. This is a template for what Nightfall is. [00:27:00] Speaker A: Usually when you listen to the first one, you go, oh, well, they sure evolved from that. Like, if you listen to our first podcast recording where I think we were doing it in German accents and baby voices, it was a terrible idea. But, you know, the evolution of something this. This really does show the consistency, at least of what they did. [00:27:23] Speaker C: Sometimes you see its old time radio influences very strongly. Other times you feel just how contemporary it is to the 1980s. And then I think an episode like this is the kind that just really has both very present. [00:27:45] Speaker B: When I discovered that this was the first episode, it in fact changed the way I thought about the episode as a sort of thesis statement for the series of we're gonna have this, we're gonna have this and it's gonna be like old AC comics and these old radio shows, and it's going to be contemporary and sort of gritty and the music. [00:28:02] Speaker C: But Also a little tongue in cheek and self aware and ironic. This is a little like Inner Sanctum and Repo man had a bait. [00:28:14] Speaker B: But. [00:28:15] Speaker A: Now I'm imagining that to give it. [00:28:17] Speaker B: The sort of criticism of all those parts I felt in this one didn't gel together as well as later episodes would. But yeah, I call it a thesis statement of this is what it's gonna be. And it's gonna only be better than this. Like we're starting out an experiment. So this is a draft one of what this is gonna look like. [00:28:36] Speaker C: Yes. I really like the story and I'll get into that. I think for me, the issues are the performers are incredibly inconsistent. It feels like they all are doing a different play. [00:28:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I will say this. If that's my roommate, I would have moved out a long time ago. [00:28:59] Speaker C: Which one? [00:29:01] Speaker A: The guy with the terrible weird laugh. Like that's how you laugh. Like a. Like a cartoon villain. [00:29:11] Speaker C: I'm gonna make the case. And I might be just taking the wrong cues from this that, like it or not, everybody laughing too hard and too much is intentional in this. Cause from the get go, right. We have. [00:29:25] Speaker A: Here we go at the Inner Sanctum kind of referral. [00:29:27] Speaker C: Well, yeah, because we have the terrible crude joke by the anatomy professor. And the class just laughs on and on and on. And I don't think this was someone who fell asleep at the editing of this. I think that was a choice. And that's where my mind goes to things like Repo man or Buckaroo Banzai. It's this sort of 80s vibe of like, we know how bad this is and it's kind of cool. That's how I read it. [00:29:56] Speaker B: It kept calling to mind, like Tales of the Crypt kind of things. For me, the specific beat was who told you where I am? Like, he's sitting right next to you, but there's only a corpse right next to me. That's not natural dialogue. Even though the situation is. Is ridiculous. One doesn't often have to remind oneself out loud that one is next to a corpse. [00:30:17] Speaker C: Yes, right. [00:30:18] Speaker B: But so the exaggerated laughter that. These are all broad, twisted caricatures. So I think I'm agreeing with you at just different sources of where it comes from. [00:30:29] Speaker A: I don't call it as directly, but when you call it Tales from the Crypt kind of. What was the name of those comics? EC Comics. Yeah, yeah. [00:30:36] Speaker C: I think you have to imagine every bit of dialogue in a word balloon in this. [00:30:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:30:41] Speaker A: That really just helped me. When I think of it as an EC comic book on Air that makes this a different show. [00:30:49] Speaker C: And I want to be clear, I don't think the narrative devices were inspired by those 80s films. I'm listening, but I'm trying to get at the quality, the attitudinal quality of it. [00:31:01] Speaker B: That's. Yeah, Rye kind of. [00:31:03] Speaker C: Yeah, the self aware. We could do better than this, but we've chosen not to because we're cool. But I do think it was intentional, right? Because this has this high and low English major in his late 20s kind of vibe. You know, it's necrophilia and metaphysical poetry. I mean, the Andrew Marvell poem entertained me. And the whole thing's built on that. I assume you had to read to his coy mistress in college. Weren't you an English something or other? [00:31:35] Speaker B: I minor? Creative writing. And I took some lit classes. [00:31:39] Speaker C: Okay, so maybe that's where I also get this sense of sarcasm or snideness in the entire thing. Because if you allow me to just slightly unpack that poem. That is a metaphysical carpe diem style poem. I will paraphrase. If only we had world enough in time, then coyness would be no crime. [00:31:58] Speaker A: Right. [00:31:58] Speaker C: You know, if we had all the time in the world, we could kind of flirt and do all this stuff, but we don't. So let's have sex right now. And so just subverting it and having the dead people do have all the world in time and they can take their time and they don't need to seize the day. When he does try to seize the day, he's about to have sex with a dead boy. [00:32:20] Speaker B: The other total EC Comics thing is that voice that she gives. [00:32:23] Speaker C: Yes, actually, the actress had to have dropped saliva in front of the microphone. There was like a fluid drop sound. [00:32:34] Speaker A: Oh, it's really good. Wow. [00:32:37] Speaker C: Do you're turning us on right now. [00:32:41] Speaker A: Do Charlton Heston. [00:32:44] Speaker C: Those damn dirty apes. [00:32:49] Speaker B: Now. [00:32:56] Speaker A: Here'S the issue then. What is it intending to be? If I'm approaching this from one angle, there are things about this I really hate. But if you say, oh, it's supposed to be tongue in cheek, or it's supposed to be making fun of itself, or it's supposed to be ironically bad in these areas, then all of a sudden I go, oh, well, then maybe my opinion isn't right. So starting with plot wise, it's hard for me to get on board with the retribution of somebody that stood you up a few times that you're gonna go grab a dead body and throw it on her doorstep. [00:33:30] Speaker C: But that's a medical school thing. You hear all these stories about different pranks with the corpses in anatomy class. I mean, those are. Whether they are real anecdotes. They come into popular culture. And I do think that's what they were playing on. And again, to Tim's point, there's nothing naturalistic in here. It's all style and winks and it's deconstructing the poetry this guy was forced to take in school. It's deconstructing old time radio horror. [00:33:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:59] Speaker C: The end result may not be cohesive, but I do think that was the intent. [00:34:03] Speaker B: It's also a narrative maneuver to make you like your main character to have him next to someone who's even worse of, like, oh, he mildly feels bad about launching this cadaver at somebody else. Like, well, he's a real nice guy. [00:34:20] Speaker C: And he likes poetry. So we know that he's sensitive and romantic. And I do think, again, that whole sequence is meant to set that up. [00:34:31] Speaker B: But your actual analysis of like, that's terrible on both. Like, everyone involved with that was terrible. You're right. [00:34:36] Speaker A: I think I'm listening right now, like, because here's the deal. Without this analysis or this, this information that you guys are giving me, like, you know, the EC Comics thing has really opened my mind to thinking about this differently. And all these things you said without this information, right? And you just said, and we're recording, go. I would have said, boy, I hated this. Boy, it's terrible. And. But now I'm thinking of it differently. Does that make sense? [00:35:02] Speaker B: That's kind of, I mean, where I'm at is to answer the specific question of like, what were they doing here, right? I feel like the mission was we're going to take these classic horror things and we're going to bring them into the 20th century and update them latter half of the 20th century. We're going to make a new thing that is in this spirit. And so I enjoy that mission, even if I don't think they got it exactly right this time out. [00:35:29] Speaker A: But even just like the laughing, like my first listen, I was like, this is terribly acted. This is terribly written, terribly acted, terribly edited. What's with the. This laughing is. And then Joshua says, well, what if it's this? What if this is their intent? What if they're trying to poke fun at, you know what I'm saying? And go, oh, well then that's a different breed of cat. That's a whole different thing. [00:35:48] Speaker C: But if it fails to convey what it's doing to the listener, that's a Failure, Right. Yeah. [00:35:53] Speaker B: And that might be a note of. In the context of what you would be seeing in movies and television at the time, you would just take it as that. [00:36:01] Speaker C: That. [00:36:01] Speaker B: That's not so much narratives now. [00:36:04] Speaker C: Yeah. I think this falls in the same ballpark as, like, Max Headroom type of thing, where it's supposed to scare you and gross you out, but also be ironically detached from it all. Again, I keep going back to these 80s touchstones of a. [00:36:20] Speaker A: You just brought up Max Headroom. [00:36:22] Speaker C: Yeah, And Tone. [00:36:23] Speaker A: That was out of my head and gone until now. I had erased it, and now I'm thinking about him again. [00:36:28] Speaker C: Oh, that TV show is awesome. [00:36:30] Speaker B: We could do a whole podcast about Max Headroom. [00:36:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:32] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:36:33] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Okay. I didn't get it back then. [00:36:36] Speaker B: There's a TV show. There's that hacking event thing Max Headroom would be on. [00:36:40] Speaker A: I watched it and went, not me. So you guys were into it, but. [00:36:43] Speaker C: Now we're really off track. But this is what this one just really made me feel. The year 1980. I think you could take this script and make it convey it. Not rewrite it, even. No, convey the intent stronger, act it. [00:36:58] Speaker A: Better, direct it better. [00:36:59] Speaker C: Yeah, because I think the. Well, for example, the scream by the protagonist. I can't remember it's Fred or George, but when he realizes he's kissing a corpse is like. That's so underdone. That's the sound I would make if I just step unexpectedly and cat barf. [00:37:17] Speaker A: On a Lego of the night. [00:37:18] Speaker C: Right? [00:37:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:19] Speaker C: I'd be like, oh, right. But if I rolled over in bed and tried to mount a dead woman. [00:37:28] Speaker B: You handle cat barf a lot better than I do. [00:37:37] Speaker C: I thought that was really off because it was a truly horrific moment, but because the actress was so committed to, as we already talked about, playing, the grossness of this rotting corpse that his little. Whatever it was. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Are we sure that was a scream? [00:37:56] Speaker C: Yeah, Maybe it was a climax. [00:37:58] Speaker A: Yes. [00:38:03] Speaker C: Jerry Lewis. [00:38:04] Speaker A: Hey, lady. Hey, dead lady. [00:38:09] Speaker B: Lady. Ah, the cat barfed. [00:38:16] Speaker A: I am also a little lost on. How do I put this? There's a deus ex machina of sorts in the fact that they just happened to pick the corpse that was able to do this? Are all corpses able to exact revenge on desecrating their body? Do you get what I'm getting at? Is it just her that had the ability to come visit you and. [00:38:46] Speaker B: Well, if I was going to dig deep in this, as it were, I would say that they might have chosen this body subconsciously. [00:38:54] Speaker A: Oh, there we go. [00:38:55] Speaker B: As A sort of like if I could pick the perfect partner who died 60 some years ago. [00:39:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:02] Speaker B: This is the one I want. [00:39:04] Speaker A: So she forced them to choose her to throw on the doorstep. [00:39:09] Speaker B: But then again, like they have a cadaver that was 60 years old just hanging anyways. [00:39:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:14] Speaker B: There was some element of they chose this body. [00:39:16] Speaker A: Right. [00:39:17] Speaker C: I took it the other way that this was just a variation on the classic vengeful ghost thing. [00:39:22] Speaker A: So all ghosts have the ability for revenge. Is that what it is? [00:39:25] Speaker C: But it's not really a ghost. It's a zombie. It's just combining all these tropes. I think in a. [00:39:30] Speaker B: And I don't think Sex Revenant. [00:39:33] Speaker C: Exactly. Tim Urdin McCookie this time sexpanent. [00:39:43] Speaker B: The one acting one that bothered me. I was like, there's something in there that bothered. I know you had many. But it was when he was doing the Charleston. [00:39:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:51] Speaker B: And just like. Am I doing it correctly? Apparently not. Because there's no indication of you doing any physical activity at all in this line. Delivery. [00:40:00] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:00] Speaker C: It's Charleston is an active dance. [00:40:03] Speaker A: And he delivered it like there was no effort being made. [00:40:07] Speaker B: Yes. [00:40:08] Speaker C: It also has a little of the inner sanctum sound effect quality of everything is really big and front of mic because it sounded like they were pouring two bathtubs full of champagne. It's just like, go, go, go. [00:40:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. Like, did you put a menthos in your Diet Coke? There was so much bubbling. [00:40:32] Speaker C: There are also just some fun nerdy Calvin Coolidge references in here. So I admit that maybe it hit my sweet spot of 80s old time radio. Calvin Coolidge. Andrew Marvell, Metaphysical forgery. I wrote this guy when I was nine years old. [00:40:54] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:55] Speaker B: Impressive. [00:40:57] Speaker C: But Keep cool with Coolidge was his campaign motto. She also specifically in there says, are you trying to think of something to say? And Coolidge was nicknamed Silent Cal because he was socially awkward and was not good at small talk. And I was like, are these Calvin Coolidge Easter eggs in here? This is meant to be ferreted out 50 years later by me. I mean, that is pretty much the extent of my Calvin Coolidge knowledge. Other than he's a lot more than. Other than he. [00:41:30] Speaker A: Now I have that knowledge. And that's it. [00:41:33] Speaker C: Okay. [00:41:33] Speaker A: Now I know. That's everything I know about Calvin Coolidge. [00:41:36] Speaker B: I assume his vice president was Hobbes. [00:41:39] Speaker A: Okay. Dad. [00:41:46] Speaker B: There was something about Nightfall and episodes like this in particular that I find very collegiate. It feels very much like these are young actors that are sort of doing this skillfully and passionately. But also a little indulgently. [00:42:03] Speaker A: Like the college radio station kids got together, found the theater kids and they all overacted everything. [00:42:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Or even if earnest, that they brought their own agendas and they didn't all match. [00:42:16] Speaker C: Right. [00:42:17] Speaker A: Picard on Next Generation doing a different show than the rest of the cast. [00:42:23] Speaker C: I will say before we're done with this that I liked the ending. I thought for me it pulled things together, particularly after the gross out elements early on. The fact that they let the reactions of the classmates to seeing these two bodies together be the only picture. So they left you to decide, is this horrific? And then I wasn't sure how to picture it. And then the roommate comes in and says they look so happy and so suddenly you have to adjust your visualization to match that. And that's one of the pluses of the radio medium, that it can make you imagine things against your will and then go, you're wrong. It's actually this. And it's. It's not manipulative. It's actually part of the medium. [00:43:13] Speaker B: It's a nice contrast too to the opening and throughout much of it of so many of these characters are just totally blase about anything. Dead body. Like nothing upsets us or disturbs us by the end. We are very much disturbed by this. [00:43:27] Speaker A: Right. [00:43:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I thought it was a nice bookend going from the class at the beginning that thinks everything's hilarious to the class that's freaked out at the end. Yeah. And I thought it was funny and wondered, did J.K. rowling listen to this? Because it opens with two pranksters named Fred and George. And if you're Harry Potter fans, those are the Weasley twins who are pranksters. But they never did something quite as grotesque. [00:43:56] Speaker A: You have now given me all the information I possess about Calvin Coolidge and Harry Potter. [00:44:04] Speaker C: You are welcome. But don't just thank me. Thank Nightfall. [00:44:09] Speaker A: Thanks Nightfall. Should we vote? [00:44:13] Speaker B: Yes. [00:44:16] Speaker A: Tim. You're all excited to vote. Go. [00:44:19] Speaker B: Yes, I am very excited to vote. [00:44:21] Speaker C: It's an honor just to be nominated. [00:44:26] Speaker B: I really enjoyed this. And in some ways it's flaws contributed to me enjoying it. Like I said, I might have felt differently had this not been the first episode of Nightfall or if I didn't know it was. But seeing it through that scope of all the Nightfall episodes that were to come made both its really remarkable accomplishments that much better. And its flaws still interesting to see. Trying to judge it outside of that context, it's not a classic. I think it stands the test of time. Although, as we discussed A lot of the elements are easier to appreciate in context of time. [00:45:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:45:10] Speaker B: Well, I'll just say it. I like it. Stands the test of time. I'll go with that. [00:45:13] Speaker C: My thought process was a lot like Tim's. This sort of shambling, confused. I don't know how to rate this, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed it from moment to moment while acknowledging flaws along the way. [00:45:30] Speaker B: But that might be the 1980s ness of it. Yeah, there's a lot of problems there. [00:45:35] Speaker A: But I love it. [00:45:36] Speaker C: I appreciate, I guess. And I kept coming back to it and trying to put it into words and whether or not I succeeded, I don't know. But it is the attitude of Nightfall in this episode that I really like. And it's something I liked about 80s, like genre stuff. And I wish more stuff today took itself less seriously but tried to keep the stakes in place at the same time. I still can't put into words. I'll have to go away and watch Repo man again. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am on the fence of whether it stands the test of time. It is so. Of its time. [00:46:15] Speaker A: So coming in after listening to this, I really didn't like it. After listening to all you guys and everything that was just said, I went, okay, let me re examine. Let me rethink. Come at it from a different angle, different thoughts. And I listened to everything you guys just said. And I have now come to the conclusion I still really don't like it. That didn't sway me enough. I don't. If you're gonna do comedy, do comedy. If you're gonna do tongue in cheek, do tongue in cheek. If you're gonna do horror, do horror. Right. [00:46:46] Speaker C: That's it. That's what I loved about the 80s is that they didn't have that attitude. [00:46:50] Speaker A: Right. [00:46:51] Speaker C: They could. They would do it all at the same time. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Yeah, that's baffling. And it makes me crazy. I don't. This does not know what it wants to be. And it's all over the place. [00:47:03] Speaker C: I think it knows what you want it to be. [00:47:06] Speaker A: There's that if they would have called and asked, I could have helped. [00:47:11] Speaker C: Oh, but there. Speaking of calling, there is that great 80s nostalgia when he says, I'll just take it off the hook about the phone is like, that was the solution to all stressful situations. Take the phone off the hook and then you'll basically keep you calm, disappeared. [00:47:26] Speaker B: 45 seconds until your life is. [00:47:31] Speaker C: What pillows are for. [00:47:32] Speaker A: Yeah, Think about that phone off the. [00:47:34] Speaker C: Hook and then piled pillows back then you could take. [00:47:37] Speaker A: Disconnect your phone and you just disappeared. Yeah, we can't disappear anymore. Anyway, no, I'm. I'm voting negatively on every category of this. It's not. Not my deal. Not my deal. [00:47:52] Speaker C: But you know who 80s. [00:47:54] Speaker A: Oh, I don't like the 80s at all. There's nothing. But you know who I do like a lot? Simon. I love Simon. Thank you. I'm so glad you are a Patreon and you are my favorite Patreon. I don't know, I'm just trying to make up for not liking what you brought. I'm gonna. [00:48:12] Speaker B: That's. That's big. [00:48:14] Speaker C: I don't think anyone supports this podcast financially and also thinks that we like things up and down consistently. That's the fun, I think. I hope it's not knowing what the hell we're gonna think of anything, right? [00:48:31] Speaker A: Depends on how drunk we are. [00:48:34] Speaker B: I really love a nightfall. [00:48:37] Speaker C: Hey, let's take this corpse over to the girls sorority house. [00:48:43] Speaker A: Tim, tell him stuff. [00:48:44] Speaker B: Please. Go visit ghoulishdolites.com, home of this podcast. You can find other episodes there. You can leave comments, vote in polls, let us know what you think about this episode and any of our episodes. You can certainly find this podcast anywhere you get your podcasts, but there's some special stuff at Galushta Lights. You can also link to our social media stuff and you can also go to our store, get some swag and you can go to our Patreon page. [00:49:12] Speaker C: Yes, keep cool with Coolidge and go to patreon.com themorals and support this podcast. You support us at a certain level, such as Simon does, you will be able to send recommendations to us and we will listen to them. And we may or may not like them. We might even like them and like me, struggle to say why it might be a work in progress. But please, there's all kinds of great bonus content there. Just go check it out. You know, sign up for $5 a month and just listen and see if it's worth it and then cancel. Why am I telling you to do this? [00:49:53] Speaker B: Send us an egg weekly letter if. [00:49:56] Speaker A: You'D like to see the mysterious old Radio Listening Society theater company perform. We do live on stage recreations of classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original work. Find out where we're performing, what we're performing and how to get tickets. And it's pretty much monthly or very often we are somewhere. Go to Ghoulish delights. [00:50:19] Speaker C: Yeah, it's pretty much all the time. [00:50:20] Speaker A: It's all the time. I just want a nap. [00:50:24] Speaker C: Nope. Gotta get up and do the old time radio show. [00:50:30] Speaker A: Go to ghoulishdelights.com to find out what we're performing, where we're performing and how to get tickets. Ghoulishdelights.com we'd love to see you there. Make it a night out. Come say hi. What's coming up next? [00:50:42] Speaker C: Next is your pick, Eric. [00:50:44] Speaker A: That's right. We're gonna be listening to an episode of Escape called She. Until then, still alive out there. [00:50:54] Speaker C: Good. [00:50:57] Speaker F: This is. [00:51:00] Speaker I: Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max Head. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. [00:51:05] Speaker C: Max. Max. [00:51:06] Speaker I: Max Head. Max Head. Max. Max. Headroom. [00:51:15] Speaker A: Okay, I didn't get it.