Main cast: Morton Downey Jr (Ray Bright), Laura Branigan (Amanda Smith-Jones), Lori Krebs (Debbie), Philip Stewart (Big Ben Grady), and Julie Wilson (Cassandra)
Director: Bruce Feirstein
It’s pretty amusing how well the late Morton Downey Jr fits into horror anthology shows, what with A Face for Radio and Television Terror. It’s almost as if a shock jock was born to, er, die in these shows.
In this one, he plays Ray Bright, a late night talk show host that mocks and belittles purveyors of the woo woo, calling them grifters and con artists at their faces. When the episode opens, self-proclaimed clairvoyant Cassandra tries to tell him that she sees him in a small dark place some time in the future, about to die, but like her namesake, she gets insulted to her face.
Right on cue, his next guest is a woman named Amanda, who claims that she was naked at a beach when an alien appeared standing over her, shortly before she was abducted to an alien ship for a probing of her life by four aliens. These aliens tell offer her a solution to end all evils in the world. Eh, I personally prefer to be paid in cash for services rendered, but maybe that’s just me.
Well, she has evidence: a cute-ugly alien that looks like an unfortunate result of the thing from the movie Basket Case and a gremlin having physical intimacy together, in a box—actually, a cage covered by a piece of black leather; not sure why she calls it a box—that she carries around with her.
He wastes little time getting all creepy with her—”I love the way you shake your box!”—only to be startled when she tells him that the alien eats evil people… provided that the evil people consent to be eaten first. What a polite and respectful alien!
The alien, however cries to him that Amanda “did this” to it, and that she’s evil.
Uh oh, has the sleazy and despicable shock jock finally met his downfall?
Laura Branigan looks really awkward and self conscious playing the femme fatale here, and needless to say, Amanda isn’t very convincing as one.
However, this is Morton Downey Jr’s show and by god, he chews up the scenery with gusto, right down to a delicious monologue delivered straight to the camera. This is one fellow that seems to take joy in playing the creepy and repulsive asshole to the hilt, and yet, he does so in a charismatic manner that makes it hard for me to turn away.
The monster is cute, but the episode is a predictable one, right down to the denouement. Still, this is Morton Downey Jr’s show, and he puts one hell of a show, so it’s still worth a peek. After all, it’s simply one of the better episodes in all three seasons of this show, all thanks to him and only him!
