Steven Spielberg tells how his segment of Rod Serling’s NIGHT GALLERY “shocked” executives

A few years later Rod Serling’S The twilight zone the series ended, the creator launched a new anthology series titled Night Gallerywhich was great twilight zone next show! Night Gallery launched with a TV movie in 1969 and consisted of three separate episodes directed by Boris Sagal, Barry Shearand a young up-and-coming director named Steven Spielberg.

Night Gallery it was Spielberg’s first professional directorial gig, and the segment he was contracted to direct was entitled “Eyes”, starring Joan Craford. The story followed a gambler who owed money to loan sharks and agreed to donate his eyes to a woman for $9,000. She ends up blackmailing her doctor into performing the illegal transplant, and he warns her that her vision will only last for about eleven hours. As she takes off her bandages after her surgery, there is a blackout in her apartment.

THE Night Gallery the movie was a hit and because everyone loved what Spielberg did with his segment, he was brought back on board to direct another segment of the series, but this experience didn’t go as he thought.

Spielberg was looking to showcase his creative talents and do something different, something a little more artistic. The segment was titled “Make Me Laugh” and told the story of a failed comedian (Godfrey Cambridge) who would give anything to make people laugh. By chance, he comes across a self-described “miracle guru” (Jackie Vernon) who reluctantly grants him his wish after his pleas for caution fall on deaf ears. The big twist is that the comedian is constantly laughed at, even when he’s not performing. No one will ever take it seriously.

Spielberg’s way of directing the episode was in one long, uninterrupted take, and that’s something the producers weren’t happy with. In fact, they were appalled by it! During a recent interview with Stephen Colbert, Spielberg talks about the experience and how he was able to shoot the project exactly as he wanted, but that’s not what the executives were hoping for.

“I came to the set and because it was only 11 minutes long, I had the idea of ​​shooting all 11 minutes in one take. But I staged it over four sets in one take. tried it, everyone raved about it, and then when the executives sat down to watch rushes the next day they saw the entire 10-minute shot of most of the show.

It’s not the subject they were upset about, I mean the script was written by Rod Serling himself. It was Spielberg’s narrative style. They didn’t like that Spielberg was trying to do something different and think outside the box. He was thinking of shooting the segment in a cinematic way, not the way TV shows were shot at the time and the producers wanted him to color within the lines. Spielberg went on to address the complaints made, saying:

“[They said] “Where is the close-up coverage, where is the over-the-shoulder footage, where are the prerequisites for making it look like a TV show?” And I immediately got a call from an executive, I won’t mention that person’s name, who said, “We are shocked by what we see.” This is one of the most irresponsible experiences I’ve ever had with a director who works for me, and we will be shooting the show again with another director.’ And that was the end of it. I wish I had a copy of that shot. It was an amazing shot! But I don’t have a copy.”

I’d like to know who that manager was! Who knows what Serling thought! I wonder if he was one of the upset executives or if he just likes what Spielberg has delivered.

Spielberg is still credited as the “Make Me Laugh” director, but I can’t find anywhere if anyone else directed the episode when it was released. It definitely wasn’t the original version of Spielberg’s segment.

The following year, 1971, Spielberg directed his first feature film for TV Duel. The rest is history.