Episode #34, segment 1 - Time and Teresa Golowitz

#34a: TIME AND TERESA GOLOWITZ (episode #10 of 2nd season)
written by Alan Brennert, based on story by Parke Godwin    Directed by Shelley Levinson

This has a 'been there, done that' feel to it, as, for the umpteenth time, the devil (Gene Barry) - also called the Prince - shows up to make some kind of deal with a hapless mortal.  In this case, it's with a songwriter (Paul Sand) who has just had a heart attack. The Prince's goals are rather vague and less sinister than usual: he's something of an art fan and wants the songwriter's services for a short spell down below. In exchange, the songwriter wishes for a very shallow dream - to make it with the cutest blond girl back in his senior year in high school. The bulk of the episode then follows the younger version of the composer (Grant Heslov) in late forties suburbia, during a late night party, where/when he ends up helping another girl (the girl of the title) who had committed suicide that night.

This has nice intentions and, for whatever reason, writer Brennert (in adapting the story) wanted to do the only musical on the TZ series. It's not really one - there is one song sung in a central scene and a few other brief moments - and ends up as just a cute little modern fable and slight morality play. To me, musicals & TZ do not really gell well; I didn't see much point to it, except if you're a fan of Barry (War of the Worlds, Bat Masterson) or if you want to see actress Gina Gershon in an early role as yet another girl (and another manifestation of the Prince). This was also an early role for Heslov, who went on to roles in films like True Lies (1994). BoG's Score: 5 out of 10