Episode 45: Cat and Mouse / Rendezvous in a Dark Place

Cat and Mouse is a tale of a mousey spinster whose new cat might be the man of her dreams.
Rendezvous in a Dark Place stars legend Janet Leigh as a death obsessed woman who finds herself face to face with Death itself.

Episode Transcript

(00:23):
Hello there, I'm Cris Stash,I'm Mike White, and this is Father'm
alone and goodbye. We enjoyed talking. I don't know how I haven't done
that one yet, but what Isaid, Hello there, I'm Cristash.
I looked out of Father Malone.He was trying not to corpse really hard.
So I was like, all right, well, this is the opportunity
if you're still here through that nightmareof a cold open. We are the

(00:45):
Dreams for Sale podcast taking a lookat the nineteen eighty five reboot of The
Twilight Zone. Well, we arenear the end of the show, so
if you want to check out thefirst couple of seasons, you can do
that immediately. Yeah, over andover again, please, and then stick
around from my mollifluous tones. Butif you want to hear what we're talking
about in this episode, we're talkingabout the twenty fourth and twenty fifth episodes

(01:07):
of the third season. Nearing theend here, I think we're one in
the last in the last ten episodes. Not soon enough, Chris Statue,
but we're gonna be talking about Catand Mouse and Rendezvous in a Dark Place.
One of these is really good.Andrea Moffett longs for true love,
a man who is strong, handsome, and exotic, who desires her above

(01:33):
all other women. She is aboutto learn the naivety has its price,
and that the universe has a verycurious sense of humor. So let's talk
about the Horny Cat. Episode firstCat and Mouse, aired March fourth,
nineteen eighty nine. It stars PamelaBellwood and Paige Fletcher Plage. Fletcher plays
Guillaume, a cat, a hornycat who a man who got turned into

(01:57):
a cat, who flocks women throughthe ages, and he he comes upon
a woman who I think we allknow that she's very bookish by the clothes
that they had her wear, whoalooks like a Mormon housewife, a fucking
schoolmarm from eighteen hinde. My god, don't show me any of that ankle
love, please? Hey, canyou show us that you're shy? Yes,

(02:19):
clutch your arms that way. That'sit. That's the universal signal for
I'm shy. But it turns outshe's a she's kinky as fuck, because
all are. Because I don't knowif you guys know this, but it
would only take someone kinky to havesex with a cat, because it's a
cat that she's having sex with andthen she nuters him. In the end
of the episode, she nuters thecat because it's the man. The man's

(02:44):
ball fixes him. Yeah, shedoes. I believe the female version.
Yes, oh, sorry, you'reright. Okay, no, no,
no, spaying is the female OhI guess fixed is just the overall term.
Yeah, everyone will understand that.I was about to say, mister
Bob Barker, would you like tolet everyone knows a good ending? It

(03:07):
was good ending of the episode.Yeah, like the ending. I didn't
like anything leading up to that,but I really like the ending. Yeah.
I was reminded a little bit oflike there was that was there like
a two fairy episode that was kindof similar. Yes, yeah, Kenneth.
I liked when he was mad ather for trying to put a collar

(03:30):
on him, and I was kindof hoping maybe we would have seen him
transform and start choking or something,but instead it's all just implied that that's
why he's mad. But then italso plays into that hole don't try to
pin me down, baby, butPaige Fletcher, I'm sorry, but there's

(03:51):
no appeal. Whoever Robo cop,he's a creep and he's just he's not
that a track active, you know. I'm sorry. He's just better known
for playing other characters other actors madefamous before him. He played, Oh
he was the hitcher. Yeah,okay, I got it, Okay,

(04:15):
Yeah, he was unappealing then whenhe was younger and better looking, and
he was unappealing here. Yeah,there's something there's something very to me Billy
Zane about him. I can't standBilly Zane in the same way. Just
look at him, and there's somethingoff putting about him, you know.
I mean the fact that they havethe cat's name be giome anything because the
French no love, but there wasnever love involved. I had my fun,

(04:40):
you had yours. Now I leave. Yeah, let me just give
this character every fucking cliche known demandthat comes out of his mouth. Like
I gotta say, the construction ofthe plot with the Downers and the fucking
you know, all the little thingsthat sort of come together that allow her
to drug him and then have himright Newter, that was good. It
was It's just so clumsily put togetherthat you know, I enjoyed this more

(05:03):
than I didn't this episode, eventhough I could not stand watching that guy.
Yeah, it was decent, andit felt I mean, if anything,
it felt a little too long.It's that suffering from having these episodes
standalone. But yeah, and Ikind of liked the jealous co worker,
and now the jealous co worker immediatelyknew that Armine character was getting fucked.

(05:27):
Yeah, yeah, okay, yeahthat works. It could have been though,
like I mean, you see,you bring that other character into it,
because they did, Like if ithad just been about these three characters,
and maybe she's the hot one thatgets all the guys and she's you
know, like there could have beensome sort of relationship thing instead of we
work at a drug store and you're, you know, like who cares about
everything that was happening there? Thatwas That was my issue with the episode,

(05:48):
is everything outside of her house isjust so humdrum, like her co
workers harassing her. Okay, andthen that's I mean, that's it.
It's just her being harassed by herco workers when we're not at her house,
right, Yeah, basically in oneform or another. Yeah, here's
this lingerie that you bought, letme open it. What in the fuck?

(06:11):
Man? Yeah, what is goingon here? Idea? The eighties
must have been a different time thannow, guys, they sure were.
We've got this as a document.This is how it. Every day was.
Every day was people were taking yourunderwear out of bags and parading around
in them, and men were turninginto sexy catman. That's right, that's
still happening today. Yes, sookay, So I have a question though

(06:33):
here, really I do. Maybeit's my drug adult brain. I don't
know what was the intention of fixinghim so he could no longer perform that's
right. It's basically almost castrating theguy. So when he turns back into
human, he can't have sex withthe next lady. People without balls can't

(06:54):
have sex at all. They can. It's just it was just very it's
very strange. Like I just Iget what it was going for. But
like, if you just think aboutthe joke, Chris, I know it's
a joke, it's just not afunny one. I laughed. I laughed
at the freeze frame, the eightiesfreeze frame at the end. Oh yeah,

(07:15):
well, I gotta love a freezeframe. Yeah, and then things
are moving in the background. Frankdribb and walks and walks out looks at
the camera. It was weird.The show hasn't ended on a freeze frame
yet, and and here we arelike we were due. I know,
I guess. So I can't makeit out of the eighties without a fucking
freeze. Yeah, it was,it was. I think it was all

(07:38):
right. I will tell both ofyou that it was something different, which
is nice. Yeah, and itwasn't J Michael Strezenski writing yet shocker,
I know, right. The realshocker, though, I think, is
the next episode we're gonna talk about. Boy, oh boy, it is
shocking. Alright. Let's talk aboutRendezvous in a Dark Place. I changed

(07:58):
my mind. Barbara LeMay, thewoman in black, out of place,
in a world of colors and soundsand life, A woman caught between fascination
and something more profound and less earthly. Barbara LeMay with one foot in the
grave, the other firmly planted inthe twilight zone. So Ronie Rue in

(08:20):
a Dark Place is the twenty fifthepisode of the third season of the show.
It is once again written by JayMichael Straczynski, directed by Renee Bonier,
and it stars Janet Lee as awoman obsessed with death and Stephen McCatty
as a man who then, nowand forever looks the same, just looks
the same. Stephen McCatty doesn't ageconvince me. He does show me a

(08:41):
picture of him. Now, youshould probably see Pontole if you haven't.
He's looking pretty rough in that one. Yeah, where I've seen him recently
in something too. He's a stonefaced giant now. But yeah, so,
but he looks. In fact,while watching this one, I thought,
oh my god, he looks soyoung. So yeah, him recently
then he played Hobo number one inNightmare Alley apparently two Alley. Yeah,

(09:09):
Hobo number one. Yeah, howthe might he have fallen? But yeah,
he was fantastic in this episode,and he's just fantastic overall. And
Chris, Actually, if you haven'tseen Pontypool, go out and see it.
Definitely a long time ago. That'swhy I don't. It's been when
I probably saw when it came out, was like, oh right, it

(09:30):
came out like oh wait or somethingwaiter. It was two thousand and eight.
Counterpoint to Stephen mckenny's fantastic performance.I know that Janet Lee is Hollywood
royalty. I love her to pieces, but she's terrible. She's a terrible
actress. She's really bad. Atthis, Am I wrong terrible actress or

(09:50):
just in this? Maybe just inthis. I've seen her be good obviously.
She was great in Psycho and Iliked her. I liked her in
The Fog quite a bit. Shedid a good job in that. He
in this one woman show that theywrote to entice a fading Hollywood start to
be on the show like I've forgottenlady as it were. Yeah, it's
not not good. She's not good, like at the end when she's just

(10:13):
sort of acting instead of like sayingthings like she's fantastic, uh in that
in that in that final thing,no no no, and I'm not no,
I'm not saying words are so puerilecoming out of her mouth that like,
and she doesn't believe it, clearlyJanet Lee doesn't, So I don't
know. I take it back sayingshe was bad actress. If I said

(10:33):
that, I'm not trying to givethat impression. But there's no redeeming these
words. She's not good in this. She's not capable of redeeming the words.
My wife, who has barely seeingany Twilight Zone other than her suffering
through this third season and partially enjoyingthe first and second, as we're watching
this, she's like, haven't youseen this one before? And I'm like

(10:56):
no, and she's like, no, it's an old one. And I
was like, wait a second.I was like Robert Redford and um,
okay, why am I blanking onglad Gladys Cooper? Okay? Yeah?
And I was like, oh,yeah, you're right, and I started
to describe it. She's like,yeah, exactly that. I'm like,
yes, absolutely, very much thesame thing. Though she's more afraid of

(11:22):
death, right, and Janet Leeloves death. She loves him to pieces.
Oh yeah, she's got like anAlice Cooper fixation on death. Yeah,
it's original. Is more like he'sshe's so afraid of death she won't
leave, right, She's like lockedin her house, won't go outside,
has to wear a mask all thetime. Yeah. Sorry, wow,

(11:46):
wow, I just feel for hernow, Yes, nothing. Yeah,
it's weird how close this is tothe original show? Right? Oh yeah
again tripping clumsily into Rod Serling territoryhere with a character piece with just espousing

(12:07):
thoughts on this and that. Asfar as characters go, we've got a
woman who, yes, I getit, she's watched many of her friends
die but has a son and anextended family that she's not engaged in.
Yeah, it wasn't all. Wasn'tthat the lesson of the episode that should
have been learned here instead of shegets to be Death's companion or make that

(12:28):
where she has nothing that everyone hasdied and now she's completely obsessed with it
and becomes Death's paramore or whatever.You know, Well, that's what I
didn't understand about the episode. Whydid death change his mind so quickly because
she showed a deep commitment to thedeath lifestyle. Yeah, yeah, she
remembered what high school she went to, unlike other people that tried for the

(12:48):
same job. I just I didn'tunderstand it at all because because it was
really dumb. That's why. Yeah, this is the episode you didn't like.
I thought the Cat episode. Yeahno, And I sort of was
that the I was being overly enthusiasticat the bening getting saying one of them

(13:09):
was great. That was a liejust to get us through this episode.
Listeners have been tricks, you've beenI will. I will recommend that the
Cat one on some level, butthis one I cannot at all. This
one is garbage. I mean,you know, I'm not garbage. Steven
mccatty's really good in it, buthe's just charming motherfucker. Like if he
had been doing anything for twenty twominutes, I would have been like,

(13:31):
that was a good episode. SoI think that's the problem for me,
is that everything else is not anyis not any sum is not any better
than Stephen McCatty on his own.She's so obsessed with death that the way
she thinks to lure him is togrow old enough that someone breaks into her
house and is wounded and is dying, and then she gets to see death

(13:54):
like they didn't if her character isthis death episode, it's first of all,
it's just it reminded me of Haroldand Mad drained of all the wit
and h you know, like it'sI mean, that's what mod does,
right, but like I don't,I don't know. This was this one
was tough. Yeah. I thinkthe other thing that I think is the

(14:15):
most disappointing part of this episode forme is the fact that they have an
episode like this on the original showthat's very similar, and this episode thinks
that somehow just subverting the ending isenough, and it's like, that's not
mentioning the original at all, No, right, not saying based on the
teleplay by whom Yeah, yeah,I wish Stephen McCatty was in a different

(14:37):
episode. Yeah, first season,man, he could have could have done
something. And the originals by GeorgeClayton Johnson who wrote a ton of stuff.
So yeah, there we go.Yeah. Yeah, it's weird because
this episode, you think is goingin one direction, Death leaves, and
then Death just comes back and he'slike, all right, I guess you're
my forever death companion. Yeah,my pro jay. Didn't Johnson do the

(15:03):
Pool episode we just talked about afew episodes ago. Yeah, a game
of Pool? Yeah right, okay, yeah, that's credit in that one,
but not this one. That's thething about this episode. It did
remind me of some of the otherDevil episodes that we've seen, or kind
of you know, a game ofPool. Um, what's the other one?
Yeah, everyone's conception of death onthis show is basically boring and stupid.

(15:28):
I mean, their conception of theDevil isn't. No, the conception
of the Devil has been fantastic,playing just showing up at math lecture.
What was the other I guess theother death. One of the other death
episodes in this show was the oneabout like the Highway, the guy that
drives all the souls through high Yeah, Steve Rail's back right, yes,

(15:50):
yeah, what did you do?I'm a thief? Okay, you can
go, man, remember those days, I do fondly, fondly, And
we probably were like ripping out ofthat episode. But now it's like,
give me that. Oh my god, bring it all backs. Yeah,
we're in the twilight zone because we'reprobably ripping on all these really good episodes

(16:15):
and now were face was season three, and yeah, we're just the person
out in the middle of the streetsscreaming up at the sky. No,
no, please please, I waswrong. Yeah, I want to see
the episode about Santa Claus again.Show me that one with person yes,

(16:37):
with the Leprechne Yes. Yeah,let's con artists. Yeah that was season
one. Let's let's try that oneagain, shall I? I miss you
Red Snow. Yeah that wasn't seasonone, please. Yeah. Life furnished
in early poverty in this Yeah.I was absent for the recording of that

(17:03):
episode, but I had to watchit. I did not enjoy it.
I didn't know we ever recorded withoutyou you did one time, okay,
one time too many. That's whyI know, because I was in fucking
Duluth, Minnesota when it happened,and like up to my up to my
shins in snow and just going likeI'd rather be recording an episode right now,
And then you watched the episode andyou were like, maybe I wouldn't

(17:25):
be well, I'd watched it anyway, that's fair it We are a far
cry from there. And I willtell you though, we are in the
last five episodes of the show.Record we can we record all of those
at once? Yeah, I thinkthat's one more, one more recording two
and three and them we are done? Ye on too better things. That's

(17:47):
right. So on the next episodeof the show, we are in the
last five episodes of Twilight Ze nineteeneighty five, we're gonna be talking about
many many monkeys and love is blindgreat, many many monkeys, many many
monkeys. Until then, where canpeople find you, mister Mike White,
would you say I have a plethoraof monkeys? Oh? Yes, barrel

(18:10):
of them even possibly you can findme over at the Projection Booth podcast,
which, strangely enough, is availableat Projection Booth Podcast dot com. What
about you, Father Malone? Wherecan people find you if they were looking?
Check me out over at father Malonedot com. I've got links to
all of my stuff, but uhspecifically my podcast, Dark Destination's half hour

(18:32):
radio drama, write and produce.And as for me, you can find
me at c STASHU dot com,cstac HW dot com. That's my link
tree for all the other things Iwork on. So there you go.
As always, big thanks to RoxyDriving Neutron Dreams for the music for the
show, and we'll catch you onthe next episode. The