In Praise of Pip

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The Twilight Zone original series Season five (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5) Fall 1963 – Summer 1964 List of The Twilight Zone episodes
Episodes: In Praise of Pip Steel Nightmare at 20,000 Feet A Kind of a Stopwatch The Last Night of a Jockey Living Doll The Old Man in the Cave Uncle Simon Probe 7, Over and Out The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain Ninety Years Without Slumbering Ring-a-Ding Girl You Drive The Long Morrow The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross Number 12 Looks Just Like You Black Leather Jackets Night Call From Agnes—With Love Spur of the Moment An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Queen of the Nile What's in the Box The Masks I Am the Night—Color Me Black Sounds and Silences Caesar and Me The Jeopardy Room Stopover in a Quiet Town The Encounter Mr. Garrity and the Graves The Brain Center at Whipple's Come Wander With Me The Fear The Bewitchin' Pool

“In Praise of Pip” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

[edit] Details

Episode number: 121
Season: 5
Production code: 2607
Original air date: September 27, 1963
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Music: Rene Garriguenc, conducted by Lud Gluskin

[edit] Cast

Max Phillips: Jack Klugman
Young Pip Phillips: Billy Mumy
Private Pip Phillips: Bobby Diamond

[edit] Opening Narration

"Submitted for your approval, one Max Phillips, a slightly-the-worst-for-wear maker of book, whose life has been drab and undistinguished as a bundle of dirty clothes. And, though it's very late in his day, he has a errant wish that the rest of his life might be sent out to a laundry to come back shiny and clean, this to be a gift of love to a son named Pip. Mr. Max Phillips, Homo sapiens, who is soon to discover that man is not as wise as he thinks—said lesson to be learned in the Twilight Zone."

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Max Phillips is a bookie who finds out that his son is dying in Vietnam. He feels he could have been a better father. With that in mind, he returns $300 to an unlucky bettor and is shot by his boss's hitman. After being wounded by gunfire, he stumbles into an amusement park and is surprised to meet his son who is now a child again. After having some fun, reliving past enjoyable outings, the young boy runs away. When Max finds him, the son explains that he is dying and vanishes. Max makes a deal with God—his life for Pip's. And he dies so that his son may live.

[edit] Closing Narration

"Very little comment here, save for this small aside: that the ties of flesh are deep and strong, that the capacity to love is a vital, rich and all-consuming function of the human animal, and that you can find nobility and sacrifice and love wherever you may seek it out; down the block, in the heart, or in the Twilight Zone."

'In Praise of Pip' distinguishes itself with an ironic ending which emphasizes not the darker side of human nature but instead that 'good' can be found in the most unlikely places. In the end, the audience doesn't see Max Phillips simply as a neglectful father but as a tragic character who realizes his mistakes and simply wants a second chance to show his son the love he failed to express when he had the oppurtunity. Little does he realize that Pip was able to see past his faults and has only fond memories of their time together.

[edit] Trivia

Filmed on location at the Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California.
Contains what is likely the first reference to an American casualty in Vietnam on dramatic television, especially significant for the line “There isn’t even supposed to be a war going on there, but my son is dying.” Serling’s original script had Pip serving in Laos. The network corrected him, noting that there were no American soldiers stationed in Laos, and suggested Vietnam as an alternative. There is a more explicit reference to Vietnam in “I Am the Night-Color Me Black”.
Jack Klugman's fourth and final Twilight Zone appearance.