"A Kind of a Stopwatch" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...

. Star Pulse ranks this as the best episode of the series.

Synopsis

Patrick Thomas McNulty is an obnoxious, talkative and unpopular know-it-all. At the local bar after being fired, an odd man named Potts gives him a stopwatch, "an old family heirloom". Thinking it an odd gift, McNulty soon realizes that stopping the watch stops time itself. Excited with his new toy, he tries to win back his job. Unsuccessful, he soon thinks of another use: robbing banks. But he drops the watch and it breaks, leaving everyone and everything around him forever frozen in time. With no one to talk to or interact with, we last see him in a panic: "Somebody move! TALK!! Say something!!! HELP!!!!"

Adaptation

The television episode was later adapted as an episode of The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas series—under the title "A Kind of Stopwatch"—featuring Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...

 in the lead role.

Parodies, pastiches, and allusions

Several parodies and pastiches of the original plot device are identified in the article on The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything

The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything

The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything is a science fiction novel written by John D. MacDonald, considered "a classic screwball mystery".-Plot synopsis:...

.

"A Kind of Stopwatch" in particular is parodied in the following episode of The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

: "Treehouse of Horror XIV

Treehouse of Horror XIV

"Treehouse of Horror XIV" is the first episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season and originally aired on November 2, 2003. In the fourteenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer takes on the role of the Grim Reaper , Professor Frink creates a Frankenstein-version of his deceased father and...

" (2 November 2003), in the segment, "Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off."

In addition, ideas from this episode were used in "A Little Peace and Quiet

A Little Peace and Quiet

"A Little Peace and Quiet" is the second segment of the first episode of the first season of the television series The New Twilight Zone.-Opening narration:-Synopsis:...

", an episode in the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone.

In one of the Time Warp Trio books by Jon Sciezka (Summer Reading Is Killing Me), Fred mentions that the town's emptiness reminds him of "a Twilight Zone episode where this guy gets a stopwatch that can stop and start time, and then it breaks when it's stopped and he goes crazy!" which is met with a less than enthusiastic response.

See also

• The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
  The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
  The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
  
  
• Episode List

External links

• The Rod Serling Archives at Ithaca College, The Twilight Zone, Season 5, Script 124, "A Kind of Stopwatch"