Make Me Laugh/Clean Kills and Other Trophies
- Episode aired Jan 6, 1971
- TV-PG
- 51m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
550
YOUR RATING
A fading comic asks a miracle worker's help in making people laugh. / Big game hunter Colonel Archie Dittman pressures his meek son to take up the sport or be disinherited.A fading comic asks a miracle worker's help in making people laugh. / Big game hunter Colonel Archie Dittman pressures his meek son to take up the sport or be disinherited.A fading comic asks a miracle worker's help in making people laugh. / Big game hunter Colonel Archie Dittman pressures his meek son to take up the sport or be disinherited.
Photos
Gene R. Kearney
- 2nd Bartender (segment "Make Me Laugh")
- (as Gene Kearney)
Michele Hart
- Miss Wilson (segment "Make Me Laugh")
- (as Michael Hart)
- Directors
- Walter Doniger(segment Clean Kills and Other Trophies)
- Steven Spielberg(segment Make Me Laugh)
- Writer
- Rod Serling(segment Make Me Laugh)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn a 2023 interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015), Steven Spielberg revealed that he designed and shot the entire "Make Me Laugh" segment in a single take using 4 different sets, but the studio was "appalled" by the lack of traditional coverage (close-ups, over-the-shoulders, etc.). Spielberg was then replaced and that segment was redone by a different director.
- GoofsJust after the miracle is performed on Jackie, the bartender hangs onto a support column and it moves quite significantly.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Chatterje (segment "Make Me Laugh"): I wonder if I will ever get the hang of it.
- ConnectionsReferences The Red Skelton Hour (1951)
Featured review
The first one's been done to death
While Rod Serling introduced each segment on Night Gallery and he was a fantastic writer, he actually did not write this series--even though it was often referred to as "Rod Serling's Night Gallery". The show, in general, wasn't nearly as good as "The Twilight Zone" but it did have some excellent horror and suspense stories. Each episode was broken down into two or more stories--with occasional very short comedic horror stories thrown in as well.
"Make Me Laugh" stars Godfrey Cambridge (who, sadly, was very young when he died just a few yeas after doing this episode) and has supporting performances by Tom Bosley, Jackie Vernon and Al Lewis. Cambridge plays a bad comic--a very, very bad comic. He can't make anyone laugh and his jokes are just terrible. When he meets a goofy swami (Vernon) in a bad, the swami tells him he can help--but the wishes he grants often end up being disasters. But, since Cambridge is desperate (and stupid), he asks the swami to make it so that everyone laughs when he talks. Naturally it all backfires. This episode seems like a very old retread of an idea--the sort of thing they already did on "Twilight Zone" and did much better. It's too drawn out and too obvious. I'd give this one a 4.
"Clean Kills and Other Trophies" stars Raymond Massey as a rich hunter who has traveled the world taking trophies. He looks down on his son (Barry Brown) since the son refuses to kill. And, to punish the young man, Massey promises to take away his trust fund unless he kills--and schedules a deer hunt for the following day. The family servant (some African guy) hates what Massey is trying to do--especially since he kills for fun not for food. Naturally, Massey will get hi comeuppance by the times this episode ends. Massey is wonderful as the nasty old hunter--he's very easy to hate and fills the screen. Unfortunately, while the episode is quite enjoyable, it also a bit too obvious--and you can easily predict the ending. In addition, the scene with the deer was CLEARLY a stock piece of footage and didn't integrate well--as it was grainy and cheap looking. So, I'd give this one a 6--it's decent but far from great.
"Make Me Laugh" stars Godfrey Cambridge (who, sadly, was very young when he died just a few yeas after doing this episode) and has supporting performances by Tom Bosley, Jackie Vernon and Al Lewis. Cambridge plays a bad comic--a very, very bad comic. He can't make anyone laugh and his jokes are just terrible. When he meets a goofy swami (Vernon) in a bad, the swami tells him he can help--but the wishes he grants often end up being disasters. But, since Cambridge is desperate (and stupid), he asks the swami to make it so that everyone laughs when he talks. Naturally it all backfires. This episode seems like a very old retread of an idea--the sort of thing they already did on "Twilight Zone" and did much better. It's too drawn out and too obvious. I'd give this one a 4.
"Clean Kills and Other Trophies" stars Raymond Massey as a rich hunter who has traveled the world taking trophies. He looks down on his son (Barry Brown) since the son refuses to kill. And, to punish the young man, Massey promises to take away his trust fund unless he kills--and schedules a deer hunt for the following day. The family servant (some African guy) hates what Massey is trying to do--especially since he kills for fun not for food. Naturally, Massey will get hi comeuppance by the times this episode ends. Massey is wonderful as the nasty old hunter--he's very easy to hate and fills the screen. Unfortunately, while the episode is quite enjoyable, it also a bit too obvious--and you can easily predict the ending. In addition, the scene with the deer was CLEARLY a stock piece of footage and didn't integrate well--as it was grainy and cheap looking. So, I'd give this one a 6--it's decent but far from great.
helpful•103
- planktonrules
- Mar 14, 2011
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content