User Reviews

Carol Burnett and Jesse White star in this Twilight Zone episode as a hapless women who just can't seem to get anything right and a guardian angel sent down to help her. Mostly though it seems like White's biggest problem is just to prevent Burnett from stumbling all over herself as she does in her job as a theater usher. That first few minutes provide Burnett with some Lucille Ball like moments.

In a gentle and humorous way this story asks just what is happiness and maybe it's different things to different people. White does provide a complete change in Burnett's drab existence, but in the end he finds that while she's a klutz who can't hold down a job for very long she's essentially a happy person with very small wants in her life.

Fans of both Burnett and White should really appreciate this Twilight Zone episode laced with Carol Burnett's comic style.

Certainly there was a time in Carol Burnett's career when she was a struggling unknown. Her variety show in the late Sixties was a weekly staple for my family, and she was one of the few genuinely funny comediennes who could make you laugh just by standing there. There are hints of that comic genius showing through in this episode of The Twilight Zone, but I have to side with most of the reviewers for this entry. This was not one of Rod Serling's finer efforts.

The story really plays out more for the lesson imparted than for the way it gets there. True happiness is always within one's grasp if you really pay attention to who you are and stay true to your convictions. You know the outcome of this story well before it plays out, even if you never saw "It's a Wonderful Life". Cavender (Jesse White) earns his wings and Agnes Grep (Burnett) learns the value of friendship by sharing in the lives of the people she touches day in and day out. The odd thing is, I never got the impression she even needed to be tested on that count.

Say, keep an eye on that opening scene when the hotel drill instructor breaks in the new hostesses and then dispatches them to their assignments. One of the new recruits he calls on is 'Burnett'.

It seems that when I read reviews for "The Twilight Zone" that are the least critical of individual episodes, they are invariably slapped with 'not helpfuls'--even though, in a few cases, the show DID make a stinker episode. Two of the three reviews for this episode disliked it strongly (and they should have)--yet they were slapped with many 'not helpfuls'. Perhaps there is a core group of fans who cannot accept criticism of any episodes--but this one clearly deserves criticism. It is bad in most every way and did not belong in the series. The first problem was it looked and felt nothing like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" but was just some pilot for a goofy paranormal comedy. The next problem is that it was really, really dumb--making shows like "I Dream of Jeanie" and "Bewitched" look like classics. Frankly, putting Carol Burnett in such an inferior pilot for a series is a great waste of her talents and I assume she cringes every time she sees it on television.

The episode is a twist on IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE--with the main character liking her messed up life and the angel trying to show her how wonderful life CAN be if she lets him change it. Frankly, it's terribly written and dumb--and totally out of place in the series. Such inappropriate elements to the show are the sped up speech that is supposed to be funny in the party scene, goofy sound effects, cheap sets of Heaven and it tried too hard to be too cute. Yecch!

'Cavender Is Coming', an episode of the third season of 'Twilight Zone', is generally despised by fans. Carol Burnett plays 'Agnes Grep', whom we are reliably informed, was born with two left feet, a preponderance of thumbs, and a propensity for falling down manholes. When we first see her, she is working ( if that's the word ) as a cinema usherette. She makes a pig's ear out of the job, and is fired. Travelling home, a strange man materialises on the bus seat next to her. He is Harmon Cavender ( Jesse White ), an Angel. Keen to earn his wings ( quitting smoking those foul cigars would be a good start ), he offers her a new life, sort of like 'Seconds' only without the plastic surgery bit. Agnes suddenly finds herself independently wealthy, a socialite. But she misses her old lifestyle and so Cavender gives it back to her before returning to Heaven.

Rod Serling was a brilliant man, but we all have our off days and he must have written this on one of them. Plots about poor people becoming rich and hating it so much they want to become poor again bore the pants off me generally, tending to serve as a stern rejoinder to those deluded souls daring to aspire to a higher standard of living. It is almost as idiotic as the view ( still held by some incredibly ) that wealth redistribution does not work because the poor would spend their money so fast as to be poor all over again. The 'Angel in need of his wings' idea was not original as anyone who's seen Frank Capra's 'Its A Wonderful Life' will testify.

The main reason for watching is Burnett. It was made just before she achieved television stardom, and you can see why she got to the top. She is very funny as the hapless 'Grep', a female 'Frank Spencer'. Serling's idea of comedy though is to have people crashing through windows every few minutes, and it soon becomes wearing. Give it a go though.

It's already been said that this episode views as a tweaked rip-off of 'It's a Wonderful Life' but that's not what's causing me to dislike this episode. Yes, it could be more original but if you look at The Twilight Zone closely, you can see a few themes repeated; selling one's soul to the devil, becoming a kid again, longing for the simple life, and time travel were often the building blocks for interesting episodes.

Agnes Grep is the awkward and hopeless young woman in need of help. The problem is, she never looks as though she needs help at all. From the very beginning she never acts like she's displeased with her life, so why should the angels feel compelled to change it all? Sure, she can't hold a job, and she's a klutz but to her advantage she seems happy enough and very kind to those around her. So it begs the question: What was the point of this episode? To show a woman who already enjoyed her life, that she should enjoy her life?

They could have just made her more physically balanced and she'd have been fine. It wasn't really the kind of major task they made it out to be. You'd think as angels they'd have said, "That poor girl is so nice and happy but she sure falls a lot. Let's fix that!" Snapped their fingers (or licked their thumb and touched it to the palm of the opposing hand if you've seen the episode) and be done with it. Save angel in training, Cavender for something really big, like a homeless woman with no options instead of a girl that's just a bit clumsy.

The biggest issue I have with this episode is the script itself. The idea is alright but the execution was terrible. Agnes is riding a bus when suddenly, a man appears next to her and she just smiles at him for a moment and continues to look out the window. He explains he's her guardian angel, he proves it to her by turning the bus into a convertible car, and just shrugs it off. She's not shocked or taken back. It's like she doesn't even notice it but we know she does. No matter what he does, she's never astonished or impressed; as if it's commonplace to have your world turned on its head.

The entire episode reminded me of the last minute homework you'd do in class while the teacher is preparing to collect it, just so you have something done, even if it makes no sense. Maybe this was the result of a flaky crew doing what they could at last minute.

An obvious and poorly executed rip-off of "It's a Wonderful Life," this Twilight Zone episode is mostly fluff and filler and entirely forgettable. Jesse White (the idle Maytag man of commercial fame) plays the title role (Cavender), an angel who's trying to win his first pair of wings. Sound familiar? Although White is a fine actor and could do this role in his sleep (which he does here), there isn't much for him to do except watch Carol Burnett act like an imbecile. Creator Rod Serling had a "thing" for non-conformists, and Burnett plays one here, but unconvincingly and with poorly-written dialog. Despite Ms. Burnett's best efforts, it's the kind of performance that she probably wants buried in a time capsule somewhere. Luckily for her, it's only shown on TV once in a blue moon.

Rod Serling can take the blame for "Cavender..." as he was the writer of this nonsense. It's the classic case of over-stating the obvious and then whacking viewers over the head with it for a very long and dull half hour. Sadly, Carol Burnett, an exceptional actress and comedienne, is made to look ridiculous. I believe this was her one and only time in the "Zone." Can you blame her? Jesse White, a man of many talents and accomplishments, has the appearance of a man who wishes he was someplace else. Even Maytag commercials were more challenging than this hokum. Christian Nyby is listed as the director for this episode and I doubt if he worked up so much as a bead of sweat on the set. When all is said and done, "Cavender is Coming" ranks in the "Bottom Ten" of Twilight Zone episodes. Burnett and White certainly deserved better.

This is quite a generic story that deals with a flawed guardian angel (Jesse White) who lives it up, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars, and that has prevented him from getting his wings, along with the fact that he really hasn't helped anybody. Help comes along with his newest case, aiding an awkward movie usher (Carol Burnett) who needs a bit more poise and glamour and self confidence. He introduces himself to her on the bus on her way home from work (after she accidentally crashes through the two way mirror into her bosses' office), and decides to help make her more poised and high class. But Carol's Ms. Burnette is "real people" and it takes dealing with a lot of phonies for her to see what she really wants.

Almost identical to her character in the Broadway musical "Fade Out, Fade In", Burnett's role of course showcases her delightful clown persona, and she is indeed terrific. There's also a bit of Barbara Harris's Passionella character from the musical "The Apple Tree" where a female chimney sweep somehow ends up a big buxom movie star (underground that is....) and completely changes her life. "Twilight Zone" was hit or miss when it did comedy, and there are elements of this script that are completely unbelievable. Still, Burnett and White play terrifically off of each other, and there are cameos by "Bewitched's" Sandra Gould and "The Beverly Hillbillies'" Donna Douglas (previously used in a classic "TZ" episode, ""The Eye of the Beholder") to make this memorable. It just seems like it is part of a different anthology series.

I am not a Twilight Zone fan but was brought to this because I love Carol Burnett. I sure hope Serling had better work than this dud. The performances, including Burnett herself, were fine but man was this badly written. It's rushed and underdeveloped, we never even get the sense the woman is sad about her life. Why didn't the angel work to make her dreams come true rather than helping her be a lazy bore? It feels like the angel pulled that rich mansion idea out of his a**. The comedy moments were lame too, you can't do slapstick in a show that is otherwise playing it straight(the bus driver jumps out the window????). And yes if you have seen It's a Wonderful Life than is basically a watered down version of that story.Just glad I ma not alone in this one.

Monumentally dull and uninspiring. The old angel that doesn't get his wings bit. Can you imagine a heaven where people have to move up the corporate ladder to appease the boss (God?)? This is like so many of those sappy early television bits that has been done to death. Carol Burnett's character is a goodhearted putz. She is clumsy and goofy and can't hold down a job. She makes it from one day to the next by being the wonderful, loving apartment dweller that the little children can't wait to see (she stocks up on candy bars and love). So this angel (Jesse White) is sent down to mix things up. His approach is to make her a rich socialite, boozing it up and dealing in overindulgence. She tries it but guess what happens? The proof is in the pudding. Remember she was happy before so how do you validate the results? A very weak entry, although Carol Burnett is pretty good in it.

Inept slob guardian angel Harmon Cavender (a likeable performance by Jesse White) gets a chance to earn his wings by helping out hopeless klutzy big city girl Agnes Grep (an endearingly awkward Carol Burnett, who just barely manages to keep her dignity).

Director Christian Nyby handles the goofy premise with a heavy hand, with "wacky" overdone sound effects, cornball zany music, and broad slapstick all merging together into a decidedly uneasy mix. Moreover, Rod Serling's surprisingly dopey script offers a steady succession of hit or miss gags that for the most part fall flat on their inane faces. Oh well, at least Serling still manages to make a nice point on how happiness isn't a commodity that can be bought with enough money. White and Burnett do their best with the meager material. A rare lackluster episode.