Time and Teresa Golowitz (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
"Time and Teresa Golowitz" is the first segment of the thirty-fourth episode (the tenth episode of the second season (1986–1987) of the television series The Twilight Zone and is based on Parke Godwin's "Influencing the Hell Out of Time and Teresa Golowitz" which was published in The Twilight Zone Magazine (January 1982).
composer who, in the middle of completing a musical, discovers via a mysterious visitor — implied to be the Devil — that he has suffered a heart attack, his second and, this time, fatal. After stewing over his own loss and his widow's proposed reaction to his death, Blaustein/Bluestone discovers that the visitor, Prince, is offering him a small gift for a return of letting the "ones down below decks" to hear his music now and then. This gift is to have a time and place in the past, present, or future to do with as he pleases. His impulsive wish is to "make it" with a Mary Ellen Cosgrove, his high school crush, back in October 1948.
He discovers himself at a party back at his youth. He interacts with his old "friends". Then he approaches a woman (Gina Gershon
) who, it turns out, is the "princely" visitor to check up on him. He has a conversation with "her" and then sees a girl, Teresa Golowitz, who he claims is one of "the plain girls" Mary Ellen invites to make her look better. Prince reminds Blaustein/Bluestone that Golowitz is the girl who commits suicide on that night because she wanted to escape as much as he did, but she didn't do it the way he did. He suddenly remembers that and how much of a scandal at school it was. She took the bus back to town, reflecting on the grief and loneliness that haunted her for the past sixteen years, and how the future might be, stepped in front of the next bus.
After an attempt to help her, Blaustein/Bluestone gets Teresa to sing while he plays a Broadway tune. The party appears to love their chemistry, but she still feels out of place. He attempts to explain how she could be a fantastic singer and change her life. She leaves and he ends up in Mary Ellen's bedroom, but he decides to leave himself. He finds Teresa outside and they confirm meeting the next day.
Blaustein/Bluestone returns to the present and discovers that "Terri" Teresa Golowitz has become an award winning singer with Bluestone/Blaustein composing for her. Unfortunately, it turns out that his creative playing-around with history didn't go well for the "top side". So now Bluestone/Blaustein has to "lie low" for a couple of years before he can go "top side."
Synopsis
Blaustein/Bluestone is a BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
composer who, in the middle of completing a musical, discovers via a mysterious visitor — implied to be the Devil — that he has suffered a heart attack, his second and, this time, fatal. After stewing over his own loss and his widow's proposed reaction to his death, Blaustein/Bluestone discovers that the visitor, Prince, is offering him a small gift for a return of letting the "ones down below decks" to hear his music now and then. This gift is to have a time and place in the past, present, or future to do with as he pleases. His impulsive wish is to "make it" with a Mary Ellen Cosgrove, his high school crush, back in October 1948.
He discovers himself at a party back at his youth. He interacts with his old "friends". Then he approaches a woman (Gina Gershon
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
) who, it turns out, is the "princely" visitor to check up on him. He has a conversation with "her" and then sees a girl, Teresa Golowitz, who he claims is one of "the plain girls" Mary Ellen invites to make her look better. Prince reminds Blaustein/Bluestone that Golowitz is the girl who commits suicide on that night because she wanted to escape as much as he did, but she didn't do it the way he did. He suddenly remembers that and how much of a scandal at school it was. She took the bus back to town, reflecting on the grief and loneliness that haunted her for the past sixteen years, and how the future might be, stepped in front of the next bus.
After an attempt to help her, Blaustein/Bluestone gets Teresa to sing while he plays a Broadway tune. The party appears to love their chemistry, but she still feels out of place. He attempts to explain how she could be a fantastic singer and change her life. She leaves and he ends up in Mary Ellen's bedroom, but he decides to leave himself. He finds Teresa outside and they confirm meeting the next day.
Blaustein/Bluestone returns to the present and discovers that "Terri" Teresa Golowitz has become an award winning singer with Bluestone/Blaustein composing for her. Unfortunately, it turns out that his creative playing-around with history didn't go well for the "top side". So now Bluestone/Blaustein has to "lie low" for a couple of years before he can go "top side."