What You Need

Description: Season 1, Episode 12

Air Date: December 25, 1959

Plot Summary: A man seeks to take advantage of an old peddler who claims to have whatever a person may need.

Review: This is one of the more straightforward episodes of TZ, but it's important to understand the context of the time period to get why it was probably intended to be that way. As you might have noticed from the air date, this was broadcast on Christmas Day. It's interesting to note that they actually did air new material on holidays once upon a time. That should be a testament to the show as they were confident people would tune in regardless, and, truthfully, there wasn't as much competition yet. While the plot doesn't actually revolve around Christmas, the message would be applicable to some typical Christmas themes.

So we get the introduction of a straight up loser who is hanging out at a bar that is clearly from the last episode. This particular man looks like Mel Gibson's dad or something, and acts like a douche as well, when he and the other patrons observe an old man come into the bar. The bartender tells us the old man comes in each night selling various items to people while claiming it is exactly what they need. I guess the old man is supposed to be a street peddler of sorts--something similar to that potato pancake from the "One for the Angels" episode. He also possesses a kind of psychic power or perhaps something greater; we don't fully get clarity on his abilities. The man gets a feeling, or vision, where he determines what to give people in order to help their future be better. It's unclear if he materializes these objects out of thin air considering the sheer implausibility of him having certain items on hand. We see the peddler in action as he first gives a sad-looking woman some kind of cleaning chemical (this was another kind of hot chick for the time). His next step is to give an old baseball player a bus ticket to Scranton, Pennsylvania (you see why I think he materializes these items?). Conveniently enough, the old baseball player gets a call at the bar from his manager asking him if he would like to take a job in, you guessed it, Scranton. Maybe it was the booze affecting his brain, but this baseball dude does not freak out or anything. Then, when whining about his only suit looking like shit, that little lady from earlier chimes in with the cleaner. Damn, set the guy up with a job and a chick?!

Impressed with the abilities, and seeing a meal ticket, our loser friend appears to stalk the peddler as he tries to get away...sensing the ill intentions of the man. Begrudgingly, the peddler gives the man scissors which he eventually must use in order to save himself when his scarf is caught in an elevator door. Completely convinced of the peddler's powers, the man magically finds the peddler's apartment and waits for him to come home. Acting like a total punk ass, the man lectures the peddler on how he could be rich with his powers and then bugs the peddler to give him anything to make himself rich. Once more, the peddler apprehensively gives the man an item--this time it's a leaky pen. The pen then drips perfectly onto a newspaper that is listing horse races and highlights a specific name. Of course the man bets on the horse and wins a whopping $240! Obviously not satisfied with this, and realizing the pen was a one time use, the man again comes to hassle the old peddler for more shit. The peddler finally explains to the man that there's a difference between what you need and what you want; he further explains that what the man needs are principles, morals, and things that cannot be given materially. Big shock, the man gets pissed and throws a tantrum rummaging through the peddler's items until he comes across a pair of shoes that the peddler warns him not to use. Believing the shoes will lead him to a place to get what he wants, the man tries to attack the peddler but instead slips on an icy patch of road and is run over by a car. Good riddance. The old man explains that the shoes were actually what he needed for himself since he knew the man would kill him otherwise. This would have been a nice place to end it, but then they show some idiotic couple receiving a comb from the peddler right when their picture is about to be taken. I think they typically cut this scene on TV airings now and rightfully so.

I think you can see why they chose to use this as a makeshift Christmas episode. The themes are universal which helps toward the episode's relevance, but, seriously, were street peddlers/vendors really this common? I mean, whenever I'm in a city I only see panhandlers, street performers, and other unsavory weirdos; I'd much rather come across psychic old men who can set me up with a cool job and a hot chick! Overall, this is a decent episode but not all that memorable since it's greatly overshadowed by TZ's actual Christmas-themed episode: "The Night of the Meek."