July 27, 2003 - 740903 - The Imp in the Bottle

[vgarci]

This week's program is presented for your review by Miles (Lagavulin).

For those who do not have the program, you can download it (with or without a Streamload account) at: www.streamload.com/vgarci (http://www.streamload.com/vgarci)

[hamlet2003]

Well friends, this episode has to go down as one of the weirdest ones I have ever listened to. I loved the image of the little bug in the jar. The first time I heard the imp scream I thought, "Well, here's one episode I won't listen to when I'm going to sleep at night!" I enjoyed the plot and the whole notion of how one passed the imp on to someone else.

[geospart]

I give this on a five, it was well acted and the story was one of the better ones.... It had a happy ending in a weird radio play world where usually the main character gets screwed. The mental imagery here was one of a kind, the bottle, the burn victim, the dictator..etc... there was a lot of imagery in this one. This has to be in my top 100 shows of all time.

Now for a side story, I have some pretty weird friends at work who look on e-bay and find some really weird things, one of those things would be a ghost in a bottle. Every month there is someone different selling one, this month is no different I went to e-bay and there is another one there. I noticed the stories are all the same, someone finds these in grave yards
and since they found the bottle weird things happed.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2942731308&category=19270 <-- this months e-bay offering ....

:evil: :roll: :twisted:

[dnagle]

This was a well-made show. I probably didn't get the full effect because I've read some old horror stories with the theme of the talisman that must always be sold for less than it cost to purchase. Nonetheless the first shriek caught me off guard and I enjoyed listening to the show. When the bottle got lost in the ocean I was kind of wondering where that would go, would he feel he was doomed and go crazy or something. When it reappeared around his neck I was surprised and I thought that was a neat twist. I wonder what kind of bug was in that jar ...?!

[Texas]

This was a fun afternoon listening to this.

- One of my favorite performances by William Redfield.

- Ian Martin had another excellent play (three in a row now on the SOTW smile.gif )

- I know some of you have reviewed the RMT episode entitled "The Devil's Boutique". Martin's accented voice as the "imp" sounds almost identical to his performance as the mysterious shopkeeper "Arch" (Satan) in the "boutique" episode.

- I love the music bed at the 8:12 mark and later. This same bed's been used elsewhere, most memorably in the RMT episode entitled "The Hand".

- Martin's script threw out some zingers. Here's one, spoken by Redfield's character to his lady friend:

"I just seem to have pushed the important button that turns you on", but;

- My favorite of the episode, spoken as an on-the-spot incantation by Redfield:

"Abra cadabra,
right on the bed,
$250,000 in hundreds and fifties like...POW!"

Great choice.

[Lagavulin]

This is one of my favourite episodes and is the genre of story I enjoy the most - the supernatural. In amongst the crime dramas and murder mysteries, there are a few real gems like this one that present an interesting idea and explore the consequences.

I thought the juxtaposition of the tremendous potential of the imp with the well defined morals of the owner made for an interesting plot.

cheers
Miles

[CBSRMTFAN]

Another one to put on my favorites list!

I loved the whole concept. It was the kind of show that had me thinking about it days after I first heard it. The twists in the plot were great. When the bottled was dropped overboard I thought for sure that the main character was going to live out the rest of his life with the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to sell the bottle but then it reappears. Also, toward the end I guessed that the wife would buy the bottle for a penny but for some reason am so narrow-minded that we were talking U.S. currency. Based on this bad assumption, I thought there was nothing less she could sell it for. I was a little disappointed by this final twist as I thought she didn't get what was coming to her but like other's have mentioned it was refreshing to have an episode where things turn out on a positive note.

Also... did anyone catch the Budweiser commercial at the 2:20 mark? The spokesman basically said that Budweiser should not be "sipped" but was meant to be guzzled! Can you see a commercial like that airing today? Awareness of alcohol and alcoholism have really changed in the past thirty years.

Bruce

[vgarci]

Great episode. I listened to this one recently and noted several items i particularly liked. First, the Imp's voice was campy enough to be perfect! Second, the plot was intriguing and I particularly liked that the riches gained by using the Imp were temporary.

[vgarci]

Bruce,
You mentioned the Budweiser commercial as if to say guzzling beer is a BAD thing! ;)

As for the show, I have to agree that I was hoping the ex-wife would regret her greed. Happy endings are great, at times, but I could have accepted a zinger for this one.

[brian1984_2001]

I gave this one a 4 and I would call it a high 4.

This episode was well written and well acted. Strong characters are essential for a good story, and each character was deep and complex.

I, too, loved some of the dialogue. Some of it was a bit risque for CBSRMT, but still rated G.

This was a strong morality tale, something that CBSRMT almost always did well. EG Marshall sums up our moral so well in the end.

Excellent selection! Thank you.

I don't much care for sipping beer either. However, I don't like to pour it "down the middle" to create a big head as they advise. I think bartenders like to put about 1/4 inch head on the beer. That's the way I like it.

[Kizer Sosay]

I've been going back through SOTWs I missed, posted before I joined this forum. I thought that commenting occassionally would invite other newbies to throw in their ten cents worth on some of these, or at least give them a listen.

This is an epsiode I would highly recommend. Though my version is pretty messed up in a few places, I still found it frightening and interesting. The sound effects of the imp's voice were pretty chilling.

Now, playing by the rules, I get to go and read what everyone else has already said about this classic!