The Ray Bradbury Theater (1985–1992): Season 3, Episode 5 - The Pedestrian - full transcript
In a totalitarian city, a rebel persuades his nervous friend to commit a subversive act: taking a walk with him around the neighborhood at night.
[music playing]
RAY BRADBURY
(VOICEOVER): People ask,
where do you get your ideas?
Well, right here.
All this is mine.
I'll never starve here.
I'm Ray Bradbury.
And this is--
Tennis shoes to
remind me of what?
The first nights of
summer when as a boy
I ran in the cool grass.
Or later walking at night,
being stopped by police
who were suspicious
of the only one
walking for miles and miles.
Upset with this
encounter with the law,
what else could I do but
write about shoes and night
and walking as a criminal
in some future year,
in a story called
"The Pedestrian"?
[knock on door]
Stockwell.
What's up front?
Stockwell.
[knock on door]
It's Leonard Mead.
Len!
Stockwell, open!
[knock on door]
I've brought your stuff.
Knock the door in!
Open!
Open!
[inaudible] come on!
[knock on door]
Bob!
The streets looks like a
chess board just waiting
for us to make our move.
[knock on door]
Stockwell!
I know you're there, I can feel
your temperature with my hand.
[knock on door]
Damn it to hell, open up!
Get in!
You'll wake the dead!
Where were you?
In the bathroom.
The hell.
She had you.
Didn't she, Bob?
Hmm?
The head of the Medusa lies
in my parlor and stares.
My friends are
frozen to statues,
numbed by the Medusa's glares.
Radiant fuzz
collects in our ears
while this new god
paints life on our eyes.
Incredible [inaudible]
new dwelling,
the keystone cup, cathedral
of the demi-divine, pint-size.
Sorry.
Well.
You ready?
For what?
[inaudible] You've
put on the black pants!
Eh?
So I did!
And Bob, look.
Look what I've brought.
(WHISPERING) Black sweater.
Dark shirt.
And a black cap.
We'll be almost invisible.
And Bob, look!
Tennis shoes.
No sound.
You'd think we were criminals!
We are!
Well?
I--
Bob, what's on that's good?
Great show.
"Trick Times 10."
Grab a chair, it's
very exciting.
Bob!
I've seen it!
So have you.
When it was called "Fun Times
Five, "16 For Show," "Go
For Broke."
I better go.
Now you're peeved.
No, no, no!
We'll do it some other time.
Len!
What's it like out
there at night?
Well, the air is sweet.
It's a deep autumn, you know?
It's a good wind.
The leaves run along the
sidewalk and nibble at
your feet like a pack of mice.
There's a hill not far from here
where you can stand and look
down at the little stars
of light in the city
and then look up at the light
of the stars in the sky.
And you feel rich!
And sad.
And alive.
That's how it is?
Give or take a metaphor.
Len, wait for me.
There.
How do I look?
Fine.
Well, what are we waiting for?
Nothing.
[laughs]
Let's check-- is there danger?
Very little.
Little?
None.
Let's go.
We're off!
And Bob, look.
What is that?
It's dew.
Billions of drops of dew!
Now, which way?
- OK?
- Sure!
Come on.
So this is what you talked
about for the last two years!
To be a pedestrian, yes!
I don't feel guilty!
Sure do?
Well, nobody else is doing it!
[shrieks]
Watch it!
Tree root!
Another year, grass
will cover this all.
Then we'll have to pathfind
our way through the wilderness.
Easy.
You all right?
Yeah.
OK.
People once used
these sidewalks a lot.
Yes.
People strolled along
on Sunday afternoons,
over beyond the hills in
timeless time on paths,
boardwalks, or cement.
But once-- oh, yes.
People idled by rivers and said
things that later made easy,
lazing books, chewed grass.
You ever tasted grass, Bob?
C'mere.
There.
What?
Mm.
Bitter.
Really.
Strange.
I would have said sweet.
Bob.
Here.
Watch.
[helicopter flying]
They're coming this way!
It's all right.
There's only one
patrol helicopter
for our part of the city.
It's all right, Bob.
Come on.
You were remembering.
Yes.
Olden times.
Men had eyes and ears.
And if they got bored, it was
up to them to break the boredom!
Life was a riverboat then,
passing the slow banks.
Life's a rocket today.
So far, so fast,
we've no time to see
the dust from which we sprang!
Mead!
You're drunk.
The more I walk,
the drunker I get.
[laughs]
Yes!
Yes!
Walking does-- well.
I-- I'm-- I'm covered
in gooseflesh.
There look at that, damn it!
I haven't seen that
since I was a boy!
The moon has a baker man's
face all covered with flour,
and warm in summer.
You see?
I'm drunk too!
[laughs]
[helicopter flying]
[background chatter]
What, what?
Hey, television voices.
It's all right.
See?
The houses are dark.
Our cities are haunted.
Haunted?
By the ghost machines.
Think.
90% of the actors we
see on our TV screens
have been dead 40 years.
Yes.
Our telephones
are haunted too!
Yes, yes!
Why, you can't get hold of a
real person if you want one!
Right!
They're all
taped voices that--
Give out the
weather, the time.
Voices.
They're immortal now.
[dog barking]
Giving out wrong
numbers forever.
Listen.
They've got dogs.
Mm.
The dogs know we're out here.
And I'll tell you a secret.
They're frightened of us.
Why?
Because we're walking
and they're not.
[laughter]
[truck driving]
Easy.
[inaudible]
[inaudible] Oh, wait.
Have you ever been caught?
Never.
Down [inaudible].
[buzzer]
I-- I think we best
take me home now.
But--
Len.
Come on.
I-- I wonder, do
they ever miss this?
Who?
What, the sidewalk?
No.
It's easier to sit back
and let other people
shadow show their hands
on the wall for you.
Look.
There's a rabbit.
[inaudible]
And a demon.
Me, I've always had a pop-up
puppet show in my mind
for fun, games.
Your own theater
in your head, always.
Mm.
Used to talk to sleep in a
dozen voices when I was 12.
Len.
Hm?
What good is doing this?
I guess I'm
waiting for the day
when people, like dogs,
realize that they're sick
and they go into the
field to eat sweet grass.
[helicopter flying]
Oh my God, they're back!
[inaudible] Down, go!
Go on!
There's two patrol cars, too!
Oh my God, if I ever get home,
I'm going to hate you forever!
Shut up, run!
For getting me into this.
Stupid, never again!
- Shh!
Bob, quiet!
Quiet.
We're safe now.
Nothing to fear.
Nothing?
Safe?
[helicopter flying]
What?
[grunting]
No, no, no.
Up, up!
Move, move!
[grunting]
Stay.
That's better.
Sky Patrol Unit 1, two prowlers.
[inaudible] terrorist Block D.
Prowlers?
Suspect.
Possible criminals now being
photographed and taped.
Heads up, first suspect.
Height, six foot, three inches.
Age, approximate 50.
Hair balding, eyes gray-blue.
Scar right cheek,
bone structure medial.
Weight, approximate 235.
Name?
Leonard Mead.
Hands out, palms up, Mead.
Mead, stand.
Second man, you.
Oh
Eyes open.
Bob, it's not so bad!
Hands out, you.
Second man.
Height, five foot, eight.
Age, 44.
Correction, 45.
No scars.
Bone structure light.
Color of eyes.
Eyes open.
Eyes open!
Eyes-- brown.
Name?
Name?
Robert Stockwell.
Oh my God.
Name?
Stockwell, I said.
Name!
Uh, Robert Stockwell.
Hands out, palms
up, Stockwell.
Mead, address?
0842 Oak Street.
Stockwell, address?
0867 Oak Street.
I can't see, the lights!
Correct.
Criminal SA Unit 9.
Audio, visual,
sending, receiving.
[inaudible] the words.
Recording now.
Everything you say is permanent.
What did I say?
What did I say?
BOB STOCKWELL (RECORDED):
What did I say?
What did I say?
Is that my voice?
Patrol armed to shoot.
Quiet!
- Bob.
Quiet!
Mead.
Profession?
I guess you'd say a writer.
No guesses acceptable.
Profession?
Writer.
No profession.
No profession.
Stockwell.
Uh, shoe machine operator.
What?
Repeat.
Uh, I-- I--
I make shoes!
Would you believe that
nobody ever walks on?
[laughs]
Stockwell.
What are you doing out?
I invited him.
He invited me!
What are you doing out?
Walking.
Walking?
Just walking.
LEONARD MEAD
(RECORDED): Walking.
Walking?
LEONARD MEAD (RECORDED):
Just walking.
Walking where?
Nowhere.
No such destination.
Nowhere is a very
fine destination!
Unacceptable data.
Oh, oh.
Uh, two blocks east.
One block north.
Two blocks west,
one block south.
The grand tour.
Grand tour?
To breathe the air.
The fresh air.
Stockwell, Mead.
At your homes, do you or do
you not have a complete set
of air conditioners?
Yes.
Yes, of course!
Then question repeated.
What are you doing out?
To look at things!
To see, yeah.
Do you have television
viewing screens in your homes?
Yes, yeah, fine one.
I love to watch.
Mead?
- No.
- No?
No?
You never told me!
Broken.
The viewing screen?
On what date was it broken?
April.
April, that long ago?
[inaudible]
Mr. Mead, are you married?
Nobody wanted me.
Correct.
Stockwell?
My wife's dead.
You have yet to explain
your actions tonight.
Mead?
Have you done this often?
Almost every night for years.
Stockwell?
I'm responsible.
Leonard!
You know I am, Bob.
He's never been out before.
Bob's innocent.
No, Leonard!
Mr. Mead?
Get in.
No.
Leonard!
Stockwell, go home.
Mead, get in.
I'll call you, Bob.
Where are they taking you?
To the Psychiatric
Center for Research
on Regressive
Tendencies, am I right?
That information is not filed.
Len?
Be careful!
OK.
You too!
No more night jaunts, all right?
Keep your neck in!
It's empty.
What?
It's empty!
I've never seen one
up close before.
It's just a-- it's
just a traveling robot!
I wonder if anyone's
alive at the other end?
Ha!
Wouldn't that be something?
If they were all dead, and
this thing just went on all
by itself, enforcing the law.
[sighs] What won't
they think of next?
Leonard!
Don't!
Stockwell, disperse!
[inaudible]
Stockwell, disperse!
Leonard!
Stockwell, disperse.
I warned you!
You see?
You see?
It doesn't pay!
Len!
Leonard!
You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna go right home
and burn this black sweater
and these black pants and these
stupid black tennis shoes!
That's what I'm gonna do!
You fool!
Fool.
[music playing]
Dandelion!
Gone to seed.
RAY BRADBURY
(VOICEOVER): People ask,
where do you get your ideas?
Well, right here.
All this is mine.
I'll never starve here.
I'm Ray Bradbury.
And this is--
Tennis shoes to
remind me of what?
The first nights of
summer when as a boy
I ran in the cool grass.
Or later walking at night,
being stopped by police
who were suspicious
of the only one
walking for miles and miles.
Upset with this
encounter with the law,
what else could I do but
write about shoes and night
and walking as a criminal
in some future year,
in a story called
"The Pedestrian"?
[knock on door]
Stockwell.
What's up front?
Stockwell.
[knock on door]
It's Leonard Mead.
Len!
Stockwell, open!
[knock on door]
I've brought your stuff.
Knock the door in!
Open!
Open!
[inaudible] come on!
[knock on door]
Bob!
The streets looks like a
chess board just waiting
for us to make our move.
[knock on door]
Stockwell!
I know you're there, I can feel
your temperature with my hand.
[knock on door]
Damn it to hell, open up!
Get in!
You'll wake the dead!
Where were you?
In the bathroom.
The hell.
She had you.
Didn't she, Bob?
Hmm?
The head of the Medusa lies
in my parlor and stares.
My friends are
frozen to statues,
numbed by the Medusa's glares.
Radiant fuzz
collects in our ears
while this new god
paints life on our eyes.
Incredible [inaudible]
new dwelling,
the keystone cup, cathedral
of the demi-divine, pint-size.
Sorry.
Well.
You ready?
For what?
[inaudible] You've
put on the black pants!
Eh?
So I did!
And Bob, look.
Look what I've brought.
(WHISPERING) Black sweater.
Dark shirt.
And a black cap.
We'll be almost invisible.
And Bob, look!
Tennis shoes.
No sound.
You'd think we were criminals!
We are!
Well?
I--
Bob, what's on that's good?
Great show.
"Trick Times 10."
Grab a chair, it's
very exciting.
Bob!
I've seen it!
So have you.
When it was called "Fun Times
Five, "16 For Show," "Go
For Broke."
I better go.
Now you're peeved.
No, no, no!
We'll do it some other time.
Len!
What's it like out
there at night?
Well, the air is sweet.
It's a deep autumn, you know?
It's a good wind.
The leaves run along the
sidewalk and nibble at
your feet like a pack of mice.
There's a hill not far from here
where you can stand and look
down at the little stars
of light in the city
and then look up at the light
of the stars in the sky.
And you feel rich!
And sad.
And alive.
That's how it is?
Give or take a metaphor.
Len, wait for me.
There.
How do I look?
Fine.
Well, what are we waiting for?
Nothing.
[laughs]
Let's check-- is there danger?
Very little.
Little?
None.
Let's go.
We're off!
And Bob, look.
What is that?
It's dew.
Billions of drops of dew!
Now, which way?
- OK?
- Sure!
Come on.
So this is what you talked
about for the last two years!
To be a pedestrian, yes!
I don't feel guilty!
Sure do?
Well, nobody else is doing it!
[shrieks]
Watch it!
Tree root!
Another year, grass
will cover this all.
Then we'll have to pathfind
our way through the wilderness.
Easy.
You all right?
Yeah.
OK.
People once used
these sidewalks a lot.
Yes.
People strolled along
on Sunday afternoons,
over beyond the hills in
timeless time on paths,
boardwalks, or cement.
But once-- oh, yes.
People idled by rivers and said
things that later made easy,
lazing books, chewed grass.
You ever tasted grass, Bob?
C'mere.
There.
What?
Mm.
Bitter.
Really.
Strange.
I would have said sweet.
Bob.
Here.
Watch.
[helicopter flying]
They're coming this way!
It's all right.
There's only one
patrol helicopter
for our part of the city.
It's all right, Bob.
Come on.
You were remembering.
Yes.
Olden times.
Men had eyes and ears.
And if they got bored, it was
up to them to break the boredom!
Life was a riverboat then,
passing the slow banks.
Life's a rocket today.
So far, so fast,
we've no time to see
the dust from which we sprang!
Mead!
You're drunk.
The more I walk,
the drunker I get.
[laughs]
Yes!
Yes!
Walking does-- well.
I-- I'm-- I'm covered
in gooseflesh.
There look at that, damn it!
I haven't seen that
since I was a boy!
The moon has a baker man's
face all covered with flour,
and warm in summer.
You see?
I'm drunk too!
[laughs]
[helicopter flying]
[background chatter]
What, what?
Hey, television voices.
It's all right.
See?
The houses are dark.
Our cities are haunted.
Haunted?
By the ghost machines.
Think.
90% of the actors we
see on our TV screens
have been dead 40 years.
Yes.
Our telephones
are haunted too!
Yes, yes!
Why, you can't get hold of a
real person if you want one!
Right!
They're all
taped voices that--
Give out the
weather, the time.
Voices.
They're immortal now.
[dog barking]
Giving out wrong
numbers forever.
Listen.
They've got dogs.
Mm.
The dogs know we're out here.
And I'll tell you a secret.
They're frightened of us.
Why?
Because we're walking
and they're not.
[laughter]
[truck driving]
Easy.
[inaudible]
[inaudible] Oh, wait.
Have you ever been caught?
Never.
Down [inaudible].
[buzzer]
I-- I think we best
take me home now.
But--
Len.
Come on.
I-- I wonder, do
they ever miss this?
Who?
What, the sidewalk?
No.
It's easier to sit back
and let other people
shadow show their hands
on the wall for you.
Look.
There's a rabbit.
[inaudible]
And a demon.
Me, I've always had a pop-up
puppet show in my mind
for fun, games.
Your own theater
in your head, always.
Mm.
Used to talk to sleep in a
dozen voices when I was 12.
Len.
Hm?
What good is doing this?
I guess I'm
waiting for the day
when people, like dogs,
realize that they're sick
and they go into the
field to eat sweet grass.
[helicopter flying]
Oh my God, they're back!
[inaudible] Down, go!
Go on!
There's two patrol cars, too!
Oh my God, if I ever get home,
I'm going to hate you forever!
Shut up, run!
For getting me into this.
Stupid, never again!
- Shh!
Bob, quiet!
Quiet.
We're safe now.
Nothing to fear.
Nothing?
Safe?
[helicopter flying]
What?
[grunting]
No, no, no.
Up, up!
Move, move!
[grunting]
Stay.
That's better.
Sky Patrol Unit 1, two prowlers.
[inaudible] terrorist Block D.
Prowlers?
Suspect.
Possible criminals now being
photographed and taped.
Heads up, first suspect.
Height, six foot, three inches.
Age, approximate 50.
Hair balding, eyes gray-blue.
Scar right cheek,
bone structure medial.
Weight, approximate 235.
Name?
Leonard Mead.
Hands out, palms up, Mead.
Mead, stand.
Second man, you.
Oh
Eyes open.
Bob, it's not so bad!
Hands out, you.
Second man.
Height, five foot, eight.
Age, 44.
Correction, 45.
No scars.
Bone structure light.
Color of eyes.
Eyes open.
Eyes open!
Eyes-- brown.
Name?
Name?
Robert Stockwell.
Oh my God.
Name?
Stockwell, I said.
Name!
Uh, Robert Stockwell.
Hands out, palms
up, Stockwell.
Mead, address?
0842 Oak Street.
Stockwell, address?
0867 Oak Street.
I can't see, the lights!
Correct.
Criminal SA Unit 9.
Audio, visual,
sending, receiving.
[inaudible] the words.
Recording now.
Everything you say is permanent.
What did I say?
What did I say?
BOB STOCKWELL (RECORDED):
What did I say?
What did I say?
Is that my voice?
Patrol armed to shoot.
Quiet!
- Bob.
Quiet!
Mead.
Profession?
I guess you'd say a writer.
No guesses acceptable.
Profession?
Writer.
No profession.
No profession.
Stockwell.
Uh, shoe machine operator.
What?
Repeat.
Uh, I-- I--
I make shoes!
Would you believe that
nobody ever walks on?
[laughs]
Stockwell.
What are you doing out?
I invited him.
He invited me!
What are you doing out?
Walking.
Walking?
Just walking.
LEONARD MEAD
(RECORDED): Walking.
Walking?
LEONARD MEAD (RECORDED):
Just walking.
Walking where?
Nowhere.
No such destination.
Nowhere is a very
fine destination!
Unacceptable data.
Oh, oh.
Uh, two blocks east.
One block north.
Two blocks west,
one block south.
The grand tour.
Grand tour?
To breathe the air.
The fresh air.
Stockwell, Mead.
At your homes, do you or do
you not have a complete set
of air conditioners?
Yes.
Yes, of course!
Then question repeated.
What are you doing out?
To look at things!
To see, yeah.
Do you have television
viewing screens in your homes?
Yes, yeah, fine one.
I love to watch.
Mead?
- No.
- No?
No?
You never told me!
Broken.
The viewing screen?
On what date was it broken?
April.
April, that long ago?
[inaudible]
Mr. Mead, are you married?
Nobody wanted me.
Correct.
Stockwell?
My wife's dead.
You have yet to explain
your actions tonight.
Mead?
Have you done this often?
Almost every night for years.
Stockwell?
I'm responsible.
Leonard!
You know I am, Bob.
He's never been out before.
Bob's innocent.
No, Leonard!
Mr. Mead?
Get in.
No.
Leonard!
Stockwell, go home.
Mead, get in.
I'll call you, Bob.
Where are they taking you?
To the Psychiatric
Center for Research
on Regressive
Tendencies, am I right?
That information is not filed.
Len?
Be careful!
OK.
You too!
No more night jaunts, all right?
Keep your neck in!
It's empty.
What?
It's empty!
I've never seen one
up close before.
It's just a-- it's
just a traveling robot!
I wonder if anyone's
alive at the other end?
Ha!
Wouldn't that be something?
If they were all dead, and
this thing just went on all
by itself, enforcing the law.
[sighs] What won't
they think of next?
Leonard!
Don't!
Stockwell, disperse!
[inaudible]
Stockwell, disperse!
Leonard!
Stockwell, disperse.
I warned you!
You see?
You see?
It doesn't pay!
Len!
Leonard!
You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna go right home
and burn this black sweater
and these black pants and these
stupid black tennis shoes!
That's what I'm gonna do!
You fool!
Fool.
[music playing]
Dandelion!
Gone to seed.