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{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image =
| caption =
| season = 5
| episode = 4
| airdate = {{Start date|1963|10|18}}
| production = 2609
| teleplay = [[Rod Serling]]
| story = Michael D. Rosenthal
| director = [[John Rich (director)|John Rich]]
| guests = [[Richard Erdman]] [[Herbie Faye]] [[Leon Belasco]] [[Doris Singleton]] [[Roy Roberts]] [[Richard Wessel]] Ray Kellog [[Ken Drake (actor)|Ken Drake]]
| music = [[Van Cleave]]
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 5)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]
| next = [[The Last Night of a Jockey]]
}}

"'''A Kind of a Stopwatch'''"<ref>"A Kind of Stopwatch" is the title on the script, two versions of which were published in ''As Timeless as Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Volume 3'', edited by Tony Albarella (Gauntlet Press, 2007). The original scripts (both versions) are part of [https://library.ithaca.edu/archives/serling The Rod Serling Archives] at Ithaca College.</ref> is a 1963 episode of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. In this episode, a man acquires a stopwatch which can stop time.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|Submitted for your approval or at least your analysis: one Patrick Thomas McNulty, who, at age forty-one, is the biggest bore on Earth. He holds a ten-year record for the most meaningless words spewed out during a coffee break. And it's very likely that, as of this moment, he would have gone through life in precisely this manner, a dull, argumentative bigmouth who sets back the art of conversation a thousand years. I say he very likely would have except for something that will soon happen to him, something that will considerably alter his existence—and ours. Now you think about that now, because this is The Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
Patrick McNulty is a self-important, annoying [[superfluous man]] in his 40s. One day, he is summoned by his boss, Mr. Cooper. McNulty is delighted, believing that his frequent contributions to the suggestion box have earned him recognition. Cooper, however, says that all of McNulty's suggestions deal with fields of enterprise in which the company is not involved and fires McNulty for wasting his time.

McNulty goes to Joe Palucci's bar, where he drives away the other patrons with his opinions about a sporting event. Palucci requests that McNulty patronize another establishment, but McNulty ignores him and buys a drink for the sole remaining patron, Potts, a drunk who spews various phrases from times long past. In return, Potts gives McNulty his stopwatch. Thinking it an odd gift, McNulty quickly discovers that it pauses time for everyone and everything except for the watch holder.

McNulty tries to show Cooper the power of the stopwatch in the hopes of improving their company, but Cooper does not understand McNulty and dismisses him. Returning to the bar, McNulty tries to demonstrate the power of the watch to the customers, but does it in such a way that they do not understand again.

McNulty steps into a bank with the intention of robbing it, but drops the watch, which breaks and permanently freezes time. With no way to repair it, McNulty frantically begs for help from the frozen people around him.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|Mr. Patrick Thomas McNulty, who had a gift of time. He used it and he misused it, and now he's just been handed the bill. Tonight's tale of motion and McNulty - in the Twilight Zone.}}

==Cast==
*[[Richard Erdman]] as Patrick Thomas McNulty
*[[Herbie Faye]] as Joe Palucci, the bartender
*[[Leon Belasco]] as Potts, the drunk who gives McNulty the stopwatch
*[[Doris Singleton]] as Secretary to McNulty's boss Mr. Cooper
*[[Roy Roberts]] as Mr. Cooper, McNulty's annoyed boss
*[[Richard Wessel]] as Charlie, drinker in Palucci's bar
*Ray Kellog as Fred, who delivers coffee to McNulty's office
*[[Ken Drake (actor)|Ken Drake]] as Daniel, last patron in Palucci's bar who tells McNulty, "Come on fella, we're trying to watch." ''Uncredited'':
*[[Sam Balter]]: sports announcer on TV in Polucci's bar
*[[Al Silvani]]: one of the drinkers in Polucci's bar

One cast member, last-billed Ken Drake, had a credited bit part in an earlier episode of the original series, "[[A Hundred Yards Over the Rim]]" (April 1961).

==Adaptation==
The television episode was later adapted as an episode of ''The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas'' series under the title "A Kind of Stopwatch", featuring [[Lou Diamond Phillips]] in the lead role.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.twilightzoneradio.com/template/store.cfm/ses_/details.cfm,list,x,0,0,5000-1,x,x,x/ |title=The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas: A Kind of Stopwatch |publisher=Twilightzoneradio.com |access-date=2013-07-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217204922/http://www.twilightzoneradio.com/template/store.cfm/ses_/details.cfm%2Clist%2Cx%2C0%2C0%2C5000-1%2Cx%2Cx%2Cx/ |archive-date=2012-02-17 }}</ref>

==Related works==
Ideas from this episode were used in "[[A Little Peace and Quiet]]", an episode in the [[The Twilight Zone (1985 series)|1985 revival of ''The Twilight Zone'']].{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

The episode has been parodied by a number of animated series, including in the ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' episode "The Day the Earth Didn't Move Around Very Much"; the ''[[The Simpsons|Simpsons]]'' 2003 [[Halloween]] episode "[[Treehouse of Horror XIV]]"; ''[[The Garfield Show]]'' episode "Time Master"; and [[Meanwhile (Futurama)|the series finale]] of ''[[Futurama]]''.

==See also==
*[[List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes|List of ''The Twilight Zone'' (1959 TV series) episodes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-136-0}}
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9703310-9-0}}
*Zicree, Marc Scott: ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)

==External links==
*[http://www.ithaca.edu/library/archives/serling/tz5.php The Rod Serling Archives] at Ithaca College, ''The Twilight Zone'', Season 5, Script 124, "A Kind of Stopwatch"
*{{IMDb episode|id=0734542|episode=A Kind of a Stopwatch}}

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kind Of A Stopwatch}}
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 5) episodes]]
[[Category:1963 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]

A Kind of a Stopwatch - Revision history

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