Gart Williams is a harried, miserable Madison Avenue ad exec with a social climber of a wife, a relentlessly demanding boss, and an ulcer that won't quit. Riding the commuter train home to Connecticut one evening, he falls asleep and awakens on an 1890's train stopping at "Willoughby," a bucolic village where "a man can live his life full measure." He quickly returns to the present, but can't stop dreaming of the simple life for which he longs in a place where a band plays in the town square and kids carry fishing poles. There is little doubt that, when the pressures of modern day life become truly unbearable, Gart Williams will pay a visit to the place of his dreams. Rod Serling's most personal episode. When I had the privilege of seeing him in person in 1970, he described it, along with "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," as his two personal favorites. The final scene drew multiple gasps from the audience.
Review of A Stop at Willoughby
