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Title

The Man Who Heard Voices

Plot

Can euthanasia ever be completely willed by the sufferer? A well-respected lawyer's life is disrupted by the voice of his wife whom he had killed in mercy and threatens the affair he had started after his wife took sick

Episode

0024

Air Dates

  • First Run - January 29, 1974
  • Repeat - April 5, 1974
  • Repeat - January 6, 1979

Actors

Writer

Listen

Rating

224
178     46


22 Responses to Episode 0024

This episode has an alternate interpretation. He didn't necessarily kill his wife by "laissez faire." He had been waking up every two hours for a long time to give his wife a pill. It's very possible that one night he was so tired that he didn't wake up. The fact that he heard the alarm in his sleep and was aware on some level of what was going on does not prove that he was awake and killed his wife via conscious action. This kind of arrangement for medication is a recipe for failure anyway. Anyway, the voices he heard could have been a manifestation of his guilt and not an actual superhuman ability. I couldn't hate the guy. Morality play; superhuman abilities.

Andy

Andy -- your alternate interpretation doesn't seem likely given the protagonist's later comments in voice-over, but it is a possibility. That's not what caught my attention in this episode, though. What did is the implausibility of the mystery ailment, and its onset, severity, and treatment. The story is compelling enough anyway, and I didn't see the ending coming, though perhaps I should have. Clairvoyance and clairaudience feature in a love story that raises questions about the nature of mercy.

Yisterwald

Well-acted, but totally ridiculous story of an attorney on the rise whose wife, during a tennis game, wrenches her back and develops an ailment that requires a pill every two hours, or she will die. It is never explained how a back ailment can kill you, so you just keep listening. Anyway, the attorney not only feels like his career is being held back by having to get up at night every two hours to feed her a "magic" pill, he falls in love with his boss's daughter. Meanwhile, he keeps hearing voices from scenes in his life that are to come, and they're telling him that his future will be much more pleasurable without his wife, and she will be at rest. This thing will have you rolling your eyes, especially the ending, which takes a ridiculous premise and makes it a double ridiculous premise. Sam Dann was one weird writer.

Tony

I agree with you that it's stupid that she would die if she missed her pill just once, lol! However, as I mentioned elsewhere, I think her illness is much more than a back ache. i think it is an unknown virus, as bad as polio, which causes paralysis. That would explain why he "catches" it later.

Amy

Most of the voices he hears are people's private thoughts in the future. Also, he hears Margaret's voice saying she wants to live, but he ignores it because he wants to be free of her. Later on, he hears Margaret's voice from the past due to guilt.

Amy

I have heard this program. I guess it wouldn't have worked if 1.) he gave his wife an alarm clock set every two hours or 2.) put her in a home. But that is why these shows are fantasy and not reality.

Henry

Well-acted, but totally ridiculous story of an attorney on the rise whose wife, during a tennis game, wrenches her back and develops an ailment that requires a pill every two hours, or she will die. It is never explained how a back ailment can kill you, so you just keep listening. Anyway, the attorney not only feels like his career is being held back by having to get up at night every two hours to feed her a "magic" pill, he falls in love with his boss's daughter. Meanwhile, he keeps hearing voices from scenes in his life that are to come, and they're telling him that his future will be much more pleasurable without his wife, and she will be at rest. This thing will have you rolling your eyes, especially the ending, which takes a ridiculous premise and makes it a double ridiculous premise. Sam Dann was one weird writer.

Tony

I thought it strange that not only did both of them get the same mysterious ailment, but that for some reason his wife (and apparently him in the future) couldn't move enough to take their own medicine. If he could afford someone to take care of her all day, why not a night nurse, too? Otherwise, a home might've been better for her anyway.

Alec

I think Margaret had a polio type ailment that was contagious. However, they didn't know it was contagious, so he caught it from her eventually. The illness caused paralysis, like polio. Sally will probably catch it for him. As for the nurse issue, he might not be able to afford both a day nurse and a night nurse. Average people can only afford so much.

Amy

I meant to say, Sally will probably catch it from him.

Amy

This one was lame. I agree with the comment about Sam Dann - he seems like a weird guy, and his stories always have a subliminally negative message about women.

JON

Loved hearing the old commercials. What a tramp, that Sally, selfish selfish old tramp. Karma is a bitch.

Kim

Surely I am not going to be a hero the next time I play tennis...... under hand serve will be my new tactic, not to win the game but to stay away from injuring myself and then dying off from betrayal.

CBSRMT FAN

Like others have said, it was pretty preposterous, but it was still a fun listen.

Joseph

The ailment Margaret had must have been contagious and he must have caught it from her and it took time to incubate. That's my theory for why he came down with it later. (Sally might also come down with it in the future as well.) As for the alternate theory above, he was totally awake when he let his wife die because we heard his thoughts when he rationalized that he was doing it for her, but it was clear that he was really doing it for himself. It would have been easier for him if he had been able to get a night nurse, or put her in a home, but that kind of health care is expensive and it's not an option for a lot of people who don't have good insurance. Since he worked in the daytime, she must have had a day nurse, so he might not have been able to afford a day nurse AND a night nurse. It makes perfect sense that he couldn't afford to do anything else but keep her at home. What didn't make sense was that if she missed one dose of her miracle pill that she would die. In real life, missing a single dose of medication probably wouldn't kill her right away, but it makes for a good story. :)

Amy

I enjoy these shows because it gives me a break from television, and allows my imagination to take over. Also it's very relaxing before bed.

James

The actor that plays the boss's daughter is horrible. That voice....ugh.

Don

A successful lawyer who falls for the wiles of his boss’s young, beautiful daughter has the strange gift of hearing voices meant only for him—voices that predict his future and, most significantly, his dead wife’s voice, making it impossible for him to forget his past. An eerie ghost story that takes place not in a deserted castle but in a modern luxury high-rise apartment building.

Jack

A successful lawyer who falls for the wiles of his boss’s young, beautiful daughter has the strange gift of hearing voices meant only for him—voices that predict his future and, most significantly, his dead wife’s voice, making it impossible for him to forget his past. An eerie ghost story that takes place not in a deserted castle but in a modern luxury high-rise apartment building.

Adam

What a selfish, little brat Sally is! She tactlessly nags him about taking their relationship to the next level while his wife is lying there paralyzed and dying. I can understand her wanting to resolve the problem and decide about their relationship, but she does it in such an insensitive, tactless way. Also, after he and Sally marry, Sally is constantly nagging him about playing around and being active. I am quite sure that she will want to murder him after he gets sick at the end (spoiler) because Sally is a girl who could never stand taking care of an invalid. She will no doubt meet another man who she can have "fun" with, and then she would definitely want to kill her sick husband. He is doomed with Sally, lol!

Amy

Despite the absurd medical condition, this episode speaks of the conflicting emotions of being a long term caregiver, as well as guilt felt by caregiver and victim alike for a situation seemingly out of their control. I liked it.

Lori

Interesting story, but disturbing in that marriage vows are so easily tossed aside. So much for love; however he gets a payback. If I were him I would hire a caregiver!

Nancy


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