Only a superficial resemblance to the Poe story. I first heard this one as a kid. Also E.G. Marshall's prologue states that anyone can be a murderer with sufficient provocation--it's not an activity confined to "criminals"--nonetheless, our protagonist was an unpleasant character from the getgo. Murder mystery, questioned supernatural elements.

A ruthless, but not violent guy marries a girl he really isn't in love with for the massive fortune she stands to inherit from her father. Aside from the fact that she's a little more plump than he'd like, she's a bit of an eccentric who claims she can talk to her black cat, Pluto. The guy becomes restless, especially when he looks in the cat's eyes and sees visions of himself killing his wife. He tries to fight the urge, even as his mistress says she's running out of patience with being No. 2 in his life. Will he finally snap? You know, this wasn't a terrible episode, but the last 20 minutes were so doggone predictable that I was disappointed. Another typical Sam Dann story that starts with a great premise, but isn't finished with flair.

As soon as you heard him doing cement work in the basement, it was an obvious conclusion. And that had to be the worst sounding "cat" in the history of radio!

A black cat, unrealistic wife and sophisticated letch add up to an unbelievable and even less interesting story. Even the cat is unlikable.

A man finds out that when he married his wife, he also married her cat with whom she has a close relationship. The cat convinces him that he will murder his wife. Spooky, well written episode. Adams shines in his haunted character. Recommended if you can get past the sound of that damned cat.

A gold-digger marries for money with the knowledge of his father-in-law. With the fortune he stands to benefit from, he also must accept his new bride’s cat. The cat, according to his wife, can communicate to her, and will to him as well if he looks into its’ eyes. When he does, he has terrible visions of the future, which involve his own murder trial. Be prepared for the most horrific part of this story: the horrendous vocal acrobatics of the cat.

This was an interesting adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe tale. Even though it's completely modernized-- it still actually follows the "spirit" of the original tale (except there's only one cat in this story). I really enjoyed the first scene. How Mr. Fenris went from ordering Philip to break it off with Sylvia-- to blessing their impending nupitals. The scene was well crafted and well acted. I also loved the use of the "Twilight Zone" music each time Phil made contact with Pluto's mind. One thing I wonder about. Usually, Gilbert Mack did all the animal "voices" on RMT. But, in this episode-- it didn't sound like him. I think maybe it was Marian Seldes. It sounds effeminate and too high pitched to be Evie Juster's. What does everyone else think? Until next time..............

Definitely Evie as the cat. Marian plays Sylvia.

I got to the "9-Lives" quote before E.G.! Didn't know this was a Poe tale.

I, too, wondered if this was a Poe tale but researched and found that it is, although modernised as Midnight stated. It does follow most of the points of the original story. Now as for the cat, I don't know whose voice that was, but it nearly drove me crazy. I really liked the story line, and thought the acting was very good.

You weren't tempted to hit the cat with a shovel and wall it up in your basement were you?..............just kidding..............it never works anyway............

I think RMT's adaptations of Poe worked better than the shows devoted to Sherlock Holmes.

I agree with you about Sherlock Holmes not coming off as well as the Poe stories. For me the problem is all the information being thrown at the listener in such a short span. Poe's "Oblong Box" made a great CBSRMT, as did another one about a man framed for murder in a small town. A crime story with a great macabre twist. I can't remember the name of the story, but I remember that Jackson Beck is in it.

The Case of Chateau-Margaux.

I've only heard a couple of RMT's "Sherlock Holmes" adaptations, but I enjoyed both of them very much. "The Vanishing Herd" (Based on "The Priory School") and "The Musgrave Ritual". The Poe adaptations are also some of the better RMT episodes, but are far less faithful than Conan Doyle's stories. Just my obsevation..............

I never could stomach this story of Poe's. The main character is such a BASTARD. Why Poe ,who supposedly had a fondness for cats,would write such a SICK tale about cruel treatment of cats and the other animals in this story is beyond me. ANY story or adaptation that features cruelty to animals is GARBAGE in my book. NO STARS-- AWFUL!!!

I am not sure why, but I really liked this episode. Like Kristen, I am a huge fan of animals and don't care at all for animals being mistreated. However, you will notice in this first season of Mystery Theater, many of the stories are animal-centiric with the animal (a cat in this case) somehow putting the villain in their place. I liked the ending. 4 stars.

And the award for "Most Annoying Cat Sound" goes to...

Two things that came to my mind about this episode: 1) Was it that the protagonist wanted to kill his wife, or was it the cat driving him to do it as he was sick of his master? 2) What did the cat survive on while walled up with his master for a week? Perhaps my second question makes me sick as well.

The cat in " the resident " was much more annoying

I think whoever played Pluto must’ve had a blast. Me-OW. Sylvia was FAR more annoying. That cat must’ve hated her to manipulate the characters to destroy one another. Very little resemblance to Poe’s tale but I found the cat hilarious, probably because my cat walks all over me. Literally.

I just love CATS!

Great the commercials are back! Which makes up for the worst sounding cat, there was a previous story with a cat and this cat sounded the same, awful! The story was okay but not one of the better ones by CBSRMT. Did not care for any of the characters and the cat sound really buried this story.

I rather liked the guy for being so smug and honest with his father-in-law to be, and was rooting for him to make his fortune without killing his idiot wife. He should've killed the cat right at the beginning. I live cats, but this one was quite annoying and evil lol

The cast in this episode: Norman Rose: Philip Sterling Marian Seldes: Sylvia Robert Dryden: Frank J. Fenris/Doctor Myers Joe DeSantis: Bruce and Lieutenant Hayley Evie Juster: Gwen