Turned out differently than I thought but still liked it.

I'm tired of reading bad reviews on this one, you bunch of crybabies! I remembered this one since I was a kid, and i was happy to find it again. They are written to be an aggravating family, duh. You aren't supposed to care about them, or the annoying kid. He is supposed to be that horrible little monster causing a scene in public while his parents, who can tune out anything, ignore him, causing him to go crazier for attention, etc, etc. Isn't this loop familiar? And ahead of it's time, as kids during this period were seen and not heard. This seems to mock most families now, been to an airport lately? And by the time they are demeaning public school during their drink order, you just hate them. Now, that's effective story telling and good casting. I was thrilled to see Scatman, who was great in everything he touched. And the old cowboy (Eeyore, I think) makes you almost think there's hope for this family, and that he's probably the fugitive, which is again good writing. I agree the mental patient outside the window was laughable, and would have been impossible to miss...but I loved the ending, because it wasn't expected. Children are off limits (especially then) and the fact that he lost his treasure (especially earned at the inevitable death of the mental patient) is great. It's justice, and he didn't earn it anyway. The family isn't redeemed, they just go off to be their entitled, bickering selves. There is a happy ending, Scatman (who deserves it) got the dollar, and he's right---it's no hardship to them. He's not a bad man, he just recognized an opportunity; and that made me laugh- a lot. Give this episode a second chance.

I've seen a lot of Hitchcock in my day, but I have to say that this was absolutely horrendus. It seemed as though it could have been a couple of small stories, which may have been more interesting. Perhaps the man who told the stories could have ended up murdering Chloris Leachman. Or maybe the man outside the window looked like the man telling the story. I don't know how they could have fixed it, but it was awful.And to top it off, they have Scatman Coruthers character steal a silver dollar from the boy. What a waste of time.

But I think it had something to do with the idea of luck or fate...
I think the person out the window was like the old cowboy. The cowboy might not have made it if someone didn't see him all those years ago. He said he knows how lucky he was to be found. I think this relies on sick irony. The boy is not allowed to interrupt, so he cannot save someone else like the cowboy was saved. That man was not as lucky.Still, it wasn't all that clear, and I don't get what the dollar had anything to do with anything.

This episode really disappointed. Great build up but didn't deliver.

This was the worst story in this series! Set up was fascinating but story ultimately went nowhere. No twists Nothing. And they even threw in a racist ending with the Black Pullman being trifling enough to steal from a small boy, which had nothing to do with the story. I would've had the looney crack the window and grab Cloris which would've been more ironic and more creepy.http://thatgirlattheparty.com

Good thing about that episode was looking at Cloris Leachman.