A Kind of a Stopwatch


"A Kind of a Stopwatch" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. In this episode, a man acquires a stopwatch which can stop time.

Opening narration

Plot

Patrick McNulty is a self-important, annoying in his 40s. One day, he is summoned by his boss. He is delighted, believing that his frequent contributions to the suggestion box have earned him recognition. His boss, however, says that all of McNulty's suggestions deal with fields of enterprise in which the company is not involved. The boss fires McNulty for wasting his time.
McNulty goes to a bar, where he drives away the other patrons with his opinions about a sporting event. The bar owner requests that McNulty patronize another establishment. McNulty ignores him and buys a drink for the sole remaining patron, a drunk, who spews various phrases from times long past. The drunk gives McNulty his stopwatch. Thinking it an odd gift, McNulty quickly discovers that it pauses the passage of time for everyone and everything, except the watch holder.
McNulty tries to show his former boss the power of the stopwatch. McNulty says it can be used to make their company the largest in the world, but forgets that he cannot be heard when time is stopped. His boss does not understand and dismisses him. Before leaving, McNulty uses the stopwatch mischievously to rearrange random things in the office. Returning to the bar, he tries to demonstrate the power of the watch to the customers, but again does it in such a way that they do not understand.
Later, McNulty stops time to rob a bank, but while carting out a pile of cash he drops the watch, breaking it. Time is now permanently frozen. With no way to repair it, McNulty runs around in a panic, begging the frozen people to talk or move.

Closing narration

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.

Related works

Ideas from this episode were used in "A Little Peace and Quiet", an episode in the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone.
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 Simpsons 2003 Halloween episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV"; The Garfield Show episode "Time Master.", and the series finale of Futurama.