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Tales from the Darkside Season 1 Episode 10

A Case of the Stubborns

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 12/2/84

In a backwoods community, a family is plagued by their grandpa... who refuses to acknowledge that he's dead.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Silly and gruesome

9.0

By jseger9000, Jan 31, 2011

I wasn't expecting much here. The synopsis just didn't sound too interesting to me. But then I saw it was based on a Robert Bloch story and thought... well, maybe.

I wound up loving it.

Somewhere in the south, an old man is so stubborn he refuses to believe he is dead. He continues to hang around the house, arguing with his daughter, the doctor and the preacher. He may be up and walking around, but he continues to putrefy over the course of the episode.

The story is very well done, entertaining all the way through and grandpa's increasingly gross make-up is well done. Yeah, the southern angle is over the top, but for me that just added to the fun. And you get to see early performances by Christian Slater and Brent Spiner.moreless
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A stubborn old man continues on with his life, refusing to acknowledge mounting evidence that he has died.

10

By dpmacmanus, Jul 31, 2008

One of the best Tales From The Darkside episodes, "A Case of the Stubborns" is a masterpiece of dark comedy. Eddie Bracken, who viewers may barely recognize as Roy Wally from National Lampoon's Vacation, is so heavily madeup that he resembles Grandpa Munster. Yet while the makeup lends comic relief, it is Bracken's hilarious performance that steals the show. Bracken's grandfather wants so badly to stay alive that he continues with his daily routine as if nothing has changed. This proves to be quite unpleasant for his daughter and grandson, who now must share their home with a rotting corpse. A young Christian Slater plays the grandson who is determined to figure out a way to convince grandpa that he is no longer among the living. A visit from the local preacher delivers more laughs, courtesy of a delightful performance by Brent Spiner.moreless
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A family deal with their cantankerous grandfather. The problem is, he died the day before.

6.5

By edgar_k, Mar 26, 2007

An excellent exercise in black humor, the most stomach-churning of any episode of Darkside I have seen...effective makeup shows the old man gradually rotting before our eyes, and that's not counting the disgusting ending. What keeps this episode from being a classic is the over-the-top middle-school-drama-class "Southern" dialect that is used throughout the episode by all the characters. It's so ridiculous that is detracts from what's going on on the screen.moreless
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A mother and son have breakfast, only to be joined by their dead grandfather who argues that he isn't dead

9.9

By GameraTrekkie, Feb 15, 2007

Being one of the best episodes of the seires, A Case of the Stubborns is a really funny episode. I feel sorry for the grandfather, he seems like a really nice guy and it is sad that he is dead. I don't know where they live, they talk like southerners from the 1800s. I live in Georgia, so I know that no one talks like that, at least not anymore. Look for young Christian Slater in this episode, he plays the grandson. This episode also has a guest appearance by Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation) as the pastor.moreless
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Childhood memory.

8.7

By Letterpeople74, May 30, 2006

I was about 10 years old when this episode first aired, and it's always stuck with me.

Grandpa sneezes into the napkin at the dinner table, and heads to him room, the credits role over the opened napkin sitting on the table. Grandpa's nose stares up at you from inside the napkin. Pretty good stuff for 1980s television.

I couldn't tell you much more about it, as that's the one scene that is completely ingrained in my memory banks.

It's a shame that this series hasn't started coming out on dvd yett, but I'm glad that when it does, this episode is in the first season.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Paul Sparer

Opening Narrator

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Brent Spiner	Preacher	Guest Star
Bill McCutcheon	Dr. Snodgrass	Guest Star
Tresa Hughes	Voodoo Woman	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (1)
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- Doc Snodgrass: This is a legal document. It'll stand up in any court of law.
  Grandpa Tolliver: So will I, dang it!
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NOTES (1)
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- This episode is based on the short story "A Case of the Stubborns" by Robert Bloch. The story was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (October 1976).
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