The Twilight Zone Cavender Is Coming

In a Rod Serling teleplay, Carol Burnett plays a clumsy woman who meets her equally bumbling guardian angel (Jesse White). Polk: Howard Smith. Woman: Sandra Gould. Debutante: Donna Douglas. Frenchman: Albert Carrier. Truck Driver: Jack Younger., A reworking of the first-season Twilight Zone episode “Mr. Bevis,” “Cavender Is Coming” was, like its predecessor, the pilot for a proposed comedy-fantasy TV series. Carol Burnett stars as klutzy Agnes Grep, whose combination of overeagerness and ineptitude costs her job after job. Enter Agnes’ guardian angel Cavender (Jesse White), who, as big a screw-up as the heroine, has been assigned to Agnes to see if he is worthy of earning his wings. Transforming Agnes into a poised, sought-after fashion plate, Cavender discovers that she was happier when she was a “loser” — meaning that Cavender will be stuck on Earth a long, long time, in search of someone whose life he can really turn around. Written with a heavy hand by Rod Serling, “Cavender Is Coming” benefits from the play between its two stars and from a rich and varied supporting cast including John Fiedler and Donna Douglas; in the final analysis, however, it is defeated by CBS’ decision to add a raucous laughtrack, which is at its loudest when absolutely nothing funny is happening. “Cavender Is Coming” was originally telecast May 25, 1962.