Skip to main content

story identification - What 80s TV show has a child trapped in a closet when rare sunlight appears?


This is a very hazy recollection, and I was very young, so please bear with me. This was probably from the early up to mid 80's.


There is a particular child with other children. Not sure if it's an orphanage or a home. That child either misbehaves and is locked in a closet/small room or is accidentally locked in it.


It appears as if the world around them is routinely very dark and cloudy.


While the child is in the closet, a very rare instance of sunlight appears. The other children are very excited and run out to enjoy it. The child in the closet/room is forgotten during the excitement.


The child in the closet sees only a little light appear under the door.


At the end, the child's only exposure to this seemingly significant event is from that bit of light from underneath the door.


It may have been a commercial or part of a larger episode/show/movie.


Again, very hazy memory of this, but the images have stuck in my minds for decades.




Answer



That's a dramatization of Bradbury's story "All Summer in a Day".


From All Summer in a Day, Wikipedia:



The story is about a class of students on Venus, which, in this story, is a world of constant rainstorms, where the Sun is visible for only one hour every seven years. However, in the movie, the sun only came out for an hour every 9 years. (This story was written before Mariner 2 discovered that the surface temperature on Venus is higher than the boiling point of water.)


One of the children, Margot, moved to Venus from Earth five years earlier, and she is the only one in her class to remember sunshine, since the Sun shone regularly on Earth. She describes the Sun as "a penny", or "like a fire in the stove", and relays in a poem to the class that "I think the sun is a flower,That blooms for just one hour". The other children, being too young ever to have seen it themselves, do not believe her. The other students bully and ostracize her, and just before the sun comes out, they lock her in a closet down a tunnel.


As the Sun is about to appear, their teacher arrives to take the class outside to enjoy their one hour of sunshine and, in their astonishment and joy, they all forget about Margot. They run, play, skip, jump, and prance about, savoring every second of their newly found freedom. "It's much better than sun lamps!" one of them cries.


Suddenly, a girl catches a raindrop in her hands. Thunder sounds, and they start to pick as many flowers as they can before it starts pouring again and run back inside. At this point, one of them remembers Margot, who is still locked in the closet. Ashamed, they let her out of the closet, standing frozen, embarrassed over what they have done and unable to "meet each other's glances."



The all-knowing Wikipedia also says:




A 30-minute television adaptation, originally broadcast on the PBS' children's series WonderWorks in 1982. The ending is expanded to show the children atoning for their horrible act by giving Margot flowers that they picked while the Sun was out.[2] The director of photography was Robert Elswit, who went on to become an Academy Award winning cinematographer.



So it seems likely that is it.


Youtube has a full version (for however long it lasts):





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more