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{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image = Orson Bean The Twilight Zone.jpg
| image_size = 230px
| season = 1
| episode = 33
| airdate = {{Start date|1960|06|03}}
| production = 173-3631
| writer = [[Rod Serling]]
| director = [[William Asher]]
| guests =
*[[Orson Bean]] as James B. W. Bevis
*[[Henry Jones (actor)|Henry Jones]] as J. Hardy Hempstead
*[[Charles Lane (actor)|Charles Lane]] as Mr. Peckinpaugh
*[[Florence MacMichael]] as Margaret
* [[William Schallert]] as Policeman
* [[Dorothea Neumann]] as Land Lady
* [[Vito Scotti]] as Tony, the Fruit Peddler
* [[Horace McMahon]] as Bartender
* [[House Peters Jr.]] as Policeman writing ticket
* Coleen O'Sullivan as Michelle
* Timmy Cletro as the boy
| music =
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series, season 1)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[A Passage for Trumpet]]
| next = [[The After Hours]]
}}
"'''Mr. Bevis'''" is episode thirty-three of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It first aired on June 3, 1960 on [[CBS]]. This episode is one of only four to feature the "blinking eye" opening sequence, and the first to feature the opening narration which would be used (with minor changes) for every episode throughout season 2 and 3. The episode was an unsuccessful [[television pilot]].<ref>p. 66 Presnell, Don & McGee, Marty '' A Critical History of Television's The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964''McFarland, 11 Jul 2015</ref>

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|In the parlance of the twentieth century, this is an oddball. His name is James B. W. Bevis, and his tastes lean toward stuffed animals, zither music, professional football, Charles Dickens, moose heads, carnivals, dogs, children, and young ladies. Mr. Bevis is accident prone, a little vague, a little discombooberated [sic], with a life that possesses all the security of a floating crap game. But this can be said of our Mr. Bevis: without him, without his warmth, without his kindness, the world would be a considerably poorer place, albeit perhaps a little saner.}}

The narration continues when Bevis walks up to his car.

{{cquote|Should it not be obvious by now, James B. W. Bevis is a fixture in his own private, optimistic, hopeful little world, a world which has long ceased being surprised by him. James B. W. Bevis, on whom Dame Fortune will shortly turn her back, but not before she gives him a paste in the mouth. Mr. James B. W. Bevis, just one block away from the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==

Mr. Bevis loses his job, gets tickets on his car (which inadvertently hooks bumpers with another vehicle and, once pulled away, flips over), and gets evicted from his apartment – all in one day. Bevis then meets and gets assistance from his [[guardian angel]], one J. Hardy Hempstead. Bevis gets to start the day over again, except now he is a success at work, his rent is paid and his personal transportation is now a sportscar ([[Austin-Healey]]) instead of his previous [[Lemon (automobile)|jalopy]], a soot-spewing 1924 [[Rickenbacker (car)|Rickenbacker]].

But there is a catch. In order to continue in his new life, Bevis must make some changes: no strange clothes, no loud [[zither]] music, no longer can he be the well-liked neighborhood goofball. Realizing all these things are what makes him happy, Bevis asks that things be returned to the way they were. Hempstead obliges, initially warning Bevis that he will still have no job, car, or apartment. However, perhaps moved by the warmth people have for Bevis, and the man's genuine kindness, the angel arranges for him to get his old jalopy back.

In the final scene of the episode, Mr. Bevis is shown finishing his fifth shot of whiskey, and he pays his total tab of $5.00 with one bill. He then leaves the bar; his Rickenbacker is parked in front of a [[fire hydrant]]. When Bevis is about to be [[traffic ticket|ticketed]] for this infraction, the hydrant suddenly disappears and reappears next to the officer's motorcycle. "J. Hardy Hempstead" is still watching over Bevis.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|Mr. James B. W. Bevis, who believes in a magic all his own. The magic of a child's smile, the magic of liking and being liked, the strange and wondrous mysticism that is the simple act of living. Mr. James B. W. Bevis, species of twentieth-century male, who has his own private and special Twilight Zone.}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-136-0}}
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9703310-9-0}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb episode|0734591}}

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

[[Category:1960 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 1) episodes]]
[[Category:Television pilots within series]]
[[Category:Television pilots not picked up as a series]]
[[Category:Television episodes about termination of employment]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]

Mr. Bevis - Revision history

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