Shelly Berman rivals Hickey in 'The Comic'

I know I am probably overstating the case but I have been trolling for this particular PETER GUNN episode for years; it's not available on DVD to my knowledge and yesterday afternoon on Retro-television in Lehigh Valley Pa. I was miraculously able to catch it. It's called, "The Comic," and the plot involves a neurotic stand-up comic (Danny Arnold) who is convinced that his wife is about to murder him. In a role tailored to his peculiarly creepy talents, the show is ALL Shelly Berman confiding in detective Gunn his worst fears and suspicions regarding his spouse and imploring him to save him from what he perceives to be inevitable death. The episode ends unforgettably with Gunn and Lieut.Jacoby waiting in the wings for Arnold to finish his last stand-up act on stage, the content of which is a coded message to the two men who are waiting for him that it is he who is predator and not the prey. Craig Stevens as Gunn serves basically the role of analyst in this, just letting Berman reveal the truth about his pathology until the horribly pathetic "Iceman Cometh" like climax.

It's the simplest, most distilled, most concentrated thing Blake Edwards ever accomplished in his career; and perhaps the most personal if one knows anything about his emotional battles with paranoia and depression. How Shelly Berman's performance is not in the pantheon of every film and TV lover's knowledge of truly triumphant acting jobs is a sin (what? no Emmy!!) that ought to be corrected. Considering that Mr. Berman is still alive is it would be decent if somebody came to him in the form of a in-depth career interview and asked him for a comment regarding his memory and opinion about it. It's a spell-binding, spine-chilling tour-de-force.

Jace Gaffney