The Ray Bradbury Theater (s01e02)

The Playground

by Ray Bradbury, directed by William Fruet

Release: 4 June 1985
Format: TV Episode
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Adults
Content: Debatable Time Travel
Original Language: English

Charles visits his boyhood playground, at first on his own and then with his own son. There, he sees Ralph, the bully who tormented him, who’s still a boy and who still seems to be tormenting Charlie.

Perhaps Ralph was meant to be a ghost bully, perhaps the curly haired boy is young Charlie, perhaps Charlie switches bodies with his own son, or perhaps there’s time travel invovled. We doubt that even Captain Kirk could sort out all those perhapses in this TV version of Ray Bradbury’s story starring William Shatner. But clarity can be had if you read the original story, which takes about the same amount of time as watching the TV episode but shows the rich inner life of Charles Underwood and leaves no ambiguity about what’s up with “Ralph.”

— Michael Main

Ralph? The bully. When I was a kid, he used to wait for me on the corner every day.

DEBUT

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s01e02), “The Playground” (HBO, USA, 4 June 1985).

VARIANTS

1 English variant

PRIOR WORKS: based on “The Playground” by Ray Bradbury

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Circa AD 1940 to 1949: Presumed time of Charlie’s childhood.
Circa AD 1970 to 1999: presumed time period, circa 1985.

Time Travel Methods

Unexplained Time Travel Methods

Themes

Self-Visitation: The curly-haired boy may be young Charlie.

Groupings

The Ray Bradbury Theater (TV series): (s01e02), 4 June 1985

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From the sidewalk outside the playground, circa 1985 ⋙ to the playground, circa 1940s. Multiple round trips. Note: We’re uncertain whether Charles (sometimes with his son and/or wife) travels through time.