Mr. Motivation
| "Mr. Motivation" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone (2nd revival) episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 1 Episode 19 |
| Directed by | Deran Sarafian |
| Teleplay by | Brent V. Friedman |
| Story by | Steven Aspis |
| Production code | 118 |
| Original air date | November 20, 2002 |
| Guest actors | |
| |
"Mr. Motivation" is the nineteenth episode of the science fiction television series 2002 revival of The Twilight Zone. The episode was first broadcast on November 20, 2002, on UPN.
Opening narration
| “ | Charlie Stickney has never had quite enough confidence to stand up for himself. But today is different. Today is a day of reckoning, a test of character, a battle of wills, thanks to a very unusual toy made in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
Plot
Charlie Stickney (Wallace Langham) is a worker at Trized Pharmaceuticals who is afraid to stick up for himself, so his boss Rick (Christopher McDonald) gives him a doll called Mr. Motivation (voiced by Pat O'Brien) as a birthday present to boost his self-confidence. Mr. Motivation appears to be a cheesy toy with cheesy phrases upon pushing down on his head, until it says a phrase out loud that helps Charlie ask his co-worker Linda out on a date. Rick then gives Charlie a nearly impossible task: find a shipping manifest on a birth control pill Ovatril so that Rick can change dates to avoid any legal liability to the company, but more importantly cover himself due to the fact he committed fraud. Charlie tells Rick that it would be wrong, but he still wants to go through with it. Later, Rick comes to get the document from Charlie's cubicle. However, the toy stands up to his boss for him by putting a wire out from under Charlie's desk so that Rick will trip.
Charlie, who is fed up of hearing Mr. Motivation talk, throws him down a garbage chute. Somehow, Mr. Motivation wound up in Rick's office with a piece of paper on him, taunting Rick. Thinking Charlie did this to blackmail him, Rick forces Charlie to cancel his date with Linda by making him work on an even more impossible task. She tells Charlie that he needs to stand up to him. Charlie reacts by finding a document that would prove that Rick had committed fraud. However, Rick catches him and chases him. Rick takes the folder from Charlie and beats him to the ground in front of his coworkers. However, Charlie still has the document and Rick only got the folder from him. Rick goes back after Charlie, but he trips on a wire that the doll put down again.
A few days later, Charlie comes in as the new regional sales manager at Trized Pharmaceuticals. He bumps into an employee named Carl in the hallway. Ironically, he threatens him by saying that if Carl cannot do his job right, Charlie will find someone who will. When Charlie goes back to his office, Mr. Motivation rebukes him for talking that way to Carl. Chastened, Charlie calls Carl to forget what he said and praises him for doing a good job. When Mr. Motivation quotes "You the Man," Charlie agrees with Mr. Motivation and tells him that now must do his job. Forest Whitaker appears and narrates that Charlie has won the battle of wits against Rick and himself. Mr. Motivation even helps Forest Whitaker close out the narration.
Closing narration
| “ | By listening to that little voice, Charlie Stickney won the battle of the wills with his boss and with himself. Another success story courtesy of... | ” |
Around this part, Forest Whitaker pushes Mr. Motivation's head down as Mr. Motivation speaks.
| “ | ...The Twilight Zone. | ” |