Amazing Stories, Episode 1.20, "Secret Cinema"

The offices of Inner Genre (my skull) haven't been this surprised and delighted by a tv episode's existence since David Cronenberg's Friday the 13th: The Series episode. (Editor's note: hyperbole?)(Shawn's note: I'm the editor.) "Secret Cinema," Paul Bartel's episode 1.20 from the Steven Spielberg-produced Amazing Stories, originally aired on April 6, 1986 - The Longshot had been released on the 17th of January, same year. Bartel is the episode's writer; it appears to be a reworking of his early short film with the same name. If I owned a rowboat I'd send the errand boy (me) out across the flooded sidewalks of Los Angeles for champagne to celebrate this episode's availability on Netflix streaming.

Dr. Shreck: Jane, these feelings of confusion and inadequacy that you feel are easily explained.
Jane: Is it my infantile Oedipal complex?
Dr. Shreck: (laughs) Noo. No. No, Jane. The underlying fundamentals of your basic problem seem to me to be rooted in your clothes.
Jane: My Clothes?
Dr. Shreck: Mmm. And your makeup, and your hair.
Jane: But, doctor, don't my problems come from deep, deep inside me?
Dr. Shreck: Don't you wish! Psychological problems are easy to fix, it's very difficult to do anything about the way we look. Nevertheless, under my supervision - and with the help of the nurse - you will be cured, Jane.

Jane (Penny Peyser) seeks psychological treatment from Dr. Shreck (Bartel) over the trauma of her ended engagement to Dick (Griffin Dunne). Dr. Shreck casts her in a movie about her life, without telling her, and a fictional melodrama becomes superimposed over her realworld experiences. Is this a skewering satire on the patient or the institution? Based on Bartel's filmography I think the episode's target may be the entertainment industry and its exploitation of human emotions for the sake of entertainment. Tough for me to say however, because Bartel pokes fun at everyone, including himself.

It's such a weird fucking tv episode. At one point, the nurse (Woronov), disguised as a waiter, literally serves Jane turkey. Jane requests a green salad, but the waiter insists on serving turkey. For desert? Pie in the face. A later scene seems to be a possible recreation of a conversation Bartel possibly had with Corman over Death Race 2000 - a parsimonious producer accuses Dr. Shreck of making a 'turkey' (bad movie) and insists on shooting scenes of bloodshed.

IMDb user reviews reference The Truman Show and Ed TV, but this feels more like a precursor to Adaptation..