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{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image = Burt Reynolds John Williams The Bard Twilight Zone 1963.jpg
| image_size = 220
| caption = [[Burt Reynolds]] and [[John Williams (actor)|John Williams]] in a scene from "The Bard"
| season = 4
| episode = 18
| airdate = {{Start date|1963|05|23}}
| production = 4852
| writer = [[Rod Serling]]
| director = [[David Butler (director)|David Butler]]
| guests = [[Jack Weston]] [[John Williams (actor)|John Williams]] [[Burt Reynolds]] [[Henry Lascoe]] [[John McGiver]] [[Howard McNear]] [[Judy Strangis]] [[Marge Redmond]] [[Doro Merande]] [[William Lanteau]] [[Clegg Hoyt]] John Newton John Bose [[Rudy Bowman]]
| music = [[Fred Steiner]]
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 4)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[Passage on the Lady Anne]]
| next = [[In Praise of Pip]]
}}

"'''The Bard'''" is an episode of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It was the final episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' to be one hour long. A direct [[satire]] of the American television industry, the episode features a parody of [[Marlon Brando]] by [[Burt Reynolds]], and concerns an inept screenwriter, who through the use of [[black magic]], employs [[William Shakespeare]] as his [[ghostwriter]].

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|You've just witnessed opportunity, if not knocking, at least scratching plaintively on a closed door. Mr. Julius Moomer, a would-be writer, who if talent came 25 cents a pound, would be worth less than car fare. But, in a moment, Mr. Moomer, through the offices of some black magic, is about to embark on a brand-new career. And although he may never get a writing credit on the ''Twilight Zone'', he's to become an integral character '''''in''''' it.}}

==Plot==
A bumbling screenwriter, Julius K. Moomer, is becoming desperate for a sale after years working on unproduced scripts. When his agent mentions that he is submitting another writer's pitch for a television series about black magic, Julius pleads to be allowed to be given first crack at the series. Knowing nothing about the subject, he attempts some research, but turns up only an actual book of black magic. While experimenting with the book, he accidentally conjures William Shakespeare, who says he is at the service of the conjurer. Deciding not to waste Shakespeare's talent on a television pilot, Julius directs him to write a film.

The producers decide that Shakespeare's script, ''The Tragic Cycle'', though archaic to the point of being almost incomprehensible, has potential. His task finished, Shakespeare proposes to leave. Julius argues that if he stops writing now, Shakespeare will lose his chance at Hollywood fame and become forgotten. Shakespeare at last says he will attend a rehearsal for the film and stay on if it does justice to his script. At the rehearsal, he is so horrified at the revisions by the sponsor that he assaults the leading man and storms out. Julius's next assignment, a TV special on American history, seems doomed to failure until he remembers his book on black magic, and uses it to conjure up [[Robert E. Lee]], [[Ulysses S. Grant]], [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[George Washington]], [[Pocahontas]], [[Daniel Boone]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], and [[Theodore Roosevelt]] to act as consultants.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|Mr. Julius Moomer, a streetcar conductor with delusions of authorship, and if the tale just told seems a little tall, remember a thing called poetic license, and another thing called the ''Twilight Zone''.}}

==Cast==
* [[Jack Weston]] as Julius Moomer
* [[John Williams (actor)|John Williams]] as [[William Shakespeare]]
* [[Burt Reynolds]] as Rocky Rhodes
* [[Henry Lascoe]] as Gerald Hugo
* [[John McGiver]] as Mr. Shannon
* [[Howard McNear]] as Bramhoff
* [[Judy Strangis]] as Cora
* [[Marge Redmond]] as Secretary
* [[Doro Merande]] as Sadie
* [[William Lanteau]] as Dolan
* [[Clegg Hoyt]] as Bus driver
* John Newton as TV interviewer
* John Bose as [[Daniel Boone]] (uncredited)
* [[Rudy Bowman]] as [[Robert E. Lee]] (uncredited)

Notes: Weston and McGiver were previously in earlier episodes, "[[The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street]]" and "[[Sounds and Silences]]".

==Production history==
The episode was likely written by [[Rod Serling]] as a reaction to the advertising executives with whom he dealt regularly while producing for television. In the book ''The Twilight Zone Companion'', Serling is quoted as saying that things were so bad with the overcautious executives that "one could not ford a river if [[Chevy]] was the sponsor."

The actor portrayed by Burt Reynolds satirizes Marlon Brando's style of [[method acting]], augmented by the close physical resemblance between Reynolds and Brando during that period.

The episode was also featured in the final episode of ''[[The Sopranos]]'', in 2007, "[[Made in America (The Sopranos)|Made in America]]". [[Tony Soprano]], the protagonist of the series, is seen watching this episode while in hiding from his enemies in a safe house.

==References==
*Zicree, Marc Scott: ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
*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|0734630}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bard, The}}
[[Category:Films directed by David Butler]]
[[Category:1963 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 4) episodes]]
[[Category:Fictional depictions of Abraham Lincoln in television]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of William Shakespeare]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]

The Bard (The Twilight Zone) - Revision history

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