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{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image = Mickey Rooney The Twilight Zone 1963.JPG
| image_size = 220
| caption = [[Mickey Rooney]] in "The Last Night of a Jockey"
| season = 5
| episode = 5
| airdate = {{Start date|1963|10|25}}
| production = 2616
| writer = [[Rod Serling]]
| director = [[Joseph M. Newman]]
| guests = [[Mickey Rooney]]
| music = Stock from "[[The Big Tall Wish]]" (by [[Jerry Goldsmith]]) and cues from "[[The Lonely (The Twilight Zone)|The Lonely]]" by [[Bernard Herrmann]]
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 5)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[A Kind of a Stopwatch]]
| next = [[Living Doll (The Twilight Zone)|Living Doll]]
}}
"'''The Last Night of a Jockey'''" is an episode of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. In this episode, a diminutive [[jockey]]'s wish to be a big man is granted. The only actor in this entire episode is [[Mickey Rooney]]. Rod Serling wrote this episode specifically for Rooney.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|The name is Grady, five feet short in stockings and boots, a slightly distorted offshoot of a good breed of humans who race [[horse]]s. He happens to be one of the rotten apples, bruised and yellowed by dealing in dirt, a short man with a short memory who's forgotten that he's worked for the sport of kings and helped turn it into a cesspool, used and misused by the two-legged animals who've hung around sporting events since the days of the [[Colosseum|Coliseum]]. So this is Grady, on his last night as a jockey. Behind him are [[Hialeah Park Race Track|Hialeah]], [[Hollywood Park Racetrack|Hollywood Park]] and [[Saratoga Race Course|Saratoga]]. Rounding the far turn and coming up fast on the rail—is the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
A [[jockey]] named Michael Grady is lying alone in his room after being banned from [[horse racing]] for life for fixing races by [[Equine Drug Testing|horse doping]]. He drinks in his depression, and rues his five-foot height, which horse riding had served to compensate for. He then hears a voice. The voice introduces himself as "the alter ego" and claims to live in Grady's head. He argues with the alter ego, trying to justify his life and his actions, even lying about his crimes, but the alter ego knows all about him. Grady is offered the chance to change his life with one wish. Grady says his greatest wish is to be big. After Grady wakes from a nap he finds his wish has been granted; he is now close to eight feet tall.

Ecstatic, Grady calls his ex-girlfriend over the phone, but she dismisses him. He boasts that he can find more girls who will appreciate him because of his newfound height. The alter ego remains unimpressed, feeling Grady hasn't made good on any of his promises. He derides his dumb and "cheap" wish, and says that Grady could've wished to win the [[Kentucky Derby]] fairly, or perform a heroic act.

A telephone call from the racing commission informs Grady that he has been reinstated and can jockey again. Grady joyfully thanks everyone who petitioned to give him a second chance, but the alter ego laughs at him. Grady realizes he has become even larger, about 10 feet tall — too tall to ride a horse, or properly fit in his own apartment. Devastated, the now-giant Grady wrecks his room and pleads with the alter ego to make him small again. The alter ego denies the request, and instead replies, "You ''are'' small, Mr. Grady. You see, every time you won an honest race, ''that's'' when you were a giant. But right now, they just don't come any smaller."

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|The name is Grady, ten feet tall, a slightly distorted offshoot of a good breed of humans who race horses. Unfortunately for Mr. Grady, he learned too late that you don't measure size with a ruler, you don't figure height with a yardstick, and you never judge a man by how tall he looks in a mirror. The giant is as he does. You can make a [[parimutuel bet]] on this, win, place, or show, in or out of the Twilight Zone.}}

==Censorship==
[[CBS]]'s Program Practices department criticized this episode for use of the word "dwarf" in a negative context, suggesting that instead the terms "half-pint", "runt" or "shrimp" could be used.<ref>Hal Erikson. "Censorship: Another Dimension Behind the Twilight Zone", published in the October 1985 edition of ''[[The Twilight Zone Magazine]]''</ref>

==Mickey Rooney and Rod Serling==
Although this was Mickey Rooney's sole appearance on ''The Twilight Zone'', he had earlier co-starred in two dramas written by Rod Serling — [[The Comedian (Playhouse 90)|"The Comedian"]], a live 1957 episode of the 90-minute anthology series ''[[Playhouse 90]]'', as well as the theatrical feature ''[[Requiem for a Heavyweight]]'', a 1962 remake of the same-titled 1956 episode of ''Playhouse 90''. The making of the as-yet-unreleased production was the subject of a discussion on the December 21, 1961 episode of the late-night talk show ''[[PM East]]'', with guests Mickey Rooney, Rod Serling and the film's star [[Anthony Quinn]]. A decade later, in October 1972, Mickey Rooney co-starred in one additional Rod Serling teleplay — "[[List of Night Gallery episodes#Season 3: 1972–73|Rare Objects]]" — a half-hour episode of the horror anthology series ''[[Night Gallery]]''.

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

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|id=0734652|episode=The Last Night of a Jockey}}

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Night Of A Jockey}}
[[Category:1963 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 5) episodes]]
[[Category:Solitude in fiction]]
[[Category:Fiction about size change]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]
[[Category:Television episodes about termination of employment]]

The Last Night of a Jockey - Revision history

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