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» » The Ray Bradbury Theater Punishment Without Crime (1985–1992)

Short summary

George Hill is stunned when he is sentenced to death--for murdering a robot facsimile of his adulterous young wife.

The poem George recites to the facsimile Katherine is an abridged version of Song of Solomon chapter 4, verses 1-11; she responds with a similarly shortened version of chapter 5, verses 11-16, to describe her illicit lover.

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    • Author: Hurus
    Donald Pleasence is an old man with a young wife. He is on death row, facing execution for killing that wife. It is a future time when robots are all over the place and the classic science fictional dilemma of when a machine can also be consider sentient is brought into play. Out of jealousy, this man arranged to have a replacement android made of his wife after she has an affair with a young man. He can then kill her and life goes on with the new one. When he awakens on the day she appears, he changes his mind, but the forces at work don't allow that. They also have a great prejudice against robots and he represents how things have gone wrong. He "kills" the robot and his wife is still alive, but they need to make an example of him. This is a disjointed, confusing episode, but there are some interesting features to the argument it makes.
  • Episode cast overview:
    Donald Pleasence Donald Pleasence - George Hill
    Lynsey Baxter Lynsey Baxter - Katherine
    Peggy Mount Peggy Mount - The Judge
    Iain Cuthbertson Iain Cuthbertson - Prosecuting Counsel
    Frank Williams Frank Williams - Defence Counsel
    John McGlynn John McGlynn - Facsimile Interviewer
    Bill Croasdale Bill Croasdale - Governor
    Will Tacey Will Tacey - Priest
    George Anton George Anton - Lover
    William Ivory William Ivory - Policeman
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