Homecoming 

A hotshot White House speech writer deals with the publicity nightmare of his life when recently deceased soldiers return from beyond the grave.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator), Sam Hamm (teleplay)

Stars:

Thea Gill, Jon Tenney, Terry David Mulligan

1 win.

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Thea Gill	...	Jane Cleaver
Jon Tenney	...	David Murch
Terry David Mulligan	...	Marty Clark
Beverley Breuer	...	Janet Hofstadter
Robert Picardo	...	Kurt Rand
Dexter Bell	...	Marine Guard #1
Jason Diablo	...	Marine Guard #2
Karen Elizabeth Austin	...	Mom (as Karen Austin)
Daniel Wesley	...	Bobby Earl Beeler
Penelope Park	...	Registrar (as Penelope Corrin)
J. Winston Carroll	...	Rev. Clayton Poole (as J.W. Carroll)
Wanda Cannon	...	Kathy Hobart
Nathaniel DeVeaux	...	Mr. Baker
Candus Churchill	...	Mrs. Baker
Jason Emanuel	...	Michael

Storyline

During the campaign for the reelection of the President of USA, the political consultant David Murch wishes live in a television talk show that a deceased soldier could come back from his grave to vote in the election as a marketing to promote his candidate. The president uses his idea in a speech and wishes that all the deceased soldiers could return from their graves for the election. Somehow his wish is granted and the soldiers died in the last war returns with the objective of voting in the opposition to the government. When the result of the election is manipulated and the president is reelected, all the soldiers deceased in pointless wars return to exile the members of the administration of the government.

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Plot Keywords:

younger version of character | soldier | election | voting | political consultant | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

IDT Entertainment, Industry Entertainment, Nice Guy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Sam Hamm's son makes a cameo appearance as a pizza delivery boy.

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Goofs

When young David shoots his brother there is no recoil of the gun. A small child should have felt the recoil very hard and moved his arm but in that scene the gun didn't move his arm at all thus proving it's not real. The same problem appears in the scene where David shoots Jane.

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Connections

References Frankenstein (1931)

User Reviews

The Masters' Touch, Part Two: "Homecoming"

Directed by Joe Dante (The Howling); written by Sam Hamm (Batman), based on the short story "Death and Suffrage" by Dale Bailey, starring Jon Tenney, Thea Gill and Robert Picardo.

As Gene Roddenberry, Ray Bradbury, Lester del Rey and renowned sci-fi authors could tell you all the way back to H.G. Wells and further...there is no better way to discuss whatever is ailing society, no matter what time period it is, than to couch the discussion in a satirical or fantasy-based context. It's a lot easier to engage the audience into reflecting and commenting on such hot-button topics as racism, sexism, fascism, what have you, if the characters caught up in the dramatic scenarios addressing these topics aren't "real".

It's in this spirit that director Joe Dante took Dale Bailey's award-nominated short story, "Death and Suffrage," and turned it into what has to be (so far) the series' finest hour, "Homecoming." Giving vent to the anger, anguish and frustration that so many people are feeling about now, he uses the buffer of pitch-black humor to put a spin on the often-asked question: "What if...?" As in "What if the many war dead from Iraq were so galvanized by the dishonor of The Great Lie they died for, that they actually came back to life to vote the President out of office during the next election?" A game cast, including Jon Tenney (where the heck have ya been, Jon???) QAF regular Thea Gill and the always-excellent Robert Picardo, do a number on death and politics that would make Stanley Kubrick, John Frankenheimer and Paddy Chayefsky nod in approval. This is not your regular Masters' episode, but something very close to the filmic equivalent of Jonathan Swift's classic piece of satiric prose, "A Modest Proposal." To some, it will seem like ham-handed preachiness, bordering on shameless propaganda. To others, it will seem unnecessarily watered down by the horror/fantasy elements. But like Yosemite Sam in the Warner Brothers' cartoons, trying to get the attention of his stubborn jackass by beaning it with a two-by-four, this may be the most effective method (and possibly the only one) to get a lackadaisical, enervated public to sit up and take notice.

That is saying a whole helluva lot, but that's I good I felt this installment was. It's just too bad that it won't be viewed by the people who really need to see it...Right, Georgie?