Dreams for Sale
| "Dreams for Sale" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
 Scene from "Dreams for Sale" | |
| Episode no. |
Season 1 Episode 2, Segment 2 |
| Directed by | Tommy Lee Wallace |
| Written by | Joe Gannon |
| Original air date | October 4, 1985 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Meg Foster: Dreamer | |
"Dreams for Sale" is the second segment of the second episode of the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. A woman (Meg Foster) finds that a relaxing outdoor picnic with her family is nothing more than an escapist fantasy that is beamed directly into her brain.
Plot
On an idyllic outdoor picnic with her husband, their daughters, and their dog, a woman becomes confused and disoriented when her vision stutters and events repeat themselves. Eventually, things become so distorted with repeating images and sounds that she screams. She awakens and discovers she is in a futuristic dream-making machine alongside hundreds of others. They are all in a sterile, industrial indoor environment. A technician explains to her that she was in a Dreamatron which is a "Fully Interactive Dream" machine, and it was running a "Country Picnic" program.
He fixes the circuit board for her dream bay and tells her to relax and enjoy her last six minutes before returning to work. Apparently, her mind somehow fixed herself in her dream life and not her real life. Still confused, she returns to her dream world and relaxes again in her fantasy. She tries to tell her husband about her "dream" but forgets it almost straight away. She asks if her husband will stay with her forever and he tells her he will. Meanwhile the machine burns out before technicians can disconnect her, trapping her in the alternate reality forever.
They sadly note, "At least she died happy."