The Cube (1969)
An unnamed man, simply called "The Man" is trapped in a cubical white room where anyone else can enter and leave, but which he himself apparently cannot leave. A stool is brought in covered in strawberry jam, the furniture changes throughout the play. The main character, is subjected to an increasingly puzzling and frustrating series of encounters, as a variety of people come through various hidden doors. But, as many remind him, he can only leave through his own door, so he must find it to leave. Originally airing on NBC's weekly anthology television show NBC Experiment in Television in 1969, the production was produced and directed by puppeteer and filmmaker Jim Henson, and was one of several experiments with the live-action film medium which he conducted in the 1960s, before focusing entirely on The Muppets and other puppet works.
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Like so many others here, I too saw it, when it was first run, as a teenager - WOW. And yes, I too can't get it out of my head, and just today learned that it was Jim Henson!!! The man WAS a genius!!! And, like the rest of you - I want a copy!!! Just to prove to my friends that I'm not as crazy as you think I am.I remember the band playing "You'll never get out.. You'll never get out... you'll never get out of the cube.."Towards the ending, when he's shown the casket... and given the gun... oh man.. that scene is vivid in my mind right now, 30+ years later after having seen it that one time, in', as we used to say, living color.But really.. isn't life all just strawberry jam?
I have looked for information on this show FOREVER. Wish I had a way of buying it. Like other comments I have seen here, I saw this show many years ago as I teen. However I don't think a year has gone by since that I have not thought of it one or more times. I have also tried to talk with other people about it but other than my brother, who also happened to watch when I did, I have never yet found anyone else who has seen it.It was such a bizarre story. And of course it pre-dated even VCRs so I have NO idea how a person could get a copy. I'm not even sure who would own the rights to it. I am pretty sure it was not from a major network. I can not imagine a mainstream network in 1969 that would have shown it let alone developed it.It definitely had an impact on me.
Me too. I've been telling people about this for 30 years. I can't believe I found proof it really exists! I was starting to think I'd dreamed it. Jim Henson? That's quite a leap. From "The Cube" to "Sesame Street". It was almost 35 years ago and I just happened to catch it one weekend morning. (I think I was hung over or coming down or something.) But it left a lasting impression on me. I would LOVE to see it again.
The Cube was shown on NBC as part of a series called Experiments in Television. To my knowledge it was only shown twice, but it was a wonderfully surreal program unlike anything I had ever seen before.The series showed other unusual things like a series of cartoons that were written by British playwright Harold Pinter.I certainly wish NBC would find these shows and re-air them, because in the year 2003, they would still look incredibly modern!