This episode is based on the short story "What You Need" by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore in Astounding Science Fiction October, 1945.

Before The Twilight Zone, this story was adapted as an episode of the classic sci-fi anthology Tales of Tomorrow.

This story aired December 25th, 1959, Rod Serling's 35th birthday.

Opening Narration
Narrator: You're looking at Mr. Fred Renard, who carries on his shoulder a chip the size of the national debt. This is a sour man, a friendless man, a lonely man, a grasping, compulsive, nervous man. This is a man who has lived thirty-six undistinguished, meaningless, pointless, failure-laden years and who at this moment looks for an escape - any escape, any way, anything, anybody - to get out of the rut. And this little old man is just what Mr. Renard is waiting for.

Pedott: I feel sorry for you. I really do.
Fred Renard: I don't want you to. I don't want you to go to that kind of trouble. I just want you to keep supplying me with what I need. I don't care what it is. Scissors to save my lousy hide or a leaky fountain pen so I can pick winners. But whatever it is, I want it to keep coming. I don't want it to stop.
Pedott: That's a pity, because it must stop. It must stop now.
Fred Renard: Why? Why does it have to stop?
Pedott: Because the things you need most I can't supply.
Fred Renard: What are they?
Pedott: Serenity, peace of mind, humor, the ability to laugh at oneself. Those are the things you need most, but it's beyond my power to give them to you.

Fred Renard: What are you doing, giving me the business? Is that what you're doing, giving me the business? You know, I can come over there and take you apart bone by bone. Come on, old man, tell me. Are these what I need?
Pedott: I didn't say they were. But I'll tell you something. They happen to be what I need.

Pedott: Mr. Renard, what I saw in your eyes at that bar was death. My death. You were going to kill me. So what was needed for Mr. Renard was slippery shoes... that's what was needed, slippery shoes.

Closing Narration
Narrator: Street scene. Night. Traffic accident. Victim named Fred Renard, gentleman with a sour face to whom contentment came with difficulty. Fred Renard, who took all that was needed, in the Twilight Zone.

The scene just after Rod Serling's opening narration is obviously being played backwards. The smoke is traveling downward and back into Renard's cigarette.

When Renard enters the elevator, his scarf is hanging straight down his back and the edge of the elevator has already passed it. Which would make it impossible for the closing door to snag it. However, in the next shot, the scarf is caught in the door and being pulled at an angle.