The Booth at the End (2010)

Just stumbled on this show by accident when catching up with a show on Hulu, and I dug it a lot. It's a small-scale production--all conversations set in a diner, at a single booth, and there are only five twenty-three minute episodes--but has some strong acting and a nice Serling/Bradbury edge. Xander Berkeley stars as The Man, a mysterious individual who sits in a diner and barters with people to get what they want, requiring the completion of tasks in return. The desires of the characters vary. One wants to be beautiful, another wants her husband to recover from Alzheimer's, another wants to be an excellent painter. The tasks are different, too, such as robbing a bank, detonating a bomb in a diner, or protecting a little girl from harm. How the characters grapple with these tasks unfolds over the course of the five episodes with varying results.

Some of the stories are better than others, but it maintains a generally consistent level of quality throughout its five episodes, in no small part because of Berkeley's wonderful performance as The Man. While THE BOOTH AT THE END won't change your life, it's more than worth a peek, if you can find the time (and given that it's not an enormous time commitment, it's easier to find time for THE BOOTH AT THE END than many other shows).

FWIW, THE BOOTH AT THE END has started putting up season 2. I'm still liking this show.

Apart from Berkeley, the performances look pretty dodgy, though I might give it a try.

Apart from Berkeley, the performances *are* pretty dodgy. Even so, the show holds up. (FWIW, the cast of season 2 seems to be a bit stronger than the cast of season 1.)