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I am looking for a TV episode that involves a group of guys that all hang in a bar. In this bar is a old man that hits people up for drinks all the time and eventually these guys plan on taking insurance out on him and get him killed to collect, the only problem is the guy won't die. The old man would stay in the bar and get drop down drunk every night and the bartender told the guys about the chance to collect big by taking insurance out on the old man and ensuring he died. They did everything: buried him in snow drifts, packed his clothes with snow, you name it, and the old man would be in the bar the next night no matter what. He was obviously not human but something supernatural.

Eventually they throw him from a bridge into a river covered in ice and the cops catch them. The bar is shown in the end and the old man is sitting in the corner with steam coming from him asking for a drink.

I tried pulling up episode lists and I can't find the thing anywhere, I don't think its Ray Bradbury, Freddy's Nightmares. I think it was on the Sy-Fy channel years ago.

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  • Are you looking for a story you read or a TV episode?
    – phantom42
    Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 15:05
  • This story I am thinking is an episode of either, Amazing stories,Monsters,or one of the science fiction /horror TV series in the late 80's early 90's.
    – JChristop
    Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 15:19
  • The old man would stay in the bar and get drop down drunk everynight and the bar tender told the guys of the chance to collect big on insurance if the old man died if they had insurance on him. They did everything buried him in snow drifts, packed his cloths with snow you name it and the old man would be in the bar the next night no matter what, he was obviously not human but something super natural.
    – JChristop
    Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 15:22
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    this is slightly off topic, but i can just see this going down in always sunny, danny divito is the old drunk, and the other 3 are plotting to kill him to collect his life insurance lol.
    – Himarm
    Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 17:55
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    For those who may be contemplating such an action, please note: you can't buy a life insurance policy on another person unless you have an insurable interest in that person. Spouse, parent, child, key employee, business partner, etc. Not some random drunk you met in a bar.
    – Pete Becker
    Commented Sep 26, 2014 at 14:26

1 Answer 1

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I don't know of any story or episode that contained this, but there is a true story that's very similar: the story of Michael Malloy, or Mike the Durable:

Michael Malloy (1873 – February 22, 1933), alias Mike the Durable and Iron Mike, was a homeless Irishman from County Donegal who lived in New York City during the 1920s and 30s.[H]e is most famous for surviving a number of attempts on his life by five acquaintances, who were attempting to commit life insurance fraud

According to this article, they first gave him a lot of alcohol to get him to drink himself to death. When that failed, they replaced it with antifreeze, then turpentine, then rat poison. He survived them all. They carried him out to the frozen New York winter and poured water on him and left him in a park overnight. He survived that as well. They even ran him over with taxi, but still he managed to live through everything, until they finally poisoned him with gas. They were all arrested and most were executed.

The Wikipedia entry lists an episode of the Amazing Stories, an anthology SF series from the 80's, which aired in 1986, named "One For The Road", which was inspired by Michael Malloy's story, which might be what you're remembering. It is also the name of song by Primus, which is where I first heard the name.

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    Based on the OP's description, it's definitely the "One for the Road" episode of Amazing Stories. Good find, Avner!
    – Omegacron
    Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 17:41
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    OT: NO WAY!! I've been looking for a story for like 15 years now.. I followed your link Amazing Stories, and suddenly it struck me.. "Mirror, Mirror"! Unbelievable.. I watched every movie with "Mirror" in the title and didn't found it. Until now :D It's also very funny, that I clicked on this "Hot Network Questions", I don't follow scifi.stackexchange...
    – duedl0r
    Commented Sep 25, 2014 at 20:57
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    A review on IMDB says: " In the end (of the episode) they do manage to cause Malloy to fall off a bridge, but they are seen by policemen, and all are arrested. They all go to trial, are convicted of first degree murder (all blaming each other) and all are executed. The new owner of the bar is talking to a customer at the conclusion, and commenting on the fates of his predecessor and the others. Then he turns to an elderly man in the corner - it's Malloy, back for another drink. The new owner kindly gives the smiling Malloy one!"
    – CodesInChaos
    Commented Sep 26, 2014 at 15:09
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    Unfortunately, in the true-life story, the 5 men were caught (and 4 executed), but only AFTER killing Mr. Malloy (CO poisoning, I think -- I heard about this on QI)
    – KutuluMike
    Commented Sep 26, 2014 at 19:25

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