He gets out his tool chest and builds a toy car. On top, he places the potato with tow wires coming out of it - a potato battery! He attaches the wires to the underside of the car, then looks under his bed for a secret contraption he's been working on. It looks suspiciously like a low-tech version of the controls for a remote control car. He finally hits the right switch and the car takes off. It works!
 

After minutes of inspired cartoon mayhem, the room is a mess, the car is broken, the door opens, a parent peeks in.
 

DAD
What on earth is going on here?
 

TOMMY
I was making something up.
 

DAD
Little Tommy Edison, I warned you
to stop inventing things and
concentrate on your work. Now
clean up this mess or you won't get
any dinner.

INT. TOM EDISON'S BEDROOM - AFTERNOON
Tom Edison is a bright and precocious teenager getting himself spruced up. He combs his hair just right, brushes some dust off his shoulders, and shines his shoes.

The doorbell rings. He dashes out the door.

INT. TOM EDISON'S LIVING ROOM - AFTERNOON
Tom rushes down the staircase.
 

TOM
I'll get it.

He opens the front door. Standing there is the love of his life, Mary Stilwell.
 

MARY
Good afternoon, Tom.
 

TOM
I'm glad you could make it. Would
you like to come in?
 

MARY
I don't think it would be proper
unless we had a chaperone.
 

TOM
What? Oh, don't worry, dad's home.
 

MARY
Well, okay.

He escorts her to the sofa. She sits at one end, he sits in the middle near her.
 

MARY
Mr. Edison! If you expect me to
spend the afternoon with you, I'm
afraid you will have to maintain a
respectable distance.

With one delicate finger, she points to the other end of the sofa. Tom reluctantly seats himself as far away from her as possible on the same piece of furniture.
 

MARY
So anyway, when my aunt put salt in
her tea, I almost died.

 Mary is droning on and on. Tom is getting bored. Suddenly, a cartoon light bulb appears over his head. He's got an idea. He surreptitiously reaches towards the back rear leg of the sofa. Hidden next to it is a hand crank, which Tom pulls. It activates a mechanism under the sofa that makes it shorter. Mary is now an inch closer to Tom, and oblivious that anything dastardly has occurred.

He pulls the crank again. She's closer, still droning on about some family crisis. Closer. Closer still till... he's finally got his arm around her, while still sitting at the other end of the sofa. She doesn't notice. He smells her hair. He's intoxicated. She doesn't notice. He's about to plant a smooch on her cheek when...
 

DAD
What on earth is going on here?

Tom quickly sits up normal.
 

TOM
Nothing, dad.
 

DAD
What's wrong with the sofa?

Tom thinks for a second. A light bulb goes on over his head. He quickly points to the window.
 

TOM
Look, dad, a ruby-breasted sparrow.
 

DAD
Impossible, not this time of year.

When dad looks to the window, Tom reaches to the crank and lets it go. The sofa quickly expands. When dad looks back, the sofa has returned to its normal size.
 

TOM
What were you saying about the sofa, dad?

Dad looks at the sofa, then at the camera. He shakes his head in puzzlement. He decides not to follow that line of questioning.
 

DAY
Anyway, lunch is ready. You two
follow me.

Tom and Mary follow him into the dining room.
 

INT. THOMAS EDISON'S BEDROOM - EVENING
Thomas Alva Edison is a bright and precocious middle-aged man trying to read in bed. There's a candle by the side of the bed. His wife, Mary, is asleep next to him. The light is flickering. Thomas is annoyed. Suddenly, a cartoon light bulb appears over his head. He's got an idea. He gets up, goes to a cupboard, and gets out a candle. Using a knitting needle, he puts a bunch of extra wicks into the candle, then sets it by the side of the bed.

It's now bright enough to read, but the candle is burning too hot. The wax is melting all over the place. He quickly tries to clean up without waking his wife. He finally places one lit candle back on the side dresser. He sits and thinks. Another idea pops into his head, and the cartoon light bulb appears again. It lights the room. Mary wakes up.
 

MARY
What on earth is going on?
 

THOMAS
I was just thinking.
 

MARY
What's that thing above your head?
 

THOMAS
Oh that? I don't know, but it always
appears whenever I think of some-
thing. I didn't know anyone else
could see it.
 

MARY
Well I can and it's keeping me up.
Why don't you just build one of
those and put a shade on it so I
can get some sleep?

She rolls over. Thomas looks up at the cartoon light bulb above his head and, for the first time, studies it. He gets an idea, and another cartoon light bulb appears above his head. Then another. And another and another and another until the entire planet is lit up by light bulbs.