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| The Mad Doctor |
During the 1950’s, Rod Serling had made a career for himself as a
prominent screenwriter in Hollywood, with successes such as Patterns
for Kraft Television Theater and Requiem For a Heavyweight
for Playhouse 90. But Serling was becoming increasingly
frustrated with corporate censorship and sponsors who altered his
scripts either to promote themselves or to avoid controversy. The
most glaring example of this was the line “Got a match?” having
to be struck from Requiem because its sponsor sold lighters.
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| Your next stop... |
Deciding that a science-fiction setting with supernatural occurrences
would give him less interference in exploring controversial subjects,
he wrote a pilot pitch for his show, “The Time Element,” which
was the story of a man who travels through time to 1941 Honolulu and
tries to warn everyone of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. The
script was eventually produced as an episode of Desilu Playhouse,
and the critical acclaim gave Serling the freedom to begin
producing The Twilight Zone, which premiered on October 2,
1959, with “Where Is Everybody?”
“You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone.”
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| Rod Serling |
Although
it is often classed as science fiction, The
Twilight Zone is
very definitely a supernatural series, often utilizing elements of
horror and the paranormal. Each episode presented a stand-alone
story in which characters found themselves dealing with unusual
events, which was described as ‘entering the Twilight Zone.”
Often, the show had a surprise ending and a moral. Many critics of
the day wondered why Serling had given up writing scripts for more
prestigious programs to write a sci-fi-horror series, but Serling
knew exactly what he was doing. By couching his stories in a
supernatural or science-fiction setting, Serling was free to-examine
political and social mores of the day, knowing that they would be
observed as metaphorical and therefore would escape censorship.
Many episodes of The Twilight Zone are now deemed as classic
television, such as “Time Enough At Last,” “The Monsters Are
Due On Maple Street,” “Eye Of The Beholder,” “The Invaders,”
and “To Serve Man.” Acclaimed writers Richard Matheson and
Charles Beaumont also contributed scripts, and famed sci-fi writer Ray
Bradbury wrote the now-classic episode “I Sing The Body Electric”
which became the basis for his short story of the same name. A wide
variety of now-famous actors such as Burgess Meredith, Charles
Bronson, William Shatner, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carol Burnett, Robert
Duvall, Peter Falk, Jack Klugman, Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds
all made appearances in episodes of The Twilight Zone.
Serling
himself contributed most of the scripts, submitting a herculean 92
episodes over five years, and also began to appear at the opening and
closing of each show. Though it was his idea to do this, Serling was
very nervous in front of the camera, and reported of his appearances
that “Only my laundress knows how frightened I really am.”
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| He's terrified--no, really... |
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| In the Night Gallery |
The original Twilight Zone series lasted for five seasons, and
was an immediate hit in syndication, which introduced it to future
generations. In 1969, Serling had moved on to serve as on-air host
and major script contributor to Night Gallery, another
anthology series set in a macabre art gallery which contained a
larger focus on the supernatural. Though Night Gallery is
fondly remembered and commands a fan base of its own, Serling, who
died on June 28, 1975 of a heart attack, is best remembered for The
Twilight Zone.
The show has been in continuous reruns, and was made into a feature
film in 1983. Twilight Zone: The Movie starred such luminaries as Albert Brooks, Dan Aykroyd
(both Akyroyd and Brooks appear in a wrap-around segment that begins
the movie), Vic Morrow, Burgess Meredith (who narrated the film),
Scatman Crothers, Kathleen Quinlan, Kevin McCarthy (who appeared in
the 1956 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers) and John
Lithgow.
Due to the popularity of the TZ film, The Twilight Zone was
revived in 1985 in a new series narrated by Charles Aidman, himself
the star of two original TZ episodes. It was revived again in
2002 for one season, narrated by Forest Whittaker. Both series and
the film are available on DVD. The series also inspired a popular
dark ride at Disney theme parks, “The Twilight Zone Tower Of
Terror,” which takes place in a fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel
that is the site of several unexplained disappearances.
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| Peele crosses over |
In 2019, Jordan Peele, who co-wrote and performed in the comedy
series Key And Peele with Keegan-Michael Key and directed the
Academy-Award-winning horror film Get Out, announced a new
series of Twilight Zone for CBS All Access. In addition to
executive-producing the new TZ series, Peele hosts the show
and introduces the episodes. The series has received critical
acclaim and been renewed for a second season.
The continued survival and popularity of The Twilight Zone can be
considered a hallmark of what a commitment to exceptional writing and
singular vision can do for television. Though the special effects in
TZ have not always been successful, the true emphasis in TZ
has been on using strange and unsettling tales to explore the
human condition. It continues even today to influence and inspire other filmmakers
and writers with an interest in the supernatural.
Don’t forget to return soon for our next installment of The
MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween! You might just find a
gateway into another dimension...
