# Remembering Rod Serling



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Maureen Dowd's column in yesterday's New York Times reminded me just how brilliant Serling was, IMHO.


> *The Twitter Zone*
> 
> I knew I should have been out eating charred meat or watching a bad Michael Bay movie.
> 
> ...


----------



## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

I've been watching "The Twilight Marathon" ever since I moved to Southern California in the early 80's and it is one of the marathon's which I never get tired of.


----------



## jadebox (Dec 14, 2004)

The series is also available on Netflix streaming.

If you haven't already, pick up a copy of _The Twilight Zone Companion_ by Marc Scott Zicree. It's a fun book. I sometimes read it just after seeing an Twilight Zone episode to read about that episode. It has a lot of interesting information about each episode.

-- Roger


----------



## txtommy (Dec 30, 2006)

fluffybear said:


> I've been watching "The Twilight Marathon" ever since I moved to Southern California in the early 80's and it is one of the marathon's which I never get tired of.


Seems that every year they have a 24 hour marathon and then show the same episodes. The show was on for 5 years so there must be at least 150-180 episodes. It would be nice to see some that I haven't already memorized the scripts.


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

I've been a "Zone" fan since it first aired in 1959. For me the two most eerie episodes are "The After Hours" and "Eye of the Beholder".


----------



## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

MysteryMan said:


> I've been a "Zone" fan since it first aired in 1959. For me the two most eerie episodes are "The After Hours" and "Eye of the Beholder".


My favorite has always been "Kick The Can", followed closely by the guilty pleasure of "Terror at 20,000 Feet"....


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

One of my all-time favorites was Burgess Meredith as Henry Bemis, in _"Time Enough At Last"_.


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Count me as a fan of "the Monsters are due on Maple St."


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

I'm a softie for a touching story, so I have to go with "One for the Angels", which many Twilight Zone fans disdain because it isn't spookie enough.

When I saw "In the Eye of the Beholder" in first run, I knew within the first maybe five minutes how it was going to turn out, but it was a great episode anyway, whereas I had no clue whatsoever how, "To Serve Man " was going to end.



> My name is Talky Tina... and I'm going to kill you!


----------



## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Steve said:


> One of my all-time favorites was Burgess Meredith as Henry Bemis, in _"Time Enough At Last"_.





Stuart Sweet said:


> Count me as a fan of "the Monsters are due on Maple St."


One night this weekend, Sci-Fi put those two in rotation along with a Shatner episode, "Terror at 20,000 Feet" and "To Serve Man." What a night of TV!


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

The two old people who only have enough money for one young body. Very O. Henry/Gift of the Magi.

The POV plastic surgery operation with the pig-faced people. Awesome!

The two couples leaving just before WWIII on a secret flying saucer project. Who find...Earth!

Willoughby! Who doesn't want to get off at Willoughby?

Such heart, such depth, such brave probing and human moral issues explored. Where is such a show today?


----------



## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

txtommy said:


> Seems that every year they have a 24 hour marathon and then show the same episodes. The show was on for 5 years so there must be at least 150-180 episodes. It would be nice to see some that I haven't already memorized the scripts.


If I have my count correct, there should be 139 half hour episodes + 18 1 hour episodes made during the original run (1959 to 1962). Apparently, the show was late in getting a sponsor for season 4 and was replaced by CBS. However, the show was brought back as a mid-season replacement (for the very show which it replaced it) and the episodes were lengthened to 1 hour. The show returned to it's traditional 30 minute format for season 5.

I agree that it would be nice to see them rotate the episodes a little more. It is hard pressed to find a bad Twilight Zone episode.


----------



## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

elaclair said:


> My favorite has always been "Kick The Can", followed closely by the guilty pleasure of "Terror at 20,000 Feet"....


It would be faster if I just named my least favorite episode(s), "Perchance to Dream" as I'd be typing quite a while to try and list my favorites.


----------



## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

My 17 year old daughter has just picked up on the greatness of The Twilight Zone. She recorded the entire maraton this last weekend. Nice to see another generation understanding that the story is the key, not the special effects!


----------



## Joe Bernardi (May 27, 2003)

My favorite is *The Invaders*. I've often figured out what the ending would be on a lot of the episodes, but not that one.


----------



## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

fluffybear said:


> If I have my count correct, there should be 139 half hour episodes + 18 1 hour episodes made during the original run (1959 to 1962). Apparently, the show was late in getting a sponsor for season 4 and was replaced by CBS. However, the show was brought back as a mid-season replacement (for the very show which it replaced it) and the episodes were lengthened to 1 hour. The show returned to it's traditional 30 minute format for season 5.


I've been going through the series on Netflix streaming, and I've noticed they don't have the 4th season episodes, for some reason. Hope they get them added before I get there, but they have a while -- last one I watched was Season 1, Episode 24.


----------



## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

That is strange that Season 4 is not available on Netflix while the other 4 seasons are.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

"Perchance to Dream" was terrible. Hated it as a kid, still do.

Remember Robert Redford as the Angel of Death?


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Serling at one point worked at one of the radio stations in my hometown of Marion, Ohio. I'm not convinced it's true, but local talk has it that he was fired because he kept writing weird stories. If it is true, I'm glad he kept it up.


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

Maruuk said:


> ...Remember Robert Redford as the Angel of Death?


I don't think that anyone actually "remembers" Robert Redford in Angel of Death, at least from the episode's premier viewing, because Redford was, at the time, a nobody, and he wasn't really much of a screen presence throughout that episode. This is one of the episodes where, if you remembered the episode from first run and saw it again, you'd say, "Holy S____" That was Robert Redford!" Ditto for Donna Douglas in, "Eye of the behlder". I mean, when Redford and Douglas eventually broke into the public consciousness, I doubt anyone thought, "Hey, I recognize him/her from The Twilight Zone."


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

The SyFy promo mentions these "nobodies": Robert Redford, William Shatner, Burt Reynolds, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Carol Burnett, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Peter Falk and Bill Mumy.

Wikipedia adds Ron Howard, Mariette Hartley and Shelley Fabares to the list of previously unknown actors.


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

Dick York, Jack Klugman, Inger Stevens, Roddy McDowell...


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

The episode "Two" featured two unknowns. Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Interesting that Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Agnes Moorehead were all TZ alums.


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

Unknown Ross Martin co-starred with Jack Klugman in "Death Ship" (1963)

Patric Macnee, "Judgement Night" (1959)


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

Steve said:


> Interesting that Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Agnes Moorehead were all TZ alums.


Add David White (Darrin's boss) to that list.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

MysteryMan said:


> Add David White (Darrin's boss) to that list.


Larry! :lol:


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

> Stevens! If you lose that account, you're fired!


-Larry Tate, in nearly every episode.


----------



## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I lived for thirty some years in towns near Binghamton, New York, where Serling attended high school. The Rod Serling School of Fine Arts is part of Binghamton High School (his Alma Mater), and the school sponsors an annual Rod Serling festival.


----------



## jadebox (Dec 14, 2004)

Steve said:


> Interesting that Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Agnes Moorehead were all TZ alums.


William Froug, a producer of The Twilight Zone, was later a producer of Bewitched.

My favorite episodes are mostly the ones starring Burgess Meridith or Jack Klugman.

-- Roger


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

I started a thread here a long while back about 'unknowns' in some of these early shows that went on to be big names.

I've gotten to where I hate anything with Shatner in it and refuse to watch it, no matter what it is.

Meredith seemed to excel in the meek, bookworm lost in the world type of role at least until he was The Penguin in Batman.

Surprised no one has mentioned the infamous Billy Mummy episode.

I preferred the episodes that had a bit of a comedic twist like the diner with the aliens conducting experiments.


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

SayWhat? said:


> I started a thread here a long while back about 'unknowns' in some of these early shows that went on to be big names.
> 
> I've gotten to where I hate anything with Shatner in it and refuse to watch it, no matter what it is.
> 
> ...


Which Billy Mimmy episode? He did three.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Who is Billy Mimmy ? 


I don't know any of the episode names, but the one about the cornfield.


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

SayWhat? said:


> Who is Billy Mimmy ?
> 
> I don't know any of the episode names, but the one about the cornfield.


That would be "It's a Good Life". His other two were "In Praise of Pip" and "Long Distance Call".


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

MysteryMan said:


> That would be "It's a Good Life". His other two were "In Praise of Pip" and "Long Distance Call".


Mumy's probably best known as "Will Robinson", in _Lost in Space_.


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

I was traveling through Ohio last month and we went through Willoughby, Ohio.

First thing I thought of was the Twilight Zone and one of my favorite episodes "A Stop at Willoughby".

My colleague that I was with, who lives about 5 minutes from Willoughby had never heard of the episode.


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Steve said:


> Mumy's probably best known as "Will Robinson", in _Lost in Space_.


Lost in Space was a TV show that ran on CBS from 1965-1968


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

spartanstew said:


> My colleague that I was with, who lives about 5 minutes from Willoughby had never heard of the episode.


I bet the people who live in or near Banff have heard of The Singing Mountie episode of F Troop.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Cheapest ep ever was the one with the third eye Venusian with the eye behind the point of his cap. If I remember, the entire ep was these 3 guys talking in a diner. Which results in the Venusians destroying the Martians in a battle for Earth--all off-camera off-course. They probably paid the unknown actors scale, one cheap set, no SFX. Just talk. And the cost of the eye prosthetic.

I was pleased when The Outer Limits came along and always included what they called "the bear" every ep--meaning a cool monster. TZ could get awfully talky and non-sci-fi for my taste. Like the ep with the Devil's head fortune teller thing in the diner. Major yawns.

The Mickey Rooney/giant ep ("Last Night of a Jockey") was kind of cool, tho...

"Meet Grady. A little man with...big dreams."


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Maruuk said:


> The Mickey Rooney/giant ep ("Last Night of a Jockey") was kind of cool, tho...
> 
> "Meet Grady. A little man with...big dreams."


IIRC, the 3-4 Klugman episodes were similar in tone to Rooney's.

I actually enjoyed that Diner episode. Great twist at the end, IMHO.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Yeah, you figured the single Martian reveal was the payoff, then the Venusian double-switcheroo!


----------



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

I'm not sure if it was on the 'Twilight Zone' or the 'Outer Limits', but the episode involved a 1950-60s era housewife in her home and being pulled, feet first, across the floor, into a closet and down an unseen hole by several malevolent little gremlin-like creatures. I vividly remember the skirt of the woman's dress being pulled up to her waist as she was dragged along the floor.

That scene left quite a strong impression on me and is about all of the episode that I can remember.

Does anyone know which program and which epi this was?

tia


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

That's a 1973 movie: "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" with Kim Darby where the horrible little basement gremlins haul her down into their lair.

Directed interestingly by John Newland who was famous for his own 1950's TV series "One Step Beyond" featuring a combo of supernatural, fantasy and minor horror plots.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Another cool but forgotten series.

Later there was "Tales from the Crypt" and "Amazing Stories" and I think a few others.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

"Way Out", "Panic!" and "Tales of Tomorrow" were my faves. Here's Paul Newman's screen debut on "Tales of Tomorrow"...


----------



## jadebox (Dec 14, 2004)

Maruuk said:


> Cheapest ep ever was the one with the third eye Venusian with the eye behind the point of his cap. If I remember, the entire ep was these 3 guys talking in a diner. Which results in the Venusians destroying the Martians in a battle for Earth--all off-camera off-course. They probably paid the unknown actors scale, one cheap set, no SFX. Just talk. And the cost of the eye prosthetic.


Actually, the least expensive episode was probably "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The producers were running over budget during the last season of The Twilight Zone. They purchased the rights to air the short film for less than the normal cost of producing an original episode.

-- Roger


----------



## jadebox (Dec 14, 2004)

BTW ... if you like The Twilight Zone, see if you can find any recordings of Playhouse 90. Serling wrote or adapted stories for several episodes. 

-- Roger


----------



## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

jadebox said:


> BTW ... if you like The Twilight Zone, see if you can find any recordings of Playhouse 90. Serling wrote or adapted stories for several episodes.


He wrote episodes for most of the big live TV drama anthologies of the '50s -- his most famous work, "Patterns," aired on "Kraft Television Theatre." (It was later made into a film.)

His experiences working on those shows led to "The Twilight Zone" in that he wanted to run his own show that would be more free from sponsor/network interference than the drama anthologies. For example, he wrote a show that had scenes set in the U.S. Senate, in which he had to have the Senators speaking in completely meaningless double talk because the sponsor and the network didn't want to be seen as supporting one side of the political spectrum or the other; there was a quote from him to the effect of "it would have been better if I could have set it 100 years in the future and peopled the Senate with robots."


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

jadebox said:


> Actually, the least expensive episode was probably "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The producers were running over budget during the last season of The Twilight Zone. They purchased the rights to air the short film for less than the normal cost of producing an original episode.
> 
> -- Roger


"A livin' man! I wants to be...a livin' man!"

Very depressing little film, it seriously bummed me out as a kid.


----------



## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

jadebox said:


> BTW ... if you like The Twilight Zone, see if you can find any recordings of Playhouse 90. Serling wrote or adapted stories for several episodes.


Serling also wrote one of the best political thriller movies of the 1960s, _Seven Days In May_.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Carl Spock said:


> Serling also wrote one of the best political thriller movies of the 1960s, _Seven Days In May_.


He wrote that screenplay? No wonder it was so great! I rank it right up there with _Fail-Safe_, another gripping "cold war" B&W movie from the same year, 1964.


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

Steve said:


> He wrote that screenplay? No wonder it was so great! I rank it right up there with _Fail-Safe_, another gripping "cold war" B&W movie from the same year, 1964.


He also co-wrote the screenplay for "Planet of the Apes" (1968) with Michael Wilson.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Don't forget about "Requiem for a Heavyweight".


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Maruuk said:


> Don't forget about "Requiem for a Heavyweight".


Wow. I did forget about that one. What a great performance by Anthony Quinn, IIRC.


----------



## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

Maruuk said:


> Don't forget about "Requiem for a Heavyweight".


And, oops, I did forget about it when I mentioned "Patterns" earlier. "Requiem for a Heavyweight" was indeed a "Playhouse 90" episode.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Armstrong Circle Theater, Playhouse 90, Kraft Theater...man, on the East coast you could turn on your TV at night and watch an O'Neill play or a Serling script starring guys like James Dean and Paul Newman...LIVE from NY!

There were gaffes all over the place, blown lines, dropped props, etc. but you didn't care, it was LIVE! And powerful.

If I'm not mistaken, "I Remember Mama" was broadcast live from NY on Friday nights to the East coast and kinescoped on 16mm film for the West Coast. A lot of shows did that.


----------



## Relativity (May 28, 2011)

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but Night Gallery is another Rod Serling series from the early 70s. Its sometimes on RTN / Retro channels, but I haven't seen it on the air for a while.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

As a kid, I was always looking for sci-fi, and thrilled when I found it on the TZ. Night Gallery was always disappointing, just soft, silly supernatural junk like John Newland's "One Step Beyond". The Outer Limits should have been a huge upgrade, but even as a kid I could tell how cheezy it was. At least they had a bevy of aliens every week. Or is that a gaggle of aliens?


----------



## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

Cholly said:


> I lived for thirty some years in towns near Binghamton, New York, where Serling attended high school. The Rod Serling School of Fine Arts is part of Binghamton High School (his Alma Mater), and the school sponsors an annual Rod Serling festival.


Grew up in Binghamton, NY and in fact lived next door to Rod Serling's old house for I think about 7 or 8 years. No nothing really strange ever happened.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Is there a carousel there and a train with old-fashioned looking conductors? Did you ever lose power and people on your street got "real edgy"?


----------



## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

Maruuk said:


> Is there a carousel there and a train with old-fashioned looking conductors? Did you ever lose power and people on your street got "real edgy"?


Actually the carousel referrence is a good one as there are several working carousels in Binghamton and the surrounding area. The other two not so much. The only eventful thing that happened at his old house is that it caught fire once, but that was because someone fell asleep while smoking in one of those big overstuffed chairs. Everyone got out ok and the house was damaged but not a total loss by any means and the owners cleaned it up fixed the damage and continued to live there.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

tsmacro said:


> The only eventful thing that happened at his old house is that it caught fire once, but that was because someone fell asleep while smoking in one of those big overstuffed chairs.


Smoking? In Rod Serling's home??? Unbelievable!!! :eek2:


----------



## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I hear the owners died in the fire. You only think they still _live_ there.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

"C'mon ya old butt fiend, get in the damned casket before the next commercial! I got Downhill Racer and Butch Cassidy lined up!"


----------



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

Today's SyFy Twilight Zone block includes episodes featuring then-unknowns Larry Blyden, Richard Long (Jarrod Barkley), and Robert Lansing.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Funny how names and faces intermingle. I knew I recognized the actor featured now, but I couldn't place him. Hit "Info" and saw the name "Joseph Wiseman", which brought to mind his role as Manny Weisbord in "Crime Story" with Dennis Farina.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Also on today, Carol Burnett, Donna Douglas, Lee Marvin and a very, very young (child) Morgan Brittany.


----------



## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

SayWhat? said:


> Funny how names and faces intermingle. I knew I recognized the actor featured now, but I couldn't place him. Hit "Info" and saw the name "Joseph Wiseman", which brought to mind his role as Manny Weisbord in "Crime Story" with Dennis Farina.


Least we forget he was 007's nemesis in Dr. No.


----------

