Shawn Philip Nelson
Veteran
Okay, I've seen bits and pieces, I've heard enough about them to get the general idea, but for whatever reason I have no memory of watching complete episodes. Can anyone point me to online episodes?
Never watched twighlight zone...
- Thread starter Shawn Philip Nelson
- Start date
jeremytuttle
Well-known member
This one through me for a loop when I was a kid (rerun of course)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4_2lQemFk&feature=related
This one is the one about the book worm, mentioned by Barry
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7LyhtEEwzAc&feature=related
There are a lot of great episodes, yeah they are dated and could use a modern spin but the concepts are great. If you've seen any of the Simpsons Halloween episodes you've probably seen more than a handful of satires of TZ episodes. Also if you're a fan of Richard Matheson's short stories you'll notice a lot of his short stories (which I recommend reading for inspiration) were developed into or written for TZ episodes.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4_2lQemFk&feature=related
This one is the one about the book worm, mentioned by Barry
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7LyhtEEwzAc&feature=related
There are a lot of great episodes, yeah they are dated and could use a modern spin but the concepts are great. If you've seen any of the Simpsons Halloween episodes you've probably seen more than a handful of satires of TZ episodes. Also if you're a fan of Richard Matheson's short stories you'll notice a lot of his short stories (which I recommend reading for inspiration) were developed into or written for TZ episodes.
ConspiracyPenguin
Nosey Penguin
My alltime favorite episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU
I, too, haven't seen many. This just happend to be the one I do remember watching, kind of stuck out in my mind.
I, too, haven't seen many. This just happend to be the one I do remember watching, kind of stuck out in my mind.
Zim
Veteran
Rod Serling bio. (he wrote 92 of the Twilight shows)
Rodman Edward Serling was born in Syracuse, N.Y., on December 25, 1924, and grew up in Binghamton, the son of a wholesale meat dealer. By his own account, he had no early literary ambitions, though from an early age, he and his older brother, Robert, immersed themselves in movies and in such magazines as Astounding Stories and Weird Tales.
On the day he graduated from high school, Serling enlisted in the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division paratroopers, and after basic training (during which time he took up boxing and won 17 out of 18 bouts) he was sent into combat in the Philippines and wounded by shrapnel.
After being discharged in 1946, Serling enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he majored in Physical Education. He soon switched to Language and Literature, and began writing, directing and acting in weekly productions on a local radio station. While still a student, Serling sold his first three national radio scripts — and even his first television script, "Grady Everett for the People," which he sold to the live half-hour anthology series Stars Over Hollywood (NBC 1950-51) for $100.
Serling married Carolyn Louise Kramer in 1948. After graduation, the pair moved to Cincinnati, where Serling became a staff writer for WLW radio and collected rejection slips for his freelance writing — 40 in a row at one point!
Serling's fortunes changed when he began writing full-time. From 1951 to 1955, more than 70 of his television scripts were produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Full-scale success came on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1955, with the live airing of his Kraft Television Theatre script "Patterns." Deemed a "creative triumph" by critics, and the winner of the first of Serling's six Emmy awards, the acclaimed production was actually remounted live to air a second time on Feb. 9, 1955 — an unprecedented event.
Serling went to work on screenplays for MGM and as a writer for CBS' illustrious Playhouse 90, for which he crafted 90-minute dramas — including both the series' 1956 debut, "Forbidden Area," starring Charlton Heston, Vincent Price, Jackie Coogan and Tab Hunter; and the multiple-Emmy Award-winning "Requiem for a Heavyweight," starring Jack Palance and Keenan Wynn that later was turned into both a feature film and a Broadway play. Remarkably, in a milieu that included such writing legends as Paddy Chayefsky and Reginald Rose, Serling took the writing Emmy again the following year for his Playhouse 90 script "The Comedian," starring Mickey Rooney.
A critical and financial success, Serling shocked many of his fans in 1957 when he left Playhouse 90 to create a science-fiction series he called The Twilight Zone.
CBS would air 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone, an astonishing 92 of which were written by Serling, over the next five years. His writing earned him two more Emmy Awards. The show went on to become one of television's most widely recognized and beloved series, and it has achieved a permanent place in American popular culture with its instantly recognizable opening, its theme music and its charismatic host, Serling himself. With early appearances by such performers as Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and many others, The Twilight Zone became a launching pad for some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
After the production of The Twilight Zone ended in January 1964, Serling remained active in television and movies, winning an Emmy for his Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre adapted script "It's Mental Work," and hosting and writing episodes of the 1970-73 anthology series Rod Serling's Night Gallery. There, his script "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" earned an Emmy nomination as the year's Outstanding Single Program. Serling returned to Antioch College as a professor and lectured at college campuses across the country. Politically active, Serling spoke out against the Vietnam War in the late '60s and early '70s.
Rod Serling died on June 28, 1975, in Rochester, N.Y., of complications arising from a coronary bypass operation.
Rodman Edward Serling was born in Syracuse, N.Y., on December 25, 1924, and grew up in Binghamton, the son of a wholesale meat dealer. By his own account, he had no early literary ambitions, though from an early age, he and his older brother, Robert, immersed themselves in movies and in such magazines as Astounding Stories and Weird Tales.
On the day he graduated from high school, Serling enlisted in the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division paratroopers, and after basic training (during which time he took up boxing and won 17 out of 18 bouts) he was sent into combat in the Philippines and wounded by shrapnel.
After being discharged in 1946, Serling enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he majored in Physical Education. He soon switched to Language and Literature, and began writing, directing and acting in weekly productions on a local radio station. While still a student, Serling sold his first three national radio scripts — and even his first television script, "Grady Everett for the People," which he sold to the live half-hour anthology series Stars Over Hollywood (NBC 1950-51) for $100.
Serling married Carolyn Louise Kramer in 1948. After graduation, the pair moved to Cincinnati, where Serling became a staff writer for WLW radio and collected rejection slips for his freelance writing — 40 in a row at one point!
Serling's fortunes changed when he began writing full-time. From 1951 to 1955, more than 70 of his television scripts were produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Full-scale success came on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1955, with the live airing of his Kraft Television Theatre script "Patterns." Deemed a "creative triumph" by critics, and the winner of the first of Serling's six Emmy awards, the acclaimed production was actually remounted live to air a second time on Feb. 9, 1955 — an unprecedented event.
Serling went to work on screenplays for MGM and as a writer for CBS' illustrious Playhouse 90, for which he crafted 90-minute dramas — including both the series' 1956 debut, "Forbidden Area," starring Charlton Heston, Vincent Price, Jackie Coogan and Tab Hunter; and the multiple-Emmy Award-winning "Requiem for a Heavyweight," starring Jack Palance and Keenan Wynn that later was turned into both a feature film and a Broadway play. Remarkably, in a milieu that included such writing legends as Paddy Chayefsky and Reginald Rose, Serling took the writing Emmy again the following year for his Playhouse 90 script "The Comedian," starring Mickey Rooney.
A critical and financial success, Serling shocked many of his fans in 1957 when he left Playhouse 90 to create a science-fiction series he called The Twilight Zone.
CBS would air 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone, an astonishing 92 of which were written by Serling, over the next five years. His writing earned him two more Emmy Awards. The show went on to become one of television's most widely recognized and beloved series, and it has achieved a permanent place in American popular culture with its instantly recognizable opening, its theme music and its charismatic host, Serling himself. With early appearances by such performers as Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and many others, The Twilight Zone became a launching pad for some of Hollywood's biggest stars.
After the production of The Twilight Zone ended in January 1964, Serling remained active in television and movies, winning an Emmy for his Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre adapted script "It's Mental Work," and hosting and writing episodes of the 1970-73 anthology series Rod Serling's Night Gallery. There, his script "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" earned an Emmy nomination as the year's Outstanding Single Program. Serling returned to Antioch College as a professor and lectured at college campuses across the country. Politically active, Serling spoke out against the Vietnam War in the late '60s and early '70s.
Rod Serling died on June 28, 1975, in Rochester, N.Y., of complications arising from a coronary bypass operation.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Dude... this show is classic.
ConspiracyPenguin
Nosey Penguin
You're out of control.
Me? Two in one night is hardly "out of control." Just look at Mark Johnson, if I am out of control that guy must be off the wagon insane!
Gary Sconce
Veteran
The Outer Limits and Night Gallery were also very much like Twilight Zone. Serling was the writer of many Night Gallery shows too.
Many up and coming TV and film stars were in the shows. Since they were half-hour shows, three acts and an epilogue in 22 minutes, they are prime examples of an interesting short with a twist. I loved 'em... but some of them scared me as a child. :embarasse
I seem to recall a show where a person that was ugly would give a pin to the women that didn't want to go out with him again and the pin would turn into a monster and eat them. Finally he dated a woman who HE didn't want to go out with again and she gave him a pin that ate him. Cool! :smile:
Many up and coming TV and film stars were in the shows. Since they were half-hour shows, three acts and an epilogue in 22 minutes, they are prime examples of an interesting short with a twist. I loved 'em... but some of them scared me as a child. :embarasse
I seem to recall a show where a person that was ugly would give a pin to the women that didn't want to go out with him again and the pin would turn into a monster and eat them. Finally he dated a woman who HE didn't want to go out with again and she gave him a pin that ate him. Cool! :smile:
Will Clegg
Veteran
Not that it helps for this fest, but anyone interested in watching a bunch of Twilight Zone episodes (in the US, that is) can watch an all-day marathon on the Sci-Fi network on July 4th and New Year's Day each year.
Larry Rutledge
Fest Master
It's important to remember that this is not a Twilight Zone contest. We have named it "TwilightFest" because TZ is the most widely recognized of this type of story, but there are many others to look at (e.g. Outer Limits, Amazing Stories, etc).
That said, I was reading about Twilight Zone online and came across some interesting information about how the show came about. You can read about it here: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/twilightzone/
What I found particularly interesting was this passage:
"...but as his [Rod Serling] widow Carolyn recalls, he was interested in telling stories that reflected his views on the America he saw around him.
But he met some resistance from the networks. One of his pre-Twilight Zone teleplays was based on the story of Emmett Till, a young black man lynched in the South. Sponsors balked at the idea of advertising alongside something so provocative, and the network revised the script before it could hit the air, turning the victim into an old man in the East.
Frustrated with the reaction of the network, Serling came up with a creative solution. Instead of tossing up issue-laden scripts like softballs that executives could easily hammer out of the park, he would fire his controversy under their radar, disguised as harmless fantasy.
"He had said, 'You know, you can put these words into the mouth of a Martian and get away with it,'" remembers Carolyn Serling. "If it was a Republican or Democrat they couldn't say it.
...
Serling knew he could use the more fantastic elements of science fiction to address the issues that plagued America without setting off alarm bells under the caps of cautious network executives."
There is more in the article, but that kind of summed (for me anyway) the origin of the show and really is the aspect that I think people are most drawn to. Each episode addresses issues that matter to people, but does so in a non-threatening manner.
That said, I was reading about Twilight Zone online and came across some interesting information about how the show came about. You can read about it here: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/twilightzone/
What I found particularly interesting was this passage:
"...but as his [Rod Serling] widow Carolyn recalls, he was interested in telling stories that reflected his views on the America he saw around him.
But he met some resistance from the networks. One of his pre-Twilight Zone teleplays was based on the story of Emmett Till, a young black man lynched in the South. Sponsors balked at the idea of advertising alongside something so provocative, and the network revised the script before it could hit the air, turning the victim into an old man in the East.
Frustrated with the reaction of the network, Serling came up with a creative solution. Instead of tossing up issue-laden scripts like softballs that executives could easily hammer out of the park, he would fire his controversy under their radar, disguised as harmless fantasy.
"He had said, 'You know, you can put these words into the mouth of a Martian and get away with it,'" remembers Carolyn Serling. "If it was a Republican or Democrat they couldn't say it.
...
Serling knew he could use the more fantastic elements of science fiction to address the issues that plagued America without setting off alarm bells under the caps of cautious network executives."
There is more in the article, but that kind of summed (for me anyway) the origin of the show and really is the aspect that I think people are most drawn to. Each episode addresses issues that matter to people, but does so in a non-threatening manner.
Dick Campbell
Veteran
Underneath the fantasy and science fiction there was always a moral dilemma of the human experience. And SF has always been first with taboos - remember the first interracial kiss on Star Trek?
as for me, my favorite TZ is the one where the three astronauts from Earth crash on a desert world that appears to be on the exact opposite orbit from the sun.
and I have to admit, I saw it when it was first run
as for me, my favorite TZ is the one where the three astronauts from Earth crash on a desert world that appears to be on the exact opposite orbit from the sun.
and I have to admit, I saw it when it was first run
Nathyn
Low Budget Ninja
Awesome ep. I saw it a few weeks ago on SciFi, which is also running "Tales from the DarkSide". Outer Limits was also a Rod Sterling thing.
-Nate
I'd love to read his original story. The Emmet Till case has been in the news the last few years and would be interesting to read Serling's spin on it
ConspiracyPenguin
Nosey Penguin
So I finally took a look at "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" Very good stuff, although I couldn't help but laugh at this:
I am thinking about making it my avatar just to throw people off for a day or so. :grin:
I am thinking about making it my avatar just to throw people off for a day or so. :grin: