The Twilight Zone

Rod Serling had made his mark as a writer of television scripts in the 1950s with his most famous show being "Requiem for a Heavyweight" for Playhouse 90. He wrote The Time Element, proposed as the first episode of a science fiction anthology series. But CBS executives didn't think it met the network's standards even though they did purchase the script. It was retired to the vaults.

The script was found in the vaults by Bert Granet, a new producer for CBS's Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse when he went looking for a Serling script to add prestige to the show. It aired in November 1958. Both viewers and critics gave the episode high praise, with over six thousand letters being sent to Granet's office. CBS decided to enter into talks with Serling to produce The Twilight Zone.

Rod Serling had not been happy with the heavy censorship applied to his scripts in the 1950s. Politics was basically forbidden territory because network executives didn't want to be seen leaning to one side or another in their shows. Sponsors often had control over what would appear. For example, in a show sponsored by Ford, views of the classic New York skyscraper, the Chrysler Building, were not allowed.

By using science fiction and fantasy, Serling and other series writers found they could get around a lot of the censorship to discuss serious issues such as nuclear war, mass hysteria (a feature of the McCarthy era) and racism.

While Serling wrote most of the scripts, he also hired some of the best science fiction writers available, among them Charles Beaumont ("The Howling Man," "The Printer's Devil"), Richard Matheson ("Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "Little Girl Lost") and Ray Bradbury ("I Sing the Body Electric"). Earl Hamner, Jr. ("The Hunt," "Stopover in a Quiet Town") wrote eight episodes, although he is probably better known as the creator of the novel and movie Spencer's Mountain and the television series The Waltons.

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

One of the best known episodes of the series is Serling's own "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." One evening neighbors are out talking to one another as their children play. A shadow passes over with a loud roar, followed by a flash of light. As it gets dark, people go inside and find there's no power. Even a car won't start, although it does start on its own after the owner gets out and walks away.

A child who reads comic books claims there's an alien invasion and a young man who wants to go into town won't be allowed to leave. Rumors begin to spread and panic develops, resulting in a man being killed by a shotgun wielded by a neighbor.

At the end, two aliens are shown. They've been manipulating the neighborhood's power, then letting the fear and paranoia of the residents take over. That's their plan: to conquer the planet one "Maple Street" at a time.

"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is often shown (without ads) in schools as part of the "Cable in the Classroom" series to teach children about the dangers of prejudice and hysteria.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

In Richard Matheson's "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" William Shatner stars as a nervous airline passenger who sees a gremlin out on the wing attempting to tamper with one of the engines. The airline's crew says there can't possibly be anything out there, but he keeps seeing it. Eventually it drives him crazy and he's carried off in a stretcher at the end of the flight. One of the crew members then checks out the engine and finds part of the cowling has been bent out of shape as if someone had been pulling on it.

The Twilight Zone won three Emmy Awards, including two for Rod Serling for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama in 1960 and 1961, and was nominated for five more.

The show also won three Hugo Awards in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for each of the show's first three seasons in 1960, 1961 and 1962. The fourth season was nominated in 1963 but no winner was chosen.

Although The Twilight Zone developed a devoted following, it was never a huge ratings success. It was cancelled twice but then revived. After three and a half seasons as a half-hour show, it was expanded to a full hour in January 1963. The following Fall it returned to a half-hour format.

Eventually, after writing 92 scripts, Serling became tired of the show. When it was cancelled for a third time, he decided not to fight it. Later he sold his rights to the show to CBS.

In 1983 Steven Spielberg produced Twilight Zone, the Movie, directed by John Landis. It starred Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers, and John Lithgow. Burgess Meredith was the narrator, allthough unlike Serling, he did not appear on screen. The movie was somewhat successful, although it was overshadowed by a helicopter accident which claimed the lives of Vic Morrow and two child actors.

CBS gave the go-ahead to a revival of the television show, which ran from 1984 to 1989. It developed a cult following, but like the first series, was never a huge ratings success. Several of the episodes were very well received, including "Dream Me a Life" by J. Michael Straczynski, who later went on to create the television science fiction series Babylon 5. The theme for the series was performed by The Grateful Dead.

The UPN network did a low-budget revival of The Twilight Zone which began in 2002, but it only lasted one season. It was an hour-long show with two half-hour segments. Reactions from critics and audiences was not very good, although episodes continue to run in syndication.

For the first time ever, find all 156 complete episodes of Rod Serling's groundbreaking series in one box set, packed with exciting extras! Travel to another dimension of sight and sound again and again through these stellar remastered high-definition film transfers. Extras include the fascinating Serling bio-documentary Submitted for Your Approval, compelling interviews with the show's writers, the series' unaired pilot, audio commentaries with Martin Landau, Leonard Nimoy, Cliff Robertson and much, much more! — Amazon's product description

The Definitive Edition is available in individual seasons in both the US (in NTSC format) and the UK (in PAL format). The UK editions are not being sold under "The Definitive Edition" label.

The Twilight Zone — The Definitive Edition — Season 1



The Twilight Zone — The Definitive Edition — Season 2



The Twilight Zone — The Definitive Edition — Season 3



The Twilight Zone — The Definitive Edition — Season 4



The Twilight Zone — The Definitive Edition — Season 5

Produced by Steven Spielberg. The film opens with a prologue featuring Dan Akroyd and Albert Brooks directed by John Landis, who also directed the next segment, an original story starring Vic Morrow. Spielberg directs "Kick the Can" starring Scatman Crothers. Kevin McCarthy and William Shallert star in "It's a Good Life" directed by Joe Dante. George Miller directs Richard Matheson's legendary "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" with John Lithgow in William Shatner's original role.

This book presents an episode guide to all 156 episodes of the original series, along with looks behind the scenes and all the in-jokes and bloopers associated with the classic science fiction series.

Martin Grams is an award-winning author of numerous books about old-time radio and television.

This look at the classic television series, a result of five years of research, contains interviews with numerous people connected with the show, a complete episode guide and a behind-the-scenes look at the show. The second edition was expanded to include the movie and the revival series of the 1980s.

"A fine and fitting tribute to a show which I was privileged to be a part of." Writer of The Twilight Zone — "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" — Richard Matheson

"A timely commentary on TV's first truly great filmed weekly dramatic series The Twilight Zone, a show that has clearly passed the test of time and speaks again to each new generation of devoted fans." — Earl Hamner Jr., multi-Emmy winning TV writer/producer

"Brode, the finest scholar of American popular culture working today, has here written what is easily the most definitive study of The Twilight Zone - or any television program, for that matter!" — Rod Lurie, writer-director-producer

Rod Serling's widow Carol draws on reminiscences and photographs for commentary on some of the most memorable episodes of the series. Brode, a veteran film historian, gives in-depth descriptions of the episodes and explains why they resonated so much with viewers.

This book features over 300 production stills from the original series drawn from the author's online creation, The Twilight Zone Archives. The book includes interviews with Carol Serling and his brother Robert and more than 40 producers, directors, writers and actors.

"A worthy addition to Twilight Zone lore. The arrival of this treasure trove of 'lost' photographs and interviews with the Zone inhabitants is therefore a stupendous event." -- Carol Serling, wife of Rod Serling