The Twilight Zone (franchise)

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This page is about The Twilight Zone franchise. For other uses, see The Twilight Zone (disambiguation).

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This article is about The Twilight Zone franchise and licensing projects.

Overview

The Twilight Zone was an American television series created by Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a mixture of self-contained fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature. The program followed in the tradition of earlier radio programs such as The Weird Circle and X Minus One and the radio work of Serling's hero, dramatist Norman Corwin.

The success of the original series led to the creation of two revival series: a cult hit series that ran for several seasons on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, and a short-lived UPN series that ran from 2002 to 2003. It would also lead to a feature film, a radio series, a comic book, a magazine, and various other spin-offs that would span five decades.

Aside from Serling himself, who crafted nearly two-thirds of the series' total episodes, writers for The Twilight Zone included leading genre authorities such as Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Jerry Sohl, George Clayton Johnson, Earl Hamner, Jr., Reginald Rose, Harlan Ellison and Ray Bradbury. Many episodes also featured adaptations of classic stories by such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Lewis Padgett, Jerome Bixby, and Damon Knight.

Rod Serling coined the title himself, but only after the series aired did he discover that the "twilight zone" was a term applied by the US Air Force to the terminator, the imaginary border between "night" and "day" on a planetary body.

Television history

"The Time Element" (1958)

Main article: The Time Element

CBS purchased a teleplay in 1958 that writer Rod Serling hoped to produce as the pilot of a weekly anthology series. The Twilight Zone episode "The Time Element" marked Serling's first entry in the field of science fiction.

Original series (1959–1964)

Main article: The Twilight Zone (original series)

Throughout the 1950s, Rod Serling had established himself as one of the hottest names in television, equally famous for his success in writing televised drama as he was for criticizing the medium's limitations. His most vocal complaints concerned the censorship frequently practiced by sponsors and networks. "I was not permitted to have my Senators discuss any current or pressing problem," he said of his 1957 production The Arena, intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. "To talk of tariff was to align oneself with the Republicans; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats. To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited."

Twilight Zone's writers frequently used science fiction as a vehicle for social comment; networks and sponsors who had infamously censored all potentially "inflammatory" material from the then predominant live dramas were ignorant of the methods developed by writers such as Ray Bradbury for dealing with important issues through seemingly innocuous fantasy. Frequent themes include nuclear war, mass hysteria, and McCarthyism, subjects that were strictly forbidden on more "serious" prime-time drama. Episodes such as "The Shelter" or "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" offered specific commentary on current events. Other stories, such as "The Masks" or "The Howling Man", operated around a central allegory, parable, or fable that reflected the characters' moral or philosophical choices.

Despite his esteem in the writing community, Serling found The Twilight Zone difficult to sell. Few critics felt that science fiction could transcend empty escapism and enter the realm of adult drama. In a September 22, 1959, interview with Serling, Mike Wallace asked a question illustrative of the times: "...[Y]ou're going to be, obviously, working so hard on The Twilight Zone that, in essence, for the time being and for the foreseeable future, you've given up on writing anything important for television, right?" While Serling's appearances on the show became one of its most distinctive features, with his clipped delivery still widely imitated today, he was reportedly nervous about it and had to be persuaded to appear on camera. Serling often steps into the middle of the action and the characters remain seemingly oblivious to him, but on one notable occasion they are aware he's there: In the episode "A World of His Own", a writer with the power to alter his reality objects to Serling's unflattering narration, and promptly erases Serling from the show.

First revival (1985–1989)

Main article: The Twilight Zone (1985)

Opening for 1985's The Twilight Zone

It was Serling's decision to sell his share of the series back to the network that eventually allowed for a Twilight Zone revival. As an in-house production, CBS stood to earn more money producing The Twilight Zone than it could by purchasing a new series produced by an outside company. Even so, the network was slow to consider a revival, shooting down offers from the original production team of Rod Serling and Buck Houghton and later from American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Their hesitation stemmed from concerns familiar to the original series: Twilight Zone had never been the breakaway hit CBS wanted, why should they expect it to do better in a second run?

The answers to this question began to surface in the early 1980s, as a new generation of writers and directors emerged from the very teenagers who formed the core of Twilight Zone's original audience. First came The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree, an in-depth look into the history of the series that won critical accolade, a 1983 nomination for the American Book Award and a place on best-seller lists across the nation. Also encouraging were the new numbers from Nielsen and the box office alike.

Despite lukewarm response to Twilight Zone: The Movie, John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller's theatrical homage to the original series, CBS gave The New Twilight Zone a greenlight in 1984 under the supervision of Carla Singer, then Vice President of Drama Development. While the show didn't match the enduring popularity of the original, it did develop its own cult following and some episodes — including the love story "Her Pilgrim Soul" and J. Michael Straczynski's "Dream Me a Life — were widely acclaimed. In a tribute to the original series, the teaser at the beginning of the show has a brief wavy glimpse of Rod Serling.

Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994)

Main article: Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics

In the early 1990s, Richard Matheson and Carol Serling produced an outline for a two-hour made-for-TV movie that would feature Matheson adaptations of three yet-unfilmed Rod Serling short stories. Outlines for such a production were rejected by CBS until early 1994, when Serling's widow discovered a complete shooting script ("Where the Dead Are") authored by her late husband while rummaging through their garage. Serling showed the forgotten script to producers Michael O'Hara and Laurence Horowitz, who were significantly impressed by it. "I had a pile of scripts, which I usually procrastinate about reading. But I read this one right away and, after 30 pages, called my partner and said, "I love it," recalled O'Hara. "This is pure imagination, a period piece, literate—some might say wordy. If Rod Serling's name weren't on it, it wouldn't have a chance at getting made."

Eager to capitalize on Serling's celebrity status as a writer, CBS packaged "Where the Dead Are" with Matheson's adaptation of "The Theatre," debuting as a two-hour feature on the night of May 19, 1994, under the name Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics. The title represents a misnomer, as both stories were conceived long after Twilight Zone's cancellation. Written just months before Serling's death, "Where the Dead Are" starred Patrick Bergin as a 19th-century doctor who stumbles upon a mad scientist's medical experiments with immortality. "The Theatre" starred Amy Irving and Gary Cole as a couple who visit a cineplex, only to discover that the feature presentation is their own lives. James Earl Jones served as narrator, providing opening and closing narrations.

Critical response was mixed. Gannett News Service described it as "taut and stylish, a reminder of what can happen when fine actors are given great words." USA Today was less impressed, even suggesting that Carol Serling "should have left these two unproduced mediocrities in the garage where she found them." Ultimately ratings proved insufficient to justify a proposed sequel featuring three Matheson-adapted scripts.

Second revival (2002–2003)

Opening for 2002's The Twilight Zone

Main article: The Twilight Zone (2002)

A second revival was attempted by UPN in 2002, with narration provided by Forest Whitaker and an updated version of the legendary theme performed by the metal band Korn. Broadcast in an hour format with two half-hour stories, it was canceled after one season. The critical and audience reaction to this revival was generally not very good,

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although reruns continue to air in syndication, and have aired on myNetwork TV from summer 2008 to early 2009.

Third revival (2019-)

Opening for 2019's The Twilight Zone

Main article: The Twilight Zone (2019)

A third revival was announced on November 2, 2017 and premiered on April 1, 2019 on CBS All Access platform. The revival was developed by Simon Kinberg, Jordan Peele, and Marco Ramirez, with Peele serving as narrator, in addition to executive producing through Monkeypaw Productions. The ten episodes of the first season were released weekly. It was renewed for a second season that is set to be released in its entirety on June 25, 2020.

Other media

Film

Main article: Twilight Zone: The Movie

Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 feature film produced by Steven Spielberg. It starred Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, John Lithgow, and Scatman Crothers.

The film remade three classic episodes of the original series and included one original story. John Landis directed the prologue and the first segment, Steven Spielberg directed the second, Joe Dante the third, and George Miller directed the final segment.

The Landis-directed episode became notorious for the helicopter accident during filming which caused the deaths of Morrow and two child actors.

Critically-acclaimed actor Leonardo DiCaprio is planning to make a new movie with Warner Bros., as The Twilight Zone is his favorite TV series. However, unlike the first film, which was an anthology feature, it will be a big-budget, SFX-laden continuous story possibly based on classic episodes of the series such as "Eye of the Beholder", "To Serve Man" or any of the 92 scripts written by Rod Serling, to which Warner Bros. owns the rights.

Music

Official

The original moody title theme for The Twilight Zone was composed by Bernard Herrmann.

The more commonly known Twilight Zone theme that began in the second season was written by avant garde composer Marius Constant.

The music for Twilight Zone: The Movie was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

The theme for The New Twilight Zone television series was composed by Jerry Garcia and performed by The Grateful Dead. It featured a brief segment of the Marius Constant theme.

The 2002 series also made use of the Constant theme, this time as interpreted by Jonathan Davis (of the rock group Korn).

Other

Marty Manning released an album inspired by the series in 1961.

Canadian rock band Rush recorded "The Twilight Zone" on their epic 1976 album 2112 and released it as a single.

Dutch rock band Golden Earring's 1982 U.S. hit "Twilight Zone" was inspired by the series.

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The first chords of the song's opening tune and the hypnotic bass-riff as well as the lyrics are modeled on the original tunes and texts of the series.

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Many other musicians have written and performed music based on the Twilight Zone, including: Average White Band, John Cale, David Dubowski ("To Serve Man"), Iron Maiden, Mekong Delta, Dr. John, John Fahey, Michael Hurley, Manhattan Transfer, Van Morrison, Raymond Scott, Sly & Robbie, 2 Unlimited, The Ventures, and John Williams.

Radio

In 2002, episodes of the original The Twilight Zone were adapted for radio, with Stacy Keach taking Serling's role as narrator.

Literature

Novels

Numerous novelizations were published based upon episodes of Twilight Zone, as were several volumes of original short stories published under the Twilight Zone brand and edited by Rod Serling himself.

Reference Books

In 1982, Marc Scott Zicree published an episode-by-episode guide of the original series, The Twilight Zone Companion (published by Bantam Books) which became a best-seller and greatly influenced future tomes on television series.

Comics

Main article: The Twilight Zone comics

Western Publishing published a Twilight Zone comic book, first under their Dell Comics|Dell Comics imprint for 4 issues, one in 1961 and 3 further issues in 1962, with the first two published as part of their long running Four Color anthology series as issue numbers 1173 and 1288, and then two further one shots numbered separately in Dell's unique fashion as 01-860-207 and 12-860-210 (numbered as 01-860-210 on the inside) respectively. Western then restarted the series under their Gold Key imprint with a formal issue #1, which ran 92 issues from 1962 to 1979, with the final issue being published in 1982.

Several of the stories would be reprinted in their Mystery Comics Digest]], which mentioned the title on the covers. A wide range of artists worked on the title, including Jack Sparling, Reed Crandall, Lee Elias, George Evans, Russ Jones, Joe Orlando, Jerry Robinson, Mike Sekowsky, Dan Spiegle, Frank Thorne and Alex Toth.

In 1990, NOW Comics published a new comic series with using the title logo from the 1985 revival. The publisher made great efforts to sign established sci-fi/fantasy writers, including Harlan Ellison, adapting his story "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich."

In 2008, students at the Savannah College of Art and Design have partnered with Walker & Co. to create graphic novels based on eight episodes of the series through 2009. The first four (based on "Walking Distance", "The After Hours", "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", and "The Odyssey of Flight 33") was released in December.

Magazines

Beginning in 1981 and with T. E. D. Klein as the editor, The Twilight Zone Magazine featured horror fiction and to some extent other forms of fantasy and some borderline science fiction. From March 1986 until its last issue (February 1989) the editor was Tappan King, who also edited its "twisted sister" publication, Night Cry. The TZ Magazine reviewed and previewed new movies while publishing articles about the original and revival Twilight Zone television series, among other cultural oddities. It was the most reliable market for much of the best short horror in that period and appealed to audiences for the likes of Fangoria and Starlog as well as for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Whispers. Like Omni Magazine, which it also somewhat resembled, it was published by a company better-known for "skin" magazines, Gallery's Montcalm Publishing. The all-fiction digest-sized companion, Night Cry, makes a cameo in The Simpsons 300th episode, "Barting Over". On occasion, the magazine and digest reprinted often-anthologized short stories, introducing a new generation of horror aficionados to classic short stories such as "The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson, and "The Bookshop" by Nelson Bond.

Scripts

Beginning in 2001, Gauntlet Press began publishing collections of original scripts from The Twilight Zone by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling. A ten-volume signed, limited edition series of all 92 of Rod Serling's scripts, authorized by his wife, Carol Serling, began yearly publication in 2004. Many of the scripts contain handwritten edits by Serling himself and differ in significant ways from the aired versions; most volumes contain an alternate version of a selected script. The script for "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" has been published into 7th-grade reading books in the form of a play.

Theater

Live theater productions of the original episodes can be seen in Los Angeles and Seattle, where Theater Schmeater has continuously produced a late-night series, "The Twilight Zone — Live" with permission of the Serling estate, since 1996.

In 2005 4 Letter Entertainment produced "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" in Los Angeles.

In November 2008, Little Rock Christian Academy put on the first ever theatre adaptation of The Twilight Zone. The production contained the episodes "The After Hours", "The Shelter", "Five Characters in Search of an Exit", "The Obsolete Man". "The Midnight Sun", and "The Passersby".

Twilight Zone Pinball Machine

Pinball game

In 1993, Midway Games released a widebody pinball game, Twilight Zone (based on the original TV series). After his Addams Family pinball became the best selling pinball machine of all time, Midway gave designer Pat Lawlor creative control over the game. The game uses Golden Earring's 1982 hit song "Twilight Zone" as its theme song. The game sold 15,235 units.

Video game

A text adventure based video game of The Twilight Zone for the PC and Amiga was also published in 1988 by Gigabit Systems Inc. The game has been panned by players for various problems.

Theme park attractions

Main article: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a theme park attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, Disney's California Adventure in California, and Walt Disney Studios Park in France. Tokyo DisneySea, Japan also has a version, but it does not carry on the Twilight Zone theme, due to constraints in copyrights for the Oriental Land Company, owner and operator of the Tokyo parks.

Escape Rooms

The Twilight Zone: Binghamton’s Rod Serling Experience is an escape room at Xscapes in Binghamton, New York

Further reading

• Albarella, Tony, Ed, (2004). As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Vol. 1. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 188736871X
• Albarella, Tony, Ed, (2005). As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Vol. 2. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1887368760
• Albarella, Tony, Ed, (2006). As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Vol. 3. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1887368825
• Albarella, Tony, Ed, (2007). As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Vol. 4. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1887368926
• Albarella, Tony, Ed, (2008). As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Vol. 5. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1934267007
• Anker, Roger, Ed. (2004). The Twilight Zone Scripts of Charles Beaumont, Vol. 1. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1887368736
• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090
• Ramage, Andrew (2004). Forgotten Gems from the Twilight Zone vol.1. Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-014-3
• Ramage, Andrew (2005). Forgotten Gems from the Twilight Zone Vol.2. Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-030-5
• Sohl, Jerry (2005). The Twilight Zone Scripts of Jerry Sohl. Albany: Bearmanor Media ISBN 1-59393-010-0
• Stanyard, Stewart T. (2007). Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series. Ecw Press. ISBN 978-1550227444
• Wiater, Stanley, Ed. (2001). Richard Matheson's The Twilight Zone Scripts, Vol. 1. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1887368426
• Wiater, Stanley, Ed. (2002). Richard Matheson's The Twilight Zone Scripts, Vol. 2. Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press. ISBN 1887368523
• Zicree, Marc Scott (1982). The Twilight Zone Companion. First Edition, Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-01416-1. Second Edition (1992). Silman-James Press; ISBN 978-1879505094

External links

• CBS' Twilight Zone Episodes (Freely viewable online)
• The Rod Serling Museum
• The Twilight Zone at Wikipedia:Internet Movie Database|IMDb]]
• The Twilight Zone at the Open Directory Project
• Twilight Zone Episode Finder
• Twilight Zone Scifi.com Page
• Encyclopedia of Television
• The Twilight Zone Museum
• The Anorak Zone
• Four reference sources available
• The Twilight Zone Cafe - a dating site for amputees
• GooGoo's The Twilight Zone
• Twilight Zoned

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at The Twilight Zone (franchise). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with A Fifth Dimension: The Twilight Zone Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.