Dr. K Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 I wrote this article about it. https://www.americanscientist.org/blog/science-culture/the-twilight-zone-turns-60?fbclid=IwAR1CGz4TWwUOcvQBaZ0-xJWktYKtwVzLAX-_xypXrjIvX2oTxWJEpyZr0pY 1
WhoTom Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 Very cool article! I watched TZ in syndication as a teenager. I went to grad school in Binghamton, where Rod Serling grew up, and attended a Rod Serling festival that featured a talk by Helen Foley - the high school teacher who encouraged him to become a writer, and for whom one of his characters was named. While I was there I bought a book - The Twilight Zone Companion - that gives a synopsis of every episode. I still have it, sitting on the bookshelf above my desk.
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 Whether he was discussing ancient astronauts landing at Machu Picchu for a Genny, or introducing the original TZ stories, Serling was a treasure. If there is an afterlife, I hope to look him up.
Dr. K Posted October 3, 2019 Author Posted October 3, 2019 Serling was an upstate/Western NY guy. He died in the Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester; heart attack at age 51.
Tierlifer Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 26 minutes ago, WhoTom said: Very cool article! I watched TZ in syndication as a teenager. I went to grad school in Binghamton, where Rod Serling grew up, and attended a Rod Serling festival that featured a talk by Helen Foley - the high school teacher who encouraged him to become a writer, and for whom one of his characters was named. While I was there I bought a book - The Twilight Zone Companion - that gives a synopsis of every episode. I still have it, sitting on the bookshelf above my desk. As someone who is Binghamton born and raised and still reside here, Serling will always be known as this areas most famous resident. Many of his Twilight Zone episodes were based on his childhood days of growing up on the west side and his experiences during adolescence. My grandmothers brother went to school and graduated with Serling and spoke very highly of him. It’s not secret that his WWII experience really had a profound effect on him after he came home like many WWII vets at the time. I’ve always been fascinated with Rod Serlings life because of his ties to Binghamton and Upstate, NY. While The Twilight Zone was his most famous work, Night Gallery often gets overlooked.
RochesterRob Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 (edited) Serling's wife had a connection to the Finger Lakes area namely an Aunt Carol who had a cottage on Cayuga Lake near the small village of Interlaken, NY. Most likely was the inspiration for his Cayuga Productions company name which is credited at the end of each TZ episode. Edited October 3, 2019 by RochesterRob
row_33 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 5 hours ago, Tierlifer said: While The Twilight Zone was his most famous work, Night Gallery often gets overlooked. NG reruns were poorly handled with editing and cuts. And don’t get started with the Gary Collins stuff tossed in.....
Tierlifer Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 5 hours ago, row_33 said: And Rod didn’t get to his 51st birthday... Close to 3 packs a day smoker will do that and was a fan of adult beverages.
Steve O Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 Nice article John. Remember going to college in the 70's...everyone would fire up a joint in their dorm room, then file down to the TV lounge at 11:00 PM for an hour of TZ. Unlike Night Gallery, which was always scary with a bad ending for the protagonist, one never knew if TZ endings would be good or bad, though if I recall correctly they were more often good. PS you left off Jack Klugman from your list of actors, who appeared in 4 episodes, tied for the most appearances with Burgess Meredith.
row_33 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 3 hours ago, Tierlifer said: Close to 3 packs a day smoker will do that and was a fan of adult beverages. And embraced a hectic life loaded with high stress levels 1
US Egg Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 .....but seriously, Rod Sterling is in the rarified air of being ordained as TV Royalty.
row_33 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 2 hours ago, Steve O said: Nice article John. Remember going to college in the 70's...everyone would fire up a joint in their dorm room, then file down to the TV lounge at 11:00 PM for an hour of TZ. Unlike Night Gallery, which was always scary with a bad ending for the protagonist, one never knew if TZ endings would be good or bad, though if I recall correctly they were more often good. PS you left off Jack Klugman from your list of actors, who appeared in 4 episodes, tied for the most appearances with Burgess Meredith. c'mon, 2/3 of TZ episodes were a long stall of 25 to 55 (gasp!!) minutes of waiting to deliver the obvious punchline.
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) 13 minutes ago, row_33 said: c'mon, 2/3 of TZ episodes were a long stall of 25 to 55 (gasp!!) minutes of waiting to deliver the obvious punchline. I had no idea it was a cookbook. Either that episode was in the 1/3, or I’m gullible. ? Edited October 4, 2019 by Ridgewaycynic2013 2
row_33 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: I had no idea it was a cookbook. Either that episode was in the 1/3, or I’m gullible. ? i had a feeling all along not to trust aliens led by Lurch --------------------------------------------------------------- it seemed like heaven when full-access binging started up, EVERY EPISODE, YEE=HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.... didn't seem like heaven after sitting through a few dozen TZs, some are classics of TV history (most sure aren't....) those one-hour teleplays, oof............. Edited October 4, 2019 by row_33 1
WhoTom Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 18 minutes ago, row_33 said: i had a feeling all along not to trust aliens led by Lurch --------------------------------------------------------------- it seemed like heaven when full-access binging started up, EVERY EPISODE, YEE=HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.... didn't seem like heaven after sitting through a few dozen TZs, some are classics of TV history (most sure aren't....) those one-hour teleplays, oof............. You have to take it in the context of its era. At the time, it was groundbreaking, just like Star Trek. I was a big fan of TZ and ST-TOS back in the day, but I wouldn't watch an episode of either one today.
row_33 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 25 minutes ago, WhoTom said: You have to take it in the context of its era. At the time, it was groundbreaking, just like Star Trek. I was a big fan of TZ and ST-TOS back in the day, but I wouldn't watch an episode of either one today. a ton of it was two-bit hack writing Rod was fixated on a few themes that showed up time and time and time again have you tried a binge watch of the first 3 seasons of the show? again, 25 or 55 minutes just to get to the obvious punchline for most of it TV isn't a place to find a lot of excellence in the humanities.
Steve O Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 56 minutes ago, row_33 said: c'mon, 2/3 of TZ episodes were a long stall of 25 to 55 (gasp!!) minutes of waiting to deliver the obvious punchline. Did you read the part where I said we'd smoke a joint before watching in the TV lounge? 44 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: I had no idea it was a cookbook. Either that episode was in the 1/3, or I’m gullible. ? You're gullible...even stoned I saw that one coming.
row_33 Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 26 minutes ago, Steve O said: Did you read the part where I said we'd smoke a joint before watching in the TV lounge? You're gullible...even stoned I saw that one coming. i knew there had to be a key to watching it continuously.... i figure almost everyone raving about TZ is thinking of 5 episodes of the 150 or so, not having sat through the worst 80 of them. last week saw the one where Rod shows up in the show as a participant...
Steve O Posted October 4, 2019 Posted October 4, 2019 15 minutes ago, row_33 said: i knew there had to be a key to watching it continuously.... i figure almost everyone raving about TZ is thinking of 5 episodes of the 150 or so, not having sat through the worst 80 of them. last week saw the one where Rod shows up in the show as a participant... Question: What did the Twilight Zone fan say when he quit smoking pot? Answer: God, this show sucks.
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