The Rod Serling Thread

After turning a thread about a potentially upcoming Twilight Zone movie into a "In Praise of Rod Serling" thread, I thought it best to discontinue our lauding of he there, and to move it to a more suitable thread. Thus marked the inception of this thread, which I envision to contain a variety of predominately Twilight Zone and Night Gallery-based lore: discussion, videos, favorites, etc.

In other words: just talk about the works of Rod Serling. TV shows, movies, later interpretations (ie. the 2000s Twilight Zone TV series) - whatever you want.

Probably my favorite episode.

"The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" is my favorite episode of The Twilight Zone, bar none. It's also the first one I ever saw, along with "Stopover In A Quiet Town".



Other favorites: "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet", "Eye of the Beholder", "Nick of Time", "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?", "Masks", "The Hitch-Hiker", "It's A Good Life", and "The Obsolete Man".



Rod Serling is the best thing that ever happened to television, and The Twilight Zone may very well be the best thing that has ever happened to science fiction.

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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

I greatly favor the 1980s TV series; of the original episodes, I'd have to agree that The Monsters are Due On Maple Street is probably the best, but the one with Burgess Meredith surviving mankind's extinction, but being happy because it gave him time to read - that one also holds a special place.

My favorite episode is How to Serve Man.



When I was around 5 I saw the episode where the girl disappears into the wall next to her bed (can't remember the title) however it did inspire me to move my bed into the middle of the room for around 6 months. THE MUSIC THAT HAUNTED MY DREAMS.

Also is there anyone who looked cooler then Rod Serling holding a cigarette?

I'm afraid there is:

Whoa, whoa, whoa... You favor the 80's series to the ORIGINAL Twilight Zone? I can't participate in a Rod Serling appreciation thread that starts off like this.

I am the exact opposite, I have seen only one episode of the 80's Twilight Zone and didn't care for it at all, maybe it was just a bad episode I happened to catch. But no matter how good the 80's series may be there just is no way it can be better then the original.

How can you do a Rod Serling appreciation thread if you prefer the eighties series since he had nothing to do with it because he was dead? It seems like this should have been called a Twilight Zone appreciation thread instead. But me, much prefer the original, and I am pretty sure Serling wrote more than half the episodes himself, which is just amazing. So many great episodes, and only a few stinkers, probably all from the last season after they knew the show had been cancelled, and probably none of those were written by Serling.

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It reminds me of a toilet paper on the trees
- Paula

I've only seen a few of the 80s episodes, but I don't think they can ever compare to the Rod Serling originals.

This is a nice list of all the guest stars on the original, it's incredible how many famous people were in the original episodes. I don't think any other TV show has had anything quite like it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...29_guest_stars

A few examples here:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09...way-in-canada/

Also, didn't Sterling die of lung cancer?

The Alfred Hithcock series had a lot of big names also, and it was on longer so probably had more of them. You can't beat Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre in the same episode.

Here is that list. I notice some considerable overlap.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ts_guest_stars

Everything gives you Cancer, the air gives you lung cancer. Almost everyone in this generation and the next are going to die from it because we've screwed around with the food and basically made our own air toxic. Cigarettes are the least of my concern.

I just learned something, I had no idea that Rod Serling was one of the writers for Planet of the Apes.

IMDB has him listed as a writer up till 2003, what's the deal with that since he died in 1975?

I am guessing where the new one will go.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1269597/

Because he wrote the first movie partly so he gets a credit on the remake. But the word is little of his screenplay was used in the Heston movie. His version was close to the novel emphasizing philosphical discussions rather than action.

PotA was a mix of Serling and Michael Wilson and it's hard to find concrete proof of who contributed which portions. I think Michael Wilson's script (they were written separately) is mostly what is on screen. BUT it's been proven by the producer and other sources that Serling wrote the classic ending with the Statue of Liberty. I've even seen a list of about 7 endings that were written, when they were written, and by whom. Also, Serling's dialogue was used in Heston's screen test.

It should be noted that Michael Wilson contributed to "It's a Wonderful Life", "Lawrence of Arabia", and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" so Rod's minimal involvement isn't taking away anything from the amazing script.

Rod Serling speaking at UCLA 11/11/1966