COMPLETE GUIDE
ROD SERLING
fronted a game show, Liar’s Club, where a
panel of celebrity guests offered explanations
of obscure or unusual objects. He remained
self-deprecating about his on-screen appeal
however, once saying, “There I am, fi ve feet
fi ve of solid gristle. I really don’t like to do
hosting. I just tense up terribly before going
before the cameras. It’s an ordeal.”
Despite its stellar standing now in the TV
fi rmament, The Twilight Zone only attracted
modest ratings and was, in fact, axed twice
during its original fi ve-year run, only to be
swiftly reprieved. It remains, however, Serling’s
signature series.
“The Twilight Zone is my all-time favourite
TV show,” comic book writer Mark Millar tells
SciFiNow. “Nothing compares. I know the
format isn’t fashionable anymore, but instead
of 22 episodes dragging out a 30-minute
story over the course of a series this gave us
a perfect movie concept every week. It was
romantic to me because it was on later than I
was allowed up and the black-and-white format
never bothered me because I was watching
in the early Eighties on the black and white
portable in my bedroom. Every episode was a
treat because you had no idea what you were
getting. Every story has a beginning, middle
and an end. There was no fat. It was perfect
writing and the casting and direction always
pitch-perfect too. What’s amazing is that there
has never been anything like it before. It looks
radical now, but how radical must it have
looked when it was on the same TV set as
Doctor Kildare and Dragnet?”
The Twilight Zone faced its third and fi nal
cancellation crisis in 1964, with its last episode
airing on 19 June. By now, a burned-out Serling
had tired of his creation. “I don’t blame them
[the network executives],” he said in 1964.
“We’ve been on the air fi ve years and I think
the show took on a kind of aged look.”
Serling had penned his fi rst feature fi lm in
1956 when his acclaimed TV play ‘Patterns’
was optioned by United Artists, and he’d
similarly written the 1962 movie version of
‘Requiem For A Heavyweight’. The Sixties
would see many more offers from Hollywood,
including John Frankenheimer’s 1964 political
thriller Seven Days In May and the 1966
action-adventure Assault On A Queen. Indeed,
he’s one of the credited writers on Franklin J
Schaffner’s 1968 adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s
Planet Of The Apes. Serling produced various
drafts, but his versions of the script were
deemed too costly to fi lm and so Michael
Wilson (Bridge On The River Kwai) was brought
in for rewrites. That iconic fi nale though, where
Charlton Heston’s character discovers he’s been
100 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U Kon Earth all along by fi nding a half-buried
Statue of Liberty? All Serling.
After The Twilight Zone ended, Serling
continued to write and develop TV series. The
Loner ran for one season on CBS from 1965
to 1966 and followed the exploits of a former
Union cavalry captain (Lloyd Bridges) as he
travels to the American west in search of a new
life, while 1969’s The New People told the story
of a group of young people who, after fi nding
themselves stranded on a remote island in the
south Pacifi c Ocean, are tasked with building a
new society. It lasted just 17 episodes.
After The Twilight Zone, the series that is
forever wedded to Serling’s name is the horror-
fl avoured anthology show Night Gallery. Like
his old series, Serling fronted every episode
as himself and penned over half of its 43
episodes. Yet, unlike The Twilight Zone, he
wasn’t in charge of Night Gallery. Publicly,
the series was Serling’s and yet privately, he
admitted ruefully: “It is not mine at all, it’s just
another species of a formula series drama.”
Still, the series does boast some top-tier
Serling, including the Emmy-nominated and
powerfully poignant ‘They’re Tearing Down Tim
Riley’s Bar’, an episode that saw Serling once
more explore the ache of nostalgia and the
relentless march of time, and ‘The Caterpillar’,
an eerie and unnerving adaptation of British
author Oscar Cook’s original short story.
Despite Serling’s lack of heart, Night Gallery
lasted three series, airing its fi nal episode
on 27 May 1973. His next project took him
back to radio, the medium he’d started in two
decades before. He didn’t pen any episodes
of the anthology show Zero Hero, but he did
present every episode, lending each story the
gift of his effortless authority.
Listeners would have remembered the sight of
Serling on The Twilight Zone, cigarette forever
in hand. In fact, it’s hard to fi nd a photo of
Rod Serling without one. And on 3 May 1975,
his shaky health caught up with him when he
suffered a heart attack. He spent two weeks
in hospital before he had another. Doctors
decided on open-heart surgery. The ten-hour
procedure was scheduled for 25 June, only for
Serling to suffer a third and fi nal heart attack
while on the operating table. He was just 50
years old.
It’s been over 43 years since we lost Rod
Serling, yet his shadow looms large over
broadcast television and fi lm. The Twilight
Zone was revived twice on TV, once in 1984
(with archive footage of Serling included in its
Grateful Dead-soundtracked title sequence)
and again in 2002. And now another is in the
planning, with Get Out’s Jordan Peele driving it.“ROD SERLING IS HANDS-DOWN THE
GREATEST SCIENCE FICTION WRITER OF
ALL TIME”
MARK MILLARWe keep going
back to his work.COMPLETE GUIDE
ROD SERLING
fronted a game show, Liar’s Club Liar’s Club Liar’s Club, where a , where a
panel of celebrity guests offered explanations
of obscure or unusual objects. He remained
self-deprecating about his on-screen appeal
however, once saying, “There I am, fi ve feet
fi ve of solid gristle. I really don’t like to do
hosting. I just tense up terribly before going
before the cameras. It’s an ordeal.”
Despite its stellar standing now in the TV
fi rmament, The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone only attracted only attracted
modest ratings and was, in fact, axed twice
during its original fi ve-year run, only to be
swiftly reprieved. It remains, however, Serling’s
signature series.
“The Twilight Zone“The Twilight Zone“The Twilight Zone is my all-time favourite is my all-time favourite
TV show,” comic book writer Mark Millar tells
SciFiNowSciFiNowSciFiNow. “Nothing compares. I know the. “Nothing compares. I know the
format isn’t fashionable anymore, but instead
of 22 episodes dragging out a 30-minute
story over the course of a series this gave us
a perfect movie concept every week. It was
romantic to me because it was on later than I
was allowed up and the black-and-white format
never bothered me because I was watching
in the early Eighties on the black and white
portable in my bedroom. Every episode was a
treat because you had no idea what you were
getting. Every story has a beginning, middle
and an end. There was no fat. It was perfect
writing and the casting and direction always
pitch-perfect too. What’s amazing is that there
has never been anything like it before. It looks
radical now, but how radical must it have
looked when it was on the same TV set as
Doctor KildareDoctor KildareDoctor Kildare and and DragnetDragnetDragnet?”?”
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone faced its third and fi nal faced its third and fi nal
cancellation crisis in 1964, with its last episode
airing on 19 June. By now, a burned-out Serling
had tired of his creation. “I don’t blame them
[the network executives],” he said in 1964.
“We’ve been on the air fi ve years and I think
the show took on a kind of aged look.”
Serling had penned his fi rst feature fi lm in
1956 when his acclaimed TV play ‘Patterns’
was optioned by United Artists, and he’d
similarly written the 1962 movie version of
‘Requiem For A Heavyweight’. The Sixties
would see many more offers from Hollywood,
including John Frankenheimer’s 1964 political
thriller Seven Days In MaySeven Days In MaySeven Days In May and the 1966 and the 1966
action-adventure Assault On A QueenAssault On A QueenAssault On A Queen. Indeed,. Indeed,
he’s one of the credited writers on Franklin J
Schaffner’s 1968 adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s
Planet Of The ApesPlanet Of The ApesPlanet Of The Apes. Serling produced various. Serling produced various
drafts, but his versions of the script were
deemed too costly to fi lm and so Michael
Wilson (Bridge On The River KwaiBridge On The River KwaiBridge On The River Kwai) was brought ) was brought
in for rewrites. That iconic fi nale though, where
Charlton Heston’s character discovers he’s been
100 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U Kon Earth all along by fi nding a half-buried
Statue of Liberty? All Serling.
After The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone ended, Serling ended, Serling
continued to write and develop TV series. The
LonerLonerLoner ran for one season on CBS from 1965 ran for one season on CBS from 1965
to 1966 and followed the exploits of a former
Union cavalry captain (Lloyd Bridges) as he
travels to the American west in search of a new
life, while 1969’s The New PeopleThe New PeopleThe New People told the story told the story
of a group of young people who, after fi nding
themselves stranded on a remote island in the
south Pacifi c Ocean, are tasked with building a
new society. It lasted just 17 episodes.
After The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone, the series that is , the series that is
forever wedded to Serling’s name is the horror-
fl avoured anthology show Night GalleryNight GalleryNight Gallery. Like. Like
his old series, Serling fronted every episode
as himself and penned over half of its 43
episodes. Yet, unlike The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone, he , he
wasn’t in charge ofwasn’t in charge ofwasn’t in charge of Night Gallery Night Gallery Night Gallery Night Gallery. Publicly,. Publicly,
the series was Serling’s and yet privately, he
admitted ruefully: “It is not mine at all, it’s just
another species of a formula series drama.”
Still, the series does boast some top-tier
Serling, including the Emmy-nominated and
powerfully poignant ‘They’re Tearing Down Tim
Riley’s Bar’, an episode that saw Serling once
more explore the ache of nostalgia and the
relentless march of time, and ‘The Caterpillar’,
an eerie and unnerving adaptation of British
author Oscar Cook’s original short story.
Despite Serling’s lack of heart, Night Gallery
lasted three series, airing its fi nal episode
on 27 May 1973. His next project took him
back to radio, the medium he’d started in two
decades before. He didn’t pen any episodes
of the anthology show Zero Hero,Zero Hero,Zero Hero, but he did but he did
present every episode, lending each story the
gift of his effortless authority.
Listeners would have remembered the sight of
Serling on The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone, cigarette forever , cigarette forever
in hand. In fact, it’s hard to fi nd a photo of
Rod Serling without one. And on 3 May 1975,
his shaky health caught up with him when he
suffered a heart attack. He spent two weeks
in hospital before he had another. Doctors
decided on open-heart surgery. The ten-hour
procedure was scheduled for 25 June, only for
Serling to suffer a third and fi nal heart attack
while on the operating table. He was just 50
years old.
It’s been over 43 years since we lost Rod
Serling, yet his shadow looms large over
broadcast television and fi lm. The Twilight
Zone was revived twice on TV, once in 1984
(with archive footage of Serling included in its
Grateful Dead-soundtracked title sequence)
and again in 2002. And now another is in the
planning, with Get Out’s Jordan Peele driving it.“ROD SERLING IS HANDS-DOWN THE
GREATEST SCIENCE FICTION WRITER OF
ALL TIME”
MARK MILLARWe keep going
back to his work.