The Twilight Zone

Deep Dive Rewind: The Twilight Zone, Part Five

ong after other shows from its era have been long forgotten, The Twilight Zone remains a popular part of television history. With so many iconic episodes and famous characters, the show continues to be watched and enjoyed around the world.

The show’s continued success is a testament to Rod Serling’s vision and talent. Even today, the show feels fresh and new. Mr. Serling wanted to tackle the important issues of the day like racism, divisiveness and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation that we’re still grappling with today. By giving these themes a sci-fi veneer, Serling was able to discuss the things that many Americans wanted to ignore or sweep under the rug. In the end, Serling wanted us to realize that most of the time we are the real monsters.

Deep Dive Rewind: The Twilight Zone, Part Four

Room for one more, honey!

The Twilight Zone was a rarity in the world of television. Beloved by viewers and critics, the show has proven to be an evergreen classic that still feels fresh sixty years later. This was by design. Rod Serling wanted the show to have a timeless quality and he felt that the show could both entertain and teach its audience. It is impossible to cover every classic episode in this space, so we’ll share some favorites.

What you need.

What You Need was an early classic. Ernest Truex played a kindly peddler who always seemed to have exactly what his customers needed. Steve Cochran played a pushy con man who tries to take advantage of the peddler and learns an important lesson- sometimes what you want isn’t what you need.

Time Enough At Last

The classic episode Time Enough At Last features poor Henry Beamish, who isolates himself from the people around him to read. Neglecting his job and his wife, he really just wants to be left alone to read. He survives a catastrophic apocalypse and is pleased that he no longer has to worry about finding time to read. He has “Time Enough At Last” to pursue his reading hobby. Sadly for him, the episode ends with an ironic twist.

Living Doll

“Talky Tina” seemed like a cute little toy, but this doll was more than she seemed. Evil and vindictive, the doll begins to say some unnerving things and seemingly plots to murder the one person who suspects she’s more than she seems. 

Most shows would be lucky to have just a handful of classic episodes like these. We’ve just scratched the surface today and will conclude our look at this classic show tomorrow.

Deep Dive Rewind: The Twilight Zone, Part Three

When The Twilight Zone premiered in 1959, CBS had high hopes for the series. While initial ratings were decent, they were much lower than expected. After the first few episodes aired, several sponsors were considering bailing on the show, which would have killed it before it had a chance. CBS allayed their fears, insisting that things would improve after the show’s hiatus. They were right. The Twilight Zone would win its time slot from that point on.

Considering that it would be one of the least viewed episodes of the season, it was ironic that the first episode was titled Where is Everybody? The episode would begin like many that would follow; the main character and the viewers would be thrown into a situation and we would all have to figure out what was happening. It was classic Twilight Zone.

So what made a classic Twilight Zone episode? Stay Tuned!

Deep Dive Rewind: The Twilight Zone, Part Two

When CBS picked up The Twilight Zone, it was just the beginning for Rod Serling. He insisted on writing most of the episodes. The anthology format used by the show was especially difficult; every week was a blank slate. The production had to start from scratch. For a standard show like I Love Lucy, the writers could start by coming up with a situation then fitting its familiar characters into it. The audience’s familiarity with the characters allowed the writers greater freedom in crafting stories. Serling would have no such luxury.

Each week would tell a different story, with different characters. Serling would masterfully take advantage of this, throwing the audience into each week’s story without context. By fashioning his show like this, the viewers were left to imagine what was going on. Sometimes viewers would guess correctly, other times not at all, but each episode of the show challenged viewers to use their own imaginations to figure out the puzzle laid out before them. It was an amazing endeavor; but what would CBS viewers think? Stay Tuned!

Deep Dive Rewind: The Twilight Zone, Part One

As the television industry began to grow up in the 1950’s, a few writers and producers sought to utilize the medium in ways that they couldn’t in film. Certain topics were seen as being off limits at the movies; not because of censorship or the Hayes Office, but because of the huge costs involved in producing a major motion picture. The studios would purposely avoid making films that covered American social problems for fear of alienating audiences and reducing the box office. Television’s smaller budgets should have allowed for more experimentation, but the medium’s reliance on advertisers and local affiliates watered down any possible experimentation.

Rod Serling had embraced television and found great acclaim writing for many of the biggest anthology series of the time. He soon found the medium’s restrictions to be too creatively confining. Sponsors would take too active a role in each script, making changes both petty and severe. Lines that might be seen as referring to a competitor’s product would get cut. References to racial issues would definitely get removed because they might offend white viewers in the south. Serling found these restrictions stifling.

Serling eventually thought he’d figured out the key to producing the sort of programming that he thought could change opinions and improve the world- by dressing up his morality studies in supernatural and science fiction themes. He came up with the idea for an anthology series that would feature science fiction and fantasy themes which paralleled modern issues and social problems. He wrote a pilot script- The Time Element, but it initially gained little notice. The script was about a man who went back in time to try to warn the United States about Pearl Harbor. The script was shelved until the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse needed another hour of programming. The script was chosen and became one of the highest rated hours on television that week.

CBS took notice of Serling’s success. The Twilight Zone was finally given a pilot order. 

Twilight Zone: Behind the Scenes

Twilight Zone: Behind the Scenes

Twilight Zone: Behind the Scenes

Twilight Zone: Behind the Scenes

Twilight Zone: Behind the Scenes

What You Need