Copyright

Stewart T.

Stanyard, 2007

Published by ECW PRESS

2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E 12

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form by any process - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise - without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW PRESS.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Stanyard, Stewart T.
Dimensions behind the Twilight zone : a backstage tribute to
television's groundbreaking series

I Stewart

T. Stanyard.

ISBN-13: 978-1-55022- 744-4

ISBN -I0: 1-55022-7 44-0
1. Twilight Zone (Television program :

1959).

I. Title.

Editor: Jennifer Hale

Cover and text design: Tania Craan
Typesetting: Tania Craan
Printed by Transcontinental
All photos courtesy of the author, except the following:
Tony Albarella: 13,22 (#2),23,2 4,26 (#1,2),29 (#4),3 0,3 2, 35 (#2),37,43 (#2),45 (#1),47 (#2),
58,59 (#1), 86,87,88, 89, 101, I02, II7 (#2), 121, 126, 131 (#2),140,141,142,144,159,160,161,
166,167 (#2),168,174,212, 213,215,216,218,228 (#2),241 (#2),251; Roger Anker: 18,20; Paul

Comi: page 190; Dwight Deskins: 34,46 (#1), 49 (#1), 50 (#1), 53 (#1,3),64 (#3),77, 85,114, II6,
122,123,125,170,186 (#1),200,201,203,204,205,206,228 (#1),239,247 (#2),280; Dana

Gould: page 66; Earl Holliman: pages 76,78 (#1); Richard Kiel: page 51 (#3); Richard Matheson:
page 22 (#1); Marc Moser: pages 10,25 (#1); Carol Serling: pages 5,39 (#1),46 (#2),48 (#3), 53 (#2),
61 (#1),193,231; Jim Hegedus: pages 69,70
The Twilight Zone

is a registered trademark of CBS, Inc.

DISTRIBUTION

CANADA: Jaguar Book Group, 100 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown, ON, L7G 5S4
UNITED STATES: Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin Street,

Chicago, Illinois 60610

PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA

ECW PRESS
ecwpress.com

To Rod Serling
With personal dedication
to the memories 0/ my dear sister Christina Lynn (Tina)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

ix

Foreword by Neil Gaiman

Introduction

xi

xv

The Realm of Rod Serling

Team of "Wizards

17

Themes of The Zone

Comic Relief

33

57

Beyond Dimensions

65

Sight, Sound and Mind

75

Earl Holliman

82

Lamont Johnson

90

Richard Bare

97

Richard Donner

103

Ted Post

109

Del Reisman

122

Bert Granet

129

Carol Serling

138

Robert Serling

151

Helen Foley

153

Robert Keller

155

Earl Hamner Jr.

162

Richard Matheson

George Clayton Johnson

178

Fritz Weaver

Elliot Silverstein
William Reynolds
Paul Comi

185

190

Robert Sorrells
Ruta Lee

182

200

195

168

202

Cliff Robertson

207

Shelley Berman

213

Jean Carson

215

Anne Francis

219

James Best

223

Dennis Weaver

227

Wright King

229

James Sheldon
Bill Mumy

230
236

Joseph Ruskin

238

Joanne Linville
Nan Martin

240

Peter Mark Richman

Phillip Pine

246

Jacqueline Scott
Warren Stevens

248

William Windom

251

Kevin Hagen
Ivan Dixon

242

243

252
254

Appreciation Essays
The House that Rod Built by Dana Gould

257

A Reminiscence by Christopher Beaumont

Rod Sterling by Robert Hewitt Wolfe

259

261

Serling and Beaumont: A Game of One-Upmanship by Roger Anker

264

To: Mr. Rod Serling by George Clayton Johnson

266

The Vibe of the Twilight Zone by John Ottman

269

Magic Realism Comes to the Suburbs by Neil Peart

271

Reopening the Door of Imagination by Pen Densham

Felicity Meets the Twilight Zone by Michael Bonvillain
Lunch in the Twilight Zone by Kevin Hudson

277

My First Twilight Zone Episode by Dean Haglund

Kidding Around the Twilight Zone by Jim Houghton

Perchance to Dream
Sources

291

287

278
281

274

263

Ackno w ledgments

Big thanks to everyone at ECW Press for having made this wild trip come true!
To my goddess of an editor, Jen Hale (Madam Cleaver), for steering this long
awaited book into a reality, I will always be grateful. To Stuart Ross, for his
superb copy editing, Tania Craan, for her wonderful design work, Kulsum
Merchant, for getting the ball rolling and passing it over to Jen (it was a perfect
play), Simon Ware, for public relations, and a gracious hats off to publisher Jack
David for signing with me.
Thanks to those friends, associates, and alumni who helped pull together
extra materials from their own personal collections; Tony Albarella, Dwight
Deskins, Marc Moser, and Roger Anker. Also, Paul Comi, Dana Gould, Earl
Holliman, Richard Kiel, Richard Matheson, and Carol Serling. Thanks to Bud
Robertson for his diligent work in contacting a number of essay contributors,
and, along with Richard Ballo at Goal Productions, for making available a por
tion of our Twilight Zone Archives interviews. Thanks to Jeanna Beasley for
transcribing some of the later interviews, Tom Elkins for the comments of
Beverly Garland and Evans Evans, and Bill Koeb for having a light bulb go on
above his head that one day while mixing the title around.
Gracious thanks to Carol Serling for all of her support and for allowing me
to give something back with this book, and to author Robert Serling, for his
interview and the experience of getting to know him. Thanks to my friends at
the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation (rodserling.com), Robert Keller, Andrew
Polak, and Stephen Schlich, and to fond memories of Helen Foley.
Special thanks to Twilight Zone writer George Clayton Johnson, for his
ongoing support and friendship. Thanks for having invited me into your life and
for all the philosophical and heartfelt discussions we've shared. It's truly been
an honor.
To those Twilight Zone alumni who granted interviews and offered interest
and support: Richard Bare, James Best, Shelley Berman, Lloyd Bochner, Jean
Carson, Paul Comi, Ivan Dixon, Richard Donner, Anne Francis, Bert Granet,
Kevin Hagen, Earl Hamner Jr., Earl Holliman, George Clayton Johnson, Lamont

Johnson, Wright King, Ruta Lee, Joanne Linville, Nan Martin, Richard
Matheson, Barry Morris, Bill Mumy (billmumy.com), Phillip Pine, Ted Post, Del
Reisman, William Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, Joseph Ruskin, Jacqueline Scott,
James Sheldon, Elliot Silverstein, Robert Sorrells, Warren Stevens, Dennis Weaver,
Fritz Weaver, William Windom, and the comments of Robert Redford. Also, to
the two directors I had the honor to visit, Don Medford and Jack Smight.
To those who contributed wonderful appreciation essays: Roger Anker,
Christopher Beaumont, Michael Bonvillain, Pen Densham, Dana Gould, Dean
Haglund, Jim Houghton, Kevin Hudson, George Clayton Johnson, John
Ottman, Neil Peart, and Robert Hewitt Wolfe.
To those who endorsed the book: Neil Gaiman for his most excellent fore
word, Carol Serling, George Clayton Johnson, Cliff Robertson, Bill Mumy, J.J.
Abrams, William Shatner, and Marc Scott Zicree.
Personal thanks to all of my friends and family: especially my parents Gloria
and Paul, for allowing me a childhood of growing up watching scary movies, and
my brother Jonathan Kim, for holding me down at the early age of five or six and
forcing my eyes open to watch Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Ah, good times.

Forewo rd

We find what we need.

Sometimes we don't understand it, or don't take advantage of it. Sometimes
it destroys us when we find it, and sometimes it becomes our salvation. Rod
Serling knew.
(I'm writing this on a plane. I'm not worried. I'm barely scared of flying at
all . . . )
I was fourteen when I first encountered The Twilight Zone. In geological time,
even in human being time, this was not long ago. Still, it was in the days when
the only way to watch something made for TV was to see it when it was broad
cast. You had to be there. If no one was showing it, you didn't see it. If it was
broadcast when you were a small child, if it wasn't shown in your country, you
were a long way out of luck. When I was twelve, my parents added to the diffi
culty by deciding, when we moved, not to have a television.
Still, I found The Twilight Zone. It was what I needed. I was in conversation
with a friend of my father's, an American Greek named Andy, and we were talk
ing about television shows we'd enjoyed over the years (in a house without
television, we could at least talk about television) and he mentioned The Twilight
Zone. He hummed the theme tune. No, I said. I've never heard of it. Tell me
more. Over the next few weeks, I forced him to tell me the plots of all the
episodes he could remember, over and over, soaking them up. I might never see
this thing, but I still wanted to know all about it. I made the episodes in my
head, expanding on the themes: deadly dolls and twist endings and aliens and
Death . . . .
A year or so later I was in Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed, a science fic
tion and comics shop in London, and I found a couple of Twilight Zone
paperbacks - adaptations of Twilight Zone episodes into short story form (or
possibly collections of the original stories that the episodes were based on. It was
a long time ago, and the books have long since been lent out and never returned).
I bought them, read them avidly. (Where were the DVDS you ask? Why didn't I
watch the episodes on YouTube? Like I said, it was a long time ago. We didn't

have the leisure to invent DVDS, back then, given the constant peril of dinosaur
attacks and the marauding hordes of Genghis Khan, okay? We had three TV
channels in the UK, and they all went off by midnight.) I was excited about the
involvement of writers like Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, writers
whose short stories and novels I had loved. I didn't know if I'd ever actually get
to see any episodes of the show. I took what I could get.
And then, in the early eighties, when I was in my early twenties, possibly
because the upcoming Twilight Zone movie had raised its profile and brought it
back into the consciousness of the broadcasters, The Twilight Zone was shown
on British television, and I stayed in that night, or I'd tape it, hoping that the
video recorder would work, or that my landlady wouldn't change the channel,
and, finally I got to see the episodes I'd been making in my head for all those
years. I saw The Twilight Zone movie (a meh film, but I enjoyed the framing
sequence). I bought Marc Zicree's Twilight Zone Companion, read it avidly. So,
all through the eighties, on English TV, I finally watched The Twilight Zone.
It was better than I had ever hoped. Better than I had dreamed. It did not dis
appoint. It was beautifully filmed, excellently acted, and, above all, it was
intelligent. I was watching half hour long journeys into the imagination, in which
people found themselves saved or damned or human, unable to outrun their des
tiny, able to change only themselves. The Twilight Zone was a point of view, a way
of talking about things. It was easy to imitate badly - just as it's easy to do a poor
impersonation of Rod Serling's clipped delivery - but inimitable. Easily parodied,
unable to be imitated. In the years since the original Twilight Zone, one thing we
have learned from the attempts to imitate it, to revive it, to remake it, under the
Twilight Zone name or another, is how astonishingly difficult it is to make some
thing like that work, and it throws back into focus something it's easy to overlook
- that The Twilight Zone was simply one of the high water marks of television.
Time passed. Every now and again I'd find myself talking to television execu
tives about television shows, and I would hear them explain why an anthology
series was impossible, and I would find myself impressed again by Rod Serling's
achievement in getting The Twilight Zone onto the television at all, let alone that
of not doing the same thing week after week, of creating a mood that was light
or dark, creepy or exhilarating as the story demanded.
This book is a remarkable tribute to Rod Serling's creation - an analysis, a
photographic record, and most of all, a journey backstage. (I say Rod Serling's cre
ation, but one thing that this book delivers in spades, if there was any doubt about
it, is what a remarkable team Serling assembled, and how very much they did.)
There were many journeys backstage in the Twilight Zone - literal and
metaphorical. If there was a favorite Twilight Zone plot, it was the one in which
our protagonist discovers that what he or she or they believe to be the real world
is something else, something other. There's a backstage. Someone can call "Cut"
on your life, and you'll find that you're just a creature of fiction, a moment of slip
page.

And now, in this age of DVD boxed sets, when everything is available, when
things we thought were stories have been discovered to be content, it's appropri
ate that the best way backstage into The Twilight Zone is through words and
pictures, through archival documents and interviews and commentary. If you
want to know how it was done, if you want to marvel at how it was done, if you
think that, possibly, one day, you'll be the one to bring back anthology television,
then I commend this book to you.
We find what we need, after all.
(The cabin staff just announced that we'll be landing soon. I think I caught
sight of something on the wing. . . . )
Let's go backstage.
Neil Gaiman
February 20,

2007

xiii

Introduc t i o n

Above all other projects I've worked on, this book had a craving to see the light
of day and needed to become a reality. The path of putting it together has been
long and somewhat arduous - I could fill a pool with the coffee and aspirin I've
consumed during its creation - but I can honestly and humbly say it's been one
hell of an adventurous ride, and one I wouldn't change for anything. Interestingly
enough, even though I've spent the last six years working on this book, its course
began years before and it took much time for this moment to fully take form.
It all started back in 1979, when a collection of original production photos
from a number of CBS television series was purchased at a memorabilia auction
held in Hollywood. The Literary Department of MID Management Limited
stated that "all of these contact sheets were from Viacom and the sets included I
Love Lucy, Judy Garland Show, The Untouchables, Our Miss Brooks, and, of
course, The Twilight Zone. Various photographers working for the network or
studio rendered these and then they became part of the syndication file for use
by Viacom to help publicize the series. Just how they were secured from Viacom,
before they were auctioned off, is not known."
As it ends up, the Twilight Zone portion of this original collection consisted
of about 7 ,200 images shot during the filming of 7 5 episodes from the first three
seasons. The episode sets were then individually offered for sale through a 1982
magazine ad, and 30 were sold and sadly scattered to the winds. The remaining
sets were kept in an archive.
Ten years later, I came into the picture. I had become friends with Jim Benson,
a Hollywood collector and eventual co-author of the book Rod Serling's Night
Gallery: An After Hours Tour. We were both sure that little would remain of the
photos, but my interest had been piqued. He furnished me with the old P.o. box
from the ad, I wrote a letter, and eventually my query made it to the archivist. He
replied with photocopies of one episode set and a list of the remaining collection
- 45 episodes still remained, consisting of 4,395 images. The archivist made me
an offer I couldn't refuse, and I instantly purchased the remaining lot. Yes,
Franklin, I had won the jackpot!

From the list of available episode sets, it was clear that the more popular ones
like "To Serve Man," "The Invaders," and "Time Enough at Last" had been
sold, but a majority of this historical collection remained intact. And many great
episodes were there, such as "The Obsolete Man," "Shadow Play," "Death's
Head Revisited," as well as incredible behind-the-scenes stills of Serling with cast
and crew, discussing lines, cracking up, figuring out marks for his onscreen nar
rations and posing for candid shots. It was a lost visual step back in time.
I knew I had to share this collection, so in January 1 999, I registered online
as The Twilight Zone Archives (twilightzone.org), and began to build a site that
would feature some of these shots. The site grew, my interest grew, and I found
myself stepping behind the curtain. I met my now close friend and associate Tony
Albarella, later editor of the book series, As Timeless As Infinity: The Twilight
Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, where we were invited to tour Rod Serling's home
town of Binghamton with historian Robert Keller, and had dinner with Helen
Foley, Rod's teacher and founder of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation. It
was like we had entered The Twilight Zone.
Little did I know that these beginnings would lead to writing a book, and dur
ing the course of working on it, I would have the opportunities to interview
people like Richard Matheson, Richard Donner, and Cliff Robertson. That I
would be having luncheon meetings with Carol Serling, having lengthy philo
sophical discussions with George Clayton Johnson, meeting Earl Hamner Jr. for
lunch, and having a lengthy conversation with Rod's brother, Robert Serling. I
was granted an opportunity to give something back to all of those who worked
on The Twilight Zone. I can't help but ponder: Would Rod have liked this book?
Would he have looked at it and smiled? I'd like to think so.
All I can hope for is that this book will be enjoyed by some, and appreciated
by others. I hope you like Dimensions Behind The Twilight Zone as much as I
have enjoyed working on it. It's simply one man's need to say thank you to Rod
Serling. I hope I did your legacy proud, Rod.
Stewart T. Stanyard
December 2006

xvi

CHA PT E R O N E

The Realm
of Rod Berling
Submitted for your approval: a man known as
Rod Serling, writer, master storyteller, dramatist,
and founding member of the Golden Age of
Television. A charismatic and creative person
who had a way with words and soon found
he had a talent for turning morality plays and
tales of terror into a television series - a series
so special, it would spark the minds of viewers
for generations. Rod Serling, a man wanting
only to be remembered as a writer, became an
icon, as creator of the deepest dimension of
imagination, known as . . . The Twilight Zone.

Hailed as grand master of all dimensions, Rod

Serling will eternally be known as the American
writer who created the classic black-and-white
anthology television series The Twilight Zone. In the
form of modern parables, morality plays, and short film-noir-like pic
tures set deep in shadow and substance, Rod Serling's creation opened
our eyes and expanded our minds beyond the boundaries of our own
imaginations to dimensions of limitless possibilities.
Most of Hollywood considered The Twilight Zone a groundbreaking
television show. Running on CBS from 19 5 9 to 1964, it surely exceeded
the medium's standards of excellence and then some. Rod Serling not only

Rodman Edward 5erling:

December 25, 1924 June 28, 1975

Rod Serling performing his

on-camera narration for
"Shadow Play."

wrote 9 2 of the 156 episodes, he was also the

executive producer and host, both on- and
off-camera. His narration style is forever syn
onymous with the series. Simply put, Rod
Serling is The Twilight Zone.
It's easy to recognize that the success of
the series began with a vision from Serling,
for he knew well the craft of writing and
producing quality dramatic television. As
Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton has
stated, "The operative word is that basically
nobody understood what made The Twilight
Zone work except Rod." Although, looki.ng
at the full spectrum of what made the show
work so well, aside from Serling's involve
ment, history must also credit the balance of
Houghton'S talented mind for production,
and the artistic vision of cinematographer
George T. Clemens.
Along with this primary trio of Serling,
Houghton, and Clemens, it was at Hollywood's mighty MGM Studios that teams
of filmmakers, directors, artists, and craftspeople took advantage of an incredible back lot of sets and properties used for hundreds of great films of the past.
Christening a level of literature rarely seen in the new medium of television,
these filmmakers created a timeless piece of modern art - a filmed series that
went beyond what the network and sponsors expected or even understood, and,
although it earned only moderate ratings during its original airing, has played
worldwide in syndication ever since. The series continues to entertain and illu
minate generations of viewing audiences with its captivating stories.
With MGM Studios' endless palette of expertise, and a superb award-winning
writing team consisting primarily of Serling, Charles Beaumont, and Richard
Matheson, The Twilight Zone proved to be filmmaking for television. Even
though most of those who had worked in film looked down on the medium of
television, some of these same filmmakers eventually brought their craft into this
show, acknowledging The Twilight Zone as something more than the average tel
eVISIOn senes.
Through the series, Rod Serling philosophized about the human condition
much as he had done in his earlier Golden Age work. This time, however, he
avoided network and sponsor interference by masking the social and political
subject matter under a sci-fi guise of Martians, Venusians, and robots, oh my.
The network executives, who thought they were purchasing a simple fantasy sci
fi series, misunderstood the deeper insights The Twilight Zone had to offer.
In The Twilight Zone's themes that entertain and uplift the audience's imagi-

LEFT: Serling signals that

he has perfected his

narration to director John
Brahm (off-camera).
RIGHT:

Martians from

"Mr. Dingle, The Strong,"

played by Douglas Spencer
(left) and Michael Fox.

nation, we can observe the strong social understanding that was Serling's trade
mark. Audiences felt The Twilight Zone's magic right away, guiding them into a
realm of fantasy and science fiction unlike anything seen on television before.
The Twilight Zone offered viewers poignancy and suspense, in a surreal style of
storytelling that traveled between reality and unreality. These wonderful stories
presented ordinary people in ordinary situations, then suddenly shocked that
reality with a classic twist ending, shifting the perspective of realism into a sur
realistic framework. Since the series was an anthology, and able to go beyond the
linear cast of an average drama, western, or situation comedy of the time, the
types of characters and situations the writers could create were unlimited.
Among these wondrous flights into the unknown, audiences meet some of
the most memorable, lifelike characters to have emerged from television's
dimension. We come to know these classic characters inside and out within the
first few minutes of an episode. The well-written dialogue flowed naturally,
offering an actor the opportunity to inhabit the spirit of a character and make

The Realm of Rod Serli n g

"Death's-Head Revisited" stars Oscar Beregi as Captain Lutze and Joseph Schildkraut as Becker_
In this shot, we see the crew and actor Schildkraut at work during exterior shots on the back lot
at MGM_ It was said the buildings resembled Dachau_

it his own. And if an actor was having trouble with any of the lines,
Serling was known to go offstage for a few minutes, then reappear
with rewrites on the spot. Actors took comfort knowing that Serling
was in their corner, creating camaraderie and a positive workspace,
helping their creative process of bringing life to the characters.
The Twilight Zone's most beloved Serling episode, "Time Enough
at Last," features Burgess Meredith as Henry Bemis. Bemis, a book
worm bank teller who wears thick glasses and longs to be left alone
to read, becomes the sole survivor of a nuclear war one day while
reading in the bank vault. Alone and afraid, he walks the city of rub
ble, not sure what to do with his time, when suddenly he comes
across the remains of a public library. Dusty books are scattered
everywhere, signaling a perfect chance for Bemis to at last pursue a
lifetime of uninterrupted reading. But the surprise twist at the end
punishes Bemis for his antisocial behavior, and his greatest desire is
forever thwarted.
And then there's William Shatner's memorable performance in
Richard Matheson's chilling story, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Bob
Wilson, traveling with his wife on a flight home after his recovery
from a nervous breakdown, is the only passenger able to see a gremlin tampering with the wing of the plane. He tries desperately to
warn his wife and convince the crew, but the gremlin flies away
whenever anyone else looks. Is Wilson crazy, or is the gremlin real?
The end of the episode reveals a truth that only we viewers can see,
putting us in the same situation as Wilson.
However popular these two classic episodes may be to the
masses, they represent only a fraction of The Twilight Zone universe
and its hundreds of inhabitants. Most every episode carries its own
weight by providing a great story, interesting characters, and a sur
prise ending to warp viewer perception. Since the series was an
anthology, it utilized a plethora of themes, including several that
would be revisited throughout its run. Categorizing the show's story
telling, one might settle on a dozen main themes - other
dimensions, time travel, space travel, the power of the mind, human
ity, death and dying, the devil, second chances, enchanted objects,
creatures, machines, and magic.
Instead of the mundane sameness that television series usually offer, the
themes and characters within The Twilight Zone proved the medium could offer
intelligence, wonderment, and even psychology, paying heed to the human condition, our fears and corruptions, and the injustices of mankind. Serling
presented a world where fate is exact and ironic, where every type of corruption
or atrocity is met equally with a brilliant form of comeuppance. Consider it thematic payback time: a place where condemned Nazis spend an eternity living

The Realm of Rod Seding

Burgess Meredith stars

in the classic episode,
"Time Enough at Last."

William Shatner, Christine

White, and Nick Cravat
(gremlin) star in the
terrifying "Nightmare
at 20,000 Feet."

"Death's-Head Revisited,"
exterior shot. Becker
condemns Captain Lutze:
"On these posts by the
anguished hour you hung
up human beings to die a
slow death. Do you feel
their torture now?"

through the same horrors they inflicted upon others. Or where corrupt, power
hungry capitalists lose sight of man's worth, and either the tables turn on them
in some twisted way, or insanity sets in. Great lessons abound in this endless cel
luloid palette that acted as a set of modern-day parables. Justice may be blind
in our third dimension, but in the Twilight Zone, it sees clearly.
However, the Twilight Zone is more than just a place for the wicked. There
are also second chances found between the shadows, ways to escape the stresses
of modern life and return to the supposed comfort of the past. These stories are
intended to yank our heartstrings rather than shock and terrorize us. It's no

mystery that Rod Serling used nostalgia in his work. Having experienced the
hectic life of a prominent Hollywood playwright and television icon, he imag
ined returning to a slower, more content past. Serling often visited the
second-chance theme, as did several of the show's other writers. With classic
episodes such as Serling's "A Stop at Willoughby, " "The Sixteen-Millimeter
Shrine," and the semi-autobiographical "Walking Distance," as well as
Reginald Rose's "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" and George Clayton
johnson's "Kick the Can," the audience is brought back to simpler times, when
a person could stretch his soul and have another chance at a better life.
There's no need to wish for better television here, though: The Twilight Zone
has it all. From its deep sense of poignancy, irony, and twists of fate, to the mag
ical and mysterious, the creepy, strange, and haunting, it opens a door with the
key of imagination. Since its premiere nearly 50 years ago, The Twilight Zone has
established itself as Hollywood's landmark television series, and its fans and crit
ics across the board view it as the greatest television show ever created. But The
Twilight Zone has reached the status of being much more than just a television
show or entertainment. As a vital part of American pop culture, as it is regarded
by audiences worldwide, the show has developed into a form of expression when something strange or unexplainable happens in real life, people will universally hum out the notes of the eerie theme music. No other television show has
had such mass appeal that it has come to define all things unexplained in real life.
The original phrase, "twilight zone," came from the early 19005, used to
describe a distinct condition between fantasy and reality. The term evolved into
an entry in the dictionary defining the lowest level of the ocean that light can
reach, and as an aeronautical term used by the U.S. Air Force. As noted in Marc
Scott Zicree's The Twilight Zone Companion, when Serling was asked how he
came up with the title, he replied, "I thought I'd made it up, but I've heard since
that there is an Air Force term relating to a moment when a plane is coming
down on approach and it cannot see the horizon. It's called the twilight zone, but
it's an obscure term which I had not heard before. "
Today, the popularity o f The Twilight Zone has surpassed anything Rod
Serling, the CBS executives, or anyone else who worked on the series could have
ever imagined. As is the case with other classic television shows, there was little
idea these creations would continuously be rerun through syndication, extending
their shelf lives to countless viewing audiences. But The Twilight Zone towers
over these other classic syndicated shows, a leader in quality and imagination. It
has that same quality of memorable wonder, and place in American culture and
Hollywood history, as The Wizard of OZ and It's a Wonderful Life. The series
also offers a growing nostalgia for baby boomers who want to relive the magic
of watching the shows they grew up on, going back to a time when it was possible to leave something to the imagination and work the brain's muscles.
Television devoid of The Twilight Zone would have been like rock 'n' roll
without Chuck Berry, the Beatles, or Led Zeppelin, or horror films without

The Realm of Rod Serling

...

James Daly stars in the

dreamlike fantasy,
"A Stop at Willoughby."

M""KT'o."

An original Twilight Zone

promotion piece of
the time.

Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, or Dracula. Rod Serling's Twilight Zone paved the
way for some of Hollywood's television creators and filmmakers, to bring us
shows like The Outer Limits, X-Files, Quantum Leap, Lost, and Star Trek. And
who's to say if George Lucas, Wes Craven, Chris Carter, J.J. Abrams, M. Night
Shyamalan, or even Steven Spielberg (whose directing debut was on Rod Serling's
Night Gallery) would have been inspired to go the routes they did. Who would
have thought that the work of Rod Serling would touch the minds of so many of
today's Hollywood creators? Or of the many others who became writers and
teachers specifically because they watched The Twilight Zone as children?
Having expanded viewers' minds simply by taking them on a weekly journey
into Rod Serling's imagination, The Twilight Zone has had such a strong influ
ence upon the industry that it's been parodied and referenced countless times in
early series like The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Jack Benny Show, as well as
later shows like Saturday Night Live, where Dan Aykroyd did a deadpan imper
sonation of Serling. The series has been referenced in modern genre shows such
as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and several Fox series, including Futurama, Family
G uy, and The Simpsons. ABC' S hit, Lost, is like an extended episode of The
Twilight Zone, while 3rd Rock from the Sun went so far as to parody both the
original version of " Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," where William Shatner played
the passenger who sees the gremlin on the wing of the plane, and John Lithgow's
reprise in the movie version. Here, Shatner arrives off a flight and refers to see
ing a man on the wing of the plane, and Lithgow excitedly states that the same
thing happened to him.

During the production of

the videotaped episode,
"Static," actor Dean
Jagger and crew look on
as Rod Serling performs
his on-camera narration
an alternate take not used
in the finished episode.

In the realm of fantasy and sci-fi on television, Rod Serling broke new ground.
Prior to creating The Twilight Zone, he honed and polished his abilities working
as a television playwright during the grand Golden Age of the' 5 0S.
Serling's first major success came on January 12, 1955, with his sixth Kraft
Television Theatre teleplay, "Patterns." In the callous setting of the corporate
world, "Patterns" is the dramatic story of young executive Fred Staples, forced
to replace the company's worn vice-president in a power struggle to someday
overthrow the merciless company president. The press reaction to "Patterns"
was nothing short of amazement, as newspaper critics across the country
reviewed it not only as Kraft Television Theatre's best production to date, but
also a milestone for the medium and a brilliant achievement for Serling.
"Patterns" won Serling the first of an eventual six Emmy Awards, and ten days
later, the big-screen version of "Patterns" was released. Now Serling had to live
up to the success of " Patterns" and continue to deliver works of similar dramatic
quality. "I had something to prove, first to others and then to myself. I had to
prove that 'Patterns' wasn't all I had," he said.
On October 4, 1 9 5 6, CBS'S 90-minute live anthology series Playho use 90
debuted with Serling's Cold War drama, "The Forbidden Area," based on a
novel by Pat Frank. Produced by Martin Manulis and directed by John

TI,e Realm of Rod Berling

...

Frankenheimer, "The Forbidden Area"

TONIGHT OVER CBS-TV
starred Charlton Heston and Vincent Price in
ENCORE PERFORMANCE
what proved a substandard tale about a sabo
teur of nuclear bombers blown up during
flight. The following week, Playhouse 90
aired Serling's remarkably poignant teleplay

" Requiem for a Heavyweight," about a

weathered boxer on his last breath. To this
....
day, " Requiem" is viewed as Rod Serling's
...
greatest single creation outside of the popu
.....
larity of The Twilight Zone, and it aired with
"",,'-Ulo:Iol!(.'
a flawless performance. Regarded by Serling
.......
himself as the finest moment in his career,
....
" Requiem" won several awards and was
..
remade in I962 as a feature film.
......
Serling's role as a leading television play
..,""'....".
_1...A.E.nnint;<
wright continued over the next few years with
produce" IERT GRAILIT
..
director, ALLEN IEISIIIR
quality Playhouse 90 teleplays such as, "The
-U"Uywo"daeJ_'"
'"' host,
Comedian," " The Dark Side of the Earth,"
DESI ARIIAl
"A Town Has Turned To Dust," "The Rank
and File," the semi-autobiographical play,
"The Velvet Alley," and " In the Presence of
Mine Enemies. " Amid an endless sea of tradi
tionalism that seemed to ignore the social
struggles of the time, Serling was determined
to speak his mind through his work. He was
an advocate of elevating the quality of dramatic television and inspiring the con- A magazine ad for the
sciousness of the audience. Having delved deep into many social injustices of the encore performance of
time, like the racism of the true-life lynching of Emmett Till in Playhouse 90's the Westinghouse Desilu
"Noon on Doomsday" and "A Town Has Turned to Dust," and seeing political Playhouse production of
issues toned down for Studio One's "The Arena," he witnessed firsthand how "The Time Element."
censorship was costly to the integrity of his work. "By the time 'A Town Has Notice the misspelling of
Turned to Dust' went before the cameras," Serling said, "my script had turned to Serling's last name.
dust. Emmett Till became, as Time noted, a romantic Mexican who loved the
shopkeeper's wife, but 'only with his eyes.' My sheriff couldn't commit suicide
because one of our sponsors was an insurance firm and they claimed that suicide
often leads to complications in settling policy claims. The lynch victim was called
Clemson, but we couldn't use this 'cause South Carolina had an all-white college
by that name. The setting was moved to the Southwest in the I 870S. The phrase
'Twenty men in hoods' became 'Twenty men in homemade masks.' They
chopped it up like a roomful of butchers at work on a steer. "
A dta.natlc ,:oritr_ P""",.!ul

!itO)J.I}"""'ribution.n.o

ployt!t to 1M h,lL

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The Realm of Rod S.,I;ns

,...

11

Indeed, Serling came through those times frustrated with the networks' con
stant censoring of his work and rebellious toward the restrictions imposed by
commercial sponsors. Close to the end of television's Golden Age, Serling was
ready to enter the next phase of his career, one that would give him more creative
control over his work. During the final reigning era of the live anthology shows,
most of which were cancelled in just over a year's time, Serling's interest steered
away from the practical, reality-based stories and toward the limitless realm of
fantasy. The idea for a fantasy series came from a Serling script previously aired
during his college days on the Cincinnati WLW anthology series, The Storm. "The
Time Element" tells the tale of a man who time-travels back to Pearl Harbor and
attempts to warn people of the impending Japanese attack. Serling reworked and
expanded the script to a one-hour format, fleshing out details of the characters
and submitting it to CBS with a new title: The Twilight Zone - "The Time
Element. " CBS purchased the script, likely since it was a work by Rod Serling.
However, as with other conservative networks of the time, CBS was unenthusias
tic about the fantasy storyline and summarily decided to shelve the property. It
wasn't until a year later that "The Time Element" saw the light of day. Bert
Granet, producer for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, had been scouting for
scripts by prominent playwrights, and Serling was definitely at the top of his list.
He bought "The Time Element" from CBS for $IO,OOO.
Desilu Playho use added "The Time Element" to its 1 9 5 8-59 production
schedule, however, Granet met much resistance from the conservative
Westinghouse advertising agency and sponsor at the time, McCann-Erickson.
They wanted stories with tight, conclusive endings, while Serling's tale was open
ended and let the audience use their imaginations. Granet continued to struggle
over the use of the script until he got Desilu founder Desi Arnaz in his corner.
Even though the sponsor remained reluctant, Arnaz supported Granet and even
tually "The Time Element" was approved for production.
"The Time Element" starred two veteran actors, William Bendix as Pete
Jenson, a man who claims his dreams of time-traveling back before the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor are real, and Martin Balsam as Dr. Gillespie, the psychi
atrist who tries to convince him time travel is an impossibility and that his
dreams are simply a result of an overactive dream state. McCann-Erickson
insisted on the need for an explanation at the end. As the conclusion of "The
Time Element" plays out, Jenson does go back in time to the Pearl Harbor attack
and is killed by enemy planes. The scene changes to Dr. Gillespie sitting in his
office alone; he looks at his appointment book - no entries. He visits a bar and,
upon having a drink, glances behind the bartender toward a picture on the wall
of a guy who seems strangely familiar. He asks the bartender, played by Paul
Bryar, "Who's the guy in the picture? " The bartender replies, " Oh, that's Pete
Jenson. He used to tend bar here. Know him ? " "No," Gillespie answers. "Just
looked familiar, that's all. Where is he now?" " He's dead," adds the bartender.
"He was killed at Pearl Harbor. " This is where the scene should have faded, leav-

12

ing the audience with an ideal prelude

to the style of The Twilight Zone twist
endings to come. Instead, Desi Arnaz
appears and offers a dry explanation
to the story: "We wonder if Pete
Jenson did go back in time or if he
ever existed. My personal answer is
that the doctor had seen jenson's pic
ture at the bar sometime before and
had a dream. Any of you have any
answers ? Let me know." This easy out
was a nightmare that caused Serling
to again question the sponsor's power
over the content of a writer's work.
"The Time Element" aired on
Desilu Playhouse on November 24,
19 58, and received more phone calls,
telegrams, and positive viewer mail
than any of the series' other dramas
that year. It was with this overwhelm
ing audience approval that CBS owned
up to the shelving of Serling's script
and decided to produce a pilot for The
Twilight Zone. William Dozier, the
head of CBS 'S West Coast program
ming, assigned the task of production
to William Self, who at the time was a new addition to the network and the
development department. Self's first Twilight Zone business was to secure a good
story for the pilot. As "The Time Element" had already been produced for Desilu
Playhou se, a new script needed to be written for the pilot. Serling wrote a onehour piece entitled "The Happy Place," which resembles and predates the
Twilight Zone episode "The Obsolete Man," painting the dark picture of a futuristic totalitarian state where people reaching the age of 60 are considered
obsolete and brought to concentration camps for extermination. Self found the
story a remarkable statement, yet believed it too depressing as a pilot to sell the
series. Serling agreed to write a completely new script and just a few days later,
arrived at Self's office with "Where Is Everybody? "
As a n ideal starting point for The Twilight Zone, the new script offered both
a solid story and an underlying strategy to sell the series to potential sponsors.
Steering clear of fantasy and sci-fi themes, which likely would have deterred the
sale of the series, the pilot presented an imaginative story with a conservative
ending that returns to reality. Wary of the conservative mindset of the sponsors,
the pilot also avoided any plot devices like aliens, devils, and robots, which

The Realm of RoJ Serling

.....

Rod Serling on the set of

"Cavender Is Coming."

13

would later become such a big part of The Twilight Zone. Still, this very first
script encapsulates many other elements that the series would be known for imagination, alienation, fear of the unknown, and Serling's exploration of the
human condition. Within this safe structure, the plot is basic - a man suffering
from amnesia finds himself utterly alone in a small town devoid of people. Aside
from the pilot's quality of writing and sensible plot, other selling points were the
direction, cinematography, music, and high production values. Hired to direct
the pilot was Robert Stevens, a veteran director for several episodes of Alfred
Hitchcock Presents, Playho use 90, Climax, and Suspense, who would later direct
the seminal Twilight Zone episode, "Walking Distance. " Adding more credibil
ity to the visual mood was cinematographer Joseph La Shelle, who also worked
on Alfred Hitchcock Presents as well as memorable feature films such as Laura,
Marty, and The Apartment. Along with these seasoned talents, Bernard
Herrmann, one of the industry's most renowned composers, was brought aboard
to create the music. Herrmann was known for scoring films such as Citizen Kane,
The Day the Earth Stood Still, The 7th Voyage of Sin bad, and Vertigo. Playing
the lead role of Mike Ferris in the pilot was actor Earl Holliman, who, previous
to his first television job the previous year in Rod Serling's Playhouse 90 episode
"The Dark Side of the Earth," had worked in 1 9 films, including the sci-fi cult
classic Forbidden Planet, The Rainmaker, and G unfight at the O.K. Corral.
The pilot was shot in December 1 9 5 8 at Universal International Studios,
which offered a perfect back lot for use as the empty town in the story. The
budget for the pilot was sizable for the time
$75,000, which covered a day of
rehearsal and an eight-day shoot. Following the filming of the pilot, it was
scored, edited, and flown to New York to be screened by the chief executive offi
cer of CBS, William Paley. William Self, who was there to oversee the screening,
told Tony Albarella in his book, As Timeless as Infinity : "Paley was extremely
high on it. He was a big supporter of it. Strangely enough, some of the other
executives at CBS were not; they didn't know what it was, they didn't quite get it.
But Paley did and that was all that counted at CBS in those days." CBS signed on
with Rod Serling's production company, Cayuga Productions, with Serling con
tracted to write 80 percent of the scripts for the first season. CBS and Serling split
ownership of the series and, within just a few months, production began on The
-

Twilight Zone.

However, before the series would actually see fruition, a few adj ustments
needed to be made to the pilot, including the first line of Serling's original
opening narration: "There is a sixth dimension, beyond that which is known
to man . . . . " Self asked Serling, "Please explain to me what the fifth dimension
is, " to which Serling replied, " Oh, aren't there five? " The opening was rewrit
ten and rerecorded with the Twilight Zone introduced as the fifth dimension.
The somewhat archaic opening title sequence needed updating, and for the
broadcast version, a new opening was commissioned from the title company,

14

Actor Earl Holliman wrote

this publicity letter just
'EARL

four days before the

HO LLIMAN

premiere of the pilot,

"Where is Everybody?"

September 28, 1959

Hi ;
Jus t want e d to let YoU ' know I ' ll be appearing on the
CBS television network this coming Fr idaY
, n ight , October 2nd
'
" and
in not 2!!!'!. shdw , but I
First my new Western seri e s , HOTEL DE PAREE , goe s on the
air rom 8 : 30 to 9 o ' clock.
I play an ex-gunsl inger name d
ftSundan c s " , who returns to Georgetown ; , Colorado atsr
spending seven years in rison.
With me, is my dog ( about
the only riend I ' ve got ) , a wonderful little mongrel name d
sele s s " . I think the series will be a very good one. If
you like it ( and I hope you do ) we ' ll be on 'every Friday nlght .
Second, Rod Serling ' s new "stranger-than-fiction" serie s ,
TWILIGHT ZONE airs at 10 o ' clock the sa night .
A dlferent
actor w111 appear each week, but I 'm lucky enough to be in
the f irst one.
I t ' s called 'ere Is Everybody?" and I play
a guy names ike " .
Slnce i t ' s a terriic susp ense story,
and r wouldn ' t want t o spoil it for you, that ' s all I" ll say
about i t .
Hope you get a chance t o watCh them both.
Sincerely,

P. B.

The shows might be en at different times in your area ,

s o you might check your local newspaper or TV Guide .

The Realm of Rod S e r l i ng

.....

15

UPA. This new animated title sequence flawlessly matched the tone o f Serling's
narration.
Along with these revisions came the significant choice of narrator. The origi
nal voice used to narrate the pilot was that of Westbrook Van Voorhis, the
ominous narrator behind the March of Time newsreels. However, at the screen
ing it was unanimously decided that his tone was just not right for the show Serling especially thought Van Voorhis seemed to be talking down to the audi
ence. Other narrators were considered, including Orson Welles, but his price
proved too high. It was Serling who finally suggested he'd do it himself. At first,
this move was met with uncertainty, but after Serling did some vocal tests, it was
clear he was perfect for the job.
With these changes in place, CBS gave the green light for production of the
first 26 episodes of The Twilight Zone. All that was left to choose was the pro
duction team. Serling asked Self to stay on board as the show's producer. Self
appreciated the offer but passed, as he was eager to continue in his executive-pro
ducer position at the network. He did, however, suggest Serling consider his
production team from Schlitz Playhouse of Stars and The Frank Sinatra Show,
which consisted of story editor Buck Houghton, cameraman George T. Clemens,
production manager Ralph Nelson, and a few other talents. After meeting with
Serling and later reading a couple of scripts, Houghton accepted the position of
producer. Soon Clemens became the director of photography and the rest of the
team followed closely behind. With the production team firmly set, Rod Serling's
words from the pilot's opening narration described well what they were about to
embark upon - "The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the
shadows that we're about to watch could be our j ourney. "

16

CH APTER TWO

Tearn of Wizards
" What's going on here? Where are we?
What are we? Who are we? Who are we?!"
- The M ajor

in "Five Characters in Search o f an Exit "

As much as Rod Serling is remembered as the

creator of The Twilight Zone and for his
vision, writing, narration, and executive pro
ducing force, it was the team of wizards that
made the series work so well. Serling's left and
right hand - brilliant writers Charles
Beaumont and Richard Matheson - as well as
the skillful production of Buck Houghton, the
cinematography of George T. Clemens, and the
work of a distinct group of experienced directors and actors made this
creative circle complete. For Serling, it was exhilarating working among
the various artisans in an industry he helped through its infancy. And
since The Twilight Zone was viewed as an exciting production to work
on arid a special series unlike any other show, the experienced crew con
tributed their efforts with pride.
The foundation of The Twilight Zone is in its writing. By the time
Serling had created the series, he had already achieved the status of a tel
evision-writing heavyweight. With The Twilight Zone, Serling brought to
the medium a storytelling approach similar to that of fantasy and sci
ence-fiction authors who wrote for books and pulp magazines. Serling
had a deep respect for the work of Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and

Rod Serling in a Twilight

Zone promotion piece

for the series.

17
,...

Charles Beaumont gets

a light from actor Robin
Hughes on the set of
"The Howling Man."

18

Robert A. Heinlein, as well as Theodore Sturgeon, H.P. Lovecraft, and Edgar

Allan Poe. He took the quality of writing he had already contributed to early tel
evision, mixed it with the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and the supernatural, and
crossed it over into television's more conventional world. Since Serling was
already spread thin with his many responsibilities for the series, a core writing
team was needed to create additional stories of equal quality. Along with his
appreciation for writers versed in fantasy and science fiction, Serling sought sto
rytellers who could also easily adapt to the structure and sensibilities that were
The Twilight Zone. Early on, an open call went out for writers, but the story sub
missions proved to be of inferior quality and nowhere near a good match. Serling
then invited a group of noted writers to meet, including Charles Beaumont,
Richard Matheson, and Ray Bradbury, and showed them nine of his scripts to
see if they could adapt to his writing style.
Beaumont was considered the integral center of the Southern California
Group of Writers, commonly known as the Group, which included his mentor,
Bradbury, collaborators Matheson and William F. Nolan, and later members
George Clayton Johnson, Jerry Sohl, Robert Bloch, and Harlan Ellison. The
Group's aim was to raise the state of television fantasy and science fiction. With
the Twilight Zone project, Beaumont was at first wary of this Hollywood player,
Rod Serling, who was invading their territory. Beaumont believed the series
sounded like low-budget B-movie television, but his reluctance to join the
Twilight Zone team was also based on a trend toward failed proposed fantasy
and science-fiction television shows, a strong signal that the genre was going the

way of the dodo. He thought The Twilight Zone would likely follow suit. He
then read Serling's sample scripts, including such powerful stories as "Walking
Distance," "The Lonely," and "Where Is Everybody ? " Beaumont recognized the
high quality of the writing and dialogue tightly woven into these half-hour fan
tasy dramas. The approach to the storytelling was neither cliched, nor the cheap
imitation science fiction he had expected. It was clear that with The Twilight
Zone, Serling was providing an outlet for professional fantasy and science-fiction
writers to bring a high level of work into television.
Matheson and Bradbury also read Serling's scripts and felt the project worthy
enough to join Serling's writing team. Even though Bradbury was considered a
contributing writer, only one of his teleplays actually made it into the series, the
botched rendering of his short story, "I Sing the Body Electric. " As production
proceeded, more and more of his scripts were rejected, purportedly because the
elaborate settings of his stories were too costly for the budget. Disillusioned,
Bradbury eventually accused Serling of plagiarizing his work and that of several
other science-fiction writers. He summarily pulled out of both the series and his
friendship with Serling.
Quite the opposite was true of Beaumont and Matheson, both of whom
contributed many of The Twilight Zone's most outstanding and memorable
episodes. Beaumont easily met the high quality of storytelling on the series, as
he had already established himself with work on A lfred Hitch co ck Presents,
One Step Beyond, and Have Gun - Will Travel. His approach to storytelling
dealt with bizarre and often horrific circumstances thrown upon individual
characters, whereas Serling's scripts concentrated on social commentary and
poignant sentiment.
Beaumont's episodes proved that
there were several doors to the
imagination, not just that of Serling.
Indeed, some of his episodes have
reached classic status, including
"Perchance to Dream," "Shadow
Play," "The Howling Man," " Long
Live Walter Jameson," "Person or
Persons Unknown," and "Minia
ture." His hard-edged, eerie, and
often uneasy storytelling concerned
itself with the very existence of an
individual, his state of mind, his
perception, and the terrifying border between reality and fantasy.
From Beaumont's very first script,
"Perchance to Dream, " Serling
advised him to write the script the

Team of \'Q i % arcis

..

David White, Veronica

Cartwright, Vaughn Taylor,
and Josephine Hutchinson
star in Ray Bradbury's
single Twilight Zone
contribution, "I Sing the
Body Electric."

Actor John Close and

star Dennis Weaver pose
as characters from
Beaumont's superb
"Shadow Play."

19

This rare Charles

Beaumont document

July

illustrates developmental
aspects of "The Howling
Man."

B uc k, Rod ,

2 4 , 1960

D e l , D oug , Jack, D o c & Reggie :

H e r e is the overhauled version of THE HOWLING I.1AN , a grand

s cript by a grand writer.
Most of the sugge s t e d modifications
have b e en incorporat e d , but not all.
Explanat i on :

1.

To start it in the penthouse would b e t o l o s e all of the

suspense in the matter of whether Ellington will or will not
open that door.
It i s imp ortant suspen s e .
I t makes up a
great d eal of the drama.
Properly done, it should have
te viewers divided, half urging Ellington to l et the poor
ba s tard out, half screaming at him to get the hell away
from that place.
Therefore I have kept the original opening.

;-tv:.,

2.

I have retained the B.igftal method of di &6

overi
ng
the Prisoner ' s cloven hoof.
I tried it DOU way, but either
I don ' t see it or I am right in believing mw way b e t t e r .
The
"Help me ! " - " you ! " dialogue, the s cramb l e up the wal l ,
the sulphur ous f i gure of the pri s oner e t ched against the
night as he stands atop the wall & then vanishes in smoke
all this strikes me as wonderful stuff.
The cl oven hoof
c oming d o,vn on Ellington ' s laced hands i s , of course, R od ' s
i d e a , but I ' ll f ight for it an.ay.

3 . The limy son" routine i s retained, mainly b e cause I like

it.
I realize that Buck d o e sn ' t , but s in ce this i s hardly
a policy matt e r , I d on ' t s e e why I should mumb le humb ly and
The point here is that Ellington
shuffle off with bowed head .
himself is annoyed m whenever Jerome or Chri stophorus calls
him limy s on , " and we make s omething of that.
fI
g . "" -iJ'-<N>. '
r;; , 1i<-'-" w"'....
/

-'

I must say I stiJ.l-.

All the other change s have been iWlfi.e .
like the montage and d on t , und erstand why it m out
dull -- the whole truth is that I don ' t believe montages
are ipso facto dull -- but I ' m not sure of myself in this
area, s o I ' ll submit t o wiser and more experienced head :
:. /kiu./<.
There is a great d eal of brooding terror in this scr ipt of
gEEmimemxmxpemxm palpable menace and genuine suspense, f
we can bring the s e qualt t i e s to the s creen, we ' ll
have them shivering for days aft erwar d .
Mayb e longer.

,
ro

Chuck

way he envisioned the story playing out and not compromise. Beaumont fol
lowed Serling's lead. He wrote the script exactly as he saw it and it was easily
approved. To cement the fact that Serling was serious about not compromising
the art, Beaumont found, when visiting the set during filming, sure enough, the
episode was shot exactly as he had written it. " Nothing was changed. "
Beaumont said. "Not one line. Not one word. " Because Serling respected their
work, his writers respected him in turn.
As Christopher Conlon pointed out in his introduction to the book,
California Sorcery, as Charles Beaumont became more involved in the series, his
workload was swamped with other projects. He found it necessary to outsource

20

some of his Twilight Zone scripts to ghostwriters who were also members of the
Group. This started during the third season with Ocee Ritch's "Dead Man's
Shoes" and continued with episodes such as Jerry Sohl's "The New Exhibit,"
" Living Doll," and "Queen of the Nile," and John Tomerlin's "Number Twelve
Looks Just Like You. " During this period, when Beaumont felt exhausted and
burned out, his colleagues sensed that something else was going on with him
besides his large workload. During activities with the Group, they noticed his
once-motivated aura now seemed haggard and aged. His speech began to slur,
he seemed forgetful and confused, and by 1963, when The Twilight Zone was
entering its final season, he was unable to write. Much like a character in one
of his stories who loses the thing dearest to him, this remarkably imaginative,
energetic 3 4 -year-old writer was slipping into Alzheimer's disease. Over his
remaining days, Beaumont lived in a rest home, where the disease progressed,
ultimately claiming his life on February 2 1 , 1 9 67. After his death, the Group
continued with their work, even collaborating on some projects, but without
their energetic friend at the helm, in time they slowly drifted apart. Beaumont's
own Twilight Zone character, Prof. Walter Jameson, states, " Nothing lasts forever. " But he was wrong. Words as timeless as Beaumont's do last forever, and
for that, fans will be forever grateful.
Beaumont's colleague Richard Matheson was a core member of the Group
and the writer of some of the most brilliant Twilight Zone episodes. Matheson's
first contributions were two stories adapted by Rod Serling, "Third from the
Sun," and "And When the Sky Was Opened" (loosely based on "Disappearing
Act"). Both episodes are clear examples of Matheson's flair for storytelling and
Serling's skill at adapting other writers' works. Matheson also wrote 1 4 original
scripts for The Twilight Zone, preferring to create unique pieces instead of using
previous work from his short stories.
His most outstanding episodes are the classics "The Invaders" - starring
Agnes Moorehead as an isolated woman terrorized by small intruders - and
" Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." He also wrote "The Last Flight," which was the
first story he pitched, "A World of Difference," "A World of His Own," "Nick
of Time," " Once Upon a Time," " Little Girl Lost," "Young Man's Fancy,"
"Mute," " Death Ship," "Steel," " Night Call," and "Spur of the Moment. " Very
much in line with Beaumont's fantasy-oriented approach to storytelling,
Matheson's terror-based stories revolve around the unnerving conditions cast
upon individual characters and their surroundings. A little girl falls through a
portal in the wall of her bedroom and into another dimension. An old woman is
terrified by a mysterious voice on her telephone calling from the great beyond. A
man must overcome his superstitious nature or fall victim to a fortune-telling
machine. A WWI pilot inadvertently travels forward through time to 1 9 5 9 , yet
must go back and save a comrade to correct history. A businessman discovers his
life is actually part of a movie, and struggles to get back to what he considers
reality. Then there are a few lighter comedy turns, like the 1 890 janitor who bor-

Team of Wizards

Actors Kenneth Haigh and

Simon Scott act out a
scene during an exterior
shot for Richard
Matheson's "The Last
Flight," filmed at Norton
Air Force Base, San
Bernardino, California.

William Shatner, Patricia

Breslin, and The Mystic
Seer star in "Nick of
Time."

21

LEFT:

Agnes Moorehead

stars in Matheson's
terrifying episode,
"The Invaders."
RIGHT :

One of the space

creatures from "The

Invaders." As a sign of the
low-budget times, notice
how the invader puppet's
high-tech laser-weapon
prop is very similar to a
Christmas-tree light.

rows a time helmet and mistakenly travels to the year 1962, or the playwright
who can describe the characters in his plays so well, they literally come to life.
As the series' third major writer, Matheson delivered chilling storytelling that
balanced the tones of both Serling and Beaumont. And like Beaumont, Matheson
rarely featured the social commentary that Serling did. "The Invaders" and
" Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" are considered two of the most popular episodes of
the series.
Just as Ray Bradbury was a mentor to Charles Beaumont, it was Beaumont
who became a mentor, colleague, and friend to the next primary Twilight Zone
writer, George Clayton Johnson. A member of the Group, as well as a lifelong
friend of Bradbury, Johnson began his professional writing career in television
with stories and scripts for The Twilight Zone. He also wrote the first aired
episode of Star Trek, wrote the story for the feature-film Rat Pack caper Ocean's
Eleven, collaborated with Bradbury on the animated short Icarus Montgolfier
Wright, and wrote the Academy Award-winning science-fiction classic Logan's
Run, based on a novel he co-authored with William F. Nolan.
The themes in this artist's Twilight Zone range from the spirit of youth to the
calming of death, the powers of telekinesis and telepathy to the worth and bet
terment of the individual. Johnson's early contributions during the first season
were two stories Serling adapted into scripts, the unique "The Four of Us Are
Dying, " and " Execution. " "The Four of Us Are Dying" first aired on January I ,
1 9 60, ushering i n a New Year, a new decade, and Johnson's first television credit
in collaboration with the renowned Rod Serling. Both episodes clearly shined
with Serling's dialogue and pacing, yet beneath the work lay the foundation of
Johnson's unique angle of storytelling. Next in production was "The Prime
Mover," a story Beaumont purchased from Johnson, as he had an assigned slot
for a script but was short a story. Unfortunately, even though Johnson was paid

22

Actor Robert Redford and

writer George Clayton
Johnson on the set of
"Nothing in the Dark."

$600 for his story, which for the most part was kept intact, he went uncredited
due to a production error.
By the end of the second season, Johnson had successfully earned the status
to adapt his own stories for the series, the first of which was "A Penny for Your
Thoughts," starring Dick York. Here, York plays mild-mannered bank clerk
Hector B. Poole, who one day accidentally gains a temporary knack for telepa
thy. Johnson took on the challenge of writing this script with much dedication
and energy. Upon completion, he was amazed at how easily it was accepted and,

Team o f \'{l i z a rd s

23

LEFT: Jack Klugman and

Jonathan Winters star as

Jesse Cardiff and Fats
Brown in Johnson's
"A Game of Pool."
CENTER: Rod Serllng shoots

some pool after the filming

of his on-camera narration.
RIGHT: Jesse Cardiff looks

on as Fats Brown conveys

there's more to life than
just billiards.

24

most importantly, that it was filmed as written. Then came his most exceptional
piece to date, "Nothing in the Dark," starring Gladys Cooper and a very young
Robert Redford. In an episode that reads as close to perfection as one can expect
of a script, Johnson's ironic look at death and dying is among the best episodes
in the series. Continuing his storytelling roll, Johnson then scripted the unique
tale of challenger pitted against champion in "A Game of Pool," starring Jack
Klugman and Jonathan Winters. One of Serling's favorite actors, Klugman would
star in four Twilight Zone episodes.
johnson's final penned Twilight Zone script is the touching "Kick the Can,"
starring Ernest Truex as a spirited old man who, through a game of kick the can,
magically turns himself and a group of elderly folks back into children. As one
of those Twilight Zone moments where a story of sentiment could easily go
sappy, "Kick the Can" is a developed work that does quite the opposite. It's an
honest glimpse into the spirit of youth and mortality, and is highly regarded as a
counterpart to "Walking Distance" and "A Stop At Willoughby."
During the fifth season, Johnson made his final Twilight Zone story contribu
tion with the episode " Ninety Years Without Slumbering," starring comedy great
Ed Wynn. Unfortunately, the production of the episode changed hands by the
time the teleplay was finished, and a rewrite was ordered, compromising the
story with the addition of a cliched psychiatrist character. Johnson felt the
changes were a detriment to his original work. In recent years, though, he has
warmed up to the finished episode.
George Clayton Johnson's storytelling in The Twilight Zone is as immortal as
that of Seriing, Beaumont, and Matheson. Like a painter whose strokes of con
trast and color guide the eyes through visual explorations, Johnson's images take
the mind's eye into a dimension where the logical mind is bent and the aching
heart warmed.

CBS TELEVISION
A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC.
Television City

HollywooJl. Califomia

WEbster

83011

STANDARD AFTRA ENGAGEMENT CONTRACT

Agreement Between

Date.... ..... .. ..........

.,.

.. .. . ....19.16. .

'I

.,..
.,. ... hI..- ....,

.. ..

.... .... ...... Id...

...... IU1e ..w....

(hereinafter called "Performer" )

L
and

ClIS TELEVISION

( hereinafter called "Producer" )

Performer shall render artistic services in connection with the-rehearsal and broadcast of the program(l)
designated helow and preparation in connection with the part or par1> to he played:

. . ..tr...
. . . al (

Ernest Truex in a scene

TITLE OF PROGRAM : . . .. . ..

TYPE OF PROGRAM: .. . . . . . . . . . . . ...

SPONSOR

(if commercial) . ..... ....... .. .

Networlc

(Z

Sustaining (

AFI'RA CLASSIFICATION: . . . .. ._.. .

. . .. .. .n ...v.M.. .
_. ........ .. . ..... ...,...
. .. .

signed contract from Rod

Serling's poignant

Playhouse 90, "Requiem

PART(S) TO BE PLAYED:......
COMPENSATION:

from "What You Need."

LEFT: Page 1 of Ed Wynn's

DATE (S) AND TIME (S) OF PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . ..

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: ._. ,........

ABOVE: Alvin Ganzer directs

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REHEARSALS'
Date

From

To

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Place

CBS TELEVISION

:
SubJect to change in accordance with AFTRA

Code.

On the cusp of the series' core writing team is Earl Hamner Jr., an exceptional
writer who christened his Hollywood career by penning eight scripts for The
Twilight Zone, beginning in the third season. Hamner's distinct storytelling
ranges from tales of wonderful country folk to comeuppance dished out to city
dwellers. Hamner was indeed influenced by a Virginia mountain background (he

Team o f W i za r d s

25

LEFT:

Mary Badham stars

with Georgia Simmons in

"The Bewitchin' Pool."
CENTER:

Monty Pittman

enjoys a friendly kiss

from actress Elizabeth
Montgomery, on the set
of his episode, "Two."
RIGHT:

Actor Jackie Cooper

poses with puppet Caesar

and a property master on
the set of "Caesar and Me."

26

is best known as the creator of The Waltons) , at a time when fathers and grandfathers sat on the porch after dinner, spinning colorful Southern legends and
country tales of glorious raccoon hunts.
However, his background has also pigeonholed him over the years as a spinner of such country tales, ignoring his full body of work and his association with
The Twilight Zone. Hamner does have a knack for that folksy style of storytelling, as he illustrated with his first Twilight Zone episode, "The Hunt,"
starring Arthur Hunnicutt and Jeanette Nolan in a tale of a hillbilly on a raccoon
hunt gone wrong. "The Hunt" offers a comforting departure from the common
suburban and metropolian settings, marking Earl Hamner Jr.'s entrance into the
fifth dimension as a spirited, soulful writer.
With his second script, "A Piano in the House," starring Barry Morse and
Joan Hackett, Hamner took a I 8o-degree turn from the folk theme in the story
of a pretentious theater critic who gets his comeuppance through a magical
player piano that brings out the hidden personalities of its listeners. With his next
episode, "Jess-Belle," starring James Best, Anne Francis, Jeanette Nolan, and
Laura Devon, Hamner returned to the folksy theme in a dark tale of black magic
and the lengths a woman will go to win the heart of her man. "Jess-Belle" is one
of the few fourth-season episodes that work in the hour-long format, featuring
another of Hamner's early Virginia influences, the art of inserting song into sto
rytelling. Following this, his sole 6o-minute episode, Hamner's remaining scripts
were all written for the fifth season: " Ring-a-Ding Girl," "You Drive," "Black
Leather Jackets," and " Stopover in a Quiet Town," Hamner's most memorable
Zone contribution. Similar in tone to the series' pilot episode, "Where Is
Everybody? " "Stopover in a Quiet Town" features a couple who wake up hun
gover in a stranger's house with no memory of how they got there. As they
investigate the house and then the town, not only do they find the town devoid

of any people, but they hear the laughter of an

unseen little girl, and also find evidence that
the town is suspiciously fake. Their discovery
at the end makes this episode a fan favorite.
Unfortunately, Hamner's final contribution,
"The Bewitchin' Pool," closes out the series
on a misshapen note. Starring Mary Badham,
of the classic film To Kill a Mockin gbird, the
episode addresses the sensitive subject matter
of children coping with their parents' divorce.
Here, the kids escape their squabbling parents
through a magical portal in their swimming
pool, emerging in a warm country setting
right out of Huckleberry Finn. Critically
speaking, this plot device seems a bit corny,
and ends up detracting from the more serious
subject of divorce. In spite of this one episode,
Earl Hamner Jr.'s soulful and sometimes harsh
looks at the human spirit complement the
works of the other core writers, making him a
pivotal creator of The Twilight Zone.
Amid the episodes created by the core
writing team are groups of scripts supplied by
various outside writers. Among these writers are Montgomery Pittman, who
wrote and directed "Two," "The Grave," and "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," and Martin M. Goldsmith, who wrote two fifth-season episodes, "The
Encounter" and "What's in the Box . " Other writing contributions include the
single episodes of E. Jack Neuman's "The Trouble with Templeton, " Robert
Presnell Jr.'s "The Chaser, " John Furia Jr.'s "I Dream of Genie," Jerry McNeely's
"The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross," Bernard C. Shoenfeld's " From
Agnes - With Love," A.T. Strassfield's " Caesar and Me," and Anthony
Wilson's " Come Wander with Me. " Also featured was the remake of Reginald
Rose's Studio One teleplay, "The Incredible World of Horace Ford," and Robert
Enrico's short French film "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. "
What made a good Twilight Zone episode was a good story. The level o f sto
rytelling in the series was made possible by the balance of quality scripts and the
process that resulted in a finished product. The position of producer would later
switch hands a few times, but it all started after the production of the pilot,
"Where Is Everybody? , " when CBS executive producer William Self connected
Rod Serling with producer Buck Houghton. After sampling a few of Serling's
scripts, Houghton recognized the quality of the work and agreed to sign on as
producer for the series. Houghton performed many of the behind-the-scenes
responsibilities, most of which entailed transferring the work from script into

Team of W i z a r d s

Rod Serling, actor Brian

Aherne, and producer Buck
Houghton reading a review
of the series.

27

Buck Houghton and actor

Dean Jagger take a break
during the taping of
"Static."

film. His tasks ranged from securing the MGM studio facilities to
purchasing scripts outside of Serling's work, overseeing the casting
of actors, editing, scoring, and j ust about everything else.
Houghton became an integral balance to Serling, helping to shape
the inner workings of the series. Whereas Serling understood how
to write good stories, Houghton understood the intricacies of pro
duction and how to make things come together. The two men
complemented each other, contributing to the quality and
longevity of The Twilight Zone. In fact, looking at the series in its
entirety, it's obvious that the first three seasons were by far the best
and most consistent years of production.
Buck Houghton started as a reader for feature-film director Val
Lewton, then as a story editor for David O. Selznick, which gave
him the chance to work with Lewton again at RKO. There he was
involved in the production of The Curse of the Cat People (the
sequel to Cat People), and two pictures starring Boris Karloff, The
Body Snatcher and Bedlam. After his work at RKO, Houghton
landed a job at MGM working with William Self, as the story editor for Schlitz
Playhouse of Stars, a prominent anthology show of the Golden Age of Television.
Houghton then produced a myriad of detective shows such as China Smith, Wire
Service, Meet McGraw, the western Yan cy Derringer, and Man with a Camera,
which starred Charles Bronson as an ex-combat photographer. At the suggestion
of Self, Houghton hired a few associates of Schlitz Playhouse of Stars to work on
The Twilight Zone: Ralph Nelson as production manager, and George T.
Clemens as director of photography.
With the first season, both Serling and Houghton set a standard for story
telling, to ensure that every episode remained consistent with the flavor of The
Twilight Zone. In his book What a Producer Does, Houghton discusses the
guidelines they created: " The Twilight Zone was shaped by Rod Serling. In his
first few scripts his instincts led him to a pattern that he and I agreed upon as the
bottom-line basis for buying stories for adaptation and for his own originals.
That pattern became the rigid standard by which I did my judgmental work on
story submittals." These guidelines included:
Find an interesting character, or a gr'oup, at a moment in crisis in
life, and get there quickly; then lay on some magic. That magic
must be devilishly appropriate and capable of providing a
whiplash kickback at the tag. The character(s) must be ordinary
and average and modern, and the problem facing him (her, them)
must be commonplace. The Twilight Zone always struck people
as identifiable as to whom it was about, and the story hang-ups
as resonant as their own fears, dreams, wishes. Allow only one
miracle or special talent or imaginative circumstance per episode.

28

More than one and the audience grows impatient with your calls
on their credibility. The story must be impossible in the real
world. A request at some point to suspend disbelief is a trade
mark of the series. Mere scare tactics will not fill the bill. A clever
bit of advanced scientific hardware is not enough to support a
story. The Twilight Zone was not a sci-fi show.

LEFT TO RIGHT:

Mitchell

Leisen directs actress Ida

Lupino (off-camera) in "The
SixteenMillimeter Shrine."

Buzz Kulik directs actors

Brian Aherne, Pippa Scott,

During production of the 3 5 episodes of the first season, Houghton worked

with Serling to perfect the scripts, and with casting directors Mildred Gusse and
John Erman to ensure access to the best acting talents of the time. As a third element of production, Houghton met with Clemens and Serling to discuss which
directors to hire. The Twilight Zone was to become a highlight for a select group
of accomplished directors who worked on a wide assortment of Hollywood pictures and classic television series, including Outer Limits, Green A cres,
G unsmoke, and Playhouse 90. The team's top choices were Mitchell Leisen,
Richard Bare, John Brahm, and Douglas Heyes, followed later by Buzz Kulik,
Ted Post, Don Medford, Lamont Johnson, Richard Donner, and others.
Houghton contacted the head of the CBS 'S West Coast music department, Lud
Gluskin, who offered the expertise of composers versed in writing music for television, film, and radio such as Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Fred
Steiner, and Van Cleave. With these talented directors and composers, the dimension of both sight and sound were made complete.
By the end of season one's production in April 1 9 60, this combination of pro
duction elements paid off with good ratings and several awards. Houghton won
a Producers Guild Award for Best Produced Series, while Serling earned an
Emmy Award for writing (his fourth Emmy to date), and Bantam Books pub
lished Stories from The Twilight Zone, Serling's first book of adaptations of some
of his first episodes. The best news came on May I I , 1 9 60, when CBS announced
The Twilight Zone had been picked up for another season. The series had sur
vived its first vital season and, even though ratings weren't through the roof, it
had already started to attract a loyal audience.

Team of W i zards
...

and Charles S. Carlson in a

scene from "The Trouble
with Templeton."

Director Don Medford and

actor Joseph Schildkraut
on the set of "Death's
Head Revisited."

Abner Biberman directs

actress' Collin Wilcox and
Suzy Parker in "Number
Twelve Looks Just like
You."

29

The Twilight Zone crew

proudly smiles for the
camera during the show's
third season.

The second season began on September 30, 1960, with Buck Houghton still
behind the reins of production, yet with only 29 episodes on the schedule.
By the end of season two, the fan base had grown, George T. Clemens had
won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for Television,
and Serling had his second Emmy for his writing on The Twilight Zone. By sea
son three, which began airing on September 1 5 , 1 9 6 1 , sponsors had changed a
few times and Serling was fatigued from the intense amount of writing he had
taken on, but Houghton remained on board and The Twilight Zone was reach
ing pop-culture status. This season saw the production of 3 7 episodes, with such
highlights as "The Midnight Sun," " It's a Good Life," and "To Serve Man." Yet,
following the airing of the season's last episode, in spring of 19 62, there was still
no sponsor for the series' upcoming fourth season. As a result, The Twilight Zone
was not included in the fall CBS schedule; in its place was a new series, Fair
Exchange. Buck Houghton was pressured to accept an offer to work for Four
Star Productions and Rod Serling accepted a writing position at Antioch College
in Ohio, from September 1962 to January 1 9 6 3 . By the time CBS decided to bring
The Twilight Zone back mid-season that January, Houghton had already been

30

working on The Richard Boone Show and Serling was engaged in teaching,
enjoying his break from the stress of the series. The team of Serling and
Houghton had seen its final days, and the magic of the series would slowly
diminish during its last two seasons.
The production of the fourth season saw some distinct changes, the inconse
quential one being the title change from The Twilight Zone to Twilight Zone.
The more unusual change was that since Twilight Zone was scheduled as a mid
season replacement, only 18 episodes were slotted, and these were increased to
an hour each. This would prove to be a mistake, as The Twilight Zone always
worked well because of its pacing in the half-hour, two-act format. Only a few
of the hour-long episodes work, while the rest just seem to drag. With Buck
Houghton gone, Herbert Hirschman accepted the new role as producer, on the
recommendation of both Houghton and Serling. Hirschman was no stranger to
the industry, having worked as a director, associate producer, and story editor for
Playho use 90, as well as producing shows like Perry Mason, Hong Kong, and Dr.
Kildare.

He came into Twilight Zone at a time when it was going through changes, but
he adapted well, as his approach was to maintain what the remaining team had
established. While Serling was in Antioch, teaching, writing Twilight Zone
scripts, and adapting Seven Days in May for the big screen, Hirschman was
procuring other scripts and discussing work with Serling by phone. Since
Hirschman had directorial experience, he proved valuable by directing retakes
himself rather than bringing the directors back on set. When he was in Los
Angeles for other business, Hirschman directed the filming of Serling's on-camera
narrations at the studio, in front of a nondescript gray background. Hirschman
also designed and directed the new main title sequence, having supervised the
making of the props as well as the idea of floating them in space. Regardless of
how he adapted to this midstream production, Hirschman's contract with CBS
expired at the beginning of 1 9 6 3 , and he was asked to produce the spy drama
Espionage. Since this series was going to be made in London, England,
Hirschman found this an inviting adventure and took the job.
Replacing Hirschman mid-season was Bert Granet, who had produced "The
Time Element." In a sense, Granet was truly the guy who started The Twilight
Zone in the first place; it's only fitting he was brought back into the series. Early
on, Granet had worked as a writer and producer for countless films, including The
Locket; later he produced television shows such as Westinghouse Desilu
Playhouse, The Untouchables, and The In vaders. Granet finished up the fourth
season of Twilight Zone during the spring of 1963, when CBS was just renewing
Twilight Zone for a fifth season. The good news was that CBS was going to bring
Twilight Zone back at its original half-hour format. The bad news was the series
was beginning to tap itself out. By the fifth-season premiere, which aired on
September 27, 1963, Twilight Zone had lost several of its most essential talents.
Houghton was gone, some of the directors were gone, and at this point, Rod

Team of \'{l i z a rds

Rod Serling clowns around

on the set of "Mr. Bevis."

31

Actor Richard Basehart,

director Ted Post (in
baseball cap), and crew
during the filming of
"Probe 7

Over and Out."

Unfortunately, Probe 7
isn't the only crashed ship;
just a few months later,
the series failed to be
renewed for a sixth
season.

32

Serling was exhausted

from writing for the
series. He admitted he
was burned-out and
knew he was not only
repeating earlier stories,
but that he just couldn't
tell good from bad any
more. Bert Granet perse
vered until, with half of
the season produced and
the remaining episodes
in development, he too
was offered a job he
couldn't refuse.
William Froug, hired
to replace Granet, began
his role producing, with
his first Twilight Zone
episode to air, "The Last
Night of a Jockey," fea
turing a larger-than-life
performance by Mickey
Rooney. Like the other
producers for the series, Froug's expertise was impressive. He had worked as a
writer for The Dick Powell Show and Adventures in Paradise, and would later
write for Charlie's Angels. He produced episodes of Playhouse 90, and later
Bewitched and Gilligan's Island. Froug brought a new perspective to working on
Twilight Zone and Serling reciprocated by having him leave behind several
scripts Granet had in development and start with new material. Froug cleverly
bought the rights to Robert Enrico's short French film An Occurrence at Owl
Creek Bridge for $ 1 0,000. As the only outside film produced for the series, it had
been a winner at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to win an Oscar. For use
in Twilight Zone, Occurrence. was shortened by a few minutes and given a spe
cial introduction by Serling.
By late January 1 9 64, even though the show's ratings were moderately good,
the CBS fall schedule did not include Twilight Zone. CBS president Jim Aubrey
was tired of the show and felt the ratings weren't good enough to j ustify renewal
of the series. In the February issue of Daily Variety, it was reported that Serling
felt doubtful the series would be renewed for a sixth season, and was quoted as
saying, "I decided to cancel the network."

CH APTER TH REE

Themes of The Zone

"I can describe any character at all . . .
and by now, if I describe it well
enough, completely enough, the
character will come to life, real life. "
- Gregory West of

"A World of His Own"

From a psychological point of view, The

Twilight Zone is a venture into the vast
human psyche, one that delves deep into
both the capacities and frailties of our
makeup. It may be that in the reality of
our third dimension, we humans perceive ourselves as powerful beings
in control of our own destinies, but underneath the masks of illusion
and time, we're as weak and lost as any other animal. The Twilight
Zone essentially portrays man as a creature tempted by fate's darker
side, ultimately outweighing his capacity for humility and potential for
prosperity. The psychological dynamics of The Twilight Zone's charac
ters in turn mirror the human condition in its many themes and
episodes. What follows is a catalog of those themes.

Actors Burgess Meredith

and Fritz Weaver star in
Rod Serling's potent
episode, "The Obsolete
Man."

33

The I ndividual

Actress Maxine Stuart

stars in what is considered
Serling's best episode,
"The Eye of the Beholder."
Stuart played her entire
part under the bandages of
her character Janet Tyler,
and even though we're
unable to see the
expressions of her face,
her performance is
absolutely remarkable.
Notice in this shot ( not in
the film), the nurse, played
by Jennifer Howard, is seen
without her "makeup."

34

The theme o f the individual i s most notable in

Rod Serling's powerful social critique, "The
Obsolete Man," starring veteran actors Burgess
Meredith and Fritz Weaver. This episode is a
perfect example of The Twilight Zone's recipe
of ironic fate served with a twist. In the harsh
reality of a future totalitarian state, along the
lines of George Orwell's 1 984, Meredith plays
timid librarian and part-time philosopher
Romney Wordsworth. Weaver is the Chan
cellor who judges Wordsworth, standing
arrogantly behind an ominous podium, sym
bolizing the supposed strength of the state.
Through a trial, Wordsworth is deemed useless
to the state, found obsolete, and is to be put to
death. But in a surprising about-face, he uses
the opportunity to illustrate that the state itself
is obsolete. Serling's summation finds that "any
state, any entity, any ideology that fails to rec
ognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man,
that state is obsolete." Serling's "The Obsolete
Man" is regarded as a "top Zone." Even
though it's overshadowed by the more popular
Meredith episode, "Time Enough at Last," the underlying theme of "The Obsolete
Man" has immeasurable strength that speaks more to the soul of individuality.
In the Twilight Zone universe, there are several examples of alienated indi
viduals whose very existence deviates from an underlying norm of conformity.
Most pointed is Serling's " The Eye of the Beholder" (also shown with its work
ing title, "A Private World of Darkness"). In this remarkably dark tale, we see
a society where ugliness is considered a threat to the totalitarian state. Amid a
superb cast, actress Maxine Stuart plays Janet Tyler, an outcast woman hospi
talized for ongoing operations to her disfigured-yet-bandaged face. Here,
during her eleventh and final operation allowed by the state, we find the doc
tor, played by William Gordon, sympathetic to her situation, although wary of
Big Brother's watchful eyes. The perspective of the camera is constantly just shy
of showing the identity of the doctor and nurses attending Miss Tyler. As the
story progresses, a cold, haunting feeling emerges as we realize just how little
of the surroundings we're seeing, and the twist at the end tells us exactly why
the episode was directed in this style. Seen as a predecessor to the fifth-season
episode "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You," "The Eye of the Beholder"
stands out as what many consider the best episode of the series, and a perfect
episode with which to introduce new fans to the show.

LEFT:

Actress Inger

Stevens and Leonard

Strong star in Serling's
haunting episode,
"The Hitch-Hiker."
R I GHT:

Richard Long and

Pam Austin star in John

Tomerlin's (credited to
Charles Beaumont)
" Number Twelve Looks

Death a n d D y i n g

Just Like You." A glass

Besides shocking us with ironic tales of fate, comeuppance, and the second chance,
The Twilight Zone dealt in deeply layered themes exploring the human condition.
This is present in many stories, to the point that the writers seemed in a conspiracy to fill our very idiot boxes with lessons on life. And no other lesson about
man's existence in the universe makes the point quite so personally as the theme
of death and dying. Unforgettable tales such as "The Hitchhiker," " Long Live
Walter Jameson," and " Nothing in the Dark" remind us that we must eventually
face the realization that we're all born to die. We can deny the truth and think we
can cheat death, attempt to run away from it, or hide in the shadows, but eventually we must come to the soothing understanding that nothing lasts forever.
The Twilight Zone deals with death in a direct and honest fashion, sometimes
it's with a gentle spirituality, other times ironically cruel, even mischievous, in a
hellish chill devoid of warmth. We find death does come in many forms. The
urban legend "The Hitchhiker," written by Serling and based on a 1 9 4 1 Mercury
Theatre radio play that featured Orson Welles, stars Inger Stevens as Nan Adams

of Instant Smile for

Themes of the Z o n e

..

everybody!

35

and Leonard Strong as the mysterious hitchhiker. The story begins with a
mechanic, played by Lew Gallo, fixing a flat tire on Adams' car. This opening
includes a line that offers a hidden lead-in clue to the story's final twist, illustrat
ing that the dialogue could so subtly give away the ending in the very beginning
of an episode, yet be so well-written that the audience remains oblivious until the
ending. From this moment on in the story, during her drive out west, the woman
constantly passes the same hitchhiker over and over again. Somehow he always
seems to be ahead of her to the next town, hauntingly asking, " Going my way ? "
Every time h e suddenly appears, i t sends chills down your spine, but i n the
episode's revealing ending, we realize the hitchhiker isn't the menacing masher
Adams feared he was.
Instead of the usual portrayal of death as a dark, dreary unknown, The
Twilight Zone describes the angel of death as a sometimes-redeeming figure.
There are two other Zone episodes that utilize this tone, "One for the Angels,"
written by Serling and starring Ed Wynn as fun-loving pitchman Lew Bookman
and Murray Hamilton as the diligent figure of Death, and " Nothing in the Dark,"
written by George Clayton Johnson and starring Gladys Cooper as Wanda Dunn,
the elderly woman, and none other than Robert Redford as Officer Harold
Beldon. These two episodes follow suit with "The Hitchhiker, " in that death is
portrayed not as a dreadful end, but instead a warm beginning.
With " One for the Angels," Death is sort of a bookkeeper, here to meet the
deadline on his list of those next to die. Bookman first tricks Death into not tak
ing him, but this leads to Death having to take someone else in his place.
Bookman is forced to make the pitch of a lifetime, which tests his waning skills.
In " Nothing in the Dark," old lady Dunn hides in the cold basement shadows of
a condemned tenement building, fearing that Death is a changeling, soon to come
for her. For someone who loved living in the warmth of the sun, this is a terrible
way to live out the last chapter of her life, but to Wanda, it's better to live like
this than not at all. When wounded policeman Beldon tumbles down to her front
door and asks for help, she is wary of trusting anyone for fear he may be Death,
but she takes him in and rests him on her bed. Surprised that she still lives and
convinced he's not Death, she confides in him, telling him how she has witnessed
the agent of death taking people, even right in front of her on the bus. What the
old woman doesn't know, but will soon find out, is that death isn't the frighten
ing state she thinks it is, and Beldon will soon show her that death can be just
the beginning of a new phase of eternity.
These few episodes do offer optimistic looks at death, but not all depictions
of death and the afterlife in The Twilight Zone come with such forgiving com
fort. The Devil never sleeps in "A Nice Place to Visit," written by Charles
Beaumont, whose small-time thief Rocky Valentine finds this out for himself.
Beaumont's story makes one think about what heaven and hell might be for each
of us - we may think we know how we want to spend eternity, but have we
really considered just how long eternity is, and whether we want to be doing the

36

CASTING C A L L S H EET
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Themes of t h e Z o n e

37

Actors Lee Marvin and

Lee Van Cleef star in
Montgomery Pittman's
episode, "The Grave."

same thing forever? This episode features one of the series' most memorable dia
logue twists, and an incredible, over-the-top evil laugh by Sebastian Cabot that
will give you goose bumps.
Another such heaven-and-hell episode is Earl Hamner Jr.'s backwoods tale,
"The Hunt," starring Arthur Hunnicutt as hillbilly Hyder Simpson and Jeanette
Nolan as his superstitious wife Rachael. "The Hunt" is one of those episodes eas
ily remembered by average television viewers, along with other such pivotal
episodes as "Time Enough at Last" and "The Invaders."
Though not regarded as a ghost-story series, The Twilight Zone did delve into
this theme several times. From the recently dead, to the dying, to those refusing
to accept death, the subject is covered pretty well. This could be attributed to
Serling's firsthand experiences with death while he was serving as a paratrooper
in WWII, and the fact that most men in his family died at an early age. The most
prominent ghost stories include "The Grave, " "The Passersby," "Night Call,"
"Come Wander with Me," "The Thirty-Fathom Grave," and the underrated
" Ring-a-Ding Girl. " Episodes featuring characters unwilling to accept death
include " Long Live Walter Jameson," "The Trade-Ins," and "An Occurrence at
Owl Creek Bridge."
In " Long Live Walter Jameson," veteran actor Kevin McCarthy, best remem
bered for the cult classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, plays immortal history
professor Walter Jameson. This Charles Beaumont masterpiece touches on the
verity of man's mortality, as Jameson comes to realize, through thousands of
years of living as an immortal, that the quantity of one's existence doesn't nec
essarily outweigh its quality.
In Serling's script "The Trade-Ins," starring Joseph Schildkraut and Alma
Platt as elderly couple John and Marie Holt, prolonging one's life comes easily
with a technology that transfers the mind and soul into a new, young body.
Suffering from an agonizing illness and with enough money for only one trans
fer, they decide John should go ahead and undergo the surgery first. It isn't until
after his surgery, and while in residence in his new body, that the shocking truth
of the age difference now between them breaks Marie's heart, prompting John
to make a sacrifice for her. Of the few Twilight Zone love stories, this one hits
home in dealing with the lengths we'll go just to hang on to life. For sentient
creatures governed by both science and divine law, who's to say whether cheat
ing death isn't in itself unnatural? And could one really trust technology well
enough to believe it able to differentiate between mind, body, and soul?
Ultimately, the episode seems to suggest that it's logical to accept the course of
nature rather than prolonging life's path.
Mob Mentality

Delving even deeper into the soul of the human condition, The Twilight Zone
taps into the darkest recesses of mankind's unkind ways, examining bigotry and
mob mentality. Take, for instance, the paranoid neighbors who so blindly turn

38

LEFT:

Actors Claude Akins

and Jack Weston (far left)

star along with the subur
ban neighborhood mob in
Serling's "The Monsters
Are Due on Maple Street."
RIGHT:

Larry Gates, Peggy

Stewart, and Michael

against each other in another of Serling's key episodes, "The Monsters Are Due
on Maple Street. " Starring Claude Akins and Jack Weston, this episode is an honest representation of how easily we can become bigoted, much like " frightened
little rabbits. " A similar Serling episode, "The Shelter, " which aired during the
Cuban missile crisis, stars Larry Gates, Peggy Stewart, Jack Albertson, and Sandy
Kenyon as neighborhood friends attending a birthday party. When they learn of
an impending missile attack and fight for entry into the only fallout shelter on
their block, fear takes hold quickly, tearing at their friendships. In the final
moments, they discover that what they've done to each other is far more destructive than what a bomb could do.
A more literal example of man's darker side is the often-misunderstood
Serling script, "I Am the Night - Color Me Black," starring Michael Constan
tine, Paul Fix, George Lindsey, Terry Becker, and Ivan Dixon. In a backwoods
small town where the morning sky remains in darkness, the murderer of a bigot
faces execution for his crime. After the hanging, this mysterious darkness, fueled
by the murderer's and the townsfolk's hatred, intensifies, and appears across
other bigoted areas of the world. These morality plays teach us to understand
and respect the diversity and rights of the individual, and to observe life not
through blinders that obscure perception and truth, but through an optimism
that the sooner we learn to truly come together, the better off we'll be. Yet there
is an overpowering weakness in our nature that holds us back - a primitive part

Themes of t h e Zone

Burns star in "The

Shelter."

39

LEFT:

Terry Burnham,

Shepperd Strudwick,

of the brain designed to protect our basic territorial needs, and unfortunately one
that also hinders our evolving into a civilized people.

and the wonderful Janice

Rule star in the chilling

T h e H u m a n Psyche

psychological drama,

By exploring the human psyche, The Twilight Zone addresses the struggle of
man's conscience by allowing the inner self to surface and resume the role of the
individual. Sometimes presented as another form of the second chance, the
strength of the conscience is explored in episodes such as the unnerving "Nervous
Man in a Four Dollar Room," starring an anxiety-ridden Joe Mantell, in
"Nightmare as a Child," featuring the wonderful Janice Rule, and even in "King
Nine Will Not Return, " starring Robert Cummings. These stories offer opportunities for the better inner self to take over, or to simply open the eyes and
perception of the soul. However, it's not always for the best, as in the case of
"The Last Night of a Jockey," starring Mickey Rooney as a jockey whose only
wish is to be big, and boy, does he get his wish.
On the other side of the psyche coin, delusions of grandeur run rampant in
wicked stories like "The Little People," starring Claude Akins and Joe Maross,
and "Four O'Clock," starring Theodore Bikel. In these psychological tales, if a
character's psyche has gone over the edge, a psychoanalytical character is often
introduced to help rationalize things. With reason and logic at hand, it's easy to
assume what's going on is simply a delusion, illusion, identity crisis, or some such
other rational occurrence.
In these limitless powers of the mind, we see secondary themes of mental
breakdown, telepathy, mind over matter, and the mysterious world of the dream

"Nightmare a s a Child."
Rule's character Helen
Foley was named after
Serling's own middleschool English teacher.
CENTER:

Christine White,

Dane Clark, Jane Burgess

and Buddy Ebsen star in
"The Prime Mover."
RIGHT:

Actor/comedian

Shelley Berman stars in

the comedy "The Mind and
the Matter." Serling wrote
this episode specifically
for Berman.

40

state. Considered one of Twilight Zone writer George Clayton johnson's special
ties, the powers of telekinesis and telepathy find their way into episodes such as
"A Penny for Your Thoughts, " starring Dick York, and "The Prime Mover, "
starring Dane Clark, Buddy Ebsen, and Christine White. There's also Richard
Matheson's "Mute," starring Frank Overton, Barbara Baxley, and a young Ann
Jillian, and even Serling's "What You Need," starring tough guy Steve Cochran
and Ernest Truex. These episodes look at some of man's untapped powers of the
mind, questioning what it would be like to hear the thoughts of those around you
or to move objects with a mere thought. We've heard how science has measured
the energy of one person's mind, and that a single brain has enough power to
light an entire city. Imagine the limitless powers that have gone untapped and the
abilities we've overlooked in ourselves.
No other episode portrays this theme more succinctly and brilliantly than
Serling's "The Mind and the Matter, " starring actor-comedian Shelley Berman.
Specifically written with Berman in mind, "The Mind and the Matter" tells the
story of how one misanthropic man gains insight into the ultimate powers of
concentration from the pages of a book. With his newfound ability to concentrate, Achibald Beechcroft first wishes his landlady away, and then continues
until everyone is gone. As Beechcroft becomes bored and lonely, he learns something about his fellow man, but is it too late?
Just as The Twilight Zone offers stories on the limitless powers of the mind,
it also explores how the mysteries of the fifth dimension can sometimes be too
much for the primal stability of the psyche to handle. Enter the mental break
down, which was established in the show's very first episode, "Where Is
Everybody? " starring Earl Holliman as Mike Ferris in a town that appears to
have been abandoned. In what Ferris jokes must be an unbelievably detailed
nightmare, he goes from one empty building to the next, unable to shake the feel
ing that he's being watched. Fearing he may be the last man alive, the pressure
mounts until he frantically breaks down at a traffic light, pushing the button of
a crosswalk over and over again, an action that brings forth the twist ending, and
finally explains why Ferris is all alone. Other mental-breakdown episodes include
" One More Pallbearer," "The New Exhibit, " and "Sounds and Silences. "
A s a sub-theme t o the mental breakdown, the series explores the identity cri
sis in "A World of Difference," starring Howard Duff, and "Person or Persons
Unknown," starring Richard Long. Long plays David Gurney, a man who
awakens one morning to a reality where everyone in his life, including his wife
and coworkers, have no idea who he is. Gurney struggles to regain his identity,
escapes from being institutionalized, and again awakens as if it were only a
dream. But once awake, he's met with a greater horror that twists his identity
crisis even further.
Obviously, things are not always as they appear, particularly in a dimension
where dreams and nightmares invade the glowing rays emitted into your family
room. Within the vast surreal imagination and the peculiar recesses of the sub-

Themes of the Zone

..

Actor Howard Duff stars

in one of the series'
most intense identity
crisis episodes, "A World
of Difference."

41

LEFT:

Co-star Mack

Williams attempts to
comfort Dennis Weaver's
character Adam Grant in
one of Charles Beaumont's
key episodes, "Shadow
Play."
RIGHT:

The conductor

(James Maloney) offers

Gart Williams (James Daly)
peace of mind in "A Stop
at Willoughby."

42

conscious mind, the dream state contains shifts of inner perception, and a per
spective that pits reality against a dream world. As philosophers have speculated,
who's to say if reality is what it appears to be? Maybe there's something more to
our dream state than science understands. In The Twilight Zone, when things
appear to start out "normal," we sometimes find we've lived through someone's
endless nightmare. These stories certainly make it difficult to determine where
the line between reality and unreality resides.
The series visits this question in episodes such as "Shadow Play, " featuring a
brilliant performance by Dennis Weaver, " Perchance to Dream," starring a
feverish Richard Conte, and Serling's burning tale of "The Midnight Sun," star
ring Lois Nettleton. Television never seemed so surreal and terrifying as it does
with Weaver's portrayal of convict Adam Grant, who must live the same dream
of being executed, night after night after night, or with Conte's hypnotizing turn
as Edward Hall, who must stay awake for fear of dying from his nightmares (a
concept Charles Beaumont developed long before the days of Freddy Krueger) .
Conte's performance i n "Perchance t o Dream" i s almost enough t o make you
fear going to sleep at night, no matter how sultry Suzanne Lloyd's Maya the Cat
Girl may be.
Two dream-state episodes that also fall under the theme of the second chance
are Serling's classic "A Stop at Willoughby, " starring James Daly and Howard
Smith, and "Twenty-Two," starring Barbara Nichols, Jonathan Harris, and
Fredd Wayne. With these stories, we see that through the dream state, charac-

ters are able to gain insight and

the means to escape their dread
ful fates.
S u pe r n a t u r a l A b i l i t y

The characters o f the Zone are

indeed unique, and some possess
mental abilities stretching even
farther into what the mind can
accomplish. Take, for instance, the
mind-powered character in " A
World o f His Own," Gregory
West, played by Keenan Wynn.
West, a playwright, has the ability
to describe the characters in his
plays into a tape recorder so well
that they come to life. Think of the
power that suggests - one could
simply create the people in one's
life exactly how one thinks they
should be. However, West finds
that those he creates can sometimes take on a will of their own. For this, the last
episode to air in the first season, writer Richard Matheson had the brilliant idea
to stretch West's powers even farther, and for the first time, Serling actually
becomes part of the drama in a very tongue-in-cheek, postmodern ending.
Other supernatural-ability episodes include "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross," written by Jerry McNeely and starring Don Gordon, Gail Kobe,
and Vaughn Taylor; and "The Four of Us Are Dying, " with a story by George
Clayton Johnson and scripted by Serling, starring the stunning cast of Harry
Townes, Ross Martin, Beverly Garland, Don Gordon, and Phillip Pine. Townes
plays Arch Hammer, a con man with the ability to change the appearance of his
face to look like anyone. By impersonating three men - a musician, a gangster,
and a boxer - he's able to get the girl, the money, and a means of escaping some
goons. But Hammer finds out the hard way that if something happens to one of
his identities, it may affect them all.

LEFT:

Burgess Meredith

stars as librarian Romney

Wordsworth (a Serling
character name that plays
on the worth of words),
in "The Obsolete Man."
Meredith had an obvious
knack for playing bookworm characters, as he
also played Henry Bemis
in "Time Enough at Last."
R I GHT :

Keenan Wynn stars

in "A World of His Own."

Wynn also starred with his
father Ed Wynn in Serling's

Playhouse 90 "Requiem for

a Heavyweight." Ralph
Nelson directed both
"Requiem" and this
episode.

Antisocial Behavior

Where "The Four of Us Are Dying" taught viewers to just be themselves, The
Twilight Zone frowned upon being by yourself. Why socializing is important is
best examined through bookworm Henry Bemis, from "Time Enough at Last."
This is not to say that readers are antisocial, or that reading can't offer a great
break, but Bemis takes it just a little too far. He's much more concerned with
escaping reality by reading than he is with his duties as a bank clerk, husband,

Tllemes of the Zone

43

LEFT:

Liam Sullivan stars

as loudmouth club member

Tennyson in the shocking
episode, "The Silence."
This is one of a few

Twilight Zone stories that

feels like it could have
been an Alfred Hitchcock

Presents, as it's devoid

of any fantasy elements.
CENTER:

Actor Nehemiah

Persoff gives a brilliant

or friend. This social misfit's only concern in life is to attain absolute solitude and
enough time to do nothing but read. But in the fifth dimension, that's just asking
for it. The lesson here is to acknowledge the basic human need for companionship - and make sure that if you have a serious vision problem, purchase a
backup pair of reading glasses, just in case.
Two other episodes dealing with antisocial characters are "The Silence," starring Liam Sullivan as Tennyson, and "A Kind of Stopwatch," starring Richard
Erdman as McNulty. Both Tennyson and McNulty are considered antisocial
because they just don't know how to shut the hell up. They're loudmouths who
boast about how to do things, yet are the last to accomplish anything themselves.
But let's move on - I'm sure Tennyson doesn't want to talk about it, and
McNulty's audience is completely frozen.

performance in the
series' first ghost story,

M a levo l e n ce

"Judgment Night."

Comeuppance is the series' most potent form of retribution in dealing with charac
ters who could be considered evil. This is demonstrated in such extremely powerful
episodes as "Death's-Head Revisited," starring Joseph Schildkraut and Oscar
Beregi, "Judgment Night," starring Nehemiah Persoff, "A Quality of Mercy," star
ring Dean Stockwell and Albert Salmi, and " He's Alive," starring Dennis Hopper.
It's not surprising that Serling wrote all of these episodes, for one of his specialties
was making Nazis and similarly evil characters pay for their atrocities.
Serling's social commentary in these episodes holds as strong a message
against aggressive behavior today as it did in the 1 960s. In the closing narration
for one of the series' most heartrending episodes, "Death's-Head Revisited,"

RIGHT:

Oscar Beregi and

Joseph Schildkraut in
"Death'sHead Revisited."

44

Serling states why the concentration camps must

remain standing, "because they are a monument to a
moment in time when some men decided to turn the
Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of
their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of
all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this,
the moment we cease to be haunted by its remem
brance, then we become the gravediggers. " Upon
rendering the sentence of insanity on former Captain
Lutze, played by Oscar Beregi, Joseph Schildkraut's
ghostly Dachau caretaker, Becker, gives this final
statement on the subject: "This is not hatred, this is
retribution. This is not revenge, this is justice. But this
is only the beginning, Captain, only the beginning.
Your final j udgment will come from God . "
With " A Quality o f Mercy" and "Judgment
Night," we witness two stories that maintain a simi
lar tone about man's accountability for tormenting
the innocent. With Dennis Hopper's neo-Nazi character Peter Vollmer from "He's Alive," we see how evil
still inspires those ignorant enough to believe in segregation and the supposed purity of the white race.
Malevolence in The Twilight Zone, however
prevalent in these few stories of Nazis and other evildoers, is not confined to the militant-minded. We
also find forms of evil in stories that deal with the
Devil himself, such as "The Howling Man," "Printer's Devil," "Escape Clause," and "Of Late, I Think
of Cliffordville." In these episodes, we learn that the
Devil is not only evil and despicably crafty, but in
some cases, can also have a heart. In "Escape
Clause," the Devil, played by Thomas Gomez and using the quirky name of
Cadwallader, tricks hypochondriac Walter Bedeker ( David Wayne) into
exchanging his mortal soul for immortality. In a series of violent acts that challenge the limits of his newfound immortality, Bedeker eventually realizes the
downside to eternal life, and the Devil steps in to spare him from his wretchedness. The same goes with Julie Newmar's Miss Devlin in "Of Late, I Think of
Cliffordville," who regardless of her trickiness, still has a heart for her victim's
plight. However, the Devil is not so easily mocked, as we find in " Printer's
Devil" and the popular episode, "The Howling Man," in which H.M. Wynant
plays David Ellington, a lost traveler who finds shelter in a mysterious
monastery where the Devil himself is apparently imprisoned. With a flare for the
dramatic, John Carradine plays Brother Jerome, the monastery's caretaker, who

Themes of the Zone

...

ABOVE: A young Dennis

Hopper stars as neo-Nazi

Peter Vollmer in "He's
Alive."
LEFT:

Thomas Gomez and

David Wayne star in the

comedic episode, "Escape
Clause."

45

claims to have captured the Devil and locked him away with the Staff of Truth.
This is one of the series' most visually dramatic episodes, directed by Douglas
Heyes, who also directed such top episodes as "The Eye of the Beholder, " "The
Invaders," and "The After Hours. " "The Howling Man" presents one of those
rare occasions when the audience can actually share the uneasy feeling the main
character is experiencing. If you suffer from motion sickness, you may want to
take some Dramamine before you watch this episode.
S e lf-De s t r u c t i o n

TOP:

Julie Newmar has her

devilish prosthetic horns

applied by a makeup artist

Greed and corruption pervade episodes such as "The Fever, " starring Everett
Sloane and Vivi Janiss, in which hypocrite Franklin Gibbs falls for the very gam
bling bug he so intensely preaches against, and "The Rip Van Winkle Caper,"
starring Oscar Beregi and Simon Oakland. In this category, we also have "A
Most Unusual Camera," starring Fred Clark and Jean Carson, which also falls
under the enchanted-objects theme, and the previously mentioned telepathy
based episode, "What You Need." Episodes based on the theme of behavioral
corruption include "The Silence" and " Queen of the Nile," starring Ann Blyth
and Lee Philips.
Self-destruction is often brought on by tainted power, as in episodes like " I
Shot a n Arrow into the Air, " starring Edward Binns and Dewey Martin; "The
Arrival," starring Harold Stone and Fredd Wayne; "A Piano in the House," star
ring Barry Morse and Joan Hackett; and "Sounds and Silences, " starring John
McGiver and Penny Singleton. However, no episode drives home the behavior of
self-destruction so well as the fourth-season hour-long episode, "On Thursday
We Leave for Home," written by Serling and starring James Whitmore as
Captain Benteen. A group of lost space colonists have been stranded on a dead
asteroid for 30 years and are finally visited by a rescue ship to take them home
to Earth. However, their leader, Captain Benteen, must let go of his control over
them or face the consequences. The question is, can he?

for "Of Late I Think of

Cliffordville."
BOTTO M :

Robin Hughes in

his full Devil makeup in

"The Howling Man."
Beaumont was always
opposed to this more lit
eral representation of the
devil.

46

Redemption

The series features several liberating stories of man's opportunity for redemption,
proving that the Twilight Zone isn't just a place to punish the wicked and those
who succumb to self-destruction. We find redeeming characters in such Serling
classics as "Mr. Denton on Doomsday," "A Passage for Trumpet," "The
Changing of the Guard," and even "Showdown with Rance McGrew. " Through
these characters, we see that if a person is receptive enough, there can be capacity for recovery and self-improvement. Of course, no one said surviving in society
was going to be easy on any level, be it business, relationship, or otherwise. And
as reality can be harsh, sometimes a person longs to return to the softened mem
ories of the nostalgic past, when times were simpler and more slowly paced. Such
is the case in reflective second-chance episodes like Richard Matheson's "Young
Man's Fancy," Reginald Rose's "The Incredible World of Horace Ford," and

Serling's semi-autobiographical "Walking Distance. " With " Young Man's

Fancy, " in which Alex Nicol's character, Alex, leaves a lovely bride behind to
return to his childhood and the sheltering arms of his mother, we find the exception to the rule that one cannot go home again.
The opposite is true, of course, in the endearing top episode "Walking
Distance . " Here, Gig Young plays ad agency vice-president Martin Sloan, who
one day escapes his stressful career in a drive that winds up at a service station
outside of New York, within walking distance of Homewood, the small town
where he grew up. Reminiscing about the innocence of his youth, he decides to
walk to Homewood. Sloan visits his old neighborhood, which appears
unchanged. Upon a visit to the park, he notices how things are exactly the same
as when he was a kid. Remembering how he had carved his name in the post of
the bandstand, he sees his younger self doing just that, and realizes he has actually returned to his childhood. But can he interact with the people of his youth,
or will that cause a chain of events to take place? Or can Sloan come to appreciate living life to the fullest, humbled by the fact that a person has only one
summer to live?
With a flavor reminiscent of the film It's a Wonderful Life, "Walking Distance"
is by far one of the warmest examples of the second-chance theme, and of redemp
tion. There are a few weaker redemption episodes, such as Serling's " Mr. Bevis,"
starring Orson Bean, Henry Jones, and Charles Lane, and "Cavender Is Coming,"
starring Carol Burnett and Jesse White. Both episodes boast marvelous casts, but
fall way short of the bar, demonstrating that even with the help of "guardian
angels" watching over a script, not all turkeys are just for Thanksgiving. With

Themes of t h e Zone

LEFT:

Everett Sloane stars

as hypocritical Frankin
Gibbs in "The Fever."
CENTER:

John McGiver

stars in "Sounds and

Silences."
RIGHT:

James Whitmore

stars in one of the fourth

season's better episodes,
"On Thursday
We Leave for Home."

47

LEFT: Dan Duryea stars

as town drunk AI Denton

in "Mr. Denton on
Doomsday."
CENTER:

Jack Klugman and

" Passage on the Lady Anne," starring Lee Philips, Joyce Van Patten, and veteran
English actors Gladys Cooper, Cecil Kellaway, and Wilfred Hyde-White, writer
Charles Beaumont conveys that within the human spirit lies the power and perspective for a fresh start in life. We need not count on intangible beings from
beyond to guide and shape life's meaning, whether these be angel, devil, or alien.

Mary Webster star in the

touching " A Passage for

Alternate U n i verses

Trumpet."

Although there is a vast variety of psychological subject matter in The Twilight

Zone, the show is thought of as a fantasy series first and science fiction second.
But while there are ample stories arranged in the genre of science fiction, one
couldn't classify The Twilight Zone as a pure science fiction series, like Star Trek.
The Twilight Zone is not considered a monster-fest either, like Outer Limits,
which boasted a monster-of-the-week theme. Still, the series does delve into sev
eral science-fiction themes, such as other dimensions, parallel universes, time
travel, space travel, and creatures both alien and monster. With The Twilight
Zone, themes of fantasy and science fiction again disguise underlying questions
of the human condition.
But The Twilight Zone does offer many fantastic rides beyond the unknown
boundaries of both time and space. There are stories that feature dimensional por
tals, such as Richard Matheson's classic " Little Girl Lost," where we get an actual
glimpse of the fifth dimension when an unknown portal opens in a little girl's bed
room wall. This story reminds us that our third dimension is the tangible
separation between the second and fourth dimensions, but the fifth dimension quite
surely exceeds the limits of science - which even today, we're still in the infancy

RIGHT :

Gig Young stars

in another of Serling's
powerful classics,
"Walking Distance." This
episode also features a
part played by a very
young Ron Howard.

48

of understanding. In Earl Hamner Jr.'s "The Bewitchin' Pool," we find that dimensional portals in The Twilight Zone can lead to parallels of our own reality.
A more literal depiction of the parallel-universe theme appears in the appropriately named "The Parallel," written by Serling. In this episode, lone astronaut
Robert Gaines, played by Steve Forrest, survives an experimental space mission.
However, upon his return, he finds he's mysteriously crossed over into a universe
parallel to his own. Vera Miles gives a downright paranoid performance as
Millicent Barnes, in Serling's episode " Mirror Image," the eerie story of how a
doppelganger has crossed over from a parallel universe to invade her life. This
story focuses on the possible outcomes of the theory of parallel universes - that
for every action in our universe, there is an unlimited number of possible counterreactions created in alternate universes, and for every person in our universe,
there are counterparts in these other parallel universes. In " Mirror Image,"
Millicent comes to the conclusion that her double is trying to take over her life,
yet she is unable to convince anyone else that she's not simply crazy. Reminiscent
of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this episode is an ideal example of how the
series often touches on the alienation of individuals. The Twilight Zone tried to
broaden our thinking about the scope of existence, showing us that there may be
more to existence than what we assume.

LEFT: Rod Serling

brandishes a laser gun

prop, another reuse from
the film Forbidden Planet.
CENTER:

Burgess Meredith

poses with Venusians

Donald Losby and Greg
Irvin, in the quirky
"Mr. Dingle, the Strong."
RIGHT:

Tracy Stratford

stars in the mysterious

Matheson piece, "Little
Girl Lost." This was
brilliantly parodied in an
episode of The Simpsons,
where Homer enters a
portal into the next
dimension in animation 3D computer graphics.

T i m e Travel

No science-fiction idea twists the theoretical boundaries of science like that of

traveling through the fourth dimension of time. Time travel is perhaps the one
concept physicists have trouble grasping as a scientific possibility. However, in

Tllemes of t h e Z o n e

49

LEFT TO R I G H T :

Steve Forrest stars as

astronaut Robert Gaines in
the fairly dry fourth season
episode, "The Parallel."

Vera Miles gives pitchperfect paranoia as

Millicent Barnes in the
terrifying "Mirror Image."

Flight Lt. Decker waves

farewell as he flies back
toward the mysterious
cloud and into the past, in
"The Last Flight."

the Twilight Zone, it's best to leave any doubt at the door of imagination,
because once inside it we find anything is possible. Time travel is sometimes
played out by natural means, as in episodes like "A Hundred Yards Over the
Rim," "The Last Flight," "The Odyssey of Flight 3 3 , " "Spur of the Moment,"
and "Back There." Written by Seriing, "Back There" stars Russell Johnson (best
known as the Professor from Gilligan's Island), Bartlett Robinson, and John
Lasell. Johnson plays social-club member Peter Corrigan, who, after a discussion
about the impossibility of time travel and altering the past, finds he's mysteriously traveled back in time and been given a chance to stop the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. His plans are thwarted, but when he returns to his present, he
finds some things are possible to change, while others are not.
More science-based time-travel stories include episodes like " Execution" and
"No Time Like the Past," whose outcome is similar to that of "Back There," in
that the fate of historical figures proves much harder to alter than trivial things.
SO, there may be no going back to assassinate Hitler, but as in Matheson's quirky
" Once Upon a Time," starring silent-film great Buster Keaton, one can discover
a long way round to helping the chicken cross the road.

Jack Klugman, Ross

Martin, and Fredrick Beir

S p a c e Travel

star as haunted astronauts

Within the limits of television storytelling, there's really no better way to escape
the doldrums of reality than through adventurous trips into outer space. Space
travel was no stranger to The Twilight Zone
as a lead-in to some of the more
outwardly explorative stories, there's Rod Seriing's bizarre "And When the Sky
Was Opened," based loosely on Richard Matheson's short story " Disappearing
Act. " The action takes place after a space mission, when three astronauts disappear from existence one by one, victims of an unknown intelligent force. What
separates this episode from others is that it's mysteriously open-ended - for we
never learn what unknown force has taken the astronauts, or why.
Representing other space-exploration themes, there are crash-landing epi
sodes such as "I Shot an Arrow into the Air," "People Are Alike All Over," and
"Death Ship," and stranded episodes like " Elegy," "The Little People," " On

in Matheson's strong
fourth season episode,
"Death Ship." This is one
of a few episodes that
made use of spaceship
footage from Forbidden

Planet.

50

LEFT:

Kevin Hagen, Jeff

Morrow and Don Dubbins

star with English actor
Cecil Kellaway in
Beaumont's story of
stranded astronauts,
"Elegy."
CENTER:

The Martian fea

tured In "The Fugitive"

came from portions of a
creature's head used in
the cult horror film, The

Thursday We Leave For Home," and the memorable "The Invaders. "
But not all space exploration ends in tragedy, as proven in episodes like
"Probe 7 - Over and Out," and "Third from the Sun," where people are given
a second chance for a new life on a new world.

Serve Man," is Susan

A l i e n a n d Creatu res

ment code-breaker and

Alien episodes - in which, due to budget restrictions, the aliens are all humanoid
- are aplenty in The Twilight Zone, including "Will the Real Martian Please
Stand Up," "The Fear," "The Fugitive," " Stopover in a Quiet Town," "The
Gift," "Black Leather Jackets," " Mr. Dingle, the Strong," "Hocus-Pocus and
Frisby, " and the memorable "To Serve Man . "
Written by Rod Serling and based o n a short story b y Damon Knight, "To
Serve Man" is a story reminiscent of the classic film The Day the Earth Stood
Still. Earth is visited by " Kanamit" aliens who claim to want to serve us with
technologies to end famine and war, just as they've offered to other planets
throughout the galaxy. But the twist reveals that the aliens have an ulterior
motive, and an uncanny understanding of the multiple meanings of English
phrases. Director Richard Bare admits that to this day, of his entire Hollywood
career, people comment more on this episode than on any other piece. And so
they should: it's a brilliant piece of work, even voted No. I I in TV G uide's 1997
"
100 Greatest Television Episodes of All Time" poll.
Among the many alien creatures in the series, there are two creature/monster
oriented episodes that fall outside the space-travel theme - " It's a Good Life,"
starring Bill Mumy as omnipotent Anthony Fremont, and " Nightmare at 20,000
Feet." Both are also regarded as classic moments in television and have been par
odied in shows ranging from The Simpsons and 3rd Rock from the Sun to the
cartoon Johnny Bra vo and the syndicated comic strip Robot Man.

Richard Klel as one of the

She Creature.
RIGHT:

Starring in Serling's

shocking episode, "To

Cummings as a govern

Kanamit aliens here to

serve mankind.

M a n Ve rsus M a c h i n e

Primarily designed t o ease the labors o f man's existence, The Twilight Zone
acknowledges that with technology's convenience may also come grave conse-

T h e m e s o f the Zone

51

LEFT:

Richard Haydn stars

as sophisticate Bartlett
Finchley in "A Thing About
Machines."
CENTER:

Veteran actor Jack

Warden stars with Jean

Marsh in "The Lonely."
RIGHT :

Inger Stevens and

John Hoyt star in the first

of six videotaped episodes,
"The Lateness of the
Hour."

52

quences. Such is the case with Rod Serling's "The Brain Center at Whipples,"
starring Richard Deacon as a factory owner who, after replacing all of his
employees with machines, comes to find his own position of authority in ironic
jeopardy.
On the theme of man versus machine, there's also Serling's "A Thing About
Machines," Beaumont's "In His Image," and Matheson's " Steel. " When it comes
to the powers of computer intelligence, there are episodes like Serling's "The Old
Man in the Cave," Beaumont's "Valley of the Shadow," and Bernard C.
Shoenfeld's "From Agnes - With Love. " However, not all robots bring malevolent consequences, as we find in Ray Bradbury's "I Sing the Body Electric" and
two Serling episodes starring veteran actor Jack Warden, "The Mighty Casey"
and "The Lonely. " In "The Lonely," considered a love story between man and
machine, Warden plays James Corey, an innocent man convicted of murder and
sentenced to spend 50 years alone on a distant asteroid. Visited periodically by a
supply ship, Corey is brought an android woman, Alicia, played by Jean Marsh,
to help him cope with the isolation. At first Corey finds her a mocking reminder
of what he left behind, but he soon grows emotionally involved and falls in love
with her. Eleven months later, the supply ship arrives with news that Corey's been
granted a pardon and can return to Earth, but due to weight restrictions, Alicia
must stay behind. Will Corey choose to stay in his new life with his machine or
return to a life with real people?
Another episode that taps into the moral implications of artificial intelligence
is Serling's "The Lateness of the Hour. " Inger Stevens plays Jana, the daughter of
Dr. Loren (John Hoyt), inventor of android servants that tend to his family's

every need in an estate kept private from society. Jana finds living in this antiseptic environment intolerable and demands that her father dismantle the androids
or she'll leave home. Dr. Loren attempts to persuade her of the androids' purpose
in their household, but, seeing her despair, submits to dismantling them. In a
house now free of any android influence, Jana is ecstatic . . . until she discovers
that her father decided to keep one of his androids after all.

LEFT:

Robert Duvall stars

with Claire Griswold in

Beaumont's touching
escape from reality,
"Miniature."
CENTER:

Tracy Stratford

costars with Telly Savalas

E n c h a nt e d O bj e c t s

and Mary LaRoche in

Some of the show's most unique and terrifying characters are enchanted objects
with a life all their own. They come in the form of dolls and mannequins, domestic devices and vehicles, and various items of everyday life. Enchanted dolls are
found in episodes like "The Dummy," starring Cliff Robertson, " Miniature,"
starring Robert Duvall, " Caesar and Me," starring Jackie Cooper, and Charles
Beaumont's terrifying " Living Doll," starring Telly Savalas. In " Living Doll," a
little girl's Talky Tina doll, voiced by June Foray of The Bullwinkle Show, protects her from an abusive stepfather. With this episode, and "The Dummy," The
Twilight Zone has seriously terrorized some viewers by capitalizing on their fear
of dolls and puppets. Proving that when it comes to subject matter in the series,
no stone goes unturned.
Such is the case with the wide range of domestic-device stories in episodes like
"A Most Unusual Camera," "Static," "Long Distance Call," "The Mirror, " " A
Piano i n the House," " A Kind o f Stopwatch," " A Thing About Machines, "
"What's i n the Box," and "The Fever. " Characters aren't even safe from their
vehicles, such as the haunted car in "The Whole Truth" and the car with a con-

Themes of the Zone

...

"Living Doll." June Foray

supplied the eerie voice of
the Talky Tina doll, which
was a vogue Brickette doll
of the early '60s that the
prop department altered by
installing a motor to make
its arms and head move.
RIGHT:

Virginia Gregg and

Robert Keith star in the

unique Serllng episode,
"The Masks."

53

LEFT:

Malcolm Atterbury

stars as peddler Henry J.

Fate in "Mr. Denton on
Doomsday." There was a
small production error in
the episode: the potion
supplied to Denton comes
In a small plastic bottle, at
a time when there were no
plastics.
CENTER:

George Grizzard

and the lovely Patricia

science in Earl Hamner Jr.'s "You Drive. " Here, Edward Andrews plays a hitand-run driver whose car forces him to turn himself in to the police. Even a pair
of shoes has the ability to haunt the living, as in Beaumont's "Dead Man's
Shoes," starring Warren Stevens as Nate Bledsoe, a bum who, while wearing the
shoes of a dead gangster, is inhabited by the vengeful gangster's spirit.
Two memorable Serling episodes feature humanoid objects. In "The After
Hours," Anne Francis plays Marsha White, a shopper in a department store who
comes to understand she's not who she thinks she is. In "The Masks," Robert
Keith stars as a dying elderly man with plans to get back at his greedy family who
have come to inherit his estate. During a Mardi Gras celebration, and as a prerequisite to their inheritance, he forces them to wear ugly masks containing
"special properties," which in turn give them exactly what they deserve.

Barry star in "The Chaser."

The address of Professor

M ag i c

Daemon i s 2 2 , a s i n

is a magical show, enchanted by sensibilities that widen the

scope of the mind's eye. It only follows that the series should offer stories on the
subject of magic. Within the show's supernatural arsenal are literal forms of
magic, such as potions, black-magic items and genies, and psychological forms
of magic with voodoo and wishes, all of which cover this lost art quite well.
Magic potions turn up in the third episode of the series to air, "Mr. Denton on
Doomsday," written by Rod Serling and starring the full cast of Dan Duryea,
Malcolm Atterbury, Martin Landau, Jeanne Cooper, Ken Lynch, and a young
Doug McClure. Duryea plays washed-up gunslinger Denton, who attempts to
use a quick-draw potion to redeem himself. Another lighter magical-potion

Catch 22.
RIGHT:

Joseph Ruskin,

Luther Adler, and Vivi Janis

star in the intriguing genie
episode, "The Man in the
Bottle."

54

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Actor John Dehner's

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episode is "The Chaser, " where George Grizzard plays Roger, a man so obsessed
with lovely Leila, played by Patricia Barry, that he uses a love potion to win her
heart, without realizing the consequences.
The dark art of black magic is examined in " Still Valley, " "Jess-Belle," and
"The Bard," and genies appear in "The Man in the Bottle" and "I Dream of
Genie" (no relation to the television series). Among the few voodoo episodes is
the Charles Beaumont classic " The Jungle," where John Dehner plays an engi
neer in charge of constructing a dam on ancestral land in Africa, and suffers the
consequences upon his return home to New York.
In " Mr. Garrity and the Grave," Dehner plays an Old West con man who
claims he can raise the dead from their graves. He goes from town to town fool
ing people with his con, unaware of his hidden talent underneath the guise of a
con man. Another such con game turned magical is Serling's western episode,
"Dust." Here, a father whose son is about to be hanged for running over a child
buys dirt from a peddler who claims it's a magic dust that will turn hate into love.
The father spreads the dust out into the crowd, hoping its "magic" will stop the
death of his son.
Sometimes it's a belief in magic that's important, and not necessarily that an
object has magical properties. In George Clayton Johnson's poignant episode,
"Kick the Can," the title game turns a group of elderly folks back into children,
but they don't realize it wasn't the can that made the magic work.
Proving that some wishes do come true, The Twilight Zone offers two hope
ful episodes, "The Big Tall Wish," starring Ivan Dixon, and "The Sixteen
Millimeter Shrine," starring veteran actors Ida Lupino and Martin Balsam.
Lupino plays aged and out-of-work movie queen Barbara Jean Trenton, who
hides away as a celluloid hermit watching her old films, longing for the Golden
Age of Hollywood. Trenton so passionately wants to reunite with her old
friends up there on the screen that she magically wishes herself into the world

Themes of the Zone

Information form.
RIGHT:

John Dehner stars

as a nonbeliever of voodoo
in "The Jungle."

55

Movie queen Ida Lupino

stars in Serling's nostalgic
"The Sixteen Millimeter
Shrine." Lupino also
directed the episode,
"The Masks."

of her films. In the case of movie queen Miss Trenton, she was careful what she
wished for.
The characters of the Zone exist as immortal icons of yesterday's black-and
white celluloid dreams, kept alive by qualities of a time unparalleled. Everlasting
entities projected by light and shadow, they continue to offer their hard-earned
lessons to generations of viewers from the limitless boundaries of the fifth dimen
sion and into our own.

56

C H A PTER F O U R

Comic Relief
"It's to laugh. I swear it's to laugh. "
- M ax Phill ips of " I n Praise of Pip"

One rarely thinks of The Twilight Zone as

a comedy series - it's so much closer to
tragedy. However, the formula for comedy
offers relief and balances the more promi
nent and serious themes of comeuppance,
alienation, and conformity. Most audiences enjoy a good comedy, some
thing to soften the blows of a sometimes harsh reality. The Twilight Zone
understood this, as Rod Serling and the other writers aimed to not only
shock and terrorize, but also amuse viewers with the lighter sides of sto
rytelling. Out of the dozen or so comedy episodes, there are certainly a
few gems that do just that, but The Twilight Zone will never be in the
same company as classic comedy series of the time, such as I Love Lucy,
The Dick Van Dyke Show, or Bewitched.

Patricia Breslin and

William Shatner goof
around during a break
from the filming of
"Nick of Time."

57

LEFT: Actress/comedian

Carol Burnett poses with

Serling behind the scenes
of "Cavender Is Coming."
CENTER:

Jesse White and

Carol Burnett star in the

comedic turkey, "Cavender
Is Coming."
RIGHT:

Serling visits Jesse

White on the set.

58

The tendency of most critics and fans of the series is to write off the comedy
episodes as forgettable; even Serling referred to a couple of them as "turkeys. "
Like the poor delivery of a punch line, the series does have its share of missteps,
which has led to the perception that The Twilight Zone was better suited for portraying tragedy. Although it may feel sacrilegious to call any Twilight Zone
episode a turkey, the turkey prize clearly goes to both " Cavender Is Coming" and
"From Agnes - With Love." This dubious honor is based merely on their weak
material and flat humor, and is not meant as a poke at the talented cast members.
Jesse White, Carol Burnett, and Wally Cox are all class acts with great bodies of
work, and it's a delight that they appear in the series. But " Cavender Is Coming"
is dreadful, almost as bad as that "hippie" episode of the original Star Trek. In
this corny installment, White plays Cavender, a cigar-smoking, undisciplined
guardian-angel-in-training, assigned to fix the life of misfit Agnes Grubbs, played
by Burnett. As in "Mr. Bevis," the character to be sa ved is given opportunities
for a new and improved life of fame and fortune, but in the end she decides to
stick with the meager life she already has. There is only one seriously funny
moment in this episode - when the bus driver makes that unexpected dive out
the driver's-side window, it seems right out of a Monty Python sketch. The other
pratfalls seem like fillers in an overall weak comedy episode that just isn't funny.
To make matters worse, a forced laugh track was used over the episode, a deci
sion that CBS executives made to promote this episode as a possible pilot for Jesse
White. There's nothing more insulting than a laugh track.
"From Agnes - With Love" also falls flat due to the main character, James
Elwood, played by Wally Cox, who is written as such a clueless nerd, it's no won-

der the only action he can get is from a computer. "Agnes" does, however, have
its moments, such as the unique close-up wide-angle shot of Don Keefer in the
opening sequence, and the animated look of insanity when Elwood finds out that
supercomputer Agnes is in love with him. These brief moments are this episode's
only respite, and they aren't nearly as interesting as the little moral lessons we get
from other episodes. Though there does seem to be an ironic lesson in both of
these episodes: never name a main character Agnes.
Unfortunately, there are a few other Twilight Zone comedies that end up
offering more comic grief than comic relief. Poorer episodes - based purely on
bad material and not necessarily the casts - are Serling's "The Whole Truth,"
" Showdown with Rance McGrew," and "Mr. Bevis. " The latter was originally
meant as a pilot for a comedy series starring Burgess Meredith as Bevis, but after
Meredith turned the project down, Serling ended up salvaging the script for The
Twilight Zone, not once, but twice. Two seasons later, in a decision that defies
logic, the weak "Mr. Bevis" was remade as the weaker " Cavender Is Coming."
Richard Matheson's " Once Upon a Time," starring silent-film comedian
Buster Keaton, Stanley Adams, and Jesse White, begins to show how The
Twilight Zone could indeed honor the tone and timing of classic comedy.
Producer Buck Houghton and Matheson had the idea to do a comedy that fea
tured Keaton and old-school director Norman Z. McLeod, who was known for
directing comedy greats such as Topper and the Marx Brothers' Monkey
Business and Horse Feathers. The payoff in " Once Upon a Time" comes with the
homage of filming the beginning and end in the style of a silent film. The crew,
not coincidentally, used a street on the back lot that 40 years earlier was built for

Comic Relief

...

LEFT: Raymond Bailey stars

with Wally Cox In the flat

episode, "From Agnes With Love."
CENTER:

Larry Blyden and

Arch Johnson star in the

silly "Showdown with
Rance McGrew."
RIGHT:

Orson Bean and

Henry Jones star in

"Mr. Bevis."

59

LEFT:

Stanley Adams

stars with comedy legend

Buster Keaton in the
quirky "Once Upon a
Time."
CENTER:

Keaton stands on

his mark for the next shot

while the lighting of the
special effects takes
place.
RIGHT:

Keaton plays

around with the camera

during a break.

60

a Buster Keaton comedy. Even though the genius of Keaton's comic timing is
tapped into, other elements keep this episode from being a comedic masterpiece.
For one, the gags aren't all that funny. This may be due to budget considerations
some of Matheson's more elaborate slapstick chase sequences had to be cut,
replaced with the rather normal repair-shop scene, directed later by Les
Goodwin. Although Keaton is best known for his outrageously choreographed
chase sequences, it is a special treat that during the "talkie" repair-shop scene, we
get to hear this silent-film icon speak his lines. The opportunity to see the great
Buster Keaton in a Twilight Zone makes this episode worth watching.
Looking closer, we see several gems that offer pure comic relief and do indeed
prove that The Twilight Zone could succeed at featuring some good laughs.
Confirming that Serling could do comedy are solid comedic episodes like the
quirky "Mr. Dingle, the Strong," starring Burgess Meredith as a vacuum-cleaner
salesman given superhuman powers by visiting aliens. Other such Serling scripts
include "A Most Unusual Camera," " Escape Clause," "The Mighty Casey," "A
Kind of Stopwatch, " "Mr. Garrity and the Graves," and "The Mind and the
Matter. " Other more serious episodes feature hints of comedy designed to offer a
tone of normality. A certain element of humor in the script helps ground charac
ters, as we find in episodes such as "Time Enough at Last," "One for the Angels,"
" Elegy," "A World of His Own," " Five Characters in Search of an Exit, " "Nick
of Time," and even "A Passage for Trumpet," in which, despite the suicidal ten
dencies of Jack Klugman's character, he still has the ability to poke fun at himself.
Another comedy gem worth noting is the whimsical "Hocus-Pocus and
Frisby, " based on Frederick Louis Fox's unpublished story and adapted by
Serling. Here, the viewer is taken along on a journey of a boy who cried wolf.

ABOVE: Actor/comedian

Don Rickles taunts a

power-readying Burgess

LEFT:

Wired for a stunt to

be pulled up into an alien

spaceship, Andy Devine
stars as Somerset Frisby in
the fun "Hocus-Pocus and

Except, in the Zone universe, we find an enjoyable Andy Devine, with that high
pitched crackling voice of his, playing backwoods liar and spinner of tales
Somerset Frisby. Costarring are some familiar faces from television history,
including Dabbs Greer, who appeared in several episodes; Howard McNear,
most remembered as Floyd the barber in The Andy Griffith Show; and Milton
Selzer and Larry Breitman, playing the two aliens. In this story, grocery-store
owner Frisby is known to burn the ears of his customers with exaggerated
claims that range from having invented the first rear-engine automobile for
Henry Ford, to being able to predict the weather. It's Frisby's overconfident
claims of multiple degrees in engineering that cause two human-like aliens to
abduct him, thinking he's an optimal human specimen. Back in their spaceship,
the aliens divulge their plans for putting Frisby in their alien zoo, to make use
of his superior intellect. Frisby, fearing for his life, finds himself forced to con-

Comic Relief
r-

61

Actors Jack Weston and

John Williams star in
Serling's top comedic
episode, "The Bard."

fess he's just a liar and a country bumpkin with a big mouth. Yet the aliens have
no concept of dishonesty and proceed with their plans. Frisby panics and
punches the commanding alien in the face, which cracks apart and reveals the
creature's true alien identity, hidden under a human mask. What makes this so
funny is the audience's knowledge that if Frisby ever does get himself out of this
pickle, he'll finally have a story for the ages. But will anyone believe him? The
obvious lesson here is not only that honesty is the best policy, but also, it might
be wise to keep a harmonica handy, just in case.
The brightest comedic turn by far comes in the tongue-in-cheek quality of

62

Look out! There 's a

man behind the wheel of
this cart!

Serling's hilarious episode "The Bard." The last of the fourth season's hour-long
episodes to air, this was one of the few that actually worked. Starring a witty Jack
Weston as Julius Moomer, character actor John Williams as William
Shakespeare, and Burt Reynolds as Rocky Rhodes, a Marlon Brando knockoff,
this gem offers fine comedic timing. Hack wannabe television writer Moomer
mistakenly misuses a book of black magic to conjure up a writing partner in the
form of the William Shakespeare. Moomer, who seeks fame even though he has
absolutely no idea how to produce good writing, is able to convince "Will" to

Comic

Relief

63

A guy walks into a

barber shop . .

A dimension of sight . . .

A dimension of clowns.

help him write a television pilot. At times, the dialogue is flavorful, and, through
the playfulness of Moomer's quirky Bronx dialect, we see how Serling had a tal
ent for animating his characters with a touch of authenticity. We're even witness
to hearing William Shakespeare's final good byes to Moomer in a round of proper
Shakespearean vernacular, followed by an outright hilarious, "Lotsa luck!" "The
Bard" clearly shows that Serling was capable of writing comedy, not just the
drama he was most known for.
But one of the things that makes this comedy episode work so well is Serling's
parody of his own bread and butter, the television industry. He shows how a tel
evision play can be butchered under the steely knives of network executives who
cower before the nonsensical edits of the commercial sponsors. And as an extra
treat, Reynolds is priceless in his cool parody of Brando, with his beatnik sum
mation on the meaning of acting: "What is my tertiary motivation?" "The Bard"
proves to audiences and critics alike that comical regions of the fifth dimension
were present and accounted for.
When all is said and done, if you ever wished away any of the 1 56 Twilight
Zone episodes, even if it were one of the two comedic turkeys, there would be an
empty black hole in its place. Instead, one ought to look at the series as a
matched set, where each piece has its place. Sure, there are a few that can be a
little painful to watch, but for a television series, that's not a bad average. And
again, the comedy episodes were chosen to simply balance the more intense tone
of the series, and for the most part, they do that well. This is entertainment, not
rocket science, and no one said it was a perfect medium.

64

C H APTER F I VE

Beyond Dimensions
"[ do believe [ may have left
my mark. A few gauntlets of
knowledge that I've thrown
down that may have been
picked up. "
- Professor Fowler of
"Changing of the Guard"

As the adage goes, all good things

come to an end. By the end of
Twilight Zone's fifth season, the
series had worked through its own
boundaries, doing almost everything it could. In the eyes of the C B S net
work executives, The Twilight Zone had run its course - it was
beginning to repeat itself, even - and they did not renew it for a sixth
season. It was time for the roaring MGM lion to move on to greener pas
tures. This was quite all right with Rod Serling. Buck Houghton had
already left the ship two seasons earlier, and for Serling, who had enjoyed
his experience as a writing teacher, it was time to step outside of the
realm of fantasy and science fiction.
Up next for Serling's television work was the short-lived black-and
white western The Loner, starring Lloyd Bridges as William Colton, a
Civil War veteran tarnished by the idea of killing. The series, which ran
26 episodes during the 1 965-66 season ( I S penned by Serling), aired on
C B S , the same network home of The Twilight Zone. Serling's take on the
television western was quite different than your average bad-guy-versus
good-guy scenario; it was a thinking man's western that revealed the real

The MGM lion plays

himself in "The Jungle."

65

While Rod Serling visited

the set during filming of
Planet of the Apes, he
posed for a candid shot
with actress Kim Hunter.
Hunter also starred as the
social worker in "Requiem
for a Heavyweight."

conditions of the West. The lack of barroom brawls and gunfights led to fairly
low ratings, and the series was canceled.
No matter where Serling's path had taken him as a writer, the actor side of
him still had a desire to play - but he was no Cary Grant. Realizing that his
inimitable voice was one of his selling points, Serling took on several narration
projects, most notably on television's nature series, The Undersea World of
Jacques Cousteau. He even did television commercials and public service
announcements, despite drawing criticism that he was a sellout for doing so.
Serling hadn't sought out the commercials; it was the insistent sponsors who had
approached him with offers of big dollars and luxury cars for a simple after
noon's work. For Serling, it was honest work, and as Carol Serling pointed out,
" He laughed all the way to the bank. "
Serling then straddled the line between television and feature film by offering
his hand at made-for-TV movies, adapting Irving Wallace's novel The Man, star
ring James Earl Jones as the first African-American U.S. President, and The
Doomsday Flight, the story of a crazed ex-airline mechanic who plants an alti
tude-sensitive bomb on an airplane.
Perhaps one of Serling's finest contributions to movie magic is the popular
film Planet of the Apes, based on Pierre Boulle's novel. With this unique story
of a planet run by sentient simians, Serling brought into the film social issues

66

Rod Serling and the crew

of Night Gallery during
the filming of an opening
on-camera narration.

concerning mankind and the nuclear age, much as he did with The Twilight
Serling penned three drafts of the screenplay, but when his scripts got
caught in limbo after a few years of involvement, his interest faded and he
decided to part from the project graciously. Michael Wilson was hired on to
take control of the screenplay, sharing a credit with Serling, which has sparked
much debate over what parts of Serling's work made it into the finished film.
However, when one views the film, it's obvious that Serling's overall tone, dia
logue, and classic twist ending remain intact.
Following the cancellation of The Twilight Zone, of which Serling was 40 per
cent owner, and despite the fact that he had grown tired of the show, he was still
interested in doing another anthology television series. Unfortunately, the net
works weren't interested in revising The Twilight Zone series, partly because of
the low market value of an anthology that lacks recurring characters from which
to milk spin-offs and products. Following the advice of his agent, Ted Ashley,
Serling decided it best to get whatever profits remained by selling his Twilight
Zone rights to CB S , giving them full ownership of the property. This proved to be
a big mistake. Serling made the deal before television syndication, and no one
knew the show could ever make serious money again after its initial run. Shortly
after the deal, CBS put the show into syndication, and The Twilight Zone went
from being an unmarketable property to an immortal one.
Zone.

Beyond D i me n s i o n s

67

Serling continued to pitch the idea of an anthology show to other networks as

and where NBC passed, ABC insisted on a horror
series, which Serling didn't want, so the project was canceled. Still determined to
revisit the genre he had first brought to television, Serling wrote some Twilight
Zone-like stories and packaged them for NBC. The network bought the pilot and
made it into a two-hour television movie.
On November 8, 1 969, the made-for-television movie Night Gallery aired,
with Serling introducing it in his inimitable style: "Good evening, and welcome
to a private showing of three paintings, displayed here for the first time. Each is
a collector's item in its own way - not because of any special artistic quality, but
because each captures on a canvas, suspends in time and space, a frozen moment
of a nightmare." The premiere of this two-hour special saw ratings high enough
to sell the series to NBC, and earn Serling a Mystery Writers of America Edgar
Allan Poe award.
NBC signed for six more installments and produced it as a short series in late
1970, titled Rod Serling's Night Gallery. Jack Laird took over production of the
series, and Serling passed on the position of executive producer, thinking he
would naturally have creative control over the direction of the series. Regrettably,
though, as the series progressed, Laird ended up rewriting some of Serling's
scripts and it became clear that Serling's role was merely that of story contribu
tor and host. With this lack of creative control, Serling couldn't exploit his
talents, and it was apparent the series was developing into something far from
what he had established with the television movie.
Nonetheless, Night Gallery was an artistic series, with good production val
ues and some amazing talent, using directors like Steven Spielberg, Jeannot
Szwarc, John Badham, Gene Kearney, and Jeff Corey, and actors Joan Crawford,
Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Vincent Price, Mickey Rooney, Burgess
Meredith, Agnes Moorehead, and Ray Milland. Night Gallery lasted into a third
season, in 1 972, by this time cut out to a half-hour show. By this final season, it
was obvious Serling was being used simply for his name and stature as a host,
but he couldn't leave the series, since he was contractually bound to stay.
Upon its cancellation, and due to insufficient episodes needed for syndication
status, Universal combined Night Gallery with the series The Sixth Sense, star
ring Gary Collins. As part of the syndication package, numerous edits were made
to Night Gallery. Scenes were replaced incoherently with filler stock footage,
which weakened some of the storytelling beyond comprehension. Luckily, with
the release of the series on VHS and the first season on DVD, Universal presented
beautifully restored masters without the dreadful syndication edits. In a strange
twist of fate, the Season One DVD box set was released as Night Gallery instead
of Rod Serling's Night Gallery.
It's hard to believe that it's been over 3 0 years since the death of Rod Serling,
and yet his work still shines on. Since his exit from this dimension, Hollywood
has tried to remake The Twilight Zone four times, but these imitations naturally
Rod Serling's Wax Museum,

ABOVE: Patricia Barry in

a candid shot from

"The Chaser."

BELOW:

William SchaUert

plays a policeman in
"Mr. Bevis."

68

pale in comparison to the original series. The

first attempt, Twilight Zone: The Movie,
played in theaters in the summer of 1 9 8 3 .
The movie featured narration b y Burgess
Meredith, an opening intra, one new story,
and three remakes of original episodes.
Steven Spielberg headed up the project and
assembled the direction team of John Landis,
Joe Dante, and George Miller. Veteran
Twilight Zone writer Richard Matheson
penned the screenplay for the three remakes,
and Jerry Goldsmith, one of the original
series' conductors, was also brought on
board to create the film's music. The film fea
tures original Twilight Zone alumni such as
Murray Matheson, Kevin McCarthy, Patricia
Barry, William Schallert, and Bill Mumy. and
used some of the same character names and locations from the original series.
The film does have a few good moments that sort of feel Twilight Zone-ish,
but overall it's a disappointment. It might have stood a better chance if some of
the direction had not felt so cartoony, which was such a departure from the origina I series, and the use of color instead of black and white diminishes the mystery
and starkness.
The second attempt at revising the fifth dimension came about when CBS
decided to return to their Twilight Zone license by creating a new series, unoffi
cially referred to as The New Twilight Zone. This Twilight Zone ran for two
seasons, from 1 9 8 5 to 1 987, with a third direct-to-syndication season in 1 9 8 8 .
During this same time, joining the trend o f revising the television anthology, NBC
and ABC spawned Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories, and a revamping of Alfred
Hitchcock Presents. This installment of the Zone universe was simply a return to
the anthology format, with the title of Twilight Zone attached to its surface. If
you hadn't seen the intro sequence telling you it was a new version of The
Twilight Zone, you wouldn't know what show you were watching. If the series
had aimed at actually continuing where the original had left off, it probably
would have been more successful.
A third attempt, CB S 'S Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics, was actu
ally more directly related to Serling's original creation. This television special,
which aired in 1994, was hosted by James Earl Jones and featured two stories,
the half-hour "The Theatre," a Richard Matheson script based on a Serling story
treatment, and the 90-minute "Where the Dead Are," an unproduced Serling
script. "The Theatre" stars Amy Irving and Gary Cole in a classic story of the
foretelling of one's own demise and the inability to stop it. "Where the Dead
Are" stars Jack Palance as a chemist who has discovered a drug to bring the dead

Beyond D i m e n s i o n s

The prop Death playing

card used in The Twilight
Zone (1985) episode,
"Dealer's Choice," as
well as an alternate
unused version.

69

A Twilight Zone [19851

concept painting for the

episode, "The Shadow
Man."

70

to life and has kept the people of his island

alive by administering it. Both stories play as
lost treats, but again, cannot quite recreate the
past.
The most recent attempt to remake The
Twilight Zone debuted on UPN network for a
single season of 43 episodes in the fall of 2002.
Creators of the series, Pen Densham and Ira
Steven Behr, assembled a crew yearning to pay
homage to Serling's original, but unfortunately,
production fell under marketing demographics
and limitations set by the network. The result
was a new style of Twilight Zone, marketed to
a younger, hip-hop, trend-conformed audi
ence, in what turned out as something that
should have been called MTV Zone. Critically
speaking, this remake, or revisit to the title, is
by far the weakest. It again misses the style and
spirit of the original - stark lighting, a mysterious sensibility, superior writing,
uneasiness, and brilliant performances in a palette of wonderful character actors
playing unforgettable parts.
As we find in other modern television series, this new installment features
some fine production values, technical effects, and some decent stories. Hosted
by Forest Whitaker, a fine actor somewhat miscast, this hipper updated version
feels too far from the scope of the original to carry the title. And like its 1 9 8 5
predecessor, most o f the attempts t o redo some key original episodes offer only
average renditions and with far less impact. The remake of "The Eye of the
Beholder" involves mutated people instead of a race of conformed "normal"
people who look exactly alike, and the threat in "The Monsters Are Due on
Maple Street," simply ends up as U.S. Army mock-terrorist civilian war-games,
instead of an otherworldly event.
One highlight of the series is the episode "It's Still a Good Life," based on
the original episode, " It's a Good Life . " This revisit to the small, secluded town
of Peaksville, Ohio, features reprising roles by Bill Mumy as the grown-up
omnipotent Anthony Fremont, Cloris Leachman as his mother Agnes, and
Liliana Mumy as Anthony'S daughter Audrey. The story takes place 40 years
after the original, and Anthony has grown bored with the dynamics of his ulti
mate powers. He has wished everything but Peaksville into the cornfield, and
finds that his young daughter has the same powers - and even more. She's able
to wish things back from the cornfield and into reality, a power Anthony never
achieved. Anthony'S mother reveals her hatred toward Anthony, and in trying
to convince Audrey he's a monster and should be wished away into the corn
field, she herself is wished away when Audrey decides to protect her father.

Rod Serling at a book

signing for Rod Serting's

Twilight Zone (1963), a

book that features urban
legend tales, coupled with
a few Serling stories
adapted from his scripts.

However, the real twist is revealed when we discover Audrey's powers might be
more dangerous than Anthony's.
Despite this one good episode, this new and yet still unimproved Twilight
Zone seems much as it did before - a remake in the format of an anthology,
with The Twilight Zone title stamped on it. Yet, isn't it altogether better to leave
well enough alone? As we've come to see with all of these remakes, the answer
would be yes.
But at least J.J. Abrams got it right in January 2000, during the second sea
son of his television series Felicity, when he paid an amazing homage to the
original Twilight Zone with the episode, "Help for the Lovelorn. " This one
episode, which partly recreates the original Twilight Zone story "Five Characters
in Search of an Exit," features the elements of storytelling, direction, cinematog
raphy, setting, wardrobe, score, and sound that recapture the feel of the classic
series. Showing how exacting this single homage was, Abrams not only hired
Lamont Johnson, of the original "Five Characters" to direct, but also shot with
a Mitchell, the same type of camera used for the original. Take heed, all you
future Twilight Zone remake wannabes: study this single Felicity episode well,
for it fully demonstrates the essentials needed for perfecting the art of how to
Zone. The most important factor, besides quality storytelling, is that it's done in
black and white. Do you hear? Black and white!
The original Twilight Zone will remain television's timeless series. This is
proven time and again, as new fans of the show are born every day. American
fans now spend more time watching Twilight Zone marathons on Independence
Day than they do lighting fireworks. And because of its growing popularity and
fandom, all five seasons of the series have been made available in their original

Beyond D i m e n s i o n s

71

The natural look of Rod

Serling in the early 1970s.

airing order, in the Definitive Edition DVD box sets. Young fans of film and sci
ence fiction who are unfamiliar with The Twilight Zone are undoubtedly
impressed with the show's high quality and artistry, and how well it holds up,
even today. In fact, The Twilight Zone only gets better with age. Even high
school teachers of English and social studies are known to run episodes in their
classrooms and build lessons around them. Rod Serling himself used his own
Twilight Zone work to analyze in class, taking the shows apart to critique both

72

The official Hollywood

Walk of Stars Certificate
(1988) , awarded with Rod
Serling's star on the Walk
of Fame.

6B
C1{.tR
X
rn......:
c.:
ER
S.:
.e0D

SERLINC

WROTE

ANO PRODUCED 1"P.LEvISION'S

LANDMARK

SERIES

"nViLlGIIT ZONE" FOR FIVE YEARS, BEGI\\'NIN(; IN 1959: AND

EAS. :S
ERLING'S

EARNING HIM SI

ASSOCIATION

WITH

TELEVISION

SEVERAL DECADES,

SPANNED

EMMY AWARDS AND MAKING A LASTING IMPACT ON THE MEDIUM; AND

WHEREAS, filS " REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGlfT" WAS TIiE FIRST ORJGINAL 9(}.MINUTE
DRAMA WRITTEN EXPRESS!.'\' FOR TELEVISION: AND

Q,)E EA
R

S.

1us "PATIERNS" , AIRED ON THE KRAFT TELEVISION THEATRE. WAS THE FIRST

UVE SHOW EVER TO BE RPBATED IN TIlE HISTORY OF TElEVISION: AND

dl..-:
C.
vmEREAS, HE SERVED AS N ATION AL PRESII)ENT OF THE ACADEMY OF Tr:LEVISION ARTS
AND SCIENCES, THE FIRST WRITER TO DO SO: AND

'
EREAS
EVER

ITE

IN ADDITION TO HIS EMMYS, HE WAS AW RDED THE FIRST PeABODY AWARD

GIVEN A WR

R. TWO SYLVANIA AWARDS, TWO CHiUSTOPlifiR PRIZE;

S, FOUR

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS AND NINE NO:.1INATIONS FROM nmTE;LEVISION ACADEMY-

:lliREFORF.

810 IT RESOLVE!)

lAT BY ADOPTION OF THIS REsourriONTIlE MAYOR

AND 'nil! C"JTY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGEI.ES IONOR THE MEMORY OF ROll

SERLfNG AS HE Rficmvr,s TIllS WELL-DESI!RVED I'IONOR

d-=-- 4

MAYOR

I HI:. R
EB CERllFY thaflhe forcgoing
adop,d by the Council
()rtheCityof LosAnle\O al its meeting
,.-- hel
d Ocfobcr 5 . 1988.

I U\
'

Councilman lJth Distric{

solutiou was

::+-

Ptesidenf orthe Council

Councilman 4th District

Beyo nd D i mensions

73

the writing and the filmmaking. An old adage goes, "Those who cannot do,
teach," but Serling put the lie to that. He could do better than most, and then
teach it to others.
In the annals of television history, Rod Serling truly is an immortal figure.
This suave, dark-suited gentleman with such a perceptive understanding of the
human psyche will forever reign as the king of imagination and terror on televi
sion. He was a profound writer and a founding member at television's very
beginnings, who introduced literature both poignant and terrifying into the
campfire glows of family rooms. Though The Twilight Zone became a huge suc
cess for Serling, he treated fame in a self-effacing way, which in turn made him
approachable. Whereas other celebrities can let fame go to their heads, Serling
acknowledged his worth with dignity. Hollywood historians often refer to Rod
Serling as Television's Last Angry Man, and that may well be, if they mean the
passion he had for television's potential. He was a lone voice striving for quality
and honesty. He was angry, yes, but it was out of frustration with the censorship
of the times: the McCarthy era that now seems so distant and archaic. Serling
wouldn't sit back and allow television's censorship to dictate the kinds of stories
one could tell - he spoke for the artist's right of expression. He was not only an
invaluable asset to the growth of early television, but his work continues to show
a creative influence on current television creators and filmmakers who entertain
in Serling's style of storytelling.
Rod Serling died on June 28, 1 9 7 5 , of complications during open heart sur
gery. He said he just wanted to be remembered as a writer, but he was so much
more. He was a genius, in the true sense of the word, and not the way the term
is thrown around so easily today, like cheap bubblegum. He was a humanitarian,
a prolific thinker, a role model, a mentor to many in and out of the film indus
try, and he remains one of the greatest fantasy writers of the 20th century. Serling
commented late in his career that he felt he had gone dry and needed to replen
ish the well. With all due respect, Mr. Rodman Edward Serling, your well is quite
full. You may have left this existence so many years ago, but your art lives on,
not only in the reality of this third dimension, but forever lasting in the fifth
dimension known as . . . The Twilight Zone.

74

Sight, Sound, and Mind

Earl Holliman
Earl Holliman starred as Mike Ferris in the pilot
episode " Where is Everybody?"

Do you have any mementos from the pilot episode

of The Twilight Zone?

I have a wonderful letter, it's all framed, that

Rod wrote me when I was in the hospital. I
had done the pilot, in December of 1 9 5 8, and
it was the first filmed television I ever did. I
had just finished the last day of shooting on a
picture for Hal Wallis at Paramount called
Visit to a Small Planet, and I got acute hepati
tis. I was in the hospital for a month, and one
day I get a letter from Rod. It's a wonderful
letter. I'm very proud of it.
How did you get involved with working on the
Twilight Zone pilot?

My association with Rod went back to the

year before. I had started out in motion pic
tures and I wanted badly to be able to do good
live television, like Playhouse 90, and so I
changed agents, I went to MeA, and they took
me immediately. My very first Playhouse 90
was written by Rod Serling - it was called
"The Dark Side of the Earth," about the
Hungarian revolution. I was playing a young
Russian officer, Captain Volodney, who had
great admiration for this general played by
Van Heflin. And in the end, of course, I have
to turn him in, and these other people, they're

all blown away, you know, standing there

watching my idol being killed. During the
rehearsals, Rod was there with the script and
at one point I went up to him and I said, "You
know Rod, there's no scene where I actually
express my admiration for the general, some
thing to the effect of 'I know what you did at
Stalingrad, and I was there, and I know about
. . . '" etc. And Rod would begin tinkering with
his pencil, writing all this down. And the
speech comes back in his words, but not unlike
what I had said to him, and I just found that
very interesting, because a lot of writers are so
protective and possessive of their talents, and
the idea of some actor suggesting a scene - a
lot of people wouldn't go for that at all.
So he was perceptive with the actors.

Yes, he was indeed. I didn't see him again until

a year later; I was doing my second Playhouse
90, "The Return of Ansel Gibbs," and I ran
into him in the parking lot and we got to talk
ing and I asked, "What are you doing? What
are you up to ? " And he said, " Oh, I'm doing
this science-fiction pilot over at Universal. We
offered it to . . . " I'm pretty sure he said Tony
Curtis. But, he said, "They can't work out the
deal . " So he said, "I'm going to send you the
script." And I said, "Great. "
I had done a picture at Metro that turned
out to be a big cult film, Forbidden Planet, and
all my scenes were with Robby the Robot. I
played the cook who was kind of comic relief,
but I had not wanted to do that picture. The

75

ROD SERLING
1 490 MONACO DRIVE
PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA

Oc tober 21 , 1959

Mr . Earl Holl iman

Dear Earl ,
I am an admitted shmuc k , but an abj ec t one .
I intended
to vis it you in the hospita l ; I intended to send a box of
Mother S ee ' s candy ;

I intended to send a long and hys terica lly

funny telegram to make you feel better - but I wa s imme rsed

in this here series called The Twil ight Zone and while
dripp ing with intentions , res olves never saw fruition!
This note is by way of an apology and a s imple re- s tatement of wha.t I ' ve a l ready told you - your performance wa s
outs tanding ,

full of dimens ion ,

bel ievabil ity .

sha ding and a fanta s t ic

In short , Hol l iman , you ' re one hell o f

a n a c tor !
S ome rich and grac ious producers send wris twa tches and
things l ike tha t as express ions of apprec iat ion .
I am - rich I a in ' t ,

Grac ious

so a ccept these few c l ippings a s

evidence o f thinking about you .

You probably a lready have

a service , but remember tha t these were s ent by hand!

It s trikes me tha t you ought to close down the hotel
To this end
for the s ea s on and c ome back to the sha dy zone.
I will lend efforts I
All b es t , Ea.rl , and bless you .

RS : prt
Encls

The letter Rod Serling sent to Holliman when the actor was in the hospital.

76

Serling shares a conversation with Robby the Robot,

famous for his role in the classic sci-fi film, Forbidden

Planet. For his appearance in the Twilight Zone episode

"Uncle Simon," Robby was fitted with an alternate
headpiece, to appear more human.

director just had to have me in his next pic

ture, and his next picture just happened to be
Forbidden Planet. So he offered it to me and I
read it and I thought, "This isn't right for me,
I wouldn't be good at this. " And they offered
me more money, and so I finally said yes and
did it, but I was never comfortable in it.
When Rod said it was a science-fiction
thing, I thought, "Oh god, it's another thing
with 30 guys on a spaceship. " So I got it either
that night or the next night, and I sat down to
eat. And I turned the first page and I went

right to the script before I ate anything. I was

just so fascinated with this - the hair was
standing up on the back of my neck. No mat
ter where this character went, there were rem
nants and indications that people had been
there, but there was nobody around. But it
was a chilling thing, it was fascinating. So I
immediately said yes. And they paid me a nice
sum at that time; they gave me $ 5 ,000 to do it.
And today that's not a lot of money, but in
those days it was nice. They were paying guest
stars on big shows to do things like that, but I
had never made that kind of money.
I'll never forget the first read-through. I felt,
there again, rather uncomfortable because I
wasn't used to acting by myself. And I sat
down at a little room at Universal, with Rod
and Bill Self, who was executive producer, and
Robert Stevens, who was the director, whom

77

Earl Holliman stars as Mike Ferris in the pilot episode,

On the set of "Escape Clause," Rod Serling discusses the

"Where is Everybody?"

shooting script with director Mitchell Leisen.

I'd never met. We went through the script and

they read the directions and I read the dia
logue. And the next day we started shooting.
Rod was on the set back and forth a bit, he
wasn't permanently there all the time, but he
was there quite a lot. But we worked very hard
the next day, it was a cold December day. We
worked all day long, and just as it was turning
dark about five o'clock - I was really tired,
because I was in every shot - suddenly I
heard the loader of the camera, he was chang
ing the film, and I heard him say, "Uh-oh."
Something had been wrong with the camera
all day long and they had not noticed it, and
they didn't have one single shot. Everything
we shot that day had to be reshot. And I went
home and it turned out I had the flu, I had 1 0 2
degrees of fever and crawled in a hot tub and
began to take aspirin and all kinds of stuff. So,
if you notice it, it's not so bad so much any
more, but I used to be very aware that I was
hoarse in some of the beginning shots, because

78

I was not well. But I went over to the set the

next day and eventually we reshot all that stuff
and we started out again down the road and
back into the cafe.
But seeing it now, I mean, god almighty, I'd
love to do it all over again, because I had never
had to work totally alone. And a lot of the dia
logue, it didn't fit my mouth as well as it fit
Rod's, you know. It was definitely Rod Serling
speaking. When Mike stands in front of the
mirror and is making himself an ice-cream
soda, or hot-fudge sundae, whatever he made,
he gets to talking about, "There's more about
you, were you a piece of pork, an undigested
piece of beef, " or something, he's talking
about stuff from Dickens. And you know, it
was a little foreign to me, but I'd love to go
back and really play all those moments again.
And especially at the end of the first act, when
I come running out of the jail and run right up
into the camera yelling, "Where is every
body ? ! " I didn't have the experience to really

look in that camera. I was a little intimidated

by it.
It was quite an experience. I had a wonder
ful time. I wanted to get together with [direc
tor] Bob Stevens, and every time I went over to
talk to him, he would get up to answer the
phone. And he said, later on, that he was just
one of those guys that just didn't know how to
talk to you about acting. Bob was a wonder
ful, adorable sweetheart of a guy, and every
body who worked with him loved him, but
they also said he was a nut.
Getting to know Rod was fun. He was a
great, fun guy, and very sure of himself. He
could be quite cocky if he wanted to be, but
not in a negative way, just a fun way. If I went
to him and made a suggestion he didn't like, he
would contemplate it for a second and he
would say, " Let me put it to you this way.
You're wrong. " He was so talented and really
a sweetheart of a guy. They're not all like that,
you know.
I 've heard he respected actors and that if he
needed to rewrite a line, he would go off set
and rewrite it.

There's the scene where I'm in the telephone

booth. Now, in the one that's released, I don't
know whether it's still . . . In the original ver
sion, the phone rings in the telephone booth, I
run to it, slam the door, and pick up the phone
and say, "Hello," and start talking to the oper
ator and it turns out to be a recording. And
then finally, in frustration, I hang up and next
thing I turn around and I try to get out and the
door is locked. And I think somebody is play
ing a joke on me. But before that happens, I
begin to frantically turn through the phone
book, looking for something, anything. And
I'm running through names and I mention var
ious relatives of mine, just throw in their
names. But I said to Rod after the scene, " Rod,
what if I tear a page out of the phonebook,

On location for "Mr. Denton on Doomsday," director Allen

Reisner joins in on a conversation with actor Dan Duryea
and Serling.

and it ends up in my pocket. And after we find

out this whole thing took place in my mind, at
the end of the thing, if somehow out of my
pocket, at last, falls this torn page from the
phone book out of limbo. " And he said he
liked the idea, but he said he couldn't do it
because CBS wanted realism. That was before
they really got into the more bizarre, more
interesting stuff. Actually, everything that hap
pens in "Where Is Everybody?" takes place in
my mind; there's nothing occult or bizarre or
strange really that happens. It's all realistic.
When Rod wrote the novelizations of his scripts,
he changed the ending so your character still had
a ticket stub from the theater in his pocket.

Ah, that was it! Well, see, he added all that

later - I mean, after we did the show. I'm not
taking credit for something . . . but that was
my suggestion at the time. There were two

79

things, by the way, that really were chilling in

the script that were not chilling when I saw it.
There's nothing in the world that would make
me think that there was a real person sitting in
that truck. I wish there had been some way of
shooting that to make it a little more real. If
they had used a real person sitting there very
quietly, dressed in the same stuff, and then
when I open the door this mannequin falls out,
so it looked like a real person but it was really
a mannequin, that would have been something
that would have been more surprising. As it
was, it was not surprising.
And the other thing, because Rod wrote it
wonderfully, but it didn't come off the way . . .
After coming out of the theater, I trip over the
bicycle and fall on the sidewalk. I look up, and
in the script there's this big eye looking at me
and that was very spooky. Well, in the film, of
course, it's obviously just a big painted eye on
the sign from the oculist, and it didn't have the
same effect. But those little shortcomings, if
there were shortcomings, were not Rod's.
The scene where you run into the mirror at

Future Colombo Peter Falk stars as Ramos Clemente in

the episode, "The Mirror."

together, and then make a cutout of the one,

and they just follow me down the steps.

the base of the stairs is particularly shocking

80

to watch.

Why weren't you ever called back to work on

What they did was they tied the camera down

so that it was immovable, and they shot me
coming down the stairs and running into the
mirror and then falling. Then they shot the
whole thing without me, and the cameras
looking into the mirror at all times. And then
at a certain period they said, "Now," and a
guy with a sledgehammer behind the mirror
hits it and breaks it, and it all shatters. So, they
then take the two films and put them together
and they blank on the one where I'm not com
ing down the stairs, and they black my figure
out where my figure would be. It's almost like
putting a shadow on the other film, so that I'm
not ethereal coming down, you can't see
through me. And they put the two strips

another episode?

You know, I never quite understood that.

Because as I just shared this letter to you where
Rod says, "It strikes me that you ought to close
down the hotel for the season and come back
to the shady zone. To this end I will lend my
efforts! " Yeah, I don't know why I never came
back. Jim Lister was a casting guy who later
was a friend of mine, and l ance asked him,
"Why did they not have me back ? " He said,
"Well, I think for one thing they're offering
about half the money and I think they were
embarrassed to offer it to you." Something to
that effect, and that just wasn't a good reason
for me. I have no idea, because everybody real
ly liked me. It wasn't like, " Oh god, he's a pain

In this sequence of shots during a break on "Mr. Denton on Doomsday," Duryea stepped out and Jeanne Cooper leaned
forward, covering Reisner just as the picture was snapped. Duryea stepped back in, laughing, and they all broke up
over the fact that Jeanne messed up Reisner's big chance to have his picture taken.

in the ass," or, "He did a terrible job." I don't

about was that I did the

know, it just never happened.

The other stuff didn't mean anything to them.

Twilight Zone

pilot.

People are always saying to me, " Didn't you

What do you think makes a good Twilight Zone?

do the original pilot for The

Well, the hook, the twist. They're like O .

And I cleverly nod and slyly say, "Yep . "

Henry short stories i n many ways. And Rod

Twilight Zone? "

I've got t o tell you something about the

had a knack for that. He had that great imag

Twilight Zone pilot.

ination. It put people, Mr. Everybody, Mr. Joe

lucky to be chosen by Rod personally to do it.

I personally feel very, very

America, Joan America, in a situation that any

Because that's a part that almost any actor with

of us could possibly wander into. It was a big

a soul could have done and probably done bet

hit mainly because it was tremendous enter

ter. The point is, I'm the one who got it. But I'm

tainment. It was an engrossing show. It was

not the only one who could have done it, you

almost always a surprise. There were so many

know, and everybody would have brought

The

something different to it. I just feel very lucky

Yet, from time to time I hear

to have been chosen to do it. And here we are

wonderful moments that you reflect on in

Twilight Zone.

somebody discussing a

Twilight Zone

I never

talking about it nearly 50 years later.

saw. I unfortunately didn't see every episode.

But there's hardly anybody you know who
doesn't know what

The Twilight Zone

is.

Did you ever see Rod Serling after that?

The last time I saw Rod, we were both in the

As a matter of fact, I went to an agency

uierice for a live show, and we hadn't seen

interview a few years ago and I was switching

each other for years, and we stood and talked

from one agent to another, and my manager

for a while. It couldn't have been more than a

took me over to meet these people. And of all

year or two before he died, but at that time he

my credits - and I did a lot of motion pictures

started doing some commercials and I don't

- the one thing they were really impressed

remember what else he was doing.

81

I once asked him how he got started writing,

and he said it was when he was in the service
in

WWII.

Rod Serling during takes of his opening narration for the

taped episode, "The Whole Truth."

He was in the hospital, and he had all

this time in the hospital, and they came around

offering them things to do, and he said it was
either basket weaving or learning how to

Having worked on The Twifight Zone, what were

write. And he said he decided he'd try and

your impressions of Rod Serling?

learn how to write. Otherwise he might have

An extraordinarily wired man and obviously

been a hell of a basket weaver.

hugely sensitive guy; very prickly, but also a

very gentle person. Obviously a bundle of
nerves - I'd never seen anybody chain-smoke
so intensely as he did, which of course killed

Lamont Johnson

him. Nerves like you wouldn't believe. When

he was confronted with having to do the lead

Lamont Johnson started

off acting in television

body loves, it drove him crazy. He would

Gunsmoke, and then bec ame a television and film

break out in a deadly sweat and he dreaded

as

A lfred Hitchcock

di rector. He d i rected Twilight Zone episodes "The

that, he really hated it. I think he was pretty

Shelter," " Five Characters in Search of an Ex i t , "

vain, but the complexities were j ust amazing

" Nothing in the Dark , " "One More Pallbearer," " Kick

about the guy.

the

Can , "

" Fo u r

O 'Cloc k , "

" Hocus-Pocus

Frisby," and " Passage on the Lady Anne."

82

ins, the famous 5erling lead-ins, which every

Presents and

shows such

and

50 I played some tricks on him, I did a cou

ple of the lead-ins for some of my shows, and I

knew how nervous he was, so I would say,

"Just run it, Rod, and just talk to me, they're
still setting up." So he would do it more impro
visatorially, sort of freely, and I usually would
like it. I would say, "That's it! We've bought
it. " And he'd say, " Okay, when do we have to
do it? " I said, "We j ust did it. " And he was so
relieved that he said, " Oh, I want you to do all
of these. That's terrific ! " And so I did quite a
few of them from shows that weren't mine. But
that showed you how just a little deflecting
from the normal procedure saved his nerves.
What did you think of the fourth season's
hour-length format?

I didn't like it. I thought that it was a natural,

Jack Albertson stars as Jerry Harlowe in his first of two

absolutely in its right element, in the half-hour.

Twilight Zone episodes, "The Shelter."

Rod's whole idea, the whole feeling of sus

pending disbelief for a certain period of time,
then having a wonderful snapper come along,

more placid or normal thing, and we love when

worked magnificently, classically, in the half

we know it's fiction, to see discomfiture, that

hour, and didn't work nearly as well in the

twist, that makes your imagination work and

hour. I'm not j ust talking about the one I did,

gives you prickles.

"Passage on the Lady Anne, " but the ones I

saw. There was a certain kind of time capsule
that was perfect for

The Twilight Zone,

that

While you were working on The Twilight Zone,

what did you think of its production?

would suspend disbelief for so long, and then

Well, it was always a turn-on. It was always a

would cause a wonderful snapper and you had

delightfully refreshing kind of experience. It

the

Twilight Zone

experience. But somehow

with the hour it lumbered, it didn't stay afloat.

had wonderful actors who wanted to work on

it, you worked with really good, imaginative
writers, and Buck Houghton was a great guy

What do you think makes a good Twilight Zone?

to work with. I would look forward to it.

First of all, a naturalistic setup starting out

Whenever I'd get a call for a

with something that seems extremely natural,

my agent would say, " Well, I'll get a script and

very normal, and then seeing it turned upside

send it to you," and I'd say, "I don't need it. If

The Twilight Zone,

Twilight Zone,

down. This is what I think is so universal and

it's

such a great appeal to people. We all have these

last two before " Lady Anne" are hazy to me.

nightmares, we all have our own Twilight

These weren't my favorites. I love "Kick the

Zones - we live these seemingly plateau lives

Can . " And I love some of the other classics,

I want to do it ! " The

a lot of the time, but there are things that are

like the one where the guy looks out the plane

unaccountable, or totally deranged in the nor

window and sees the gremlin, and the great

mal forms of things that suddenly come up, so

one with Burgess Meredith and the glasses!

that everybody's nerve ends are all attuned to a

That's the all-time classic

Twilight Zone.

83

Jerry pleads with Doctor Stockton (Larry Gates) to allow

The cast of "The Shelter" cracks up during a run-through

entry into his fallout shelter.

for the argument scene between character Marty Weiss

(Joseph Bernard) and Henderson (Sandy Kenyon) . Also
seen here are Moria Turner, Jo Helton, John McLiam,

How did the production values of The Twilight

and Jack Albertson.

Zone compare to other television shows you had

worked on?

You went in and picked a set with a scene

earning a living and I was doing a lot of

designer, and you knew there wasn't going to

shows. I would come in and do a brief prepa

be much to do anything with, there was no

ration and kind of wing it as I went along,

money for the budget, you would pull togeth

which was great fun. Usually with excellent

er and that was part of the joy of the show,

casts. And then I would get a minimal day of

you'd do it with odd lighting, and for that rea

editing, and that was it maybe. There were no

son my favorite was " Five Characters in

frills on

Search of an Exit, " because all it was, was that

material is so stupendous - you know, the

The Twilight Zone.

But because the

tube they were all in. But that really called

basic creative talent - you j ust said, " Okay,

upon your imagination, and it was a great joy

it's worth it. "

for that reason. You even relished the fact that

you didn't have a lot of money to play with,

What was Buck Houghton like?

because there was so much imagination that

A thoroughly delightful guy, a good business

was part of the equation.

man who had a great appreciation for the cre

ative talents. He wasn't an enormously creative

84

Do you recall if any other episodes were in

person himself, but he had the imagination to

rehearsals or being shot while you were working

go with his business sense and his production

on your episodes?

sense. He appreciated what it took to have the

No. You see, in those days, I was really busy

creative process go. He had a huge respect and

consideration for Rod's feelings, and so it was

This shot reveals where the crew was able to film within

a great complementary relationship. I had usu

the limited space of the tube set in "Five Characters in

ally superior cameramen that I loved working

Search of an Exit." Actors Murray Matheson and William

with on other productions, and Buck again -

Windom run through dialogue for the next scene as a

from everything in terms of the director's cut,

crewman readies their marks. Notice the camera has

the discussion of things - was a real gentle

been named "Fink Rat."

man and a guy I got to be friendly with later

on, too. I certainly miss him. Sad that he was
n't better used in his later years.
ed to do something different or offbeat, he
How was it working with director of photography

loved it and would find a way to do it. He was

George T. Clemens?

a very quiet guy. He would not say a lot when

He was wonderful. I worked with him on a

you'd take him through a scene and show him

couple of other things, too. Always a very con

things, but his questions were always very

servative guy with a tremendous technique,

appropriate, and if he had to demure about

but when you challenged him, when you want-

something, he would express it always in a cre-

85

Actress Susan Harrison, Murray Matheson, and camera

ed a lot of imaginative stuff. I always felt I was

men work on a close-up shot of the Clown.

doing my best work when I was doing that.

From a directorial point of view, what would you
say is the look and feel of The Twilight Zone?

ative way: "Is it possible we could do this

Well, what makes it all the spookier is it had an

instead of that . . . ? " But he would never flat

illusioned height of reality. It was highly theatri

ly say, " Oh, let's not do that, I don't want to

cal, but it had an illusion of being very real, and

do that." He would never pull a master cam

yet bizarre, almost nightmarish things were

eraman on you.

happening to you and to it. Therefore, the light

ing and the look ought to be fairly normal, so

I know the scripts were fairly tight. Was there an

that when you saw a face coming in the plane

opportunity to direct differently than how the

window, from "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,"

scripts were laid out?

you knew that that was something that looked

Interesting question. I know that everybody's

so real, but "My god, that's impossible! "

imagination and all of their reflexes were con

86

siderably more alert - you were on a kind of

You must have had much input into the casting.

good adrenaline, a happy adrenaline that creat-

Oh yeah, to a certain degree. A lot of times,

they were giving you a script and would say

The full cast from "Five Characters in Search of an Exit":

they wanted so-and-so for this, and I would

Susan Harrison, Kelton Garwood, Murray Matheson ,

usually concur because they were usually won

William Windom, and Clark Allen.

derful choices. I had brought to them Gladys

Cooper, with whom I worked in the theater
and summer stock and even some television,

name is Bob something, I don't know what his

and really wonderful great old stars, British

last name is, let me look it up. " She comes back

and American theater, and movies, and she

and says, " Well, his name is Bob Redford, but

was perfect for that old lady in " Nothing in

he doesn't have an agent. I'll have to try and

the Dark . " So then we had to get a young guy

reach him for you." She called me back and

to play Death, the policeman. So I saw the

said, "I can get a hold of him. Where do you

people and then called up Ethel Winant, who

want him to go ? " So I said for him to come and

was the casting director, and I said, "I saw this

read. He read for me and he's perfect! And I

terrific guy on your cast -" She was also cast

ing director for

Playhouse

90. "Who is that

don't think Bob had done anything but live tel

evision and theater before that time. He had

good-looking kid who played the scene with

done a movie, certainly, and hadn't done any

Charles Laughton last night [in Serling's 'In the

filmed television. So then I said, "Okay, I want

Presence of Mine Enemies'] ? " She said, " His

you to come in and read for Ms. Cooper," who

87

British actress Gladys Cooper stars as Wanda Dunn in

George Clayton Johnson's touching episode, "Nothing in
the Dark."

A young Robert Redford stars as Harold Beldon. Redford

comments, "I was a young actor for hire, loved working

was a great star, and I wouldn't dream of cast

with Gladys Cooper and R.G. Armstrong, they were very

ing anyone opposite her that hadn't read with

fine actors. I enjoyed working with director Lamont

her, and he said, "I'd be delighted." And he

Johnson and the writer, George Clayton Johnson. It was

came on back and read with her, and I said,

a short, sweet, and wonderful experience."

"Thank you, Mr. Redford, we'll let you know. "

And when he left, the door had barely clicked
when she clutched my arm and said, " Oh, dar
ling, get him for me ! " She was a sexy old babe.
I could see her looking at him, sort of cruising
him like crazy.

I liked him, he was a very imaginative guy, I

loved working on "Kick the Can" with him,
and also on this one. You know, a very opinion

What was Robert Redford like, working i n

ated guy, but then most writers are. Working

that part?

with Rod, who did "Five Characters, " was

Well, a very sensitive, excellent, wonderful

absolutely a joy, too.

performer. He did a couple of episodes of

Kildare after that. Then he went on doing

How was it directing that episode? Was it a

films, and the rest is history.

difficult shoot?

What did you think of George Clayton Johnson's

The limitations of space and set put you in such

work on the show?

an imaginative plane. So that I did it very simi-

No, it was extremely simple, as a matter of fact.

88

Could you tell me about the episode of Felicity you

directed - "Help for the Lovelorn" - that used
the framework of The Twilight Zone as an homage
to the original series?

Dunn confides in Beldon and tells him of her fear of death.

larly, but - and this is almost subconscious it came out practically choreographed like a
ballet. William Windom was excellent, and I
loved old Murray Matheson, good people, and
the girl that was just delicious, Susan Harrison.
Did you have any other options for that
tubelike set?

Well, no, that's actually one of the few sets

that were built, because it had to be something
that we could tilt on its side for them to crawl
up. So that was one of the very few cases
where the production budget went for build
ing this big tube. But that was all there was to
it - there was no dressing, there was no any
thing else about it. So it was not an expensive
set, but superbly useful.

That was fun; I had a great time doing it. I was

the hugest doubting Thomas you'd ever seen.
II Abrams [the creator and executive pro
ducer of Felicity] sent my agent a couple of
tapes and I thought, "This is fairly charmingly
done. I mean, it's not a dumb thing." So I told
II I would think about it and he said, " Come
down, I'll pay your way, I want to talk about
it. " So he brought me down and I expected at
least this middle-aged kind of guy who had
always followed The Twilight Zone, and I
walked into his office on his ticket and he was
younger than my grandson, and it was fasci
nating. So he was very persuasive, very bright,
excellent, and so we put that thing together,
and I had a great time doing it. I was shocked
that it could have worked, and it did.
They had a very special, very hip, very up-to
date, pretty sophisticated camera technique for
Felicity - all long lenses, even masters, and so
on. It had a particular look, a style to it. But
what Michael Bonvillain, the cameraman, was
crazy about was when he saw three or four of
the Twilight Zone episodes, he kept pumping
me about it and I've never seen anyone so con
scientious. He wanted to drain my mind for
what lenses we used, under what circumstances,
and he went out and found a Mitchell camera of
that period. And the difference in forty-some
odd years - the weight, the heaviness of that
camera. He made his camera operator and assis
tants learn how to use that old cumbersome
piece of machinery, because he felt that would
have something to do with it - you know, the
way we moved, the way the dollies worked and in a way he's right, but it was his conscien
tiousness about it that was just so charming.
The whole crew was really taken over by the
idea of recreating The Twilight Zone.

89

I invited Carol Serling to the showing at

that we had of the Felicity episode, and
told her how conscientiously they went along
with my intention to be so close to the original
concept, and she came out to UCLA to see it,
and she was absolutely delighted by it and sur
prised, which is terrific.
UCLA

Lloyd Bochner (Chambers in

"To Serve M an " ) : "So many people seem
to remember 'To Serve M a n ' and remind me
'It's a cookboo k ! ' I t ' s really a delight that those
segments of our lives have not been forgotten.
The making of 'To Serve M an ' was
really an adventure."

Were you i nvolved in any of the updated

Twilight Zone episodes?

My favorite cameraman - or one of them, at

least - Bill Wages, had been so impressed
with the ones I had done, and loved talking
about it as a cameraman, so when he got this
chance to direct a new version of The Twilight
Zone [2002], he thought he'd like to get me in,
in an advisory kind of capacity. To his shock
and horror, he found out they had absolutely
no interest in bringing back the qualities of it,
or the atmosphere, or anything about it, they
just cashed in on the title. He didn't like it
either. He's a considerably younger guy and he
just found it kind of offensive, because he real
ly values what the original thing was. They're
cashing in on the great cult fame of the thing
and a kind of automatic response to the name
Twilight Zone. But they had no interest in
exploring it like ].]. Abrams did; he was very
conscientious about that.

Richard Bare
Richard Bare is a television and film director who
directed Twilight Zone episodes "Third from the
Sun , " "The Purple Testament," " Nick of Time , " "The

ed. Instead of meeting someone whom I had

imagined to be a tall, thin, and bespectacled
and somewhat introverted writer, Rod barged
into Buck Houghton's office with the energy of
a whirlwind. He grabbed my hand and said he
had heard some good things about me. He was
short and stocky and looked like he had been
a quarterback at Notre Dame. He had a grin a
mile wide, told me, "Welcome aboard," and
then ducked out.
Rod was often on set. Do you have any anecdotes
of him to share?

The only time Rod was on my set was when he

had come down to do his intros. No matter
where we were in the shooting, we moved the
camera over and shot his "talking head" and
the assistant director let everybody know that
the "master" was ready. And he was always
ready. He never flubbed his lines, which, of
course, were written by him. He had boundless
energy and could come up with ideas faster
than he could write them down on his Royal.

Prime M over," "To Serve M a n , " "The Fugitive," and

"What's in the Box . "

What would you say is the look and feel of

What were your impressions of Rod Serling?

Stark black-and-white photography and the

feeling that if it were a book it would be a
page-turner.

The Twilight Zone?

The day I first met Rod Serling, I was astound-

90

Actors William Reynolds and Dick York pose with Rod

Director Richard Bare, director of photography George T.

Serling on the set of "The Purple Testament."

Clemens, and a cameraman set up the next shot.

How did you come to direct Twilight Zone

episodes? Did Buck or Rod contact you?

Neither. It was my agent who lined me up with

Buck Houghton. I had not been known as a
particularly esoteric director. My credits had
been lots of comedy and westerns, although I
did win the Director's Guild Award for Best
TV director in 1 9 5 8 on Warner Bros.' 77
Sunset Strip. I would bet that since they always
had a budget problem on T-Zone, Buck found
out that I could shoot fast and put some qual
ity on the screen. The year after T-Zone fold
ed, I was signed to direct the wacky comedy
series Green Acres, and I still hold the record
for the number of continuous episodes direct
ed by a single director - 1 6 8 . I was the only
director they had.
How did the production values of The Twilight Zone
compare to other shows you had worked on?

Shooting at MGM, with access to their fantastic

scene dock, we were able to provide a rich
look to the show. And the back lot with its
streets and countrysides helped a lot.
What was it like working with director of photogra
phy George T. Clemens?

George was fantastic and agreeable to almost

anything a director could ask for. For instance,
on "Third from the Sun" I got an idea that
wasn't in the script, that the production
department wasn't prepared for. I told George
to put the camera on the center of a bridge
table and get a close-up of each of the players
as they had dialogue. That necessitated bring
ing in a " fourth wall," but neither the grips
nor George complained, [they] merely went
about fulfilling the director's vision. Since I
started directing at a young age, I always had
a certain amount of friction with the camera-

91

....

Bare proudly takes the experienced stance of the director

for The Twilight Zone.

their energy. There is an old saying I used to

use, " A perfect rehearsal is a wasted take."
Was there an opportunity to direct differently than
how the scripts were laid out?

What? And get fired?

men - until they found out that I had gotten
started as one of them.

Did you have a need to do storyboards for any of

your episodes?

Was the average workweek of an episode one day

of rehearsals and four days shooting?

Shooting schedules varied, as some episodes

were more complicated than others. I didn't
do a lot of rehearsing - it was more of a read
ing where we all sat around the table and
talked things over. I like to rehearse on the
stage, and not to the point that the actors lose

92

I have made over 5 00 television films and a

dozen theatrical movies and have never felt
like using a storyboard. Storyboards can lead
a director into using camera setups that some
one else has conceived. It's much better to have
the freedom on the set and allow the actors to
contribute, and believe me, most actors can do
something that no artist had preconceived.

Besides, storyboards can slow you down,

adding hours to the shooting schedule and lim
iting a sudden inspiration a director might
have on the set.

An incredible shot looking down on the entire crew and

cast of "The Purple Testament."

"To Serve Man" is one of the top episodes of the

series. Any comments about that?

"To Serve Man" is the episode I hear most

about when the subject of Twilight Zone comes
up. Everybody shouts out, " It's a cookbook! "
You mentioned that Rod said "Third from the Sun"
was one of his favorite episodes. Did you both talk
about it?

I invited Rod and Carol to a party up on

Mulholland Terrace and got to know him bet
ter that night than I ever had at the studio.

Alcohol does loosen one up, and Rod con

fessed that the job I had done on "Third from
the Sun" was exemplary, and that of all the
shows to date, he liked that one best. And I
know why he liked it. I used wide-angle lenses
on every shot; even close-ups were made with
a 28 mm. I tilted and cocked every scene to
give a sense of uneasiness since the cast was
making plans to fly to another planet and
avoid an impending H-bomb attack. Working
with actors like Fritz Weaver, Edward An-

93

Another great shot of the entire set during filming.

and print! " I know what I've got in the can.

My films have always been easy to edit, as I
virtually cut them in the camera. The editor's
job is to splice the scenes together, cutting in
reaction shots, etc.

drews, and Joe Maross is a pleasure because

they need no direction, only instructions to
position themselves for the camera - and, of
course, avoiding bumping into one another.

Anything notable happen during filming?

Were you pleased with the overall shoot on

"The Purple Testament"? Anything you would
have done differently?

No, I was pleased with the episode, otherwise

I would have done it differently. I've always
been a confident director, and once I say, "Cut

94

Bill Reynolds was cast at the last minute, and

I can say in this respect I did muddle in the
casting. The actor who had been cast to play
Fitzgerald after the reading went into Buck's
office and said he didn't want to do the part
he didn't think a soldier who looked into the
face of another soldier could cause him to die,
and therefore was unbelievable. Unbelievable?
That was what made Twilight Zone. But I had
to scramble and find another actor who could

play Fitzgerald. Bill Reynolds had played the

lead in a pilot I had j ust completed at MGM,
The Islanders, and I knew he would be perfect.
A couple of weeks after shooting, I convinced
M G M that if they would let me take a small
crew down to Jamaica and shoot some action
sequences, the pilot would have more chance
of being picked up by one of the networks.
After IO days of shooting, we packed our
selves into the Grumman Goose seaplane and
headed for Miami. Twenty minutes later, both
engines quit and we crashed in the Caribbean,
killing George Schmidt, our cameraman. Bill
Reynolds and I had three broken legs between
us and were about four miles off Jamaica,
swimming for our lives. After an hour or so, I
yelled over to Bill, " Hey, you know what's

A wonderful shot of William Shatner and Patricia Breslin

during the setup of a scene in "Nick of Time." Richard
Bare watches along with the cameramen as Shatner and
Breslin stand on their marks readying for the next scene.

playing on C B S tonight? " "Yeah," Bill said,

'''The Purple Testament. ' " And I said, "Please
don't look at me! " [In "The Purple Testa
ment," Reynolds' character sees a glow on
people's faces when they're about to die.] It
turned out that C B S pulled the show after read
ing the headlines, in deference to Bill Rey
nolds, that he might be dead.

95

...

Actors Buddy Ebsen and Dane Clark during a scene in

"The Prime Mover," in which Ebsen's character Jimbo
levitates a bed by using his power of telekinesis.

very professional. Due to the limitations of the

set, this was one episode where I sent the crew
home at 5 PM. As far as the devil atop the for
tune machine, I thought it was a good touch.
"The Prime Mover"?

Any memorable moments working with

actors William Shatner and Patricia Breslin
on "Nick of Time"?

I remember Bill Shatner as a kind, gentle actor

who always knew his lines, unlike the reputa
tion he has today. Pat Breslin was a doll and

96

Charles Beaumont was asked by Rod to come

up with a story, quick. Having none at the
moment, Beaumont paid George Johnson $600
for a script about a man who could move
things by telekinesis, such as dice on a table.
This was the second time I had worked with
the amiable Buddy Ebsen, the first being

this one, as I ended up with two of my favor

ites, the irascible J. Pat O'Malley and the inde
fatigable Nancy Kulp, who went on to a run
ning part on Hillbillies. Both of these actors
had worked for me at Warner Bros., both in
the Joe McDoakes series of one-reel comedies,
and hour shows like Maverick, Cheyenne, and
77 Sunset Strip. They always lifted a scene
beyond the intentions of the writers and pro
ducers. Again, Charlie Beaumont came
through with a delightful script.
"What's in the Box"?

J. Pat O'Malley and Susan Gordon star in the sci-fi

episode, "The Fugitive."

Northwest Passage, also at MGM. Later, when

he was doing The Beverly Hillbillies and I was
directing Green Acres, we became close friends
and he tried to get me to come over to Stage 1
and direct Hillbillies. I told him I didn't want to
break Eva Gabor's heart, as she truly loved me.
As far as Dane Clark was concerned, dropping
down from starring roles at Warner Bros. to
half-hour television didn't sit well with him
and he let us all know that T-Zone was beneath
him. What little did he know.
One of the two leading ladies, after I had
asked her to go to the window and look out,
asked, "What is my motivation ?" "Motivation?
It's your paycheck, honey. "

With a new producer, William Froug, the

show stuck to its format all through its final
year. I was impressed by the cast, two veterans
of the major studios during the golden years,
Bill Demarest of Paramount and Joan Blondell
of the many, many Warner Bros. hit pictures.
Neither one took, or needed, my direction, as
I have always bragged that I wasn't running an
acting school. Without arguments about how
a scene is to be played, life on the set was a
happy place indeed, and the assistants didn't
have to order in dinners. I do remember asking
for the odd-beat Sterling Holloway to play the
all-knowing television repairman, who engi
neered the set to play a heretofore unknown
channel that revealed Demarest's extramarital
affair, causing his wife to blow her top.
Although this episode got mixed reactions to
Martin Goldsmith's script, I was fond of this
show, perhaps because I worked with such a
fine group of actors.

Richard Donner
Richard Donner directed The Twilight Zone early in
his c areer with " Nightmare at

20,000

Feet , " " From

"The Fugitive"?

Agnes - With Love , " "Sounds and Silences , " "The

I probably had some influence in the casting of

Jeopardy Room, " "The Brain Center at Whipple ' s , "

97

and " Come Wander with M e . " Afterward, he direct-

Did you have much input on set design and

ed for The Fugitive and Tales from the Crypt, as well

locations?

as numerous films, including The Omen, the Lethal

Yeah, of course. The set designer would come

in and do drawings; you'd talk about what
was going to be done. If I remember, every
thing I did with them was studio; there were
no locations. A lot of the sets were constructed
from other sets, that was the beauty of MGM.
They had scene docks, and as I was laying
them out and putting them together, you
would discuss whether the door should go
there, the window should go there - "I like
the bed on that wall because I want the
windows here." There was one show, "The
Jeopardy Room," where a Russian politician

Weapon series, and Timeline.

What were your impressions of Rod Serling while

working on the show?

Very far out, kind of a mind like a computer

before its time really, a bit of a genius, every
thing was always flowing. Actually, you got
the feeling like the cigarettes he was smoking
were grass. I mean, he was always coming up
with these crazy far-out ideas - couldn't be
someone who hadn't been stoned before, I
think. This man was extremely prepared for
everything he did. Extremely creative person.
How did you come to direct Twilight Zone
episodes?

I was directing quite a bit of television and I

was doing a lot at MGM. I think my first one
was the Bill Shatner one, "Nightmare at
20,000 Feet." It was either my first or my last,
but anyways the producer was Bert Granet,
and they called me and asked me if I wanted to
do one. I read the screenplay and jumped.
How did you compare The Twilight Zone to some of
the other early television shows you worked on?

Well, the early television shows were phenome

nal. I mean, MGM especially was extraordinary;
they treated every little television show like a
feature. Most of the studios, with the exception
of Universal, or Mel or whatever the hell they
called it, had a great deal of pride in their work.
Television at Universal in those days, all they
cared about was the dollar, and they cared very
little about what the picture looked like. As for
the production values in all the shows, MGM probably more than any other place - put a lot
of value into the look of the piece, and the size
of it. They were extraordinary.

98

On the set of "Death's-Head Revisited," actors Oscar

Beregi and Joseph Schild kraut go over a part of the script.
An info sheet notes: "There is a photo feature
possibility in that the Beregi and Schildkraut families are
old friends, but the two have never appeared in a show
together [before now]. As a boy in Vienna, Beregi lived
in the house the Schildkraut family had vacated to come
to u.s. But over Oscar's bed was a picture of Joseph
as a boy."

was fleeing the country, played by Martin Landau, who was wonderful to direct. And I remember designing that very carefully, because
I had to film from another hotel room into his
room from across an alley. Yes, a lot of input
went into those.

During filming of an outside scene in "Death's-Head

Revisited," we're given an example of the vast
selection of environments made available at the
mighty MGM back lot.

Your assistant director on that was Marty Moss.

Marty Moss used to ride a bicycle to work

every day. Little, bald-headed Marty Moss,
wonderful wonderful. If nothing else, you
could sit and listen to his stories for the rest of
your life.

Do you know if you had any scenes cut from

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," due to the logistics
of the shoot?

I think that was a three-day shoot, and it was

the water tank at MGM where they had this air-

99
...

plane already there. A lot of things were writ

ten for sets that were available also. I think
that was Richard Matheson, yeah. A lot of
times the producers would take the writers
around and show them existing material and
they'd come up with stories to fit it. Anyway,
we were shooting on a second day
I believe
it was Bert Granet who came to me and said,
" You have to be out of here tonight," and I
said, "What are you talking about? " and he
said, "The feature department needs the air
plane." And so we stayed up and shot until the
sun came up. But they were wonderful, just
great challenges.
-

That's one of the most memorable episodes

in the series.

1 00

As the crew film this scene, Don Medford directs Beregi

(off-camera) as Schildkraut speaks his offcamera lines.

I wish they had taken a little more time and

effort when they redid it in the film.
How do you feel about how the gremlin
worked out?

I thought he worked out great, phenomenal.

They used the acrobatic champion Nick
Cravat, who was Burt Lancaster's circus part
ner. I loved the costume; the wardrobe was
great as long as you didn't show the back with
the zipper. The way we lit it, the way we shot

it, I thought the face was wonderful in the win

dow. Well, sorry, Mr. Matheson, but at least
the public liked it and that's all that counts. As
I remember, I liked the gremlin a lot; scared the
hell out of us when Shatner looked out the win
dow and he moved the curtain. It was great
working with Shatner, we had a lot of fun. His
wife was played by Christine White, who was
a protegee of Loretta Young, and Asa Maynor
played the stewardess.
Do you have any behind-the-scenes memories of
working on that episode?

On that show, they set me up. It was that late

night, when somebody said Eddie Burns had
come over because he was pissed off at Bill for
moving in on Asa. Anyway, I was just below
the wing of the airplane talking with special
effects and somebody yelled, "There's a fight
in the plane," so I started up the wing of the
plane, to get inside, and I saw the window that
eventually Shatner was supposed to open was
open. So Shatner is in the window - remem
ber, this was about 40 feet off the concrete and then he went inside and then all of a sud
den he came shooting out the window, sliding
out the window, and then he hit the wing and
fell to the ground, .40 feet below. And I said,
" Oh my god! " and I ran down, and when I got
there the crew had gotten to him and it was a
dummy. They had set it up to try and scare me.
I was ready to kill them both. On my sets you
usually have a lot of fun. We're lucky to be
doing what we're doing. If we don't have fun
doing it, get out of it.

Wally Cox stars in the episode, "From Agnes - With

Love."

with Love." I remember [in that episode] he

was in love with a computer operator. The com
puter he was working had the woman's name
Agnes, and she had a crush on him and screwed
up his relationship with the girl. He was Mar
lon Brando's roommate as kids in New York; I
used to bleed him of stories, I'd sit him down
and have him tell me this and tell me that, all
these wonderful stories. He died very young.
Another one of them was "The Brain Center at

One of the episodes was "Sounds and Silences,"

Whipples," with Richard Deacon.

with John McGiver. How was it directing him?

Oh yes, the computer takes over. That was a

prop that belonged to MGM, Robby the Robot,
and so they wrote a show around that prop;
they were smart in those days. I'm sure a lot of
work went into them, and there was a very
creative group.

On that series, I rarely ever had any problem

with actors. John McGiver had a great sense of
humor; he was a delightful person to be with. I
also did one that was the first I did, believe it or
not, with Wally Cox, called "From Agnes -

101

Rod Serling on the set of "A Game of Pool."

What are some of your favorite Twilight Zone

episodes?

Were you pleased with how you directed "Come

Wander with Me," with Gary Crosby?

Yeah, I assume so. I had a good time doing it,

and it was really interesting. I can remember
the song, I can hear it right now, it was a musi
cal, and I thought Bonnie Beecher was going to
become a very important actress. In Marc
Zicree's Twilight Zone Companion, Bill Froug
says he " interviewed this frightened little girl,
Liza Minnelli, and that he chose Bonnie
Beecher. " He didn't choose her; I did, because
I knew Liza. I thought Bonnie was incredible.

1 02

It's like people today say, "What's your favorite

film? " Each one individually has so much
importance to me. I don't know my favorite
episodes - I loved making each one; they were
such a delight and such an enjoyment to do,
and they were such a feeling of fulfillment. I
couldn't pick it out and say, "This was my
favorite." I remember that " Nightmare at
20,000 Feet" got a tremendous amount of re
action and play. There were some great ones
made. It was a very prestigious show, and if
you got the chance to direct a Twilight Zone, it
was like you had made it. It was the thing.

Ted Post
Ted Post first directed Twilight Zone in the first sea
son with "A World of Difference," and then did three
more episodes later in the fifth season: " Probe

Over and Out," " M r. Garrity and the Graves, " and
"The Fear."

How did you get involved in the series?

"A World of Difference" was, to me, one of

the most imaginative. Richard Matheson
wrote that. 1 was supposed to do the pilot, but
1 couldn't. So they got Bob Stevens to do it.
After "A World of Difference," Rod wanted
me to do some more and 1 couldn't. 1 kept get-

ting too busy, my agents kept me occupied. So

Rod called me and said, "I'm going to close
shop; I'm not going to do any more. I've got
three of mine. You want to do them? " So 1
didn't even check with my agent. 1 said, "I'm
going to do them. " Of the four episodes 1 did,
it was the best one, and that's what Rod told
me. He said, " I wrote some bad ones, Teddy, 1
want you to know that. I'm tired. 1 didn't want
to do any more. 1 had lost my patience and 1
Howard Duff stars as Arthur Curtis, and Frank Maxwell as
Marty the director, with cast and crew during a scene in
Richard Matheson's bizarre episode, "A World of
Difference. "

103

had lost my desire to really fix things. So

could switch dialogue and you would not

you're gonna get not the best of me . " I said,

know, it wouldn't make any difference.

" Ah, I'll do the best I can. But not the best of
you is far superior to most . " So the ones he

Seems he wasn't opposed to changing dialogue

gave me, I did the best I could, and he was

and such.

right, they were nothing anywhere near what

He'd fix everything very quickly. Some of the

Matheson did. He had said, " Matheson is

scripts that came in were good ideas, but they

going to give you something that's way up

were not that well structured. He would re

your alley. "

structure it. Or the dialogue was not superior

enough for him, or rich enough for him, and

What about Rod Serling? What was he like?

he would fix it right then and there. He was

I j ust loved him. They used a quote from me

wonderful. I mean, there may have been one

Zone

except they

or two writers that Rod didn't quite like,

removed one word and changed the meaning.

because he would do that rewrite, and they

The quote is this - " Rod Serling's works were

wouldn't like to be retouched as much as they

not beyond the realm of conjecture. His sub

had to be retouched - really be rewritten

on the

Twiligh t

DVD S ,

special

almost, some of them. But they didn't like him

effects . " And they left out the word not. They

for that reason. But that's a handful, or less

" . . . and special effects . " That really

than a handful, because many of the very

makes me sick. I said, " Rod strove to inform,

important writers loved the idea of sharing, of

enrich, nourish, and revive the dead, " which

feelings and thoughts and ideas, and lifting the

he did. I did that story where he revived the

scene and the dialogue and the characteriza

dead [" Mr. Garrity and the Graves " ] . " He saw

tions to a higher level.

text
said,

is

a bout

humanity

and

not

the invisible, felt the intangible, and achieved

the impossible . " That's my quote.
What kind of person was he?
Lovely, wonderful, warmhearted, talented,
brilliant, locked into his dream. When he came
up with the idea, we spoke about it. I said,
" It's unusual, it's different, and it should keep
a lot of people awake, because it's going to be
oddball, really eccentric, way away from the
norm . " He said, "That's what I want," and I
said, " How do you feel about it ? " And he
said, " Because you're doing it, I feel good
about it. " In the early days, when he wrote
those scripts, they were brilliant, they were
j ust outstanding, and he was the guy who
spent time to communicate, and he did the
best he could. The only thing wrong with his

Another shot of Duff and Maxwell while crewmen figure

writing - and he was aware of it - is that

out the actors' marks.

every character sounded intellectual. You

14

This shot from "A World of Difference" is a Twilight Zone in itself, as it represents a set within a set on a
soundstage where we wonder which camera is which. No wonder Jerry Raigan, I mean Arthur Curtis, is so confused.

1 05

"A World of Difference" is one of the better

episodes. Viewers get a glimpse of the behind-the
scenes look of a real crew. What about any special
shots?

I did something very tricky. I invented it right

then and there, and Buck Houghton didn't
want me to do it, he didn't approve it. I said I
wanted to do this in one shot. I want Howard
Duff to come into the office, first shot as he
comes into the office. Gail Kobe is the secre
tary, she's got her feet on her desk, right? She
puts her feet down quickly and behaves like a
secretary. He asks for any phone calls, she
gives him whatever papers, and then in one
shot, I follow him into his office. They had the
set arranged so that he goes through the secre
tary's office door, and I dolly with him into his
office and then as he walks to the desk. The
desk is on the other end of the stage, and I
curve around with him and have him sit into
the chair. His back is to me, but as he came in,
I panned him over to the window. In other
words, I pan him over to the window, and he
opened up the window shades and let the sun
in, and that's all in one shot. Never did a cut.
And then I sit him down at his desk, in one
shot. His back is to me, he puts his case down,
there's a picture of his wife on the desk, and
then he decides to make a call and picks up the
phone. The phone is not working. He tries it
again, it's not working. I'm still on his back a
little bit, he gets up, and I still go with him on
his back about halfway down, just a little
beyond his shoulders. I have him walk right to
the middle of the room and he hears the word,
" Cut! " and he gets confused. As he turns to
the left, my camera goes to the left over his
shoulder, and where the window was, there's a
crew. In one shot.
I was told by Matheson, " You revealed
exactly what the character's problem was. The
schizophrenic problem became clear just by a
production concept which helped underscore

1 06

and make that point." And Matheson, to this

day, has never gotten over his reaction to that.
It was not written, I just invented it and I felt
that it would state immediately what the diffi
culty was going to be with this gentleman,
who didn't know whether he was an actor or
a businessman. It's one shot.
And for some reason Houghton thought that was
going to be a costly shot?

Yeah, that's exactly right. He said, "You can't

do that shot." I said, "Here's what you do.
We'll put that particular wall on wheels, and
as I pan him away from the window and sit
him down, we roll the wall out. That's all it
was, rolling the wall out. Rod said, "That's
tremendous, Ted ! " And that's what a good
director does. He helps visualize the concept
the story is rooted in. You have to make things
happen like they're the most natural thing in
the world. You mustn't make it look as if
you're shooting. your movie and make the
audience aware that, " Oh, we're watching
shooting now. " A director must at all times
make sure that he never violates that principle
of keeping the audience totally engaged in the
story, and never make them aware of the fact
that there's ever a camera there.
So what did you think of The Twilight Zone at the
time of production?

I thought it was a very imaginative experience

that kept you at the edge of your seat. Because
most of the stuff I saw was the kind of subject
matter that really hooked you, and you
couldn't get your eyes off the screen, because
you wanted to follow every second of it to see
where it was taking you and what the solution
would be and how would it go about solving
the problem. That always kind of hooked me,
and I couldn't take my eyes off the set. I really
was extremely caught up with it, like you,
probably. And fascinated and trying to guess

the answers myself as to what kind of solution

they'd have to arrive at to resolve this prob
lem. It was so uniquely worked on, so that
very few people ever came to figure out the
kind of ending that was always unexpected.
Did The Twilight Zone have a certain visual style
that you didn't have an opportunity to utilize in
other series?

There were some wonderful directors who

knew how to attack the issues visually. They
were terrific in terms of how they made the sub
ject matter that much more interesting in the
way they staged and used the camera. The light
ing was different too, very much metaphysical.
On your Twilight Zone episodes, you mentioned you
had two days for the shoot. Did you have much
time for rehearsal?

Maybe a day, and sometimes those rehearsals

would start in shooting. It depended on the
time they gave us and what was allotted to us.
But when you measured Rod Serling's Twilight
Zone up against all the other crap that was on
television, this was a miracle that it ever saw
the light of day.
And not only does it still hold up, but it also stands
as a ground breaking piece. It's timeless.

That's right, it doesn't age. That says a lot

about it. And the subject matter, of course, is
timeless. With Twilight Zone, I did it so quick
ly, including even the one with Howard Duff,
because I was being pushed like crazy by my
agents to get off and get into the next project,
or some other things they were pushing down
my throat. So my reputation has always been,
no matter what I do, I'm going to do it as if
I'm playing a Stradivarius, and I had to make
the best music I could possibly make. Even
under the most limiting conditions.
With Twilight Zone, I respected Rod, and I
was very happy to be a part of it. Rod Serling

Actual filming of the scene where Marty confronts the

man who, in his reality, is actor Jerry Raigan.

. makes me very happy. That he was there, and

he was the inspiring force that really gave you
the feeling that this was worthy of your time
and your spirit. To be totally engaged and
involved in making it the best possible thing
you can do under the very limiting circum
stances.
From what's been mentioned, Serling did treat
people in a good way that made you feel the work
you did meant something.

That's the point! Meaningful work - it had

meaning. It had human significance. A thrill
you feel, as if you are really joined in hands
with life to do something of value with it.

107

\11.-; {<.I 7"[f2..-'

CBS TELEVISION
A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC.
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(herein called "\Vriter")

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Employment : Producer hereby employs Writer, and \Vriter hereby accepts such employment, as a script writer for

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those on the reverse hereof and attached hereto, if any.

CBS TELEVIS

Telephone Number

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A signed contract for Rod Serling to polish the Playhouse

1 08

90 script

"The Troublemakers," by George Bellak.

Del Reisman
Del Reisman was a n associate producer and story
editor for
ducer

for

The Twilight Zone, and an associate pro

several

ot h e r

s h ow s ,

i n c l u d i ng

The

Untouchables and Rawhide. He also w rote for many

television shows, inc l u d i ng
and

Rod. We were not social pals ever, but I would

run into him a great deal because we frequented
the same places. The same restaurants and the
same movie houses, so we'd see each other a
lot and talk a lot and that was always enjoy
able to me.

Peyton Place, Kung Fu,

The Six Million Dollar Man.

What were your i mpressions of Rod Serling when

you first started working on the series?

I knew him in some of the early days of live

television, I'd run into him a few times, and I
always liked him. I found him a very amusing
guy, he loved j okes, and then I worked with
him. I was story editor on Playhouse 90, and
Rod wrote five or six scripts for that show.
And then when Twilight Zone was in the mid
dle of its first season, Rod called me and said
he would be interested in getting some script
help, because it was just him, and Buck
Houghton was producing. Buck wasn't a
writer and I was tied up. Anyway, when I was
free at the end of that television season, I said,
"Boy, I'd love to have j oined you . "
S o I went over t o Twilight Zone a s w e devel
oped season number two, and Buck was still
producing, and my impression of Rod, which
I got very, very early, was that he was highly
intelligent and very passionate about what he
did. He had a tremendous intensity to him in
terms of his personality, and he was very pro
fessional and did things in his way. I mean, it
was his voice, which I don't think was
imposed on material, it's just the way instinc
tively and naturally it came out of him. And I
liked him very much. He was really a decent
person, a person of tremendous goodwill and
generosity. So I was attracted to him as a per
son who was significant as a human being that, and above and beyond, his talent. I found
it a very intriguing experience to be around

Do you have any anecdotes about Rod?

Rod was a marvelous j oke storyteller, and his

great pleasure was to go over to CBS, to the
dress rehearsal of The Red Skelton Show. Red
was a wonderful ex-vaudeville comic who
really specialized in a great deal of pantomime,
and Red's dress rehearsals were legendary. I
went with Rod once or twice, and Red would
know he was out there. In the classic way of
vaudeville, Red Skelton would not use the
actual punch line of the j oke in the sketch. He
would do mumbo jumbo, because all of those
comics who were trained in vaudeville, they'd
botch up the timing if they actually rehearsed
the punch line. Jackie Gleason was like that.
They wanted the punch line to be fresh, and so
he would do mumbo jumbo. It was dress
rehearsal and the cameras were moving

Rod Serling and director Mitchell Leisen going over the

jail sequence in the script for "Escape Clause."

1 09

A "Time Eno ugh at Last" ph oto, autographed

l lO

by Burge55 Meredith.

Thomas Gomez and David Wayne star in "Escape

A special-effects man on the extreme left created

Clause." Seen here is the filming of the scene when the

the smoke.

Devil, Cadwallader [Gomez], stamps his signature on the

contract for Bedeker's soul [Wayne].

around and so on, but it would be absolutely

filthy, whatever Red would say, absolutely
filthy. And, of course, Rod would fall on the
floor laughing. Rod was a great fan of come
dy, a great, great j okester. If I would run into
him at a cafe or something, he'd come right up
to me and say, " Okay, two guys walk into a
bar . . . " He'd just start.
So you became story editor and then you were also
assistant producer to Buck.

Actually, my official title was associate produc

er. But my title kind of obscured a lot of sins.
Rod wanted me on the show because he want
ed somebody else in story other than himself.
He wanted, in effect, a classic old-fashioned
story editor, someone whose job was to find
material, work with writers in developing it,
and so on. And that was the thrust of my j ob.
I was also assisting Buck in many of the pro
duction details. So the title was associate pro
ducer, but the job was to find the stories.

What was involved in being story editor for

the series?

There was a great deal of material that was

submitted to us. The agencies submitted mate
rial to us, individual writers would call up, but
mostly on Twilight Zone, it was my specific
search for story ideas. Buck and I would drive
out into the vast MGM back lot, and it was just
extraordinary, it was like a city. They had
everything. They had a magnificent French vil
lage street, which they used in everything, and
they would simply redress it from one movie
to the next- They had every conceivable thing.
And one time we were out there, we were driv
ing past this one area and we both said at the
same time, "Boy, that looks like the post-holo
caust, it looks like the nuclear war has hit this
place. " So we began to talk about it, and out
of that, and long discussions with Rod, came
the story that Burgess Meredith was in, "Time
Enough at Last-"
The other side of my job was to work with the

111

Cast and crew during the filming of a scene from

"The Trouble with Templeton."

writers. I remember a young writer who was

really fascinated with science fiction named
George Clayton Johnson, and George was pre
senting a lot of ideas and so on, and Rod said
to him directly, "You've never written a screen
play before, a teleplay before, and I don't want
to start you on Twilight Zone. Show us your
stories, but we'll have to have somebody else
write the teleplay, because it's complex. " I'm
putting it in crude terms; Rod was very courte
ous. And George was close with Charlie
Beaumont and Richard Matheson, so he came
with professional credentials in terms of his
professional associations. So one day, he sub
mitted a story, and Rod called Buck and me
and said, "I want Del to work with this guy
and get a teleplay out of him . " I said,

1 12

"Absolutely. " So George came in and was as

much of a character then as he is now, and we
sat down to work together and it was not easy.
And the reason was a very favorable one for
him, because he didn't know it at the time, but
he had a particular voice, he really did. And it
was just instinctive with him, and I would tell
him with "A Penny for Your Thoughts," "You
make up the rules for this story. In other words,
whatever you say, you have to stick with it, you
have to stick with the rules. Can he overhear
the guy next to him? Can he overhear the peo
ple out in the street? You know, what does he
overhear? And whatever you decide, that's the
rule, and then you stick with it. You create
your universe for this story. " So we worked
that way, and it was a struggle. But finally he
got the script out and it was his, and I want to
emphasize this - every word was his. I would
not touch it. I worked as a guide for him. I
wouldn't touch it. Every word was his and it
turned out to be a very good show, and then of

Inger Stevens in the car rigged for running shots from the
back seat, while the crew prepares for the next scene.

course, George went on for many others. But

essentially, that's a story-editing situation.
So it was common for you to meet with Rod and
Buck and the other writers?

Generally speaking, we divided it up. Rod

worked mostly with Richard Matheson,
Charlie Beaumont; I worked somewhat with
Richard. It was really weekly television and
you j ust couldn't let the ball drop. If you were
busy with something, somebody else had to do
it. Essentially, Rod worked more as one who
heard the idea and then encouraged people.
He didn't work on the details, he didn't do
that. Buck and I would work with writers on
those things. But eventually, when you get a
guy like Richard Matheson, Richard was so
comfortable with it, essentially it was his
work. That's the way that worked out.
So, what would you say is the look and feel of a

Twilight Zone episode?

First of all, it was unique in its time. There was

nothing on the air that had the look and the

feel. I'd say start with the feeling first. The
tone of the show really was intense story
telling. In other words, the show reflected
more than other shows of the time - what
happens next, what happens next, what hap
pens next? Really the craft of telling a story in
26, 27 minutes, or whatever it was. And so, it
had the feel of a driving story. Now, a lot of
times, as in the good movies and good televi
sion, we're sitting in the audience, and we
pretty well know the story that's being told.
We know what's going to happen. It's how
they get there that's interesting. In Twilight
Zone, generally speaking, you didn't know the
ending, or didn't guess the ending, and how
they got there was also interesting. So we had
a kind of double whammy in Twilight Zone.
The look of the show was essentially the pro
duction design and the cinematography of
George Clemens, and that had an otherworldly
look that was really worked on very carefully.
That was where Buck was very, very promi
nent, in setting up that look. It wasn't necessar
ily tricky camera angles. It was the lighting, it
was the whole classic mise-en-scene, the way
that it really came across. And so it had a dif
ferent physical appearance than other shows
that were on television at the time, or really
other feature movies. It had its own look, and
that had a lot to do with George Clemens as
cinematographer - the lighting particularly
and the camera angles - which were not nec
essarily director's choices, it was just the style of
the show. So the look was unique for its time.
Did you visit the set when episodes were being
filmed?

Not often, but I did visit the set for profession

al reasons. I was only on the set because there
was a problem - a story problem, a script
problem, a line wasn't working, something of
that type. There were a couple of exceptions to

113

I n a scene from "The Eye of the Beholder," the doctor

(William

D. Gordon) and nurses (Jennifer Howard and

Joanna Heyes) attempt to calm an upset Janet Tyler

( M axine Stuart).

that. The show that we used to open the sec

ond season was " King Nine Will Not Return,"
and this was very rare, we shot it on location,
interiors and exteriors. We went up to
Edwards Army Air Base up in the Mojave
Desert, we drove up there - it was an intense
heat, by the way - and this was the story of a
lost W W I I B 2 5 bomber which had been covered
up by the shifting sands. It starred Robert
Cummings, who was a prominent actor of the
time, and I was with it every shot for the entire
shoot. Bob was having problems in the

11 4

tremendously intense heat, and he had to get

into this mock-up of the plane, which
increased the heat. And we had a nurse there
with a towel wrapped in ice, and she would go
up to Bob and put the towel on his neck
between shots, and she did it to all of us. She
cooled off all of us. But that was a time when
being there all the time was important,
because Bob Cummings would have a lot of
problems with the fact that he was in this
intense heat and he would say to the director,
a fellow named Buzz Kulik, "Look, I've only
got one or two of these takes in me, then
you've got to get me out of here . " And so there
were some line adj ustments, and so on. So I
was, with that, on set all the time.
Generally, Buck would call me and he'd say,
" Listen, get down to stage so-and-so, there's a

problem with such-and-such," and that was

when I was on the set. But that was not often.
Generally speaking, both Buck and I stayed
away from the actual shooting. Buck would go
down at the end of the day's shooting to talk
it over with George Clemens, the cinematogra
pher, and after we saw dailies, then usually
Buck would go down and talk to the director.
What was Buck like?

Buck was tall and lean and he had a kind of

country-boy air about him, although he was a
city boy. He used a lot of barnyard similes all
the time, you know, " Like a rooster hopping
on a junie bug." But he had a kind of all
American country-boy quality, and very intel
ligent, very well read. Buck had come up
through the production side. He started out at
Paramount when he was very young and he
went into various departments. He went into
the budget department, he went into this
department, that department, so by the time
Buck left Paramount and went into the pro
ducing of television films, he was a very
knowledgeable producer. He knew production
design, he knew enough about cinematogra
phy to talk to a cinematographer, and costum
ing, and so on. He was really fully grounded in
all of these aspects, just a terrifically knowl
edgeable man, and he was all over that lot all
the time. I would walk in to his secretary and
say, "I've got to talk to Buck," and she'd say,
" He's on Stage 3 3 , he'll be there ten more min
utes. " He had a schedule like an airline. So he
worked terribly hard.
Despite having a low budget, you had the sets at
your disposal, the properties.

Yes, exactly. We had a lot of things there,

mostly the back lot, where you could get,
" Okay, let's use this street," you know, the
Andy Hardy street, that little room, and
redress it and use part of it and use another

Rod Serling graciously signs books for fans at a

bookstore.

part of it, and that was the great advantage

because they had all the stuff there. Now, nat
urally we were charged - that was expensive
stuff - but it was there, it was available. So
we were fortunate in that way.
Would you say Rod liked the celebrity status,
yet remained humble toward the public?

It was that strange paradox. There was that

cafe up on Sunset Boulevard, Villa Nova was
the name of it, an Italian place, it's kind of a
hangout. And I would see him there occasion
ally, and after he would come in, he'd greet
everybody at the bar, he'd make jokes and
everything else, he'd go off to a booth with
whoever he was having dinner with, and be in
absolute isolation. He'd be in a back booth
and he wouldn't want any contact after that.
So there was always that paradox. I think it
fed him with a lot of dramatic storytelling that
he liked, but he was an interesting guy that
way, because he reveled in the celebrity status.

1 15

Actors Douglas Spencer and M ichael Fox are fitted into

their Martian suit for " Mr. Dingle, The Strong."

Hollywood kind of gave him the boot later on,

didn't they?

Yeah, yeah, it was bad. It was really a strange

thing. Part of it was Rod's fault, because he
was ubiquitous - I mean, on television every
time you turn your set on, he was doing a
commercial, you know. And he was good at it,
he was terribly good at it. He was selling every
conceivable product, and so he was all over
the place and I think that kind of wore out the
welcome a little bit. But what troubled me in
those days was that the way television thinks
and works, he was considered old hat about

1 16

three, four, or five years after Twilight Zone.

And that just didn't make any sense - it was
this industry, this town. You know, "Bring me
the next person, bring the next hot person. "
It's a deeply impersonal, indifferent field that
is constantly looking for the next Orson
Welles to come in and save us all.
And in years after that, again, I was never a
social pal of Rod's, but I would run into him so
much and we were very friendly when we'd see
each other, and I would see him occasionally
during this time, and during Night Gallery.
And I said to him, " Look, with no comment
on the show, but what are you doing up
there ? " And he told me, "Look, they're using
me simply as the host, just using my name and
getting me up there as the host. " He said he
had no input into the content of the show at
all, and he was pretty bitter about it. But on
the other hand, why did he make the deal?

Vera Miles, director John Brahm, property master Jack

Pollyea, assistant director Edward Denault, and an
unknown woman, on a break during the production of
"Mirror Image."

Well, Serling did turn down the offer to be

executive producer for Night Gallery, fearing it
would reach the stress level of Twilight Zone. In
hindsight, it's really a shame Night Gallery produc
er Jack Laird didn't make use of Serling's talents
and experience beyond his script contributions and
role as host.

Director of photography George T. Clemens on location

during the shoot of "The Bewitchin' Pool."

Well, I knew Jack Laird, and I knew him when

he was struggling as a writer. He'd been an
actor as well. I think that Jack suddenly
thought, "I want to do what Rod did with
Twilight Zone. I want this to be mine." And it
was a huge mistake, because Jack was not that
kind of a talent. He had talent, but it was not

117

Martin Milner behind the scenes of "Mirror Image."

A shot during filming of the scene when Millicent Barnes

speculates that a double from a parallel universe is
trying to take over her life.

really the original voice that Rod was. And I

think that a lot of that came from Jack him
self, who wanted some kind of identity and I
think messed it up because of that. If he'd been
smart, he would have used Rod for everything
that Rod had to offer, and then he himself
would have prospered.

always that need to have George Clemens and

maybe his camera operator or somebody
shoot the look of some makeup or a monster
face or something, so there was a lot of testing
going on. So it was sometimes things worked,
and sometimes they didn't.

Were there any multiple Twilight Zone productions

1 18

going on? Or was it always one episode at a time?

Had you submitted any of your own stories?

Oh, we had one episode shooting, one in

development - that is to say, a director was
already working with a location manager and
with us if necessary, in terms of the script. And
then the third area was that the next script was
in a near-ready position. In other words, we
tried to do it that way, that script one was
being shot, script two was written and being
prepared, and script three was being completed
in the writing. So we always had a lot of balls
to juggle, particularly if there were significant
makeup problems. Or, you know, we had
aliens, and testing the lighting, there was

Well, to tell you the truth, when I went to

Twilight Zone, Rod said, "I want you to real
ly work with the writers, you know, if you
have any idea," but what he was saying to me
was, "I'm not hiring you to write these, I'm
hiring you to work with the writers. " And I
had a number of ideas that I passed on, when
Buck and Rod and I had our meetings. And
Rod would take them and use them in some
way. So I never had an idea that completely
became an episode. It would be a character
from this one, an incident in that one, and so
on. And that was the job; it was a story meet-

body demanded credit for anything, nobody

said, "Wait a minute, that's mine! " It was an
exchange of views. And it was very serendipity
like. I mean, you'd go this way, and then that
way, this way, that way, and so it was one of
the best creative experiences of my life.
So you might have been in a meeting and
collectively come up with an idea for a story,
and then he would have gone off and written it.

During the taping of "The Lateness of the Hour" (the first

of six taped episodes), preparations are made for the
emotional scene when I nger Stevens's character Jana
breaks down once she finds out who she really is.

ing, and I was very facile in those days, and I

presented a lot of ideas.
I gave Rod one of his big laughs from the
whole second season. We were talking about
an alien story, and an alien in my favorite set
ting for Twilight Zone, a diner. You know,
there's a diner, a dozen people are in there,
and a guy serving coffee and hamburgers and
whatever, small town. And a guy comes in,
takes his hat and coat off and puts them on
the rack, comes in and sits down, orders some
coffee and pie or something. And I remember
Rod said, "Well, how do we know which one
is the alien ? " And I said, " It's the one with the
big green antennae . " And Rod fell on the
floor, and that was the one that sustained us
through a lot of problems, so I was proud of
that little remark.
These were very, very creative meetings, and
I look back on them very fondly because no-

Exactly, and he would come back x number of

days later and toss a first draft on our desks,
and it would have used that idea, but in his
way. In other words, h.e would take the idea
that we started with and he would turn it and
twist it. He was remarkably fast, just remark
able. As you know, he dictated into a machine,
and I used to ask him, "I have to see the words
on the page. How do you do it? " He said, " I
don't know, I have t o play every part. " I t was
just amazing. And I know his secretaries
would come in the next day, take the tape, and
type it up. They were always amazed.
What was George T. Clemens like?

I may have had a different view than Buck, but

George Clemens to me was a tyrant of the set
[laughs] . In other words, he was looking at the
clock like any good cinematographer - "Are
we going to get it done ? " In other words, " If
this camera setup is the setup the director
wants, it's going to take me 4 5 minutes to light
it, and it's my responsibility. " George, I'm
sure, said to himself, to inform the director,
" Okay, I'll do the shot that you want and
come back in 45 minutes, I'll have it lit." And
the director would then say, "Well, wait a
minute, wait just a minute. We've got to finish
the day's work. So what about this and this
and that? " It would be a very simple camera
move, and George would say, "Fine, come
back in five minutes, I'll have it lit." So he was
a tyrant of the set, and when he saw blood, he

11 9

It must have been something to see some of these

directors, like Buzz Kulik, Douglas Heyes, and
another one was John Brahm.

John Brahm, who was a venerable older direc

tor with a certain reputation. Which was of
highly stylized horror films and mystery films
and so on, out of the German Expressionist
tradition, the tradition of EW. Murnau and all
of the great prewar German directors. And
John was a very interesting guy. He was very
skilled with lighting, camera, and so on,
because he had done those horror pictures,
those melodramatic pictures. He was very
interesting and very able.
Did you only work on the second season of

The Twilight Zone?

Buzz Kulik directs Brian Aherne and costars Pippa Scott
and Charles S. Carlson in a scene from "The Trouble with
Templeton."

was like a shark. He went right for it. If he had

a director who had a sense of hesitation about
him, or a director who was not quite sure, he
just fed on that director. But Buck, who had
the chore of dealing with George all the time,
probably had a more benign view. But I saw
George in action a lot and I thought George is
really kind of running the set, because of the
need to move, to get going, to complete the
shot and go on to the next, because of the hor
rendous pressure of the schedule. When you
have a director like Doug Heyes, who was
very experienced, Buzz Kulik, who was very
experienced, that was a different thing on the
set. Because those guys would say, " Okay,
George, thank you very much for your help,
but this is what we're going to do, and we're
going to do this, and that and that. " So the
experienced guys would take over, which is
really the way it should be.

120

That's correct, that long second season. At the

end of the second season we did not know we
would be renewed, we had no way of know
ing. And Jim Aubrey kept everybody hanging,
and Rod called me one day, and he said,
" Listen, I don't know what's going to happen.
You better tell your agent, just don't wait. " So
that's what happened, and I went on to do
something else. Then a week or two later I
found out they were renewed. And I was
delighted for them, you know, and Buck rec
ommended a fellow I knew to work with him
on stories, Dick McDonagh, good guy, able
guy. So I would have loved to have stayed with
the show, but CBS and Jim Aubrey tormented
Rod with that. I mean, they just held out till
the last minute, in terms of renewing it, any
way. I really wished that I'd been able to stay
with it, but I took Rod's advice, and I was glad
he was interested in my welfare.
What did you think of The Twilight Zone at the time?

I thought it was great. I had no idea in the

world that it would last beyond its time. But I
knew that I was working on something very
good, and I was really excited about that fact.

I knew it was good while we were doing it.

That's why, when there's a marathon on or
something, I tune in now and then and I'd
look at something, and I would remember all
of the agony of getting that show done.
Although it never really had high ratings when it
first aired.

No, it didn't. That's why Jim Aubrey was after

us all the time, because he wanted higher rat
ings for the show and it just didn't sustain
them. But the interesting thing, and it's one of
the first times it happened in television, was

A full shot of an MGM sound stage, during the filming of

"Cavender Is Coming."

that the impact of the show on the audience

that did see it was far greater than the impact
of shows that had higher ratings on their audi
ences - far greater. And that's what built it
through the years: the people who did watch it
were deeply affected by it.

121

Bert Granet
Bert Granet w a s a H o l lywood w riter and producer
who

worked

shows

like

in

fi l m

The

before

Loretta

produ c i ng television

Young

Show,

The

Untouchables, and The Intruders, as w e l l as l ater

seasons of

Twilight Zone. He was the producer for

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, where the begin

n i ng s of w h at w o u l d evolve into

Twilight Zone were

fi rst seeded w i t h the Rod Serling teleplay, "The T i me

Element . "

and cameras' views are limited, it's best for

you to see the picture in the rushes, to see if
you're getting the story you wanted to get. To
see the actual film, what the director is strug
gling with, and the glamour of so-called sets,
which is minuscule, a lot of technical people
doing a lot of technical work, and your pres
ence on the set only creates fear, since you're
the boss. You have only one way to behave if
you ever become a boss: say something nice
before you blam past somebody or you'll get
two days' bad work.

D o you have any mementos from "The Time

Did you have any multiple productions during your

Element"?

episodes?

I can read you a couple of letters Rod sent me.

Here is a fax dated June 17, 1 9 60:

One at a time. You had a crew that stayed with

you for the year, so that was the best way.
Some shows, because of their economics, do
two at a time, but we did one at a time.

Dear Bert,
I can 't give you residuals for doing our "pilot, " but
you can have use of the Emmy three days a week,
and every other weekend. Bless you for your cordial
note. See you soon.
Cordially, Rod

Did you scout any of the outside locations

yourself?

Generally, if there was something special,

Another one from May 22, 1 9 6 1 :

Dear Bert,
Your note was a delight and it reminds me that I
owe you another thank-you for the gracious ad in
the trades a couple of weeks ago. Talented people,
I suppose, are at somewhat of a premium around
here; And when the talented people were as gra
cious as you are, it makes for quite a combination.
Again, thank you, Rod
I,

Were you on set for your productions for

The Twilight Zone? Was that a common thing?

No, you're very seldom on set because you're

developing scripts, you're editing the previous
week's pictures. The set is a very bad place for
a producer to be, whether it's moving pictures
or television. Why? Because sets are built big

122

Producer Bert Granet visits the set during the filming of

"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville."

you'd go out and look at it. If not, you'd send

a man out with a Polaroid camera and have
him come back, and you'd say, "That's fine. "
Television didn't lend for very much going on
in the studio; it was expensive to send the
whole crew out.
Any input on the types of sets or backgrounds
being used?

Yes, you saw them, but at a certain point the

communication becomes easy, the people
understand you and you understand them well, you get different working arrangements.
Time is at a great premium in television
because you're developing scripts, you're
developing casting, you're cutting others' pic
tures, you're scoring them, you're putting in

A shot of the crew seconds before filming a scene in

which Burgess Meredith displays his ultimate strength in
"Mr. Dingle, The Strong."

sound effects, you're looking at prints which

go on the air, and your day is pretty much
occupied. I would always tell my secretary to
put the dirtiest work there is early in the morn
ing, to get it over with. And it's repetitious, it's
very hard, and frequently you go to bat with a
show that you don't want to do, because there
is nothing else available. It would be great if
good writing were available to you at any
given moment. There weren't many guys that

1 23

could write like Rod, but he wasn't always the

best writer on the show.
There are all sorts of production problems
that are devoid of having anything to do with
the creative quality of a Twilight Zone story. I
have never known anybody that started out to
make a bad picture or a bad television show.
Whether you're in television or pictures, there
are systematic demands. You've started out to
get a big star, but the big star says, "I like it, but
I've got something better. " So you immediately
compromise with some lesser personality. You
start out going for this director, but he's already
got a job. So, frequently, you can't do exactly as
you want, but you have to go, because that
show's got to be on the air two weeks from now.
Were you happy with "The Time Element" and what

In a subway scene from "The Mind and the Matter,"

it achieved?

actor Shelley Berman stands on his mark alongside

Well, it didn't particularly achieve anything for

me; it achieved a hell of a lot more for Rod,
who made a lot of money on it. I never forgave
Rod for not offering me a partnership when he
established it. Now, The Untouchables I
owned, that's a little different. I still get paid
after forty-odd years for places from Madagas
car to Timbuktu.
That's quite an achievement to have your work still
showing and appreciated by so many people.

Except that you turn it out like baloney. You

know, it's hard to identify what's good and
what's bad, it's " Let's just do it" - as is the
history of any television show, comedy or
drama . So much has to do with what's
beyond your control, where you finally reach
a point where you have to make a decision
and go! You can have as much integrity as
you want, but if the gods aren't with you,
you're in a corrupt situation where the true
matter would be to say, "No, let's not make it
because this isn't right . " But television doesn't
behave that way.

1 24

director Buzz Kulik.

What did you think of Twilight Zone at the time,

while you were working on it?

It was a living. You know, it's a business. Like

anybody else, you can have talent, you can
have a lot of things, but once it's maximized to
the point where it's repetitious, it becomes a
living. You do it to the best of your ability,
with all the uncontrollable forces that are con
stantly working against you, where actors get
drunk, and you've got to replace them, and
things like that. It's a complex business that
you've got to develop a stomach for; it's not
near as easy as it looks.
I think the best episode was not written by
Rod Serling. It was "Nightmare at 20,000
Feet," written by Richard Matheson, who for
this kind of story was much better than Rod.
Dick Donner directed " 20,000 Feet," who was
a very good director for it.

Was that a difficult shoot?

No, we used to go through Metro and look

and see what standing sets they had of an air
plane set; the story was written around the set.
I thought Dick did a better job than Spielberg
when Spielberg did The Twilight Zone as a pic
ture. George Miller directed the episode in the
film, and he tried to clamp on to a few things,
but it didn't work. I was disappointed in it,
though I think Spielberg is a talented man. He
obviously wanted to put his own imprint on it.
When the original turns out good, it's very
hard to put an imprint on it with a remake,
because it usually turns out lousy.
With the gremlin, it's how little you see of it,
and not how much you see of it. I had to recut
it and even cut short shots because supplemen
tary ideas are much more vivid and frighten
ing. That way you have a chance to examine
what causes fright.

tive. I find in science fiction there's a limitation

to what you can write and what you can imag
ine, and that starts from Jules Verne on. Once
you've been there, the second time - no mat
ter how good it is - it's not quite . . . It's like
reading The War of the Worlds, which I read
as a child, by H.G. Wells, and to me, that's still
the most vivid conquest of the Earth by
Martians.
The interesting thing about Rod is he's a
frustrated actor. If life had been what he want
ed, he would have been a movie star. He loved
the Hollywood scene. That appealed to him.

Another great episode you produced was

"On Thursday We Leave for Home," with James
Whitmore, and directed by Buzz Kulik. What did
you think of Kulik's work?

Buzz worked for me several times, and he

worked for me at Desilu too. He was a very
competent director. Matter of fact, he shot one
of the funniest scenes I've ever seen. It was
Joseph Cotton, who was a drinker, he was
playing a scene opposite a woman. It was a
two-shot in profile and he came back from
lunch drunk, and as he played to her - this
was a western scene - his breath got her and
she had to move back a little bit, so they
looked like they were on a ship and it wasn't
straight. I remembered Buzz directed that shot;
when I saw it, I snickered.

Actor Milton Selzer, in full prosthetic makeup, proudly

displays his mask of "avarice" from the episode,
"The Masks." The masks were designed by makeup

There was an episode that Ida Lupino directed,

"The Masks."

Yeah, "The Masks" was a pretty good one.

Toward the end of the show, it j ust got repeti-

artist William Tuttle, crafted by Tuttle, Charles Schram

and the makeup team, and were constructed
from a papiermache Styrofoam material.

125

"Stopover in a Quiet Town" was a story written by

Earl Hamner. Did you know Earl well?

I never got to know Earl; Earl developed the

script, brought it in, it was workable. If the
script was workable, I had little to do with the
writer, because why screw up something that's
good? To put your own identification mark?
Being a producer also means exerting tact
when somebody is a better writer than you'll
ever be.
I think some producers today have a tendency to
mess with the mix a bit too much.

Actress Barbara Nichols receives direction from Jack

Smight during the taping of "Twenty-Two."

Well, they'd be so stuck with ego and insecurity

that they have no contribution. It's like criti
cism. I see a lot of things that are at the expense
of some writer; the critic has made marvelous
satirical jokes at their expense with their criti
cism. They seldom realize that criticism is also
considered good work. The talent gets fucked
up if you listen to critics. You should do your
work with a minimum outside help; there's only
one person who deserves to see your work that's the publisher. Don't give it to a thousand
people to read, because most people think of
criticism as criticism, otherwise they'll just give
you a fair shake, a "very good," meaning it
stinks. I also learned to never show a pilot that
I made to anybody except those who can buy it.
There's an inherent jealousy amongst creative
people, because they see their own career merit
ed against your own.
On The Twilight Zone, do you recall having to do
any big changes to your productions?

Nichols is given some glycerin drops for a teary-eyed

scene.

126

No, they either went out good or fair or bad.

You didn't have much time to change it once
you made it. It wasn't like a motion picture,
where you can come back and say, " Let's do
some retakes on that." You were too close to
the line of being on the air.
Whatever I worked on happened for better
or worse. When I left Twilight Zone, strangely,

It can happen in the business.

Yes, it does, but at last analysis, I'm not deco

rating the Sistine Chapel, I'm only making a
television show. When people begin to take
themselves too seriously - I can understand
the motion picture, that you'll work on a pic
ture a year, year and a half - of being highly
principled, and I generally did the best with
what little ability I had. But a television show
is baloney being sliced by the dailies. You're
lucky if a good script shows up, you're
unlucky if a bad one shows up, you always
have one script in the drawer in case some
writer who promised you something good
turns up with something lousy, and then you
do the lousy one in the drawer. That's the
nature of the beast.
Besides "The Time Element," did you produce any
other early television plays for Rod?

Wonderful behindthe-scenes shot of the crew rigging a

lifeboat during the filming of "Judgment Night."

I was still at C B S . They had a series called The

Great Adventure, and Rod couldn't conceive
of me ever leaving. There was a lot of hostility
between the two of us, except I was getting
$ 2 5 ,000 an episode on this new show; this
was when John Houseman saw it went way
over budget and I was brought onboard. So I
insisted C B S show me Houseman's contract,
and I saw it. Ultimately, they said, "We never
show anybody our contracts. " But they gave
me a great deal. I think I got $2 5 0,000 for I O
episodes; it was a lousy show.

No. I had a friend, Bobby Parish, who direct

ed some of the early shows. Bobby introduced
me. I said I had to get good writers to supplant
the actors that I could no longer get, that
Playhouse 90 got. Because theirs was on
Kinescope and mine was on film. So I needed
good writers, so he introduced me to Rod and
we seemed to hit it off, and Rod says, "Well, I
don't have anything. Oh, I remember, there's
something CBS shelved, but I don't know
whether you'd like it or not." I said, "Well, do
you mind if I try to look at it? " And he got me
a copy, I bought it from CBS for $ I O,OOO, I
remember. And that became "The Time
Element."
But I don't see anything that should be put
in a time capsule, on any of these things we do.
Well, The Twilight Zone has been shown for years,

And Rod was not too happy that you had left.

and it's something that's never going to go away.

No, he thought I was deserting the ship. He

took it personal as a vindictive betrayal
between the two of us.

Well, it's an ideal show for young people. It

never was a big commercial hit, never in the
top IO or anything like that, but the college

127

NO
PA R K I NG
AN Y
TI ME

Rod Serling between takes of his narration for the episode,

"Once Upon a Time." A bit of a continuity flub - as it
hadn't yet been established that the main character travels
in time from the year 1890 to 1962, this opening narration

me, anybody could have done it, because the

writing was always the key to that show.
You have to love the show you're on, or find
the audience for the show.

scene should have taken place in the 1890 street.

What did you think of Rod Serting's Night Gallery?

kids liked it. The younger people liked it; older

people shied away from it.
"The Time Element" almo'st ended pesilu
Playhouse, because they kept sending out
executives to tell me why I shouldn't do it, and
they offered me $ 10,000, what I paid for the
script, so that I wouldn't do the show. I went
to Desi Arnaz and said, "You've got to back
me up on this, because we're going to get this
every week unless you do. " I was executive
producer for the studio, too, besides doing
that. I'm a terribly fair man; if there wasn't

128

Well, he was sort of outwritten by the time he

finished Twilight Zone, so it's only an added
nail in the coffin to me. I didn't see many of
them, so it would be unfair for me to criticize
it. I like black and white qgainst color anyway;
color is disruptive to the effect that you're
stopping one illusion and creating another ilh.!
sion, an unnecessary move.
Do you think Rod would have revived

Twilight Zone?

I don't know. Unless he was in need of money,

I don't know why the hell he would do it. He

had a nice lifestyle. I saw him one or two occa

sions later in life, and we were very cordial
with each other, but whatever sense of friend
ship existed with him was not there.
When you do a lot of stuff, it fades into the
background; at least, it has for me. The eye is
always in the future, in creative work. Don't
look back. If it's good, it's not bad to look back.

Carol Serling
Carol Serling i s the w i fe of Rod Serling and a con
sultant for the Rod Serl i ng M emorial Foundati o n .

What d i d you think o f t h e show a t the time of

production?

I thought it was good, I enjoyed it. It's hard to

put myself back in that time. I don't think that
Rod ever felt it would have the lasting quality
that it does. The shows were uneven. Some of
them were great and some of them were not so
great.
What do you think of this latest attempt to remake
The Twilight Zone?

I'm frankly very angry at the fact that they've

remade some of the old ones. Rod sold out all
of his rights, so they can go off and do what
ever they want to, but why do it? Usually a
remake doesn't make it, and from the reviews
that I've read, the camera work was nowhere
where it had been in the original. Of course, it
was in black and white, which was sort of the
trademark of The Twilight Zone in those days.
Was Rod satisfied with the success of the original
show?

I don't know. When you're involved with

something like this, you keep working. And
needless to say, the Nielsens were looked at

Serling performs his narration for "Static"; the one used

in the final version.

every week. In the beginning, the ratings were

not great - in fact, they were never huge.
There was a wonderful, loyal following, but
Rod was very busy with it. Particularly in the
first three years, I think he was totally pleased
with the production aspects of the show.
When he eventually sold the rights, he didn't think
that much would happen in syndication?

In those days, there really wasn't any syndica

tion, so no one was saying shows would be on
for the next 50 years, because no one dreamed
of that kind of technology. I don't think it was
a major factor in those days, and CBS said,
"We'll never recoup the costs of making the
shows, and so here's x bucks, and please take
a walk. "

1 29

Rod Serling talks with a sound engineer a s the rest o f the

crew set u p what would become an alternate take of his

wouldn't have had the rights to do it. He did

plan to make a movie, but no more television.

narration for the taped episode, "Static."

How was the transition for Rod, going from the

Golden Age of Television to doing this filmed
series?
Didn't Rod want to bring back The Twilight Zone in
the early '70s?

That's not clear to me. He was involved in

Night Gallery in those days, and he had some
other thoughts about Rod Serling's Wax
Museum, but not Twilight Zone, because he

130

Well, Mike Wallace said, "You've given up on

good television? Given up on doing anything
important? " That may have been one of Rod's
very first interviews. He was a bit nervous, but
he defended himself then. You know, we've all
heard you can do this and not be censored. I
don't think the sponsors understood the

Serling and crew between takes of his oncamera

Rod Serling makes his first on-camera Twilight Zone

narration.

appearance during filming of his closing narration for

"A World of His Own."

shows. He could pretty much say what he

wanted to and he could comment on these uni
versal themes and really get away with it.
He took on a lot, being executive producer, writer,

from, walking around the back lot. The first

one - "Where Is Everybody? " - came from
his walking around an empty set. He had a
most fertile imagination.

and narrator for the show. How did he handle hav

ing such a long workday?

I was going to say he was a fast study, but he

was also a fast writer. The first few years of
The Twilight Zone, the ideas came thick and
fast to him and he could sit down and dictate
a half-hour story in a very short period of
time. He wasn't a total hands-on producer; he
was there when they were shooting some of
the time but not all of the time, and he trusted
who had been hired to do the work.

Rod must have felt he had achieved quite a bit

at that point, having been able to work with the
backlog of MGM sets.

Back in the early ' 5 0S there was a tremendous

conflict between the movie business and the
television business. But by the time Twilight
Zone came along they had accepted it, and of
course, Twilight Zone was shot on film. So, I
think MGM saw the writing on the wall and
realized they had to open the studios to this
great new medium.

What was the experience like for him working at

the MGM Studios on the Twilight Zone sets?

What were his work habits like?

He loved the sets, and he loved the whole idea

of being able to use the wonderful facilities at
MGM. That's where some of the stories came

He'd get up very early in the morning and grab

a cup of coffee, no breakfast. His office was
right there at the house, a separate building, and

131

CAYUGA PRODUCTIONS. I N C .
" T H E TWILIGHT ZONE"

STUDIO: MGM

OFFICE: 449 S. BEVERLY DRIVE

CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA

UPTON 0_3 3 1 1

CRE5TVIEW 4-8 5 1 1

February 22, 1961

Dear Mrs . Sicer!

Your letter was forwarded to me , and I am very

It is always a
appreci ative of a1 your kind w ords .
real pleasure for me to hear from the v i ewers of our
show espe c i ally when the i r l e t t e rs are as n i ce as your s .
Thank y o u very much for your inter es t.
C o rdially,

1i/j,Y--J
I( l'

Rod Se rl i ng
RS : c o

A letter to a Twilight Zone fan from the office of Cayuga

Productions Inc.

he'd go out there and start work. Usually, maybe

by IO or I I he'd pretty much finished the writ
ing. In the beginning he typed on an old-fash
ioned typewriter, before the electric typewriter.
As time went on, he started dictating, so his sec
retary would come in and transcribe the dicta-

132

tion. He'd take off for lunch, and during his

Twilight Zone time, he would often go over to
the studio and see what was going on over there.
If he was really involved in something he'd work
again at night. He used to work sitting in the sun
by the pool, with his Dictaphone.
Rod obviously did some acting. Did he act out his
characters on the Dictaphone?

Sometimes he did. He would pretend that he was

Serling visits the set during the filming of "Mr. Bevis."

Leisen looks on in wonder as actress Ida Lupino plays

the part of movie queen Barbara Jean Trenton, in "The
SixteenMillimeter Shrine."

A or B or C. Yes, if you listen to the Dictaphone

tapes, you can hear a somewhat different voice
sometimes.
Was there a frustrated actor in him then?

Probably. When he started the narration, that

was something very new for him. He had writ
ten some scripts when he was in college and
they produced those on a local radio station in
Ohio, and he would often fill in if one of his
college friends hadn't made the bus that day.
He didn't really do a lot of acting. He was very
nervous when he started doing the narrations
for The Twilight Zone, and I think that's what
caused that tight-lipped sort of grim delivery
that he had. Later on, he really enjoyed being
in front of the camera and he did some game
shows and things like that. He did a little piece
on Jack Benny and a piece on Danny Kaye and
Icabod and Me
those were fun for him.
-

Director Mitchell Leisen goes over a scene with Lupino's

co-stars, Martin Balsam and Jerome Cowan.

133

Jean Marsh, John Dehner, and Jack Warden take a break

during production of "The Lonely." This was shot on loca
tion at Death Valley in 120-degree temperatures, which
was extremely trying on the cast and crew.

Did he ask for your opinions on his writing or

his ideas?

Always. Often the problem would be he'd

bring in a page of an entire piece of work that
he was doing; it was hard to take something
out of context. But yes, I think I read every
thing he ever wrote. He took criticism fairly
well. Sometimes he didn't want to hear it, but
he adapted it. He said I was his toughest critic,
and I think that's probably true.
The quality of Twilight Zone seemed to be well
ahead of its time.

Perhaps. I think it was what he brought.

mean, it wasn't just a sci-fi show, it was so
much more, and I think that's why it has this
long life of never being off the air. It's been on

134

Veteran actor Jack Warden stars as James A.

Corry in Serling's "The Lonely," the first episode
produced after the series' pilot.

the air someplace, somewhere, ever since the

late ' 50S. Rod never considered himself the
translator of the mystique, or a great science
fiction writer - he really wasn't. This partic
ular genre gave him the chance to say for a
time what he wanted to say. It was his partic
ular hemisphere at that point. Later on he
went on and did other things that had nothing
to do with fantasy or any of those things. He
j ust used this vehicle. Personally, he loved
science-fiction stories and mystery, and his
library was full of Poe and Lovecraft, but he
never considered that he was a great sci-fi
writer.
Did he really have a fascination with the
supernatural?
Cast and crew resting in the shade between shots.

Well, it was like a willing suspension of disbe

lief. He really, really wanted to believe that
aliens had landed in Arizona. And he really,
really wanted to believe some of the things
Duke University was doing with ESP, and so
on and so forth, but he really didn't.
Did you ever have a chance to visit the sets of
Twilight Zone during filming, or at rehearsals?

Occasionally I did. Rod didn't want to make a

big deal of it. I thought at that time it would
be fun for my daughters to get a chance to be
on the set and be in the show, but Rod never
wanted to have that happen. That's too bad,
because the girls hopefully wouldn't have gone
into acting, but they would have understood it
a little better. The family was not very closely
involved with the shooting.
To the actors in the industry, working on
The Twilight Zone was a prime opportunity.

Jean Marsh and Rod Serling take a lunch break back at

Furnace Creek ranch pool.

I think that was true, and after a while it got a

reputation. The advantage to an actor - or
director, for that matter - was that they could
come in and shoot this in a week, and it would
be over and done with. It wasn't a commit- .

135

Actor Jack Klugman stars as Joey Crown in "A Passage

Klugman, director Don Medford, and cameramen during

for Trumpet." This is his first of four Twilight Zone

the filming of a rooftop scene.

episodes; the only other actor with four starring roles

in the series is Burgess Meredith.

Meredith. Occasionally he wrote the show for

somebody specific.
ment to a series of 30 shows, and I think they
liked that. The anthology was a great place for
actors to showcase themselves, and it's too bad
we don't have anthology shows today. The
networks are running scared. The Science
Fiction Channel turned down a possible redo
of Night Gallery, because they said they're
afraid of anthology shows.
Did Rod have much input into casting characters?

Well, I think so if he wanted to. Again, he had

a great deal of faith in the people that had
been hired. I'm sure that they discussed the
lead characters for all the shows, and it may be
that Rod said, "No, let's not use him, " or
" Let's use him . " He was fond of some of the
actors, like Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, some
of those people. I'm sure he said yes to Burgess

1 36

What was it like for Rod in the fourth and fifth

seasons on the show?

Rod was less involved in those years. He came

in to shoot his narrations and would often
have to be on the set, but he was not as
involved then. I think he tired of it.
How did he like teaching at Antioch?

In the beginning, the students kind of looked at

him and said, "Hollywood fat cat, we don't
need you around here." I think after a while
they decided, "Well, maybe we'll listen to
him," but they tore his stuff apart. Rod's teach
ing method was taking a film of his and having
the kids critique it and discuss it. This was the
' 60S, and the kids really felt they needed to tear
everything apart. But he also had an adult
class, when he was teaching there in Ohio, and

A dimension of sound - Vaughn Taylor costars in

Bradbury's "I Sing the Body Electric."

A portrait of Rod Serling early on in his career as a

he loved those students, he thought they were

great. They seemed very serious and showed
him the respect he hoped to have as a teacher.
Were there any stories he intended to have made
into episodes but didn't get the chance?

No. That was not true on Night Gallery - a

lot of them didn't get made. By and large, the
scripts that he worked on were made.
Ray Bradbury only did one episode of The Twilight
Zone. Was this because the studio didn't want two
big names on the same project?

Not at all. Rod admired Bradbury; he thought

he was absolutely fabulous. We actually went
up to the Seattle fair, the families together, to
make a presentation. I'm not sure what hap
pened there with the personalities. Bradbury's
things, as I understand it, were too expensive
to shoot.

playwright.

What were some of Rod's favorite Twilight Zone

episodes? Even including the ones that weren't
written by him?

Well, I think "Walking Distance," and "A Stop

at Willoughby" - the return to the simple time
of childhood. That was always a strong theme
with him. I know he liked some of the
Matheson pieces. I like stories like "The
Odyssey of Flight 3 3 " ; I thought that was fun.
And "The Eye of the Beholder, " of course. The
Cliff Robertson story, "A Hundred Yards Over
the Rim." He liked a lot of the time-travel
things. It's been said that some of the comedies
are not great - I think some of them are kind
of fun. There were some dogs in there, for sure.
But The Twilight Zone holds up pretty well.

137

How would you like Rod t o be remembered?

ous nonfiction books on the airline i ndustry. H e was

He said at one point he just wanted to be

remembered as a writer. A person who strived
to make television better. I mean, he never real
ly gave up on it. He thought television had a
commitment and tremendous potential to edu
cate - not just entertain. Of course, you've got
to entertain to get people to turn it on, but
beyond that there have been some absolutely
wonderful things that were done on television. I
think he'd still be out there striving. So many of
those early television writers said, "To hell with
that, I'm not going to bother with this medium
anymore. " But Rod never gave up on it.

Robert Serling

a tec h n i c a l advisor for the

"The Odyssey of Flight

Twilight Zone episode,

33, " and worked as a n avia

tion editor for U nited Press I nternati o n a l .

What was it like being the brother of Rod Serling?

Rod was a good-looking son of a bitch, wasn't

he? Geez, he looks like the Reader's Digest ver
sion of Cary Grant. I look more like Mickey
Rooney. Are you ready for the revelation of the
year? Rod didn't write any of the Twilight Zone
scripts, I wrote all of them. He photographed
better - that's why he got all the credit.
I could give you a little background first. I
was seven years older than Rod. How the hell
I'm still alive and he's dead I don't know. It's a
matter of genes, I guess. Rod inherited my
dad's genes, and on my dad's side of the family

Robert Serl ing i s Rod's older brother a n d t h e c riti

cally a c c l aimed author of novels such as

138

The Left
and

A rare autograph from both o f the Serling brothers;

Something's A live on the Titanic, as w e l l as numer-

Rod wasn't the only brother with a sense of humor.

Seat,

The President 's Plane Is Missing,

there wasn't a single male who lived to see 60.

My mother's family - and I inherited hers apparently had longevity. I had an uncle who
was still chasing girls when he was 9 3 , and he
buried four wives. I'm 87 and I'm still active.
I'm doing my 24th book. Anyways, I worked
with Rod on one Twilight Zone, "The Odyssey
of Flight 3 3 , " which was a story in itself. And
I saw sides of him, of course, that nobody else
saw - his self-deprecating sense of humor, and
sometimes his insecurity.

What do you think separated The Twilight Zone

from all the other television series?

The quality of the writing, and the fact that a

lot of Rod's works were sermons disguised as
science fiction. He had comments on social
problems, and the way he handled it was a
very subtle way of getting a message across. It
was like giving you medicine and putting sugar
coating on the pill. He was good at that. It's a
funny thing, Rod was a liberal and I'm a kind
of a moderate conservative, and the only fights
we ever had were over politics. Until we went

A behindthe-scenes shot of Serling and director Mitchell Leisen going over the script of "Escape Clause."

139

A shot of Charles Bronson from Montgomery Pittman's

third-season opener, "Two."

"Two" stars both Charles Bronson and Elizabeth

Montgomery, as The Man and The Woman, in the story of
two opposing survivors of a world war that learn to live
together.

out to dinner with our respective wives one

night and almost got into a fistfight. I don't
remember what the subject was, but we shook
hands and made up later, and agreed never
ever to get into a political thing.
Did Rod ever talk to you about selling the rights to

Twilight Zone to CBS?

No. I didn't even know it until much, much

later. I think it was after his death that I found
out about it. Carol, his widow, told me once
she lost probably $4 million. But Carol also
said it wasn't Rod's fault. His agent recom
mended it, his lawyer, his accountant, every
one was telling him, " Go ahead and do it,
Twilight Zone is dead." And he got a pretty
good penny for it, too. I don't remember what
the dollar figure for the rights were, but I don't
think Rod would have sold it if he had got
some better advice.
You couldn't predict that Twilight Zone

1 40

would go into syndication and that it would

become almost a cult. Who could predict there
would be a science-fiction channel that would
have a Twilight Zone marathon, around July
the fourth every year, 24 consecutive hours of
Twilight Zone? Nobody could have foreseen
that. One thing, it was black and white, and
color was just around the corner. I probably
would have sold the damned rights to it myself.
Rod was a good businessman, he really was.
He's taken a rap for selling Twilight Zone
rights, but looking back in the context of the
time, he was tired, the series had been on for
five years, and nobody could have predicted the
success of the syndicated show. Certainly not I
Love Lucy, or Twilight Zone, or any of those.
Tell me a little bit about when you and Rod
were kids.

You know, when we were kids we used to act.

loved acting from the time he was a kid. I did

'
n't go in for drama; I went in for covering the
news. Rod went in for drama. Both of us had
an idea; both of us had career moves at a very
early age.
Did he think he would pursue being an actor as
a career?

Three years before Elizabeth Montgomery landed her

broomstick as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, she

I don't know. You have to remember, when he

was in high school, I was a long ways away. He
was still in high school when I went in the army
after Pearl Harbor. I was in the army when he
graduated high school and went in the para
troopers. We didn't see a hell of a lot of each
other until after the war. I didn't discuss careers
with him at that stage. I remember when I came
home from college, I was kind of a - well, Rod
called me "a phony intellectual." I was into sym
phony music, and it used to steam him to hear
me play T chaikovsky. As I say, we corresponded,
but we didn't get close until after the war,
because we didn't see that much of each other.

took a magical side route through The Twilight Zone.

Biographers have mentioned that his nightmares

based on war experiences helped inspire some

I was seven years older, but even with that age

spread we were fairly close when we were lit
tle kids. But we'd see a movie on a Saturday
afternoon and then we'd come home and act it
out. When we acted out westerns, we'd fill my
father's whiskey shot glasses with ginger ale,
down the hatch. I remember we saw Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde, with Fredric March, in I 9 3 3 .
March won an Academy Award for it. That
story has fascinated me ever since I read that,
the short story it was taken from. We had
bought a chemistry set and we picked some
kind of concoction up where the bubbles and
the steam and smoke rose from this mixture.
And we'd drink it. I had a set of false teeth and
I'd shake behind a couch and I'd come up with
the fangs showing.
We had a lot of fun playing together. He

story ideas.

I know it. He went to Antioch College, same

as I did. Only I graduated long ago; he didn't
go until after the war. I visited him out there in
Yellow Springs, Ohio, once. And I took him
and Carol to Springfield, which is nine miles
away from Yellow Springs, where our college
was. We went into a restaurant called the
Wagon Wheel, I still remember, and Rod was
drinking Southern Comfort. Well, he couldn't
hold any kind of exotic drink. He could drink
a lot of beer, but give him something with hard
liquor and he was a basket case. Well, he got
loaded on Southern Comfort and started hav
ing delusions of the Japanese coming into the
restaurant after him. And we had to quiet him
down, drive him back to campus, and I took
him up to his dormitory room and stuck him

141

Here's a great shot looking down on the filming o f a scene in "Two," when "woman" reacts to "man" b y throwing a
cleaver ( Montgomery shown at half cleaver), a skillet, a bottle, and then another skillet. Eventually, man fights off
woman and knocks her to the ground, providing a somewhat false start to this relationship.

in the shower and put him to bed. He didn't

remember a thing the next day.
But I know he had nightmares about the war.
And a lot of his Twilight Zone scripts and a lot
of scripts he wrote for television, the dramas,
reflected the experiences he had and what he
saw. He could joke about it, he had the most
self-deprecating sense of humor of anybody I
knew, and I do too. We shared that.

142

He had some very intense experiences in the war,

didn't he?

Oh, he did, yeah. One of the sleazy biogra

phies written about him implied that somehow
he got a Purple Heart that he hadn't earned.
Which was total, absolute bullshit. You didn't
get Purple Hearts by walking into a store and
buying one. And I saw that wound, that shrap
nel wound. I was visiting him once, and all of

a sudden I looked down and there's blood

streaming from his knee. The shrapnel wound
had opened up after playing table tennis. And
when I read the biography of his that implied
that he hadn't really been wounded, holy crap!
How did you come about getting the job of writing
the cockpit dialogue for the Twilight Zone episode
"The Odyssey of Flight 33"?

I was visiting Rod in L.A. We went out to

MGM, where they're filming Twilight Zone,
and he picked up his mail, and in the mail was
a brochure for American Airlines advertising a
707 cabin mock-up. American had used it for
flight-attendant training, but they had built a
new one for their new flight academy at Fort
Worth. And the old one was up for sale or rent
for a Hollywood studio. I don't know what the
hell triggered something in Rod's mind, but he
never looked at any of the mail except for that
brochure. So help me god, he j ust stared at it.
We go up to the car, it was a Lincoln
Continental, and he wouldn't let me even look
at it, let alone touch it, afraid that my eyeball
would fall out and damage the paint. But he
says, "You drive . " Holy cow! I say, " Okay. " So
we're driving, he's still sitting in the white seat
looking at the brochure, and all of a sudden he
says, "Hey, suppose you were in a jet going
across the Atlantic and you hit a freak tail
wind, and you were going so fast, like 3 ,000
miles an hour ground speed, that you broke a
time barrier. And when you came in over New
York, you were in prehistoric times. " I said, "A
hell of an interesting concept, but it can't hap
pen." He said, "Well, maybe you're right, I'll
think about it some more."
I go back to Washington, D.C., to resume my
job as aviation editor of UP!, and I get a call
from him. "Remember the idea I had for a jet
that goes back in time? " I said, "Yeah." "I
need the cockpit dialogue on what would hap
pen." I said, "You need what ? " "They need to

Filming a shot in "The Big Tall Wish," when the opposing

fighter, played by Charles Horvath, wins the bout with
Ivan Dixon's Bolie Jackson.

read what happened in the cockpit if that

would happen. " "How the hell can I give you
dialogue for something that can't happen ? "
And Rod says, "Well, give me, like, radio
checkpoints. Or what would the crew be doing
if something like that happened. " So I said,
" Okay. " He says, "I need it by tomorrow. "
Rod always had to have something by yester
day. He was always in a hurry. That night I
called a TWA captain I knew. He came over to
the house and I told him the plot. Well, he
brought his air maps with him and we looked
at radio checkpoints and stuff. And discussed,
you know, let's j ust suppose you hit that freak
tailwind, and something like that happened,
what would you be doing in the cockpit? What
radio checkpoints would you be trying to get?
Which ones would you be passing over so fast,
that you couldn't get a fix on it? Well, he gave
me a lot of the stuff and I sent it to Rod, and
there was "The Odyssey of Flight 3 3 . "

143

After "Flight 33," was there any talk of you writing

a story or script for Twilight Zone?

No. My forte wasn't scripts or drama, mine

was fiction and mostly nonfiction airline histo
ries and books on air safety. I never had the
gift for dramatic dialogue like he did.
The Twilight Zone had a very efficient production.
Have you noticed any other flubs?

Speaking of embarrassing moments, all that seems to be

missing here is a bag of "Serling's Pretzel Rods of the
Zone," sponsored by our good friends of "Cavender Is
Coming."

I wish I could have seen Twilight Zone in pro

duction. I would have had a permanent love
affair with it. Sometimes I had wished he
would have asked my help on a couple of
scripts. One of the best ones, you know,
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," had a terrible
technical error in it. Nobody but a nut like me
would have noticed it. The airplane in the
movie was a Convair 240, a twin-engine air
plane. It's very hard to tell, but I swear, it was
a Convair. Well, in the script it talks about the
flight engineer coming back to talk to William
Shatner. Well, the Convair 240 was a two-man
crew, they didn't have any flight engineers.
Did you ever have a chance to meet the main

1 44

Any cut scenes or dialogue from "Flight 33"?

producer of Twilight Zone, Buck Houghton?

No. I wish I could do it over again, because I

found a technical error in there that was stu
pid and I'm not sure it was my fault. I don't
remember putting it into the dialogue. It's
when they come in over New York and they
look down and they said, "Well, that's
Manhattan Island, all right." This is after they
saw the dinosaur. Well, in the age of the dino
saurs there wasn't any Manhattan Island. That
whole damned topographical landscape
changed millions of years ago. And I never
caught that in the script. Anyways, it probably
wouldn't have done me any good, because
Rod fell in love with the idea of going back to
the age of the dinosaurs. I think he told me
that that one little five-second clip of the
dinosaur cost him $ 2, 5 00 to get that footage.

Yes, many times. He was a gentleman. I loved

him. He was a terrific guy. He was the only
Twilight Zone producer I ever met, and the
only other person I ever met on Twilight Zone
was one of the earlier casting directors, Pat
Rose. What a gorgeous girl; I had a crush on
her. She was beautiful.
She must have had a real talent for casting, because

The Twilight Zone had some great people on there.

I don't care if she couldn't cast King Kong, she

was gorgeous.
I think the thing about Buck was that his talent
for production really matched Rod. It was a good
balance.

I think they were the best of all the Twilight

Zone writer/producer teams; Buck and Rod

worked together better than any of the others.
And I'm not deprecating any of the others. But
I think they were on the same wavelength. If
Rod got out of line, Buck could rein him in
and Rod could improve on stuff that Buck
might have missed. But there was never any
acrimony between them. They never fought
over it, as far as I know. I talked with Buck
many times and I know he was as angry as I
am with the biographies about Rod.
Well, at least there's The Twilight Zone Companion
and the PBS special, Submitted for Your Approval.

That was an excellent show. I hated the

beginning. I thought it was hokey. The sur
gery and everything like that, I didn't think
that was necessary. I thought it was the best
thing ever done on television about Rod.
They had one on the E! network that was
horrible. They interviewed me on the show
because I knew it was going to be a hatchet
j ob, and then Carol asked me, " Please don't
do it. " I called them and told them I was will
ing to be a face on the cutting-room floor. I
wanted to be on it, for one thing, because I
knew it was going to be a sleaze ball piece. I
felt I was the only one who might tell the
other side of the story because they weren't
going to interview anybody else.
Was it difficult for Rod to live up to the
award-winning plays like "Requiem," " Patterns, "
and "The Comedian"? H e started off winning
Emmys with these big plays, and then later
created Twilight Zone, but in between, was
he at all concerned about whether he could
constantly deliver top-quality plays?

I think so. In some ways he was too self-dep

recating about his own work. He was too
apologetic. There were 1 5 6 Twilight Zone
episodes. I think you'd have trouble picking
out six that were real turkeys. The quality for

Out on location for "The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms,"

the stars, Ron Foster, Warren Oates, and Randy Boone go
over the script.

an anthology show like that, where you had

to come up with a different plot and a differ
ent cast every week, was incredible. Rod
could get very defensive. I also think there
was a tremendous amount of jealousy toward
him in the industry. Among fellow writers and
some producers, like Bert Granet, who wasn't
the only one. I know Rod feuded with Ray
Bradbury. Bradbury is a classic case of a
writer becoming jealous of someone who
became a sudden science-fiction guru on tele
vision, and Bradbury wasn't on television. He
had a lot of jealousy toward my brother.
Maybe that's standard operating procedure in
Hollywood, to be jealous. I think Rod did too
much apologizing to some of these guys who
would unload on him. I'd feel like just going
to battle with them.

145

During the train sequence, Inger Stevens looks o n in

cried like a brother when he passed on.

complete terror of "The Hitch-Hiker."

It's hard to believe that he died when he was only

50 years old. You mentioned how he had inherited
The thing with Ray Bradbury is weird, because Rod

your father's heart condition. I guess it was a

had a lot of respect for Bradbury.

combination of that and all the cigarettes he

know it. Rod was not jealous of anybody. I

never heard him utter one word indicating that
he was jealous toward another writer. I've
even had people tell me he was jealous of me,
because of The President's Plane Is Missing,
taking off while Rod was right at the height of
his own career. As if I had stolen some of his
thunder. That is total bullshit. He was as
proud of me as I was of him. I will say that
without ever fearing any reputation. He was
my brother and we loved each other, and I
I

146

smoked, and the high stress of being a big

celebrity in Hollywood.

And you couldn't break him of that goddamned

smoking. Four packs a day.
What kind of cigarettes did he smoke?
Unfiltered ones?

It depended on who his sponsor was. At one

time I think he smoked Camels, I think he
smoked Marlboros. Chesterfield was a spon
sor once.

How much of himself did he put into his work?

Quite a bit. A classic example was "The

Velvet Alley" [on Playhouse 90]. Art Carney
was in it and played a writer who changed
agents. The one who had been his agent for
years, when he went to Hollywood. That was
autobiographical. The other one that he
wrote that was autobiographical [ " Exit from
a Plane in Flight" on Bob Hope Presents the
Chrysler Theatre] , he's an actor who jumps,
who was a paratrooper in the war, and he
goes back to his old outfit and for publicity
reasons, he j umps.
But Rod did the same thing, much to his
wife's anger. When he turned 40. He goes out
to Fort Bragg, where the old 1 1 th Airborne
was based, and went up and he jumped with
the modern paratroopers. I've seen pictures.
He looks happy.

Yeah, he loved it. That was something about

Rod, he hated to fly and yet he could jump out
of a fucking airplane. I think his fear of flying
dated back to the war. He was a great guy with
airline people. Some airline guy wrote me once
and says, "Your brother sent me a teletype
message from one of their intercoms about
selling Rod a ticket." They said he was the
nicest VIP they had ever talked to, and he was.
He loved airline people, like I did.
But he was afraid of flying.

Oh man, you go up in an airplane with him

and this is "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." I used
to hate to fly with him. Carol told me he'd
take a tranquilizer before a flight. There was a
funny part of it - he flew all the time, and for
Rod to go coach, I mean, that was like riding
in the baggage compartment. He loved the
good life.
How did becoming a celebrity affect him?

He loved it, it didn't go to his head, he was

very gracious. If someone asked him for an

autograph, he felt it was an honor to be asked.
He felt that way all his life. He used to drive
his wife crazy when they'd go into a restaurant
and had trouble eating. Someone would recog
nize him and next thing you know he had 20
people around him at a table. He never, never
tried to push anybody away, or "Go away, I'm
busy, " or " See me later. " He always tried to
accommodate people, and he was like that till
the day he died. He was a sweet guy.
The only thing he did, as a celebrity - I
thought he got a bum rap - he was one of
the first celebrities to do commercials. And
he took a beating on it. One of the biogra
phers devoted pages to embarrassing mo
ments, with television's Angry Young Man
shilling for a tobacco company or something.
I know why Rod did it. He did it for finan
cial security for his family. He told me, " Bob,
how else can I earn 1 5 grand and the use of
a free Ford for one year? What's wrong with
it ? " Jodi, his oldest daughter, drove an
Oldsmobile for years because Rod had done
a commercial. Carol drove free cars for years
because Rod did Ford commercials. Now
you look at television and everybody includ
ing Captain Kirk, is doing them. My god,
one-time candidate for president of the
United States Bob Dole did commercials for
Viagra. That's what Rod was criticized for
then; everybody's doing it now!
I think that the criticism hurt him. I know
why he did it, it was easy bucks. Writers by
nature are insecure. And Rod, for all his suc
cess, was very insecure. I remember if he'd
have a show on television, the next two days
he'd look at the reviews. He'd have 5 5 rave
reviews and one panning, and he'd sulk,
moan, pout, and grieve over that one bad
review, for the next week.
Rod told me once, "You know the problem
with critics is that they're all frustrated writ-

147

ers, and it's easier to be cute and smart and

funny if you're knocking somebody than if
you're praising them . "
What was Rod like when h e was young?

He was effervescent, funny, a total, complete

extrovert. His mouth never stopped, even
when he was a little kid. A personality, you
couldn't believe it. A hell of a horseback rider,
believe it or not. And so was my dad; my dad
was a show rider. He could pick up a hand
kerchief from the ground, riding a horse. And
he used to own horses, Morgans. I was scared
to death of horses. Rod rode from about the
time he was five years old. I've seen pictures
of him in his riding gear.
He was, in many ways, the apple of my
father's eyes. More than I was. I was sort of
Momma's boy. Rod was Dad's boy. I know
my father loved both of us, but the tragedy in
Dad's life was the same as in Rod's life - he
died years too soon. He never lived to see
Rod become successful. Because he died right
before or right after VJ Day, he never knew
Rod was going to be successful. But I'll tell
you why I know how proud he'd been of
Rod. When I was in UPI, I did a conjecture
story - " Amelia Earhart Mystery Solved. " If
we could get into the Japanese naval files and
find out if they really did murder her. It got
played all over and a lot of people said Dad
liked it, he got a smile out of it. When he
died, my uncle took his wallet and there was
a frayed clipping of that story, with my name
on it. That's when I knew Dad loved me.
That was a tragedy.
And I had inherited my mother's genes. She
didn't live that long, but she did take care of
herself. When Dad died, she developed high
blood pressure; there weren't any drugs at the
time that could lower it. I'm so goddamned
lucky. I got high blood pressure a few years ago,
too, but by that time they had drugs. My blood

148

pressure's lower than it was when I was a kid.

Rod inherited arteriosclerosis and he wors
ened it the way he lived. He was so intense,
anyways, always under stress. Always hurry
up, hurry up . . . .
He had a couple of heart attacks, he went in for
open-heart surgery, and the surgery was success
ful, but then he had a heart attack?

He had a heart attack on the operating table.

Is it true that they tried to take a vein behind
his leg?

Yeah, that's true. It crumbled. The surgeon

told me later that he had the arteries of a 90year-old man. He was 50 years old.
What was your relationship like with your brother?

When I was in college, we disliked each other

intensely, and that's when he was in junior high.
That was when the seven-year gap was the
worst and the wildest. When the war came and
we both went into the service, we closed ranks.
And after the war, and he was just getting start
ed, I was more protective of him. He never had
to be protective of me because I was older and
making my own life and career. But I remember
sending him a few extra bucks to buy a corsage
so he could take Carol to the senior prom. I
remember every time I came to Ohio to visit, I'd
always take him and Carol out to dinner. He'd
always order the most expensive thing on the
menu. Usually steak.
I still think Rod could have been a success at
any form of writing if he had put his mind to
it. His short stories he wrote - turning
Twilight Zone scripts into short stories - I
thought his writing for those were usually bril
liant. But he never had the patience to do fic
tion, and he hated rewrites. Of course, we all
hated rewrites, but sometimes it's necessary. I
couldn't have agreed with some people who
have written that Rod wouldn't have been a

R O D

S ER L I N G

1490 MONACO DRIVE

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA 90272

March 3 0 ,

Mr .

1972

W ing f ie ld

D e ar Mr . W ing f ie ld ,
Thank you
March 16th.

fcc y our good

letter

of

Unfortunate ly 1 1 m on my way out of

the c ity with no p lans to re tur n be fore
N ovember of th1:$ ye ar .
My f am i ly and I
ma int a i n an e as ter n r e s idence for about
ha l f of e ach year -- and this per iod i s
upon u s .
But I d o thank y ou for y our inter e s t
and 1 1 m tru ly sorry I can ' t .accommodate
you .
C CC d i

A
. /(#'

R od Ser l ing
RS /ml

In a letter from Rod Serling, he mentions vacationing at Cayuga Lake, in upstate New York.

1 49

great novelist, that he was simply a dramatist.

I think he was so goddamned talented, he
could have written the New York telephone
directory and made sense out of it.

cer of the heart. " There's no such thing [laughs].

I broke up laughing, and he said, "It's not
funny. " I said, "Rod, if you have cancer of the
heart, can I have your car after you're gone ? "
[laughs] What a great sense o f humor he had.

What are your thoughts on all of these remakes of

The Twilight Zone?

To tell you the truth, I'm not a very fair judge

because I haven't watched it. I think I watched
a couple, they weren't bad, but they weren't
Rod. Now Carol is bitter because a few are
Rod's stories; they just remade them.
Rod paved the way for a lot of those other TV
shows, like Outer Limits and even Star Trek.

Yeah. Gene Roddenberry credited Rod with

being the inspiration for Star Trek . Because
Star Trek would very slyly take an issue of
today and build a script around it, adapt it to
the future. For example, the one where the
inhabitants of this one planet, half of their
faces were white and the other black, the one
with Frank Gorshin in it. That was a commen
tary on blacks and whites. There were a lot of
Star Trek episodes like that. Gene gave one of
the speeches at the memorial they had in L.A.
I borrowed some outtakes from Star Trek to
show at an aviation writers' convention and
Roddenberry, too, told me Rod inspired him
to do the Star Trek series.
When was the last time you saw him?

The night before the operation. I went to his

room, and they were shaving him and I just
wished him luck. I had no idea it was going to
happen. And that's the last time I saw him. We
used to kid each other about being fellow
hypochondriacs. I broke him up once - he was
going to the doctor's and he asked me to go
with him. He's so worried, I said, "What are
you worried about? " He says, "Well, I've got
two worries. I'm afraid of heart problems and
I'm afraid of cancer. I'm quite sure I've got can-

1 50

How was it for him in his family life? Was it

difficult for him being so busy?

I don't know, I honestly don't know. I think it

was one thing that bothered his conscience that
he wasn't there all the time for the girls. But
there again, even though I was his brother, his
family problems, or his difficulties, or his situ
ations, were nothing he ever discussed. He was
far more protective and concerned about my
[life], domestic-wise, than he ever confided in
me about his own. Rod really thought my sec
ond wife was a great lady, they got along very
well. We used to play gin rummy together and
they'd both cheat like hell, I used to watch
them [laughs]. We played gin rummy in the
hospital after his first or second heart attack. I
remember walking into the hospital at Ithaca,
and he burst into tears. I remember my wife
went to the bed and put her arms around him.
"It's going to be okay. " And I just stood there
with tears rolling down my face.
If there were anybody I would have wanted to
meet, it would have been Rod.

Rod didn't have ego, he had pride, and there's

a hell of a difference. He was proud of his
fame. He was proud of his writing. Maybe he
would have had a huge ego if he hadn't been
so insecure to begin with.
I guess I miss him; I know Carol misses him.
Carol has devoted her whole life to making a
shrine out of his life. It's been hard on her, read
ing stuff about him, infidelities and all that. You
know, she's said she never wanted to get mar
ried again. "You know why ? " she says. I said,
"No, why ? " "Your brother was too hard an act
to follow. " Does that tell ya something?

Helen Foley

ALL-CLUB RECIPE

H e l e n Foley w as Rod Serling's influential j unior high

By Rodman SerIing

school Eng l i sh teacher as well as t h e founder of t h e

Rod Serling M emorial Foundation.

To describe the magnitude of the

Parade of Clubs is nc' easy matter.

To

do so would take a vocabulary far ex

ceeding that of this humble writer.
The only way
give it

To a Serling fan, it's common knowledge that

you were a teacher of Rod's while he attended
West Junior High School. Do you recall the first
memories or impressions you had of Rod?

to

First,

could attempt it is to

you in the form of a receipe...

take

miniature

W orId's:

Fair and add a Golden Gate Exposi

tion. Mix well with a very liberal por
tion of fun, enjoyment and educational
value, then deposit what you have in

My first impression of Rod: smart, witty,

clever, energetic, cute (small and handsome), a
leader, a convincing speaker, fun - a great
sense of humor. Rod was in many assembly
programs of which I was in charge. He was
always great on the stage.

to do with this gigantic undertaking,

Rod was known for his charismatic character as a

cafeteria, the spacious swimming pool'

student. Did his likable personality help balance

and

four massive rooms of West Junior

and out comes the Parade of Clubs_
Over

1300

pupils have had something

which is, incidentally, the largest of

its kind ever attempted in West Jun
ior's

history. Four massive and im

mense rooms house the displays and'

exhibits. The beautiful auditorium, the

a connection between you both?

Rod was charismatic, all right. He had a smile

and grin that enchanted all his teachers. We all
wanted to pick him up and hug him.
Especially when he returned from WWII in his
paratrooper uniform and visited every one of
his teachers - in junior high and central high.
He liked his teachers and his schools and
Binghamton.

the

boys'

big

gym.

Forty-one

"Clubs on Parade," a pageant of color,

beauty,

enjoyment

and

many

other

available factors that can be witnessed

at this magnificent school wide affair.
The teachers and club advisors have
done their part. Now it is up to us

to

be there with our parents and friends:

to

boost "Clubs on Parade."

A young Rod Serling wrote for his middle school paper,

The West Junior Courier.

Did Rod discuss his interests in becoming a

paratrooper? And what do you think about when
remembering Rod's service in the army, in WWII?

No, he did not discuss becoming a para

trooper with me. But he did with Gus Young
strom, his high school history teacher. Rod
was gung-ho to get into the war, quit school,
and go . Gus advised him to finish high
school first, and fortunately he did finish.
My brother, Mike Foley, and Rod graduated
together and went to war together
18
years old.
-

When Rod's live television dramas such as

"Patterns" and "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
overwhelmingly launched him into the limelight
of the industry, what thoughts did he share with
you of these early successes?

Rod, of course, was pleased with his success,

but modest, unassuming, charming, and glow
ing with pride. He, being self-effacing, not
once discussed his success with me. He didn't

151

Helen Foley's memories of her past haunt her in

Terry Burnham plays the mysterious Markie. "Do you

"Nightmare as a Child," starring Janice Rule.

remember, Helen?"

need to. It was evident. In the ' 5 0S, after he

had put the gold in the Golden Age of
Television, he opened the door of my class
room and peeked in. The students had gone.
That dazzling smile of his was just the same,
and I hadn't seen Rod since he went off to win
the war, except briefly in Binghamton when he
worked for a local station. We hugged and
hugged and talked for a long time.
What are your thoughts about what was happening
with Rod at the time of creating this imaginative
series?

I asked Rod to come and give a commence

ment address at school. He asked, "What will
I talk about ? " I replied, "Are you tough
enough ? " And what a speech it was. That eld
erly auditorium had never been so quiet! Rod
was a commanding speaker. He never pulled
punches. Rod's reference to Twilight Zone
was brief - " Oh, it's one of those spin-the-air
things. Maybe a little spooky, maybe a little
goofy. "

1 52

What was your reaction when you found out that

Rod had named a main character in a Twilight

Zone episode after you with teacher Helen Foley

in "Nightmare as a Child"?

When "Nightmare as a Child" aired, I was at

the Cortland Drama Festival with my drama
club. When I arrived home late that night, I
saw notes all over the house. My two sisters
were thrilled with the program, but it was
years before I saw it. When I did finally see it,
I was pleased and proud. It was well-done and
scary. I jumped and fluttered when I saw
Janice Rule open the door and saw Shepperd
Strudwick menacing through the door. The
child that played Markie [Terry Burnham] was
believable.
Rod's on-screen narrations introduced the public
to his persona, and they're a lasting connection
whenever one thinks of The Twilight Zone. What
interests you in the show?

Everything in Twilight Zone interests me the symbols, Rod's narrations, the music. But

Robert Keller
Robert

Keller,

author of

an

accompl i shed

art ist

and

the

House Proud, was a c l ose c h i l dhood friend

of Rod Serl i ng .

Could you tell u s your first memories o f Rod

Serling?

Helen is threatened by Peter Sheldon, played by Shepperd

Strudwick.

usually and especially, the moral at the end where do we get that today?

If memory doesn't deceive me after 70 years,

I think we met at the skating rink at
Recreation Park in Binghamton, under the
watchful eye of the bronze statue of George F.
Johnson, the founder of the Endicott John
son Shoe Company. I remember so well,
there was a little girl named Mary who, if
you skated up behind her and shouted her
name, she would immediately fall down on
the ice. For some reason Rod and I found
this to be hilarious.
When you and Rod were growing up together as
kids, did Rod ever mention what he wanted to be

In his later days, when Rod was having serious health

when he grew up? Did he know that he wanted to

issues, including a 30-year cigarette habit, why do

be a writer?

you think he apparently didn't change his ways?

I've been asked this by the authors of some of

the biographies of Rod, and my answer has
usually been that, given the rather sinister and
macabre fantasies of some of today's young
people, ours were pretty mild. Whether these
led Rod to envision a writing career, I don't
really know. During summer, when school
was out, we would often take our bicycles
with a packed lunch and sally forth to a near
by cemetery, where we would sit in front of a
marble mausoleum in the shape of a Greek
temple and pretend we were Greek shep
herds. I was learning to play a wind instru
ment called a recorder, and I would compose
on-the-spot melodies I thought had ancient
connotations. I always felt that there was a
discrete limit to the perverse possibilities
open to him.

Rod, like most of us, probably had no idea

that his time was up. He was an ardent smok
er. I dropped him a letter when he was in the
hospital in Ithaca - "What's the idea ? " Back
came a sassy reply - "No big deal. "
How did Rod's death affect you?

Rod's death was not totally unexpected, since

the local papers issued dark news on his con
dition. However, my sister Norma read about
it in a Montreal paper (we were in Quebec on
vacation in Montreal ) . She said, "I might as
well tell you before you read it - Rod is
dead." I simply stood still and looked out the
window of our motel. I do not cry easily, but I
did a lot of blinking. My grief is visceral. My
guts ached for days.

1 53

Once Rod began his early career as a television

writer, did he stay in touch? When he visited
Binghamton, what experiences of his work did
he share with you?

Much of our contact was during two of our

many high school reunions - the only two he
was able to attend because of his untimely
death. He was so loyal to all of his classmates,
I can't help but believe that he would have
attended all six. I often wonder if the fact of
WWII impinging on our lives might have some
thing to do with the apparent covenant we
seem to share. When he did mention his work,
there was very little negative conversation
about personalities, but as time went on, the
strain and stress of that would become appar
ent to me. He aged literally before my eyes.
Rod greatly contributed to shaping the infant
medium of live television drama. What do you think
of his work such as "Patterns," "The Comedian,"
On the set of "The Trouble With Templeton," Serling with
actress Pippa Scott, demonstrating the dance routine
she's going to do in the nightclub sequence.

Rod was very involved in high school activities,

such as sports, drama, and writing for the school
paper. How was he perceived by fellow students?

Rod had great charm, probably in retrospect

foreshadowing his charismatic persona on
television. Always a great smile for everyone.
When he delivered meat for his father, mothers
were quick to comment to others about his
sunny personality. As editor of our school
paper, The Panorama, his thoughts and words
were of the help we could give to the war
effort, especially with the Junior Red Cross, of
which he was president at the time. I have
copies of these because I was assistant art
director, and there was generally great disap
pointment when I showed them to the [biogra
phy] authors, because they expected fantasy.

1 54

"The Velvet Alley," and " Requiem for a

Heavyweight"?

My two favorites of these are "Patterns" and

" Requiem . " I recently attended an off-line
Broadway performance of " Requiem" and it
held up so beautifully, so moving and sad and
revealing the shadowy side of the fight game.
Going way back to high school editorials, that
so-called cosmic urge and sensitivity to others
runs through as an ongoing thread in so many
of his shows.
At the time of Twilight Zone's original airing,
do you know if Rod had any idea how popular
the show would have become and of its impact
on competing networks?

What probably clinched it was the inspired

decision to let Rod host the shows. It is almost
as if his persona and the content of the shows
merged, and now it is hard to separate the
"man" from the "medium. "

Earl Hamner Jr.

Earl H amner Jr.

began h i s c areer as a television

w riter by pen n i ng the eight

short stories in college, but I was stationed in

Paris during and after WWII, and I began writ
ing seriously there.

Twilight Zone episodes,

" T he H u nt , " " A P i ano i n the House , " " Jess-B e l l e , "

So if your tombstone will refer to The Waltons as

" R i ng-a-Ding-G i rl , "

one of the most memorable pieces, as it were,

Jac k et s , "

" You

Driv e , "

" Black

Leat her

" Stopover i n a Quiet Tow n , " a n d "The

Bew itc h i n ' Pool . " H e went on to w rite screenplays

for fi l m s ,

inc l u d i ng

Where the Lilies Bloom and

Charlotte's Web, and c reated the television series

Falcon Crest and The Waltons.

You're known for creating The Waltons and Falcon

Crest, among other things. How did you get your
start in writing?

I've written for magazines, I've written books,

I've got a play at the moment I'm trying to sell.
But The Waltons will be on my tombstone.
And I am still a professional writer. I go to my
office every day, I keep bankers' hours, I stop
for lunch. And go back to Amanda Drive at
the end of the day and say, "Honey, I'm
home. " And honey usually says, "Hi there, "
thank god.
Actually, I first became a published author
when I was six years old. I had written a poem
after Christmas, about my new red wagon, my
new blue sweater, and pulling a family of pup
pies around in this new wagon, and the poem
was called " My Dog Jack." My mother sent it
to the Richmond Times Dispatch children's
page, and they published it. So, at six years old
I discovered the joys of being a published
author, and also, that imagination is about 9 5
percent o f the art o f writing and 5 percent is
talent, because I did not have a new wagon
and I did not have a new blue sweater, nor did
we have any puppies. I didn't sell anything else
until I was about 2 3 . I wrote some when I was
a teenager, but I didn't know what I was
doing. I kept a journal, but I didn't think of
writing until I was in the army. I tried some

what is your favorite thing you've ever written?

Maybe if The Waltons is first on my tombstone,

right under it we can put The Twilight Zone.
Because those were original pieces. Each one
that I did, it was not an adaptation, it was total
ly my work, it was done when I was a much
younger writer. Maybe more apt to be a little
energetic, a little more in possession of the
word, a little more in charge of my talent as a
writer during those years, which was in the ' 50S.
And so I'm quite proud of The Twilight Zone.
Speaking of The Twilight Zone, what was your first
impression of Rod Serling?

My first impression of Rod was in 1 949 when

we met in New York. We were both there to

Pippa Scott and Brian Aherne during a nightclub scene in

"The Trouble With Templeton."

155

accept awards for scripts we had written for a

radio show called Dr. Christian. And that night
that we met, we were there to be on a broad
cast, and Rod had on sort of a zoot suit. He
was already married to Carol. He was a highly
energetic person, a person with a great deal of
charisma. You noticed Rod. He was always a
short, kind of, not a tall person. And like many
people who are kind of short, he tends to over
come that. But Rod did it very successfully you didn't think of him as a short man. He rose
above being short. He was a likable person. He
was warm. And I knew Rod in the context of a
friend, not a close friend, because we for most
of those years were business associates. But we
were good friends.
I left a job in a radio television station in
Cincinnati, Ohio. And when I left that job to
write a book, I had been there long enough to
make enough money to stop for a while. And
Rod had just gotten out of Yellow Springs and
came down and applied for the job that I
vacated. And he got it. And so later in Holly
wood, when we would run into each other at
parties and awards events, he would always
introduce me as the man who gave him his
first job. Which was kind of a nice thing to do.
And then when I came to Hollywood, he was
the man who gave me my first job. So there
were wheels within wheels.
Do you think that Rod used the show as a way to

1 56

Director Buzz Kulik and Dean Jagger appear to be dis

cussing his role in "Static."

fond of bringing the Nazis to their knees. And

often these scripts would have an anti-Nazi fla
vor. And bless him for doing that. And I wish
he were still here, because I don't think Nazism
is quite dead, as we would like to see it.
The show was already pretty successful by the

address ongoing social issues, disguise them in fic

time you joined it in the third season. How did you

tion so it would be more palatable for both the

feel about participating in a show with that kind of

audience and the network?

background?

I think Rod was very clever in the way he

turned issues into entertainment. But they were
not just social issues. I think he was also con
cerned with all aspects of life - he wrote
scripts about death, people dealing with death.
He wrote scripts about people who liked to
read. But also he strongly made statements
about social injustice, and he was particularly

My feeling joining The Twilight Zone was, first

of all, one of great gratitude, because I had
been looking for work in Hollywood for quite
a long time and desperately needed money. So
I could finally pay the rent. But, of course, I felt
a great sense of pride even to be associated
with Rod. And not only with Rod, but the very
distinguished writers that also shared the writ-

ing chores with him. They also were superior

directors. If you see some of those scripts
today, they may seem limited in use of sets and
makeup, but imagination took over. They may
not be as technically perfect as one would
want, but the imagination and the spirit, the
life - the life, above all - was there.
It all starts with story, and so many projects
today don't have it, the words aren't there.
They may look great, but if the words aren't
there, then the eye can forgive a lot, I think.
One of the things is that not only are the
words not there, but the spirit that Rod was
able to imbue in his writers in his directors. In
his own deep belief in what he was doing. We
all became imbued by his strength.
"The Hunt" was your first episode. How did you
make that first sale?

Having met Rod briefly in 1 949, I had kept up

with his career, even though he stayed in
Cincinnati and I had gone to New York and to
Hollywood. I knew what he was up to, and had
watched The Twilight Zone. But it didn't occur
to me for quite a long time after I moved to
California and was so poverty-stricken, that I
could write for the show. I thought of a couple
of ideas and one became "The Hunt." The
other became "A Piano in the House. " I wrote
outlines and sent them over to Rod. And he sent
a note back saying, "These are nice ideas, but
our stories are chosen by committee and I have
turned them over to the committee. " So I
thought it was a really nice brush-off, but I
don't blame Rod. They must have been terrible
stories and wrong for the show.
But almost a week went by and Buck
Houghton called and said, "We like both of
your stories and we would like to buy them,
and we understand that you haven't written
for television and you don't write film, so
would you like to write them up like little
plays ? " And so I said, "I would like to write

them up, but like little television shows,"

which I did.
I'm quite proud of "The Hunt." I thought
that Arthur Hunnicutt could have been cast
better. Think what Will Gere would have done
in that role. But in spite of limited acting, the
story came across. And again, it combined a
lot of my background: it had religious over
tones, and I was raised in a very religious
home and made to go to church every Sunday.
It also had reverberated experiences going
coon hunting when I was a boy. And a love of
dogs, which was reflected in the story about
the man who loves his dog. Maybe part of that
story came from the fact that one night, my
father, who loved his hunting dogs and kept a
good many of them, had accidentally shot one
of his dogs. And he looked and looked until
dark and couldn't find it, and he still went
back after dinner and looked for the dog
again. And he finally found it and it was dead.
But I think the emotional reaction to seeing my
father's love for that dog reverberated in the
fact that I wrote about a man who takes his
dog to heaven.
What was the inspiration for your second episode,
"A Piano in the House"?

I don't remember specifically, but I am a pro

fessional writer, and I think of a story, you
know, I make my living writing. So I suspect I
sat down and said, "Now I've got to think of
another story. " There was inspiration for "The
Hunt." I can't recall any specific indication of
inspiration for the second one. Except for ado
ration of Joan Hackett, the lady who played
the wife. A gorgeous and talented and leg
endary lady who died much too young.
"Jess-Belle" was the only one-hour show you wrote
for The Twilight Zone. Did the one-hour format give
you opportunities that you didn't have in the half
hour form?

1 57

Barry M o rse ( Fitzgerald Fortune in

"A P i a n o in the House " ) : '''A P i ano in the
House' was, i n terms of scripts i n those days,
a firm-going television script. All too many scripts
that were being presented in those earlier days in
the '50s and '60s were poor relations either of
theatrical conventions or of the movies. But t h i s ,
w it h its imaginative - rather supernatura l ,
y o u might say - influences w a s a good
example of the potential television
has always had . "

I didn't think of it as giving me more opportu

nities. I did think that I could do a big story,
something, not just an anecdote, because I
think many of the half-hour shows were really
kind of expanded anecdotes, or short, short
stories. Whereas the hour episode was more
akin to a novella or a long short story. It gives
you more scope, or the opportunity to explore,
not tangential things, but depth in a character,
or to develop more interesting effects. Which
we had a lot of in "J ess- Belle. "
I understand that you were under the gun to write
that script from scratch in a week. Tell me how
that happened.

Well, I wasn't put under the gun; I put my own

self under the gun. Because Herb Hirschman,
who was a wonderful director, he was produc
ing and directing, called on a Friday and said,
"I just had a script shot out from under me
and I was wondering if you happened to have
an hour-long script that you could adapt to
The Twilight Zone. " And I said, "No, I
don't." And he said, " Gee, that's a shame, I

1 58

really need it - something by next Friday. "

And I said, "Well, I'll write you an original by
next Friday. " Again, arrogant, and just con
ceited and outrageous. And so Herb said,
"Can you do that? " And I said, "Sure, I'll
write an act today. " And he said, "Well, you
know, you write about those folks back home,
and homespun down-to-earth stuff. Could
you give me a story along those lines ? " And I
said, "Sure . " Not knowing any better.
And so I thought of an idea over the week
end. It was loosely an idea that could easily
have happened back in the Blue Ridge or the
Appalachians. And having to do with a young
woman who sells her soul to the devil for a
young man's love. That's an old theme, and it's
been explored a lot of times, but I didn't think
that anyone had explored it in that particular
background. And so I called Herb briefly on
Sunday morning and told him what I wanted
to do, and he said, " Go." And so I wrote an act
each day and delivered it to him on Friday.
Well, he didn't have time to change a word, so
that was to my advantage. Not that he would
have. And the next day, he called and said he
liked the script and was going to buy it. The
next call to Herb was to say that I had written
in a panther, a cougar, a wildcat, and that the
penalty for Jess-Belle's selling her soul was that
at midnight she would be turned into a wildcat.
And Herb said, "I'm up to my knees in wild
cats over here, and they are all very mean crea
tures and can't easily be trained." However,
one . of the animal keepers brought in a black
leopard instead of a wildcat. And I said I
thought that would be wonderful, because this
is The Twilight Zone and you can take those
kinds of liberties. As it turned out, the black
leopard was wonderful. And so is everybody
on that show. From Anne Francis, who played
Jess-Belle just beautifully, to James Best, who
played the young man that she gave up her life
for to love.

You've mentioned that sometimes you felt that

Laura Devon, James Best, and Anne Francis star in Earl

actors haven't been able to capture the Southern

Hamner Jr.'s folkish tale of black magic, "JessBelle."

spirit of the characters, but these two seem to be

right on the mark.

They were absolutely wonderful. And I don't

know that Anne or Jim had ever been in the
south. It's been a recurring problem with me.
When I turned in my script for "The Home
coming," I wrote a two-page description of
how to obtain Southern speech. But again, you
see, I'm outrageously demanding of the people
I work with.
Any fun stories or anecdotes that come to mind
about the making of "Stopover in a Quiet Town"?

One of the nice things about working for The

Twilight Zone is that, having watched it prior
to coming to Hollywood, I was aware of the
work of a lot of people who I came actually to
know, or to work with. So it was quite a pleas
ure doing The Twilight Zone to have Nancy
Malone play one of the characters in
" Stopover in a Quiet Town, " because I had
admired Nancy's work for years on Naked
City, which she did in New York. Wonderful
actress, and she's still here in Hollywood.

159

Any favorite scenes or moments from the finished

show?

I love the climax. Because I think I started with

the climax of that show. I had that ending
before I knew where I was going, how I was
going to get there.
Maggie McNamara had the lead in "Ring-a-Ding
Girl." How did you feel she compared with what
you had in your mind's eye?

I thought she was superlative. At that time,

I don't think I had met a Hollywood actress. I
had seen them onstage and in my imagination
and in films, but to write about a Hollywood
actress was not something I was proficient in,
so I didn't really know what I was doing. I was
just writing a person. And when Maggie
McNamara came in, dragging furs behind her,
I thought, "Yeah, she's right. " She was a very
beautiful woman. And I thought she gave the
quality that could have accounted for a
woman of great glamour, and seeming not to
have all that much substance at the same time,
to give her life and to save the lives of people
that she loved.
How did you feel about the casting on "You
Drive"?

I thought the casting was wonderful. The gentle

man, whose name is Edward Andrews, was
perfect in the part. He was a little bit overly
fastidious; he put you off just a little bit to the
degree you could hate him for running over a
small kid. And then you could sympathize
with the car - the car was the hero of the
piece - when you could see it plotting against
this bad man. I thought the production was
marvelous. I like the many turns and twists of
the attempts of the car to bring the man to j us
tice. Which was mostly my invention in the
story, because I kept finding new devices to
make the man attempt to rectify the bad thing
he had done.

1 60

Maggie McNamara stars as actress Bunny Blake,

in Hamner's underrated "Ring-a-Oing Girl."

"Black Leather Jackets" seems to be a precursor

to biker films of the mid-to-Iate '60s.

Oh yes, they stole that idea from me. No, the

only similarity I can find to real life of the guys
in the leather jacket story were the fact that
there were kids in my neighborhood - my son
Scott, the Cooks' boy Steve, and the next-door
neighbors the Hoblets' son Fred - all had
minibikes. And they used to terrorize the
neighborhood with their minibikes. There was
an English lady, Pamela Goldstein, who lived
next door who would get hoses out and throw
water at them and shout, "Be gone ! " As a
matter of fact, I even call those characters
Freddy, Scott, and Steve. And I understand a
lot of people have felt that episode was rather
faultily constructed, with a lot of holes in it.
But still I had the fun of naming the characters
after my son and his friends. I don't think they
were especially pleased about it.

"The Bewitchin' Pool" paints a fairly sad picture of

the growing phenomenon of divorce. Were there any
personal stories that went into that, or just the gen
eral sense that that was an increasing social factor?

I guess I was raised in a very religious family. I

had gone to church up until the army. And also
I've had friends who've gone through very
painful divorces, and I've seen what happened
to the children. And I suppose that finally bub
bled over into a story that said children suffer
in a divorce. It's certainly not some earthshak
ing revelation, but I must have felt strongly
enough about it that I dreamed up that story.
And also, it reflected a certain comfort and love
that women can give. And in creating the old
lady who was able to comfort the children, I
was able to balance the young couple who were
incapable of giving love. I guess unconsciously
I try to create a balance to the good and the
bad, because my philosophy of life, if you could
call it that, is that there is a balance of good and
evil. And I always feel that I am one with all of
humanity, so that there's good and evil in me
because it exists within, both of those things
exist within me. So endeth the lesson.

Edward Andrews stars in Hamner's hit-and-run episode,

"You Drive."

Mary Badham, who played Sport, was nominated

for an Oscar for To Kill a Mockingbird. Did you feel
that the kids, and she in particular, captured what

Oh, absolutely. I was a regular Twilight Zone

fan. And I watched every episode.

you were looking for?

Yes, yes, yes. She was marvelous. I'm honored

even to be associated in any way, even by that
link, with To Kill a Mockingbird, which I
think is the great American novel. And I felt
especially drawn toward that work because
Harper Lee wrote a beautiful recommenda
tion for one of my books, which was reprint
ed on the book jacket, which I think account
ed for it becoming a best-seller. The letter of
recommendation was better than the book.
Did you watch much beyond the shows you were
involved with?

How would you like Rod to be remembered?

I think, as the father to The Twilight Zone, a

remarkable achievement in an industry that is
classic - classic being a work that has lasting
message and expression and achievement.
Toward the end of his life was a most heart
breaking experience for me, because I had
heard on the radio that he had had a heart
attack, that he was ill. And I did one of those
things I wish we could all learn not to do,
which was that every day I'd say, " I'll call Rod
tomorrow, I'll call Rod tomorrow. " And then
I remember - I think it was a Saturday night

161

- the news came over the radio that h e had

died. And it was a horrible feeling that I had
not called him to wish him well. And to thank
him for what he had meant in my life.

the pilot, I guess at C B S . We were the ones who

outlasted the others, because we wrote that
kind of story already, so we were ideal for The
Twilight Zone. So it was familiar territory.
What would you say was your approach to

What makes a good Twilight Zone episode?

think this is something those people who did

the second version never knew. The Twilight
Zone is actually an expanded anecdote with a
surprise ending that has something meaningful
to say, usually a socially significant message. It'
also had that mysterious quality that some
times comes through on television projects,
that everything is right - the time is right, the
music is right, all the ingredients are right
there. I would also consider M "-A " S ':-H a tele
vision classic. The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The Honeymooners, as a comedy. I Love
Lucy. And The Waltons, without being self
serving, I do think, because it lasts.
I

storytelling on The Twilight Zone, in comparison

to Serling's and Beaumont's?

Structurally, we all did the same thing, which

was to start out with a little teaser that gets the
viewer interested, and then have a little sus
pense item at the end of the first act, and then
resolving it through the script, through the
story, and then finishing it with a surprise end
ing, or at the very least, some kind of ironic
observation regarding the story. Serling pre
ferred doing message-type shows and Chuck
Beaumont went for dark fantasy, and I went
more for slightly ironic ideas that usually had a
happy ending. They had some kind of ending
that was ironic, but hopefully was not obvious
during the show. There were a number of occa-

Richard Matheson
R i c hard M atheson
i nc l ude

The

is a w riter whose fi l m credits

Incredible

Shrinking

Man,

Duel,

Somewhere in Time, and Stir of Echoes, and whose

television shows inc lude
and

Star Trek, Night Stalker,

Night Gallery. H i s first contributions to Twilight

Zone were the two stories "Third from the Sun" and
" A n d When the Sky Was Opened , " followed by the
original

scripts

"The

Last

Fl ight , "

"A

World

of

Differenc e , " "A World of His Ow n , " " N i c k of T i m e , "

" T h e I nvaders,"

"Once U pon a T i m e , "

" Little G i rl

Lost , " "Young M an ' s Fancy," " M ute, " " Death Shi p , "
" Stee l , " " N ightmare a t

20,000 Feet , " " N ight C a l l , "

a n d " Spur o f t h e M oment . "

How did you first get involved with The Twilight

Director Allen Reisner, actor Dan Duryea, and Rod Serling

Zone?

behind the scenes of " Mr. Denton on Doomsday."

Chuck Beaumont and

162

were called in to see

sions when we were able to get a real boffo

ending like in that one with Agnes Moorehead,
"The Invaders. " That was, I hope, a totally
unexpected ending.

met with them agam and made agreed-upon

alterations. Working with them was always
pleasant and rewarding.
What was it like working with Rod Serling?

What was the show's work environment like? And

aside from your scripts, what personal involvement
did you have in the series?

I had very little personal involvement with the

series. I would go in to meet Rod Serling and
Buck Houghton, who was a nice man and obvi
ously knew the series, and later Bert Granet and
the man who produced the hour-long shows,
Herbert Hirschman. I would present them with
an idea, and when I came up with one they
liked, they gave me the go-ahead and I went
home and wrote it. If rewriting was called for, I

What was he like personally and professionally?

I first met him when both Chuck and I went

out to dinner with him, and later we were over
at his house a number of times. He had a film
club - all these top-notch people in the busi
ness would pick out a movie that they had
wanted to see, and he had me over when they
did The Incredible Shrinking Man.
I did very little work with Rod Serling other
than story-idea submissions and possible
rewrite meetings. He was always pleasant,
always thoughtful, and, being a writer him
self, very protective of my work as well as the
work of the other writers on the show. It was
good to be exposed to a writer/producer who
had respect and kindness. Whatever his justi
fication was, he did have it, and it encourages
you to do the best you can. There were no
problems, we never had a harsh word, and
nothing was ever said like "This is a terrible
script, I don't think we're going to use this
one . " I do not recall one line of my scripts ever
being changed, except by Phyllis Kirk in "A
World of His Own," and she didn't exactly
change my lines but sort of did an approxima
tion of them. Keenan Wynn and Mary La
Roche read my lines exactly as written.
Personally, Rod was good company and very
generous in every way.

Did they put any restrictions to the types of storyInside the set of the Busy Bee Cafe, William Shatner
(Don Carter) questions The Mystic Seer fortune machine,
while Patricia Breslin (Pat Carter) questions her husband's superstitious tendencies, in Richard Matheson's
"Nick of Time."

lines you could write about?

No, the only restriction I had was I couldn't use

the word GOD. Rod could - he could have his
characters say, "Dear god" or " Good god." I
couldn't do that. They wouldn't allow me. So I
don't know what I said. "Darn it," or " Rats ! "

1 63

Were you happy with Serling's adaptations

of your two stories, "Third from the Sun" and
" Disappearing Act," which became "And When
the Sky Was Opened"?

Well, "Third from the Sun" was all right

because it was pretty close to the story, but the
other one, Rod just did an entirely different
story from the one I had. It wasn't j ust rewrit
ing it, it was redoing it all the way from top to
bottom. In my story - which had a wonderful
ending, and I would have loved to have had
that, that would have been a boffo ending - a
writer is writing the whole thing in a soda
fountain shop, and he's alone and he's writing
all this down while he sits at the counter, and
he's able to describe everything so well. You get
very used to him, and he starts talking about all
these people who disappeared, houses that dis
appeared, and the last line of the story is, " I'm
having a cup of coff-" And you know.
Immediately you have a visual in your mind.

I loved "Nick of Time" because I thought that

both Bill Shatner and the actress who played
his wife - Pat Breslin - were wonderful.
About a man who allowed superstition to
dominate his thinking, and having that type of
approach to his life, his business life, or any
part of his life. And his wife finally talking him
out of it, and him improving. Well, you have to
assume there was some kind of fantasy for the
machine to come up with an applicable answer
to every question he had, a little beyond just
accident. It played well, was involving and
moving, and had a dandy snapper ending to
chill the spine. A good TZ. "A World of His
Own" is another favorite - outside of the
comments I made about Phyllis Kirk who, I
must add, did a fine job playing the role. I got

When The Twilight Zone originally aired, what did

you think of the show at the time, and how do you
feel about it today?

It was fun to write the shows, watch some of

them being filmed, and seeing them on televi
sion. I thought the show very unique for its
time, however, and to me, more interesting
than the other shows of its ilk on television. I
think it's lasted because it's in black and white.
I was j ust reading this afternoon that CBS
wanted them to do it in color, but Serling and
Houghton refused. And they were so right,
because this way it was film noir. The whole
thing would have disappeared, because I don't
think it would have worked at all in color.

The Mystic Seer is actually The Swami napkin-holder for

tune machine that flourished in diners across America in
the 1950s. The property department worked with the

Aside from your more popular Twilight Zone

Swami's creator to design a handful of unique Mystic Seer

episodes, " Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and

metal covers to use in place of the Swami covers. The

"The Invaders," what are your thoughts about

devil's-head design was uniquely sculpted to follow the

episodes such as "Nick of Time," "A World of His

same look of a Halloween candy dispenser lid of the time.

Own," and "Night Call"?

1 64

AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED:

\:-nL

------_

an enormous kick our of being the only writer

on the show to "wink out" Rod Serling at the
end of the show. I don't know what made me
come up with that idea, but I thought it was
funny, and fortunately he had a great sense of
humor and it was the last show of the season,
SO he could do it. He got a big kick out of it.
His ego was strong enough -- he didn't need to
say, " Look, I don't want any fun made of my
name," that kind of stuff.

Actresses Gladys Cooper and Nora Marlowe consult

with director Jacques Tourneur while the crew ( including
director of photography Robert W. Pittack) prepares to
film the next shot in " Night CalL" Tourneur also directed
numerous films such as Cat People, Days of Glory, and
interestingly enough, Nightfall.

165

"Night Call" I like a lot. I talked them into

hiring Jacques Tourneur, one of the finest direc
tors in the business. He had a marvelous touch
with both the visuals and the dramatics of the
show. He was quiet and gentle and polite, and
yet he got this marvelous look. Gladys Cooper
was superb. An interesting sidelight: I was told
that they couldn't hire Tourneur because he
was a movie director and would take too long
to shoot the piece. My recollection is that he
had the shortest shooting schedule of any
Twilight Zone - 28 hours. He was incredibly
efficient. Like Hitchcock and David Lean, he
knew what he wanted from every shot before
he started shooting.
The Twilight Zone is popularly known for its twist
endings, yet many episodes are sensitive, thought
provoking, and comedic. At the series' inception,

An Invader puppet made from foam rubber.

was it Rod's intention that the storytelling

approaches be varied?

I'm sure that Rod, being the consummate writer

he was, did not think, for a moment, of making
every Twilight Zone as though made with a
cookie cutter. Their variety was perfectly in
keeping with his creative awareness. What the
story called for, we did. If the notion was seri
ous, we wrote it that way. If it was comedic, we
did it that way. Interestingly enough - I have
said this before - the original submission for
"A World of His Own" was very grim and seri
ous indeed. They suggested making it a comedy,
which I did gladly. A similar occurrence was on
"The Invaders. " My original story was not to
their taste, so I turned it into a science-fiction
approach. Many years later, the grim approach
to the story - not that "The Invaders" is exact
ly comedy - became one of the stories on
Trilogy of Terror, the Zuni doll chasing Karen
Black all over her apartment.
"The Invaders" is one of your more popular
episodes, and one of the best in the eyes of the

166

fans. How does this episode hold up for you as

its creator?

I didn't like the little critters that were chasing

her around. They looked like little waddley
toys you used to see men selling on street cor
ners. That's what they looked like to me. The
way I wrote it, you hardly saw them, there
were just flashes of movement. I think it would
have been much better. But Agnes Moorehead
was good, and the director [Douglas Heyes]
told me when she read the script, she said,
"Where's my part ? " Because actors and
actresses, to them the job consists of dialogue
or monologue, and it didn't have either one.
"A World of Difference" is another of your best
episodes. What motivated you to write that script,
and how did that episode turn out for you?

Every time I went on a set, my thought was

always, "What if this turns into a real place and
I can't get home because I don't know where my
house is ? " And that led to me coming up with

Howard Duff stars in Matheson's bizarre identity crisis

episode, "A World of Difference."

Veteran actor Lee Marvin poses as his own broken-down

robot boxer, Battling Maxo, and goes up against robot
Maynard Flash, played by Chuck Hicks, in "Steel."

that story idea, and Howard Duff was very

happy with it, and his wife, Ida Lupino, liked it.
Ted Post directed that, a very good director. The
woman who played the real nasty wife is Sean
Penn's mother, Eileen Ryan. Her husband, Leo
Penn, Sean Penn's father, directed the one Star
Trek I wrote, "The Enemy Within. "
Could you share some memories of visiting the
sets while your episodes were being filmed?

Well, I spent the afternoon with Ralph Nelson

and both Lee Marvin and Joe Mantell
[ "Steel" ] . We went through it, and Lee Marvin
really impressed me because he was acting out
the story, even though we're on an empty set no set pieces, no lighting, no music, no nothing,
and he was acting out the part as if it were real
ly taking place. And it wasn't just that he had a
brilliant ability to do this kind of acting, it was
that he lost himself in the role, he became the
person I wrote about. It couldn't have been

done better. It's almost as if he'd read my brain

when he read the script. It was all there.
What do you think about the attempts to remake
The Twilight Zone?

I didn't care for Twilight Zone: The Movie.

The only section I like was the one Joe Dante
directed from my adaptation of Jerry Bixby's
script [ " It's a Good Life"]. I thought they blew
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Lithgow is a
marvelous actor, as witness his portrayal in my
Amazing Stories script "The Doll, " but he was
forced to start at 1 00 percent hysteria and
work up from that - patently impossible. Bill
Shatner's tightly contained performance suited
the story much better. Although I wish they
could have had the gremlin from the movie in
the television segment. I thought it looked like
a woolly bear. Intriguingly enough, the man
inside that suit was Nick Cravat, Burt

him, and I won't do the first draft." And it

worked fine for us, but Froug was convinced
that Chuck was just carrying me. So we didn't
get along. Every once in a while you meet a
producer that you simply just do not like, and
he doesn't like you, and you don't know why
exactly, but it happens.
Your film contributions are quite memorable.
What interests you in fantasy and horror?

Hicks wears the mask o f Maynard Flash, created by

makeup artist William Tuttle.

Nothing interests me in horror. I hope that I

have never written horror, but terror, which is
a different kettle of fish. Horror is visceral,
makes you feel nauseous. Terror needles the
mind. I prefer terror - although now I don't
write in that genre either. Fantasy can cover
many areas. To me, What Dreams May Come
is not a fantasy, since I believe in what I wrote
about, as witness the 1 00 research books I list
at the end of the novel. At the moment, I am
not sure what subject I will write about. I am
drawn toward metaphysics, and have done
two books in that area.

Lancaster's old acrobat associate. Made-up

properly, he would have looked exactly like
the gremlin I described in my novelette. With
no makeup, maybe just enhance the black
around his eyes, and a little toying with his
appearance, he would have been perfect.

George Clayton Johnson

Why was your story, "The Doll," not used in the

t he C a n . " He w rote t h e premiere episode o f

Twilight Zone series?

Trek, and t h e fi l m s Ocean's Eleven and Logan 's Run.

George C l ayton Johnson wrote stories that became

"The Four of Us A re Dying , " " Ex ec ut i o n , " "The Prime
M over," and " Ni nety Years W ithout Slumbering," as
w e l l as t h e scripts for " A Penny for You r Thoughts,"
" A Game of Pool , " " Not h i ng i n t h e Dark , " and " Ki c k

Well, by the time I submitted that, I had pro

ducer William Froug. When Chuck and I were
doing some detective show and Froug was
producing it, Chuck should have straightened
him out. But he got the idea that because I had
made an arrangement with Chuck, I didn't like
driving into town, so I said, "You go in and
front for us and tell him what you have to tell

168

Star

Here's a question you've probably been asked hun

dreds of times. When did you first realize you want
ed to become a writer?
I took a course in a local college on the short
story, and I wanted to write a short story. But
I decided with the help of a friend to write

Actor Martin Landau prepares for a scene as Hotaling, the

bully in "Mr. Denton on Doomsday."

Ocean 's Eleven in the form of a sort of a

novel, that turned into a screenplay, that
ended up being sold to Peter Lawford and
through him, to Frank Sinatra and ultimately
became a big movie. I think even when I was
10 or I I or 1 2, when the papers would say,
"Well, a noted writer has said so-and-so, so
and-so," I'd wonder, "Who is this noted
writer? Why does he have such special class
that he can get in the newspapers and be quot
ed and things like that? " I felt very knowledge
able about writing and I envied writers, I
wanted to be one, I knew that's where the
chewy center was. But I don't think I ever real
ly believed that it was possible for me until I
began to try to do it.
What were the early struggles of becoming a
freelance writer like for you? Did you ever want
to quit?

Yes, many times, but I couldn't. I had quit my

job. I had cast our fates to the wind. I had to
wait - from the time Ocean's Eleven was sold,
till the time it appeared on the screen - six
years. And during those six years, for about five
of them, I spent my time digging dry wells. I
found myself writing short stories, and often
rewriting them under the encouragement of
friends or people I could get to read them, and
sending them out and getting them sent back
with messages that told me nothing. And it was
very discouraging, because I just sort of became
a beatnik. I let it all slide. I took to heart the idea
of "Tune in, turn on, and drop out." And I did,
to a large extent, thinking it sort of, oh, Jack
Kerouac-ish, sort of avant-garde. And I suppose
I was really part of the societal avant-garde in
my growing attitudes toward society, and trying
to find ways to reflect these ideas in fiction. I, of
course, came across the work of Richard
Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and Ray
Bradbury, and a whole host of other writers.
But before you knew them, when you were just
reading their writing, they're people who you're
either inspired by or influenced by, and then when
they become your friends, you realize they're just
people.

Ray Bradbury has never become "j ust people"

to me. In some bizarre way, he has that mag
netic core of energy that has him always look
ing over the next hill, even when you're look
ing into his eyes. He's a remarkable man. He's
served as my mentor, and as my friend, and as
my inspiration. He's read my stories, he's com
mented upon them, he's praised them. He's
just a loving person in my life, and so are
many of the others that I've named. Because
the first thing I did, when I finally was able to
meet one of this group, was to get to know
and meet them all, find occasions to do so,
travel a distance to meet, or go where one of
them would be.

1 69

Director Walter E. Grauman on the set of "Miniature."

and intimidated him, because I was that guy

who was a friend of Ray Bradbury's, Charles
Beaumont's.
So, here we were, and every time we met we
were super-polite to each other, like gun
fighters, you know, each one watching the
other one's hands. Me, sort of tongue-tied, a
little afraid to assert myself or to try to take
the floor, always waiting to sort of be a coun
terpuncher and reflect back what I was hear
ing, trying to find a way to break into this
business. So it wasn't really a fair contest
between us at first, because I was just totally
awed that I would even be in the presence of
such a man. And so it was like I had penetrat
ed almost to the very center of things, from
the outside, over a very brief period of time,
by getting to know and to work with Rod
Serling. If he raised his voice in a room, 1'd
shut up to see what he had to say.
And his Twilight Zone series became

What were your first impressions of Rod Serling?

Well, of course I was awed, since he was the

greatest author from the East Coast who had
won all the Emmy Awards, who was celebrat
ed, who was briefly the president of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci
ences. Who had all of the connections, who
had been on television, had been interviewed
by people all over the place - he was big
news. And I was unknown; I lay in the shad
ow of Ray Bradbury and Charles Beaumont.
My access to many things was simply because
I was that writer who was a friend of theirs,
and then so many doors would open for me.
And so this was one of those doors that semi
opened for me and I, of course, was intimi
dated completely. I didn't want to say the
wrong thing or do the wrong thing; I didn't
want to try and be too bold, or I didn't want
to be too timid. I wanted to be totally respect
ful. Of course, this whole attitude baffled him

1 70

a phenomenon.

Yeah, it was a phenomenon, but it was a bor

derline success while it was going on, while it
was being made. It slowly grew to be a phe
nomenon, by virtue of its merit, but in the
beginning it was still competing with shows
like One Step Beyond, and then years later,
The Outer Limits. Things like that started to
come, but in the beginning, it sort of held its
own, and it was a very literate thing. I was
very glad to be associated with it, because it
had a lot of intellectual appeal and prestige,
because Rod was one of the really great adap
tors. I would watch how he would work, and
later on I would see short stories by people
like Marvin Petal or Manly Wade Wellman or
John Collier, and the words would just j ump
off the page, all because Rod had this ability
to take something literary and transform it
into something visual. He had an eye for what
you call "photogenic fiction."

Matheson, he says, "What about the

Lusitania ? " Rod says, "What's that? " "Well,
you know how it's the greatest liner of all time
and it went down with all hands, everybody
died, a real, real bad disaster? " And Rod says,
"Yes," and he says, "Well, do it with a space
ship. Now we're in a spaceship, the spaceship
is in space, and suddenly there is a collision
with an asteroid. My god, it's the Lusitania. "
And of course Rod says, "Yes! Yes! " because
he was eager to buy almost anything that
would run an hour. And I was sitting there
running through all these ideas I dreamed up
for The Twilight Zone, all neatly tailored to be
a half-hour long. Trying to think of something
offhand that would appeal to him as a premise
for an hour, because I could have gotten an
assignment to do one of them if 1'd just spoken
up that evening with a premise that sounded
half-logical.
The hour episodes, in many fans' opinions,
Actor Steve Cochran takes a break and reads through his

don't work quite as well as the half-hour.

script from "What You Need."

I felt that it was a slower pace and they were

using up more time, killing time, and that they
were basically half-hour stories stretched, or
they were somehow compressible into a half
hour if you really would work at it. Like that
one that Robert Duvall did of Charles
Beaumont's, about the miniature house with
the little women in it and this poor guy in the
museum looking at all this stuff inside the
glass case [ "Miniature " ] . They could have
handled that in a half-hour. It certainly was
stretched out just because that was the new
requirement. But everyone there knew that's
exactly what we were doing, that little one-act
play. Only do it to make it look sort of semi
artificial, because you had the back lot of MGM
to work on, and so there was no real great
attempt to try and make things look as they
exactly looked. If that set could have appeared
to be a bank, then that set was a bank.

Did you get to know Rod personally?

Well, we had a number of talks together on

various occasions, and I went to several parties
that he was at. I saw him at the studio, I had a
couple of story conferences with him. I had
lunch with him in a place in Santa Monica
called The Bat Rack, along with Richard
Matheson and Charles Beaumont, where we
were trying to figure out what to do now that
they had made up their minds to do The
Twilight Zone as an hour show, and on video
tape, or, in a new media - you know, elec
tronic media. We all had trepidations trying to
wonder how to take this format, really make it
work in any way in an hour form.
I remember one particular thing. Richard

171

Crewmen observe actors Ernest Truex and Steve

Cochran during filming of an apartment scene from
"What You Need."

I'm curious to hear any anecdotes about your

meetings with Rod.

Well, there is one sad thing that has come up

in my mind again and again, and that is that I
had a meeting at one of the large agencies IFA, I think it was - and while I was sitting in
the lobby, Rod comes out slowly, and so I get
an opportunity to brace myself and we meet
each other fairly politely. And he starts to light

1 72

up a cigarette and he says to me, "Well, what

do you think about that Liar's Club thing? "
And then when I showed a little bafflement
about just exactly what he meant, he said, "Do
you think I should be doing that? " Liar's Club
was a very strange television show that was
hosted by Rod Serling [in 1 9 69], probably as a
gift to someone who wanted him to do it. But
anyway he liked doing it, and his job was to
introduce some outlandish object and give it to
four contestants who were stars, or television
and movie people, and they would try to each
tell a different story about what this imple
ment was used for, to determine which one
was the best liar. And it was okay in a sort of

Director Alvin Ganzer looks on as Cochran ( Fred Renard)

runs through the bullying of Truex ( Pedott).

their heart and -" " Okay, okay, the circus,

let's go out to the circus." Little did I know
that within a year or two he would be gone.
The moralistic things that he wrote about human

mournfully slow, slightly boring way with a

laugh track, and poor Rod sort of serving as
bookends. I should have told him what I
believed, which was that he was much too
important to be wasting even a minute doing
something like this, but instead I said, "There
comes a time in a person's life when they want
to run off and join the circus. You can deny it
and stay at home if you want to, but every
body's entitled to do it, Rod. To go and follow

nature seem to have been a part of him.

He was a very common man basically inside of

himself. He could identify with a tailor much eas
ier than he could with a banker. He had it in him.
Let me ask you some questions about The Twilight
Zone. What were your thoughts about the show at
the time, and how do you feel about it today?

Well, pretty much the same. I had a reverence

for it. It was one of the very few places on tel-

1 73

evision where I felt myself capable of getting

excited enough to actually spend the time to
write a television script.
There are photos of you on the set of "Nothing in
the Dark." Did you visit any other sets of The
Twilight Zone?

Yes, I went to watch them shoot all of my

episodes. I was allowed on the set freely, I got to
meet the actors. In fact, I've got publicity pho
tos of me taken with the actors. I went to them
and I studied them and I watched with some
fascination, because I would not really know
what I was looking for when I would write
"close shot," or "tight shot," or "tilt shot."
Then I would watch somebody set it up and I'd
see where they'd place the camera, and I
couldn't imagine how they were going to get
from here to there. Only then I'd realize they're
going to swivel the camera, they're going to
point it here and they're going to put it here oh, now I'm beginning to see it. And then after
a while, the whole geometry of it becomes clear,
and then I see the actors brought into the scene,
and then I see the way the camera knows just
when it's looking at them closely, for that tight
shot. And when you look at it, the guy has
caught what was in the darned script, but he's
caught it in a way that moves, and in a way
where he's imbedded in the action and it's not
up on a stage happening in front of him. Of
course, they had that marvelous cinematogra
pher, [Clemens] that was the hero of this show.

Jonathan Winters stars as billiards champion Fats Brown

in "A Game of Pool."

had hoped for really works, because the actors

got it and knew just how to do it.
And you were able to feel that without the
soundtrack.

Yeah, and I've seen lines of dialogue taken out

of a script, and when I asked why, directors
like Lamont Johnson would say to me, "The
actors can do it without the words, you just
watch. Watch this, he doesn't have to say those
words, he doesn't have to do those words, and
she'll get it and so will the audience. "

So you met a lot of the actors who were

playing your characters and were able to see
your characters come to life, firsthand.

It's awesome when you start to see that it real

ly works. Her saying this to him, and him
turning away that way. When you watch it,
you can feel - you know - the emotion of it.
Often times there are prickles up your spine or
up your arm when a certain effect that you

1 74

Could you elaborate a little bit about each of the

stories you did for the show? Anything behind the
scenes?

I wrote "All of Us Are Dying," a short story

that Rod Serling bought that he retitled "The
Four of Us Are Dying," and he wrote a mar
velous script for it. The same thing happened
with a story called "Execution. " When I origi-

nally wrote it, I called it "The Hanging of

Jason Black." Rod changed the man's name to
Joe Caswell, and the title to " Execution." The
third story I sold him was called " Sea Change,"
but then I had to buy it back because of censor
ship problems [the cutting off of a man's hand] .
The fourth story was "A Penny for Your
Thoughts," in which Dick York plays the part
of a mild bank clerk who discovers one strange
morning that he has the ability to read people's
minds, and he can tell what everyone is think
ing. And he finds that very disturbing. Rather
than feeling like it's a great gift, he feels that it's
almost a curse looking into what the people
around him are thinking.
And then I went on from that point to write
"A Game of Pool, " which had Jonathan
Winters and Jack Klugman. Now Jonathan
really took me away with his ability to be a
dramatic actor and to drop all of the shtick
that made him world-famous as a comic. I did
n't believe it could be done when I had heard
that he had been cast in the role. I thought
Jack Klugman, perfect, but I thought, "Why
couldn't they have gotten even Jackie
Gleason ? " But when I saw the show, of course
I was absolutely thrilled, and what grand luck
it was to have him playing a role in one of the
pieces I had written.
I went on to write "Nothing in the Dark,"
which had Robert Redford and Gladys
Cooper in it. It's a very, very touching story,
and in my view, the best one. Next to maybe
"A Penny for Your Thoughts," because a com
edy is very, very hard to do. I'm curious to see
if "Penny for Your Thoughts" has very great
legs. I know that " Kick the Can" does.

Seen here with members of a men's club is actor Franchot

Tone, starring as aristocrat Archie Taylor in Serling's
episode, "The Silence."

Zone on that evening, and it was this particu

lar episode, and I was at that awards dinner
because my movie Ocean's Eleven had been
nominated by the Writers Guild for the best
screenplay of the year, along with North by
Northwest and a couple of other big-name
films, including Psycho. North by Northwest
won it, but while it was winning it, instead of
being at my table where I could rush up to the
stage, I was in the bar with Charles Beaumont,
trying to catch a glimpse of how this thing
turned out and how these guys were doing it.
So, we could watch Chuck's adaptation of my
story.

Were you happy with Charles Beaumont's script

based on your story, "Prime Mover"?

Oh, loved it, loved it. In fact, I missed a lot of

the Writers Guild Awards - my wife and oth
ers went, and Charles Beaumont had Twilight

"Kick the Can" is comparable in sentiment to

"Walking Distance."

I get that feeling from people, that if they were

to put together their top dozen Twilight Zone

1 75

Jonathan Harris costars as Taylor's lawyer, George Alfred,

in what turns out to be an episode with a double twist
ending.

episodes, " Kick the Can" might very well be in

there, because it is one of those sentimental
ones. So is "Nothing in the Dark" - if you
watch it properly, it will really bring tears to
your eyes. I consider that pure gold when that
can happen, because I consider the dimension
of the heart as the deepest dimension; that's
what a writer should strive for in trying to
affect the emotions. I mean, not just to terrify
him, that's easy, but to make him feel pity,
another thing altogether.
Besides your story "Sea Change," were there
any other Twilight Zone stories that did not get
produced?

There is one half-hour teleplay that William F.

Nolan and I wrote together, as a sort of a spec
ulative adventure. It was submitted to Rod
Serling almost days before they closed the
show down. Rod had bought this script,

1 76

because they had a couple more to finish

shooting, but the thing was pretty much over.
The only real problem was this script took
place aboard an airplane and they had already
done that this season - something like three
airplane stories - and this they thought
would overload it. So they put it on the back
burner and while it was sitting there, the show
died. The story is called "Dream Flight." And
it's a story of a young woman who wakes from
a terrible dream, in which she's in an airplane,
and they're crashing, and she's really unnerved
by the dream partly because she's got to go to
the airport and get onboard an airplane and
fly someplace. And with such a dream, she is
really disturbe'd. Then she starts seeing things
that are just like what was in the dream. And
she begins to get more and more frightened as
she gets pressed deeper and deeper into this sit
uation, into where she appeals to her seatmate,
who is disturbed by what's happening. And
she tells him what has happened, and then the
story is really quite a nice little love story,
about how these two people have sort of
achieved a really fine rapport in such a way as
to break the spell of the dream. Anyway, I
think it would have been a splendid movie for
the show, if something to do with the end of
the series hadn't intervened.
What are your thoughts about all of these remakes
- Twilight Zone: The Movie and the two new
Twilight Zone series?

See, Buck and I talked about the new Twilight

Zone and he was amazed even from the very
beginning, because they opened the show up
to members of the Writers Guild, and they
were encouraged so that they ended up with a
bunch of scripts, and then they started to wade
through the scripts, and it was clear to them
that none of these guys got it.
Part of the uniqueness of it is the fact that it
was shot in black-and-white, and was there-

fore able to be lit by people who were accus

tomed to dealing in a situation where the
camera was more sensitive to light, and you
could work in much darker places with the
camera than you could with the videotape
machine. The videotape machine, you've got
to flood everything with light to illuminate it,
and when you don't do that, it looks like it's
got a film between you, or smoke between
you and the actors, even when they're in
medium shots. Also, what is so important to a
good story, and why so many of mine were
turned down in the early days, was because
no matter how startlingly brilliant or interest
ing a situation may be, it ought to have an
ending. If it doesn't, it just leaves you hang
ing. And if it's j ust a fragment, you wonder
what it was, why you saw it, and all those
other things that are answered by a good
strong ending. So when I look at A mazing
Stories, I never see any endings there. Or if I
do, it'd be because they were based on a very
strong short story and somebody understood
the importance of it.
I'll tell you one thing that does give me hope
for the future: almost everyone I meet has a
half-hour Twilight Zone type script that
they've written, with that tilted quality that
takes you out of the mundane and into some
thing exceptional. I think that one day, some
intrepid producer will advertise for Twilight
Zone scripts, original scripts, for a remake of
The Twilight Zone, and I wouldn't be sur
prised how many good pieces of writing
would come out of the woodwork already
prepared.
-

One last question. How would you like Rod Serling

to be remembered?

I would like to see him remembered as a man

who succeeded at his goal. I think too many
people think of him as a man who at the end,
lost his direction, and therefore never really

Actor Jonathan Harris is best known for his role as

Dr. Zachary Smith from the Irwin Allen series,

Lost in Space.

returned to his roots of the big stories, and the

things that they were expecting of him never
came about because he wasted all of his time
writing The Twilight Zone. That's a mistake in
their thinking. If they look at The Twilight
Zone as one thing, it's one long story with lots
of different kinds of chapters in it. And you
look at the monumental size of the thing and
it compares with any great work, from the
Holy Bible almost, to the Iliad and the
Odyssey, or any of those great books. Rod
never came to really appreciate who he was, or
what he had done. So I would like to have him
remembered as a man who made his mark on
society, made his statement, was completely
successful at it, and that none of those people
laid a glove on him.

1 77

Fritz Weaver
Fritz Weaver starred in " T h i rd from the Su n , " as
W i l l iam Sturka, and in "The Obsolete M an , " as the
C ha n c e l l or.

What was your first experience with

The Twilight Zone?

I was in New York, and my agent called me

and said, "They want you to do a Twilight
Zone," and I said, "Do a what? " Because I
hadn't heard of it - I had been on the stage for
about nine years. So I went out to do this
"Third from the Sun" program, and it was my
first film, in fact. And I had to learn the hard
way; I had assumed it was all the same. I mean,
acting is acting, right? It didn't turn out that
way. It turned out that what you did on the
master shot, you had to repeat on every subse
quent shot, the close-ups. Well, I chose ration
ally, to smoke a cigarette, and so when we fin
ished I had been acting up a storm, blowing out
smoke and talking animatedly with my hands.
And they said, "That was great. Okay, let's
move on to the medium shot," and I said,
"What medium shot? " And so the script girl
came over and kept saying, "No, you lit the
cigarette on this word, and then you blew out
the smoke on that word," and it drove me
absolutely crazy. I couldn't repeat what I had
done because I wasn't aware of what I had
done. So, we did several takes like that, and
finally they decided 'Let's scrub, let's start all
over again, let's scrub the cigarette entirely.' So
Eddie Andrews, who was in that, sidles over to
me and says in that sly way of his, "Why do
you think Gary Cooper keeps his hands in his
pockets? " So I had learned my lesson, I learned
the lesson that if you're going to smoke, you'd
better be damned sure when and where you're
going to do it. And so that was my baptism by
fire. But I loved the episode, with that great,
surprise ending.

1 78

Fritz Weaver stars as the Chancellor of the State in

Serling's powerful episode, "The Obsolete Man."

Did Twilight Zone have a uniqueness that you

hadn't dealt with before?

That was the main thing. I mean, first of all, I

met Rod Serling, and you know he was in on
the set, not often, but he would come in, and
what surprised me most about him was that he
was like a big kid. He was enjoying himself so
much. He was jumping and we'd rehearse
something and if he liked something, he'd say,
"Oh! That's great! Keep it in, keep it in! " And
it was that enthusiasm that made you realize it
was going to be a wonderful series. I saw him
several times, talked to him on the set, and my
impression was that he was having fun,
because he came to Hollywood with some
heavy luggage as an important playwright and
I think he found something that he really
thought was fun. So he would say, "Ah, not so
much social commentary," but the odd thing
was that he got all that into the series anyway.
"Third from the Sun" was all about the possi
ble nuclear thing, and "The Obsolete Man"

Joseph Elic, playing the Subaltern who then becomes

A closer shot of Weaver being dragged down the

the Chancellor's replacement, looks on as the crowd of

long table.

followers pulls the Chancellor down the long table in

preparation to tear him apart.

was the human condition. It's odd, because at

that time I was thinking back on it, and we
talked about it a great deal, the phrase
"planned obsolescence" had begun to come
into the language. It had to do with the fact
that you made your product so it would wear
out, and then you would replace it and that
would keep the economy going. Planned obso
lescence was considered a very good thing. But
Rod picked up on that and said, "Well, what
if that was applied to people ? " And he really
ran with that idea and he loved it.
While filming "The Obsolete Man," did you stop
and think about how intense that story was?

Oh boy, did I ever! It was like fascism in the

highest degree, and we knew it. Of course, we
had a wonderful director, Elliot Silverstein,
and he was a madman but with crazy good

ideas, and it was he who talked the MGM brass

into turning the whole studio into that vast
room. You know, broke down all the sections
and segments; it was like an airplane hangar
when you went in there in the morning. And
he had these big ideas - it was sort of like El
Greco paintings, with towers that went
straight up into the darkness there, and there
was the leader. And a long table down which
he'd drag the obsolete ones. It was terrific.
Rod was just having the time of his life. That
was my impression of him. He felt like, "Well,
I don't have to do all these important plays
now, I can just relax and have fun with this."
And he did, he ran with it. It's funny, but I said
we didn't know it was the Golden Age, but we
knew it was something unique. We knew this
was unlike most series that you went out there
for. And later, I realized to my regret that most
of the stuff is just cookie-cut stuff, you know,
no real imagination at work.

1 79

The cameraman follows the movements of the crowd

during a pivotal scene at the end of the episode.

Did the cast have rehearsal time?

You would have a rehearsal to show the cam

era what was going on with the geography of
the place, and then you'd go back while they
lit. You had about a week to get this done, or
it may have been a couple of days longer. That
was good in a way, because it left a lot of room
for spontaneity and that's what Rod liked very
much.
Did you have any memorable moments working
with Burgess Meredith?

I was in awe of Burgess because he was a big

stage star, and film as well. We were all stay
ing, as every New York actor did in those
days, at the Montecito Hotel, out in Holly
wood, and Elliot was there too. And so we
would get together afterward and we'd drive
home together, and Burgess would tell stories,
and it was j ust a terrific thing. And Elliot
would drive us to the studio, so we got pretty
close on that one. I loved working with

1 80

While taking a break, Meredith goes over his own

handwritten notes for his part in "The Obsolete Man."

Burgess, he was very good. He got impatient

with me one time on "The Obsolete Man,"
because I had lost my voice screaming the day
before, and my voice had dropped a full
octave. He said, "Well, you can't do that with
that -" I said, " I'm trying my damnedest."
He said, "You can't do it with the VOice,

you've got to do it with -" And I said, "I'm

using what voice I have," and he finally under
stood what it was, it was a physical problem.
But he was great, and I can remember Elliot
j umping up and down when Burgess and I did
the first long scene together and he came run
ning up and he said, "Would you like some
coffee ? I'll fill it with gold! It was wonderful ! "
Burgess specialized in those strange and rather
eccentric roles and loved "The Obsolete
Man." I loved working with him - I thought
he was great. We would sit with him in the
MGM commissary, and the reigning stars of
that era would come over to the table, and you
got to meet them all, and it was great fun.
Boy, that must have been something.

Yeah, the MGM commissary, everybody ate in

there. It got to the point when finally only the
crew were in there, but Marlon Brando was sit
ting at the next table and he'd known Burgess,
and I guess Burgess didn't know he was there,
and Marlon very mischievously took his knife
and inserted it between the third and fourth rib
of Burgess Meredith, and he jumped up in the
air and said, "What the hell ! ? " Yeah, Burgess
had worked on Teahouse of the August Moon
onstage, and Marlon did the movie of it. So
they got to know each other.
Were you able to work in any of your own ideas

Larry Gates stars in "The Shelter."

they were good. There was a great sense of a

fresh flow of feelings as you did a scene more
and more times, and so you were improvising in
a way. Physically, you'd improvise.

for your characters, or were the scripts followed

exactly?

Any anecdotes about "Third from the Sun"?

Well, there were moments in "The Obsolete

Man" where you would think of something,
some small piece of business even, and turn
away and then suddenly turn back, and if Rod
would see that, he'd say, " Oh, that's great! Keep
that in. " And Elliot was also like that, he want
ed to really improvise the whole thing.
Although Rod was never a stickler for "I want
this, all of my words in the right order," you
said them in the right order anyway because

What I remember was the fear we all were

under in those days, about the nuclear threat.
It was in the air! We all thought it was going
to happen. I did a movie called Fail-Safe some
where in that period. I think they first discov
ered the Soviets had put missiles into Cuba,
and there were daily broadcasts about what
should you do when you get the warning sig
nal, and what children should do, and it was
very much in the air.

181

There's around a half-dozen Twilight Zone

episodes that are concerned with the nuclear age
and the fear_

Well, you see, Rod came from that school of

playwrights in New York who were very much
into social commentary, and theirs were plays
of social significance, and they were all very
talented_ But this is what I mean about Rod
coming to this thing - I think he saw a way
to do it in a more entertaining way. He's quite
a man.
What were your impressions of him as a person?

Well, I got the impression that he was nervous,

but full of mischief. I can remember hearing
him laugh. He's full of mischief, but he was
very shy, too, when you first met him. Then
you got more aware of him and, as he was
around more, he warmed up. And he was
delighted with the whole production side of it,
delighted to be on the set and watched the
guys working, he loved all that. And he
watched the rehearsals and he was pleased.

mean. And I think Rod enjoyed fooling people.

He was like a magician, or like an entertainer,
anyway. I remember his laugh. I can't remem
ber the jokes but I remember this kind of shrill
laugh that would come out of him.
But one of the reasons why it's called the
Golden Age was because television didn't
know where it was going. It was a new medi
um and it wasn't geared to the maximum
audience. I mean, the very fact that they
would go after Rod Serling, nowadays he'd be
just a figure off-camera somewhere, in his lit
tle abattoir in the studio turning out plays.
Writers, you know, are no longer very wel
come on the set.
It is a shame, because the thing is "It's ours
now, and thanks very much for this sketch
you've given us. " Yeah, that's right. And in
that era, they didn't know yet where the medi
um was going, so they brought in people from
New York, and good people, who were just as
intrigued by the possibilities as they were. Oh,
we had such great times in those days.

Was he there for both of your episodes?

Yes, he showed up for both of them, one or

two times at least. I do remember his enthusi
asm; I remember that as a cardinal thing I
remember about him. He really loved what
was going on. Rod would come in, he'd
almost start rubbing his hands: " Okay, let's do
this one now. Let's get to work now. " So it
was fresh, and he'd probably j ust finished
writing it.

Elliot Silverstein
E l l iot

Si lverst e i n

episodes

d i rected

"The Obsolete

the

Man,"

Twilight

Zone

"The Passersby,"

"The Trade- I n s , " and " Spur of the M oment . " H e also
d i rected television shows such as

Route 66, Naked

City, a n d Tales from the Crypt, as w e l l as many

fi l ms , i n c l u d i ng

A Man Called Horse.

So what do you think makes a good Twilight Zone?

Well, mystery is one thing, mysteriousness and

the circumstances. Something odd about this
man sitting there at the counter drinking his
coffee. And it's very stimulating to the imagina
tion, because you wonder what's about to hap
pen. Most of the time you didn't know what
the outcome would be - as an audience, I

182

Do you have any behind-the-scenes memories of

working on "The Obsolete Man"?

"The Obsolete Man" had a kind of impor

tance outside of itself, in that I had a big fight
with the editor at that time. And the reason for
the fight was that this was a kind of Kafka-like
scene, in which a man was to be destroyed by

The new Chancellor relishes in his power of the state.

A frightening shot where the crowd prepares to tear

the obsolete Chancellor apart.

a group of black-shirted Kafka figures in a

Kafka-like trial. I had a whole ring of black
shirted figures surrounding this man, and
when the time came to execute him, I had
them start to make this kind of massing growl
while they were standing still. And they were
slowing moving forward, and this sound grew
with intensity that suddenly burst as they j ust
attacked him. Well, the editor said he didn't
want to cut it that way. I said, "What do you
mean you don't want to cut it that way? " He
said, "Well, they're not moving . " I said,
"That's exactly right. They're standing there.
You're waiting for them to move, wondering
why they're not moving . " "Well, I want them
to move . " And I said, "Well, I don't want
them to move and I'm the director. Please cut
it that way. " "I don't want to. " And there was
a big argument over that, in which Buck
Houghton, who was the supreme of produc
ers, had to keep me from throttling this guy.

And that led to a compromise, which every

time I see any part of that piece, it still disturbs
me today.
Did you run into any other troubles directing any of
your Twilight Zone episodes?

I did one with Diana Hyland, about a woman

being chased by a black figure on a horse
[ " Spur of the Moment"). And the lesson I
learned on that one was to never ask an actor
if he or she could ride a horse. Because it was
very specific - this woman is being chased on
horseback. "Diana, can you ride a horse ? "
"Yes, absolutely, " i s the stock answer a n actor
will give. And much to my frustration and
shock, when the time came to get her up on
the horse, with the camera running alongside,
she didn't even know what side of the horse to
get up on and we had to fake the whole thing.
I think every director has to be a multilin-

1 83

let's wrap and go home. " As a matter of fact,

I asked him, "Do you want to stop? I'll cer
tainly call Buck and stop." Joseph Schildkraut
came from a great European acting family,
and he said, "No. I've taken the assignment.
This must be finished before I have time to
grieve. " And between takes he was crying like
a baby, and I had to kind of comfort him how you comfort somebody in a situation like
that, it's almost impossible - and he came
back on the set.
What made Twilight Zone different from other
shows of the time?

Joseph Schildkraut (of "The Trade-Ins") takes a break

during the filming of "Death's-Head Revisited."

guist, because there are actors who will come

to you from a school of acting that requires a
lot of introspection and motivation, and there
are others who work right off the top. You
have to be able to speak their language; they
don't have the time to learn your language.
They don't know anything about your lan
guage. You have to get the job done with
them, so you have to deal with them on the
level that they can understand.
One of the problems, and I suppose I'm kind
of fascinated with the nuts and bolts of the
job, is you have to often deal with pretty
unique problems. There was a case of another
Twilight Zone I did, with Joseph Schildkraut,
called "The Trade-Ins. " His wife died right in
the middle of it and he was shattered, and the
moral conflicts there are enormous. In the
humane sense, you want to say, " All right,

1 84

The fact that two people who were supremely

competent guided the material to the point
where it went to the stage, and that was Rod
Serling or one of his compatriots, and Buck
Houghton. Buck Houghton was a producer in
the preferred sense of the word. That is, he
knew what he knew and he assumed that you
knew what you knew, and he didn't get his
fingers into at least my pot. Scripts were pre
pared properly and on time. I can't recall him
saying no to anything, as long as there was a
rational explanation for why we wanted it,
and rarely was one of those demanded. Buck
was a first-class producer, and I think that
made much of a difference. Directors could
direct and not have to write or rewrite, or
reconceive or argue, or beg or plead or do any
of the things that directors had to do to get
some kind of realization of the vision of the
material.
It's true that the script is the foundation for
all efforts, and it's very tough to face a blank
page. But it's also tough to build a superstruc
ture on top of that foundation when there's
great pressure and great anxiety on the part of
almost everyone around you. So with a pro
ducer like Buck, who set the ship on a course
through calm seas, one could really do the best
work in what was a three-day schedule.

Actor William Reynolds, cast, and crew during filming

William Reynolds
W i l l i am

R ey n o l d s

starred

of a scene in "The Purple Testament."

in

" T he

P u rp l e

Testament , " as Lieutenant Fitzgeral d .

I've read about the tragic plane crash that

occurred when "The Purple Testament" was first
scheduled to air. Could you tell me about that?

"The Purple Testament" was originally sched

uled to show on February 1 2 . At the time, I had
been working at MGM on a television pilot
called The Islanders, in the next season at ABC,
in 1 9 60. I was down in Jamaica doing some
background shots for some run-throughs and
things like that, and we were trying to get back.
The director of this series, as well as the direc-

tor of The Twilight Zone, was Dick Bare. And

Dick and I were trying to get back to Puerto
Rico in order to see the show that night. The
plane crashed, and they didn't know whether
anybody was alive. As a matter of fact, the
cameraman, George Schmidt, was killed when
he bled to death, and it was really a very
bloody and messy type of thing. But I had post
poned my leaving, because my son was born on
January 3 0 . They had heard about the plane
crash, Rod Serling and Buck Houghton, and
postponed the airing of the episode; it was
about a macabre scene of my seeing my own

185

Dean Stockwell stars as Lieutenant Katell/Lieutenant

Actors Dick York and William Reynolds with Rod Serling

Yamuri in "A Quality of Mercy."

during his visit to the set.

death, which probably wouldn't have been

thrilling for my wife with a 1 2-day-old child.
Anyway, Serling stepped in and they can
celled the broadcast for that night. This is the
kind of sensitivity I don't think that you would
find in most circumstances. I have forever been
grateful to him. I have a very high opinion of
this gentleman.
Strange circumstances, it was scheduled to
shoot sometime in December. Somebody
already was scheduled and I was a replacement.
I think it was Dean Stockwell who was origi
nally scheduled to play Fitzgerald. Stockwell
had already done another episode that was sim
ilar to it, where he played in the military ["A
Quality of Mercy" ] . It was three days before
shooting. I don't think Rod or Buck knew
much about me, and I walked into the office
and after we said, "Hello, how are you ? " he
just looked, and after just a few minutes he
said, " Fine. Welcome aboard, I'm glad you're
doing the part. " And whatever it was he saw in

1 86

me was an instant judgment. And we started

shooting two or three days later.
Did you have any rehearsal time?

No, we had nothing, no rehearsal. I worked

pretty hard, obviously, on the words, but the
character wasn't a reach. Looking back on the
character now, I probably could have, or
should have, made it more interesting, or
could have found ways to make it more inter
esting, but his dialogue was so precise there
was no reach, I didn't have to accommodate
anything.
The Twilight Zone is based in story, and
when they say it's Rod Serling, they mean it's
out of Rod Serling's imagination and the actors
are able to contribute to the thing, but it's the
story. I hadn't seen a really good movie, much
less a great movie, that doesn't have those char
acteristics quite right, the cult of the personali
ty. I would say Rod was the most honest and
straightforward [person], and I think those

I guess I could work now if I wanted to, but

I'm kind of a tweener - I'm an old leading man
who didn't really do too many character things.
I really don't have a character presentation. I
could play doctors and stuff, but the business is
so much rejection now, you meet for everything
- it doesn't make any difference what it is, you
know, two or three lines. I'd really like to work
every fourth or fifth day. There used to be a
feeling for performers that had paid their dues
and you were treated with a kind of respect, but
now that's not part of the game.
What was director Richard Bare like?

He was a crazy man, a nice man, and a very

accomplished director. He'd do stuff faster and
did several other Twilight Zone episodes,
deservedly so, because he was an excellent
director.
Anything else that sticks in your mind from
Rod Serling enlisted in the US Army :1.:1.th Airborne
Paratroopers Division in World War I I , and served from
January :1.943 through January :1.946. He was in combat in
the Pacific, and while in the Philippines, was wounded by
shrapnel in the knee. He received numerous decorations,
including the prestigious Purple Heart and Bronze Star
medals and was discharged with the rank of Technician
5th grade, the equivalent rank of Corporal.

people who were associated with that kind of

function, in that capacity, they tried to project
what Rod Serling was trying to do.
Had you been contacted by the producer,
Buck Houghton?

It might have been Buck. They called my agent

and they wanted to see me for this thing and
so I went in and, as I say, I had been working
on the lot, on The Islanders, which was being
shot at MGM, and that was sold for the upcom
mg season.

working on the series?

The only thing I was aware of was Rod

smoked more than I did, and I was a chain
smoker. I can still see him chain-smoking, he
was terrible - not nervous really, very laid
back. Well, you step out and light a cigarette
and it's kind of a release, the energy and focus,
so then you can refocus and do it, and it really
was a thing that can serve that for most people.
As quickly as The Twilight Zone happened,
it's still got legs, it's still one of the highlights.
If people ask you what you did, you say,
"Well, I did a Twilight Zone. " You know,
there weren't a lot of egos there, no prima
donnas. These were his words, his stories, and
his ideas. You can go on a show, any show,
and you can sit on the set for half an hour, and
you know who's in charge, who's the big
cheese, who's gonna make the noise. And I
think you could have walked on the set and
there was no ego. The director, of course, was
obviously giving orders, because he's setting

187

Richard Bare directs actor Marc Cavell ( Freeman) between scenes surrounded by the entire cast and crew.

188

up camera angles and stuff like that. Dick was

such a low-level guy, I don't recall ever having
any difficulty.
What an enjoyable experience! The more I
think about it the more I like it. But I do
remember a scene I wasn't comfortable with. It
was the scene after the hospital sequence
where the young private died. I did it anyway,
and it wasn't bad, but I could have done it bet
ter, or found a hook that could have made it
more effective.
Bert G ranet commented that he thought Rod was
a frustrated actor.

Well, I don't know how frustrated he was, he

Director Richard Bare works with the crew during

scenes in the jungle set. Seen on the right is actor
William Phillips.

was very good. There was much more colle

giality in those days. You used to go on other
people's sets and see how people worked. But
The Twilight Zone came at the end of that era.
The people who worked in the industry of the
time were still veterans of this kind of thing,
and like I say, there were no egos, unlike today.
I don't know whether Rod could have func
tioned in raday's industrial age. A lot of cama-

1 89

raderie back then. We all knew each other,

they were my friends.
Today, they let the actors be so self-indul
gent, they have too much power. They want
to optimize what they can do, but that does
n't make for a tight ship. There's got to be
some type of principal point of view at work,
and The Twilight Zone was Rod's, and it was
n't the point of view of whoever's got the
clout and whoever's got the money for the
moment.

Paul Comi
Paul Comi starred i n " P eo p l e Are A l i k e A l l Over, " as
Warren M arcusson, i n " T he Odyssey of Fl ight

33,"

You worked on the show in its first and fourth

seasons. The first season it was still a little bit of
an unknown entity, while by the fourth season it
was very popular. Can you talk about any differ
ences between the two?

Well, the first season we did "People Are Alike

All Over," with Roddy McDowall and Susan
Oliver. It was the first time that I had worked
with Roddy, and it was a wonderful thing.
Mitch Leisen, who directed it, had been a sce
nic designer for Cecil B. DeMille, and so it was
one of those things where it was not simply
doing a film - we found ourselves getting
involved socially. Later on, Mitch brought us
all over to his studio, and he catered a dinner.
And I was there with my wife, Roddy was
there, Susan was there. And he talked about
films he had done before. So my memories of

as Fi rst Offic e r C raig, a n d i n "The P a ra l l e l , " as t h e

psy c h i atrist.

Did your work on The Twilight Zone have a

uniqueness that you hadn't dealt with on other
television shows?

In its own way, it was really a very profes

sional and quality-driven show, and you really
felt very proud of doing it. Most actors knew
of Rod's reputation and ability from some of
the other things that he had done, and so it
was kind of a coup, in a way, to be included in
that. That became more of a reality in the
ensuing years, as the series went on and it was
earning its following at the time. Other friends
who were actors were in it, and I did three of
them, and there's not too many of us that did
multiples. When you look back, even though
these people were working actors at the time,
a lot of them hadn't achieved the real status
they would eventually have, but they still were
respected at the time. So a lot of the actors
that performed on that felt that it was a prestigious show.

1 90

Paul Comi and Roddy McDowall star in "People Are Alike

All Over."

that show were pretty much related subjective

ly to specifically Roddy, working with Roddy,
because later on, we did do Conquest of the
Planet of the Apes together. And that kind of
etched it in my mind.
As opposed to when we did "The Odyssey
of Flight 3 3 , " which was interesting because
Rod himself really took an interest in that
show. Unlike when we did the " People" show,
we rehearsed for two days almost like a play,
and Justus Addis, who directed it, wanted us
to get acclimated to the cockpit, wanted it to
be very natural. And Rod seemed to have an
interest in this - his brother was a pilot or
something like that. And I've had people who
were associated with flying tell me it was the
most realistic dialogue they had ever heard in
a movie. And they had an advisor on the show,
and so the idea of rehearsing, getting acclimat
ed to the show, getting the ensemble work
going, was a totally different experience than
when I worked with Mitch on the first one.
Then I did the hour show "The Parallel,"
which was really not that satisfying of an expe
rience. Because I think they themselves sensed
that this format was not the proper format for
the formula Rod had worked out. In fact, even
people who have tried to replicate and do
Twilight Zone, they've never really understood
fully what he discovered and the formula he
had. Those are really my specific memories of
those two shows, because those are the two
that remain with me. "The Parallel" is still a
vague memory.
Well, Rod introduced us to an element that
we very, very well know is possible. And I think
maybe some of the experiences coming through
WWII, and having experienced what the world
experienced at that time, gave him an under
standing that as an artist, he wanted to convey.
And it's interesting, some people say we are
more cynical today. But I think it's a cynicism
born out of the awareness of what people like

Rod at that time had the understanding of. But

the world - the rest of us - was very naive.
And so I think that my understanding of that
type of material may have opened up a window
intellectually for me. But to that point, I proba
bly hadn't thought too much about those types
of things.
Is there anything you specifically brought to the
role that was either a performance element or
something you take ownership of?

Well, I felt that again, because Roddy's part

seemed to be less physical and so forth, I had
to project. I was the one who was bringing sta
bility and strength to the beginning. I would
be the guiding light. I would encourage him
and try to help him get past his fear and con
cern. So that was basically my action, as far as
what I was playing on. And the fact that when
I was wounded and dying, I wanted to see
what was happening out there. I just wanted
to see. I knew I was going to die, and basically
I wanted to play my desire, the urgency of
wanting to get past this man who was almost
hysterical in his fear of what could be out
there. So those were basically the two qualities
I played.
What was the Mars set like for "People"?

They used a backdrop on that. I remember see

ing the setup for it - they used a cyclorama
behind to get that depth. Most of the stuff was
confined to the soundstage. All the stages at
MGM are the old stages, and so they're fairly
standard, full-length soundstages, so when
you open them up you can really get a lot of
room in there. When you go on the stage,
they're usually cluttered with other stuff not
necessarily related to what you're doing. Or it
might be a number of different scenes, and
that's why you get the feeling that it's not as
big. The Mars set didn't have too many scenes.
We had the opening sequence, where we were

191

behind the wire fence at the airport, looking

up into the sky and waiting to go, for the
launch that was taking place. That was shot in
a little section, and I mean just a little section
of wire fencing, so you could cut right into
that. Then, the set after the crash was again a
small set, and then after that, you had the
exterior stuff where you had the smashed cap
sule, and where he comes out of it, and where
they're all standing, but there was a depth shot
when you looked reverse, back of the people.
They had the cyclorama behind them, so
you're looking off almost into infinity, you got
the feeling of spaciousness.
Did you enjoy working with director
Mitchell Leisen?

Mitch Leisen was a fascinating guy, because he

was one of those directors from the old school,
who relied upon his casting correctly. He knew
when he cast he was going to get the quality
and performance that he wanted. Mitch
seemed to have a great respect for actors.
Being a scenic designer, and that was his back
ground, he was looking at it pictorially, and
expecting the actors to provide what he cast
them for. So I really don't remember that he
had to tell me too much and what I had to do;
most of my stuff was when I was hurt, and I
was mortally wounded and j ust playing
through the pain, and trying to want to see
what I'm dying for - I've got to see. And for
the most part, I felt that it was friendly, and
probably fortunate for me, because I don't
know how I would've dealt with a tough
director at that point in my career. So again, I
feel that many times I was lucky, and it was
later on that I began to realize how lucky.
What was it like working with director Justus
Addiss on "The Odyssey of Flight 33"?

Working with Justus was very much different,

he was very specific. He was almost a theater

192

Actress Ida Lupino and director Mitchell Leisen during a

break on "The SixteenMillimeter Shrine."

director, and knew how to relate to his actors.

And this is why he put a premium on having a
day of rehearsal; he knew as a theater man
that he could get performances by analyzing
and getting into the gut of the thing right from
the beginning. And it proved to be the case.
No one was searching for character or what
the moment of the scene was all about. By the
time we were shooting, we knew it cold.
Did your Airborne experience help you in that role
as a first officer?

Well, probably not too much. Except that I

know that my instinct would have been to find
a parachute and get out of there. But I don't
know that it did too much. The fact that we
had an advisor on the set, he was very helpful
specifically with those of us who had very

clear bits of action to do. As we were descend

ing, for example, when Anderson said, "All
right, we're gonna take it down, we're gonna
take a look around. " The apprehension of
how we didn't know if we were going to crash
into another plane because we had lost con
tact. And they told us how the first officer had
to reach up and make these various moves that
will assist in having the plane in its descent. So
we had a clear understanding of our actual
movements. It wasn't like the many times in
these shows where you're just creating move
ments and praying to God that it was real. But
in this instance, we knew everything we did in
that cockpit was authentic. So we felt comfort
able with it.
It looks like they used a real training cockpit for
the set of "The Odyssey of Flight 33."

I don't know if they used an actual portion of

a plane or not, but I do know the cockpit that
we worked in. I don't know if this was an
actual cockpit that they had cut in such a way
that they had the ability to film in and out. I
have a feeling that when you look at the cuts,
the angles of the shots, they're usually shoot
ing from almost a window on the side where
they're shooting across from John and myself,
where we're looking out - the direct on and then the individual shots are close in of
the long shot. I remember us climbing up into
something, and so I have a feeling that this
was a portion of an actual plane. Of course,
we always worked in the cockpit, and I know
in parts where the stewardess came back, she
came through that door in the cockpit, and I
can't remember when we're looking back, it
may very well be that they had the whole por
tion of the plane in one spot. It could have
been the whole piece, because whenever you
saw the two stewardesses in that little bay that
they're working in, I don't think that when she
opened the door you see us.

Paul Comi stars as First Officer Craig, in "The Odyssey of

Flight

33."

There's a shot in that show with the stop-motion

dinosaur that was reportedly the most expensive
shot of the series, a whopping $2,500. How do you
think that worked for that show, and what was
your reaction seeing it worked in?

We never saw it until the actual episode. We

had to imagine as we looked out there when
they brought us all over. And I had that line
where I said something like, "Skipper, check
something for me, look . " And everybody
comes over and we're all supposed to be react
ing to seeing this dinosaur. Well, I don't know
how many of us had ever seen a picture of a
dinosaur at that time, even the conjecture of
dinosaurs. This was too soon for kids to be
excited about them. When I first viewed it, the
dinosaur was a little bit jarring. It worked, but
the point is that it was the state of the art of

1 93

the time. The budget was so low - when they

made that insert there, and I'm looking at it
from Craig's viewpoint, because I'm sitting
there and thinking, "We're literally flying at
treetop level," which would have been a little
bit too close, to have a jet that low. At that
point, you see the dinosaur at tree level, you
see the reactions of the crew, and when it
comes back from a commercial break, the jet
is in high altitude.
So when I saw the thing, I was really much
more fascinated by it in later years. Because in
retrospect, we have the advantage of seeing
how something is done digitally and so forth
on computers, and this looks very primitive
when you look at it today. But there's no ques
tion of its impact for its time.
You had a supporting role in the fourth-season
episode, "The ParalleL" How did that compare
to your previous episodes?

It's really hard for me to remember that show.

It almost came as a surprise to me when I was
looking at The Twilight Zone Companion a
number of years ago, and I couldn't remember
the name of the episode, and there it was:
"The Parallel." And I never did meet the fella
playing the lead [Steve Forrest] . So it was a
strange, strange thing. I think I did it in one
day. So whatever I worked on for the psychia
trist, it had very little to do with the script.
Why do you think The Twilight Zone still captures
an audience after all these years?

Well, the quality of writing. And you look at

the people who were cast in many of these
things, and you look at the careers that they
encompass, and you realize at that time a lot of
these people were entering the industry, too. At
the same time they had veterans like Mickey
Rooney and so forth. Guys like Jack Klugman
were people coming into the industry when a
lot of stars would not do television. So they

1 94

Jack Klugman and the uncredited twin actresses from the

theater's ticket booth sequence in "A Passage for
Trumpet."

had the opportunity, and we also had the

opportunity because of this, to work with some
of the really finest writers that the industry
had. When you look back at those times and
the writers they had, even pedestrian material
had a certain life to it, because the writing was
good and because of the enthusiasm and inno
vation of a lot of the actors. Robert Redford
and Bobby Duvall, people like that, it was an
exciting time. We didn't know it at the time,
but we just did it. And, of course, Rod's talent
speaks for itself.
Looking at the series, do you have a favorite
episode?

Yes. I like the things that Jack Klugman did.

Especially the trumpet-playing episode. I just
loved the script and I loved him in it. Some of

the shows really were very, very memorable.

When I think of Gladys Cooper and Robert
Redford in an episode that was based on so lit
tle, or the Agnes Moorehead one where, you
know, you j ust almost focused on the perform
ance of this woman. I'm more taken really by
the acting, what some people did with some of
the roles. And Shatner, I thought, never acted
as well as he did in "Nigtmare at 20,000
Feet." I bought into that part, he was j ust
wonderful. I just really had to respect what he
did with that. So I thought that was one of
those scripts that really worked.

enough to get into. And certainly his shows I just feel blessed to have been a part of it.

Robert Sorrells
Robert Sorre l l s starred in "The M ighty Casey" as
C asey.

"The M ighty Casey" is a good episode of The

Twilight Zone, and one of the better comedy ones.

How do you feel about that?

You were talking about the fact that people have

tried over the years to redo The Twilight Zone,
and you mentioned "the formula." What was
the formula?

Well, I know some of the things that it wasn't.

It wasn't science fiction. It wasn't horror. I
think it was some of the elements of the
human existence and the human experience
that, when you really begin to look into it, is
the potential of what lies behind some of those
things with the imagination such as [Rod] had.
Offer insight into situations that you just don't
get. People who have tried to do it, they sud
denly set it in a formula: "Well, what can I do?
How can I bring in a monster? How can I
scare people ? "
That wasn't him, i f I can b e so presumptu
ous as even to define what Rod does, or did.
He chose to infuse his insights into human
relations and the human existence. Rod was
infinitely a storyteller, a person who told it
through character, through circumstance. But
whatever it was, it's what genius and talent is.
He was able to do it and put it all together, and
express it in his form. And others tried to copy
it and they didn't do it.
I feel I was very fortunate to have been in the
business at that time, and to have participated
in some types of shows that I was fortunate

That was such a big deal in my life, because

then, as now, even when it was brand-new,
everyone knew this was a prestige show, and of
course every actor wanted to be on that show.
I got the part so easily, I probably got it over a

Robert Sorrells plays Casey, the Hoboken Zephyrs' robot

pitcher, in "The Mighty Casey."

195

O u t on location a t t h e Hollywood Baseball Park, the

crew films a scene with actors Jack Warden and
Abraham Sofaer.

couple of cocktails with Rod and John Frank

enheimer: "Hey, I know a guy, you know, he's
a great big guy and he's very innocent-looking
like a robot, maybe you can look at him." I
think it was something like that. That's my
internal scenario. I was called in, and first I had
to go see a gal named Ethel Winant, who was
casting, and then I had to meet Mr. Serling on
a subsequent day. And Rod, he just took a look
at me and he said, "Well, I don't want you
looking like Tony Perkins out there," and I
said, "Well, I've played some ball, you know, "
which was true, but I never pitched in my life,
which I failed to mention [laughs].
Rod says, "Okay, you're hired," pretty much.
I only knew it was confirmed the next day.

196

Cameramen film shots of Sorrells pitching the ball.

So I had to learn to pitch that ball! And so I

went to Larry Parnell, he used to pitch in the
minors and played first base. And he taught me

to warm up - the looks, the stance - and he

worked with me for days, and I got it down
pretty good. I had no accuracy, no speed, but I
could look like I did. I got back the day after we
were shooting, and only found out then that
the guy had to be a lefty! I think Rod Serling
was thinking about Sandy Koufax when he
wrote that thing. I said, "I can't do that, Rod,
what about just reversing the name Hoboken
Zephyrs on the jerseys and then turning the
film around ? " And he said, "Well, what are we
gonna do with the outfield ? " I said, " Oh,
gosh." So, at any rate, I went back to Larry, I
learned to wind up and tried to not embarrass
myself, but they still had to get a body double
for the long shots. It looked a little awkward if
you know what's going on, but if you don't
know what's going on, maybe it'll pass.
That was pretty exciting, all that put togeth
er. You know, you could just see how it went
for me. I just fell off the cabbage truck, yeah:
"Which way's Hollywood ? " And I'm going
just to get the part initially and to then be dev
astated by, "Hey, left-handed," after I had
worked my tail off.

Seen here with Sorrells are actors Abraham Sofaer

(Dr. Stillman), and Paul Douglas, who originally played the
part of manager Mouth McGarry. Douglas had been feeling
ill during the shoot (it wasn't known at the time he was
suffering from an incipient coronary), and sadly passed
away 15 days afterwards. Instead of scrapping the
episode, Serling reportedly paid $27,000 out of his own
pocket for a reshoot of scenes involving McGarry, with
Jack Warden playing the part and Robert Parrish directing.

But he was known for showing up to help, in case

an actor needed something changed in a line, and
he could do that on the spot.

You know, when you have a very decent part in

a really good show, you don't really socialize or
look around too much, except in talking to the
script consultant, maybe the director of pho
tography. And you're in your dressing room
studying quite a bit. But yeah, I'm sure I saw
him, Mr. Serling, there at least a few times.
We shot "The Mighty Casey" twice. We shot
it with Paul Douglas instead of Jack Warden.
Paul was ill when we were shooting. As far as
everyone was concerned, including CBS, that
was in the can! And the word that I got, and I
think it's true, is that CBS wanted to release it
with Paul Douglas. And Rod Serling, to pro-

teet Paul's memory, if you will, took out his

own wallet and refinanced the reshoot. And
when I got rehired for the reshoot, which was
about half of it, it gave me so much confi
dence, because I said, "Well, I don't think I'm
doing that big a performance, but I must be
doing something right if they still want me to
do it again." That gave me an immense
amount of self-confidence. But it took an
awful long time to be released. They shot it in
,
5 9 , and they showed it in June of ' 60.
Does anything else about that shoot stand out
for you?

197

Gosh, the only thing I remember is being an

almost-scared-to-death young boy, you know:
" God, I hope they don't hurt me, I hope they
don't fire me, I hope I can get through this. "
Because I was j ust trying m y wings, just being
in front of the cameras, having been giving it
away for seven years down in Long Beach.
And j ust to get paid for acting, and that whole
experience of being in front of the cameras, it
was so intense. From my subjective perspec
tive, it was hard for me to really get a view of
what was actually happening. I think it was
certainly a high point in my life, and Rod
Serling was a hero to me. He was my guru, if
you will, my showbiz guru.
I think Rod Serling was misused by people,
by the networks. It's always been my view, per
sonally, the more creative a person is, the more
they need a good agent, the more they need
protection by other people. The easier it is for
the guys with the three-piece suits and the
computers to knock him over. I think Rod was
certainly victimized almost.

Mouth McGarry and Dr. Stillman observe robot pitcher,

Casey. Warden also starred in the episode "The Lonely."

Any memorable moments working with your

costars Jack Warden and Abraham Sofaer?

Well, Jack Warden, in my opinion, is like a

typical New Yorker, if there is such a thing. He
could be a cab driver, to be tough enough to
survive in New York. Something that was very
embarrassing to me: we had a brief dialogue
where he said, ' '' Yeah, I don't want you to be
nervous out there, Casey, " and Casey says,
"Nervous ? " and he says, "Yeah, it's something
. . . something . . . in the ninth, and Joe
DiMaggio is on the plate . " And I said, "Well,
that wouldn't worry me, I don't know anyone
named Joe DiMaggio . " But I said, "Joe
DiMahggio" and he said, "Joe DiMaggio. "
And I've always cringed about that. Being a
robot, I should have repeated him, and said,
"Joe DiMaggio. " It's something that I missed
it; I blew it.

1 98

Warden, director Alvin Ganzer, and cameramen during film

ing of a scene in the dugout.

The camera crew ready takes of Casey pitching; note

the crewman on the left holding an "EFFECT" cue.

Sorrells, Ganzer, a cameraman, and Sofaer observe

Warden at work.

199

One of those little things, though . . . .

Yeah, but to him, that was like the worst thing

I could have done in life. You know, person
ally, to respond in that way. I was really inno
cent, just a little stupid. But I don't think Jack
respected me too much. I was new and I was
naive, but he equated that with something I
don't think it quite was. I probably wasn't as
tough as he was then. He had a lot of chutz
pah, moxie, and I didn't have any of that stuff.
But, the part of Casey was undoubtedly
much better than I had initially thought,
because they keep showing it. And they did
hire me twice. You know, regarding those
scripts, I think most writers have a whole file
full of unsold or unfinished short stories, and I
think that once The Twilight Zone got cook
ing, Rod Serling took out some of those and
dusted them off, and made them into teleplays.
Which any writer would do.
Actors Walter Brooke, Ruta Lee, and Patrick O'Neal star
in "A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain." This is one

Huta Lee

of the four half-hour episodes not included in the initial

syndication run.

R ut a Lee starred i n "A Short Dri n k From a Certain

Founta i n , " as Flora Gordon.

What was it like being part of The Twilight Zone,

as a performer and coming to the set?

Well, at the time it was one of the hot guest

spots to be on. And Twilight Zone was kind of
way up there in the weekly series, it was the
prestige piece, and they had prestige directors
and prestige actors certainly, so being invited
to do it was great. I did the show, and it was
to this day one of the best roles I've ever
played. Only because she was such a divine
bitch, and so sweetly nasty and a pleasure to
play, so it really worked very well. And, of
course, Rod Serling was a friend. He became a
friend shortly after that, we had mutual

200

friends, and friends in common, and we'd see

each other socially here, there, and every
where, and it was always one of the favorites
for him, too, this episode called "A Short
Drink From a Certain Fountain." Rod was
always a dear lovely man with his perennial
cigarette, which of course, I loved the look of,
but not the results of.
This is a show that has been playing continuously
for nearly 50 years. Why do you think other shows
have come and gone, but Twilight Zone still holds
an audience today?

I think because it piques your imagination. It

tickles your sense of the weird and adventur-

ous, and the stories are timeless, they will go on

forever, because they deal with the strange and
the unknown. And I think we all like to be cap
tivated by the unknown. We're all a little bit
afraid of it - be it death, be it space travel, be
it microbes - we're all j ust a little frightened
of anything we don't know, and these stories
certainly captured them in a very identifiable
way. That's what I love so about Rod's writing,
and the people he chose to use as writers. They
grabbed each and every one of us and said,
"This could be you, this could be you." And
it's still doing it. It could be you.
Rod seemed to explore morality and social
interests as well, by calculating a fantastic realm.
What you do think about how that was handled?

Oh, what a lovely way, instead of a preacher

banging it out on Sunday morning, where you
maybe wanted to sleep through it. You got
your lesson in right and wrong. In a beautiful
and a little bit subliminal way, it came to you,
and I love it, I wish we had more of it. I wish
we had more lessons in morality and how you
are going to wind up paying for misdeeds one
way or another.

After a scene, the crew complimented Ruta Lee by calling

her the next Carole Lombard.

How did you get that part?

What appealed to you about the story of "A Short
Drink From a Certain Fountain"?

It appealed to me because, being a young hot

little chickie-poo, I was faced with that same
sort of thing. There were always " sugar dad
dies" that were around, and it was kind of fun
because I've always been a Miss Goody Two
Shoes. I may not have played it, but I have
always been highly moral and am still to this
day. And it was fun to let loose and play a girl
who was there just for the money, and j ust for
the good times, and j ust for what she could get
out of it, and to have her get such a punch in
the gut and nose in the end of it was j ust so
wonderful, and it gave me a chance to do some
very nice work.

I can't remember. I think I simply got a call

from the casting director, and the script was
sent out. I didn't have to go in and read for it,
I know that. And one of the nicest things in the
world happened to me on that. You know we
actors love applause - we like the check at the
end of the week, too - but I think we like the
applause and the recognition for good work
better than anything. After one of the scenes,
the grips and the lighting guys who were up in
the catwalks leaning down watching the scene,
and the cable pullers and everything else,
stopped, applauded, and said, "We had a con
sensus of opinion, and we've all decided that
you're the next Carole Lombard. " And what a
compliment that was, because Carole Lombard

201

was the best dame who ever came along. She

knew how to swap bawdy stories with the
boys, she knew how to be a performer, she
knew how to be there on time, and be profes
sional and do her work. So I said, "Thank
you, gentlemen, and thank you, god, for the
privilege. "
Can you tell me about working with director
Bernard Girard?

Barney Girard is one hell of a director. Gentle,

easy, wild sense of humor, a feel for the natu
ral and, in this case, the unnatural. And he was
very conscious of making everybody look
good, to make him or her look like they're
doing their very best. And I loved him.
Barney Girard didn't give me any special
direction, and he gave me rope. He let me do
things. When the script said, " She dances," he
let me just go and do whatever. He said,
" Remember who you are, you're impatient
with your life, that you've gotten yourself into
something, you're bored, you're cute, you're
hot, you want to get out there . " But he just
, gave me rope to do whatever, which was very
nice. And to have pleased Barney Girard made
me very happy.

Do you have a favorite episode?

Sure I have a favorite episode - it's mine. And

of course mine wasn't in syndication for a long
time. I think there were either three or four
shows that were withheld for some reason.
And so during the festivals of the running of
Twilight Zone, I didn't appear, and then finally
after several years they pulled them out, and
thank god I'm in there. And I love watching it
every single time. Above all, to please Rod
Serling - that, my dear, is one of the greatest
toasts anybody could get.

Cliff Robertson
C l iff Robertson starred i n " A H u ndred Yards Over the
R i m , " as C h ristian Horn, and i n "The Dummy , " as
Jerry Etherson,

Do you remember anything specific to your

Evans Evans ( M ary Lou in

character that you brought to the role that

" A H u n d red Yards Over The R i m " ) : "All I can

differed from the script?

remember about that episode were my tight

What I brought to it was my ability to dance,

and my ability to use my body very freely and
very easily. And when I say, "use my body," I
mean as an actress, whether it was handling a
drink or stumbling or doing whatever, I
brought that to it. I brought the experience, as
an actress, of imagining what it would be to be
trapped by my own choosing in a marriage
with a much older man, which I can't imagine
is good unless you really love the man. In this
case, there was very little love. There was love
for the looker, but not the individual that

202

brought the money to the table. I'd like to play

it again.

blue jeans and what a pleasure it was to

work w i t h C l iff Robertson,"

What did you think of Twilight Zone when it first

aired, and what do you think of the show today?

I thought then that it was cutting edge, ahead

of its time, and I think the same thing today.
They didn't have a lot of the technology, of

course, but in a way they had to revert and

resort to the words. Storytelling, not gim
micks. Shtick affects shtick.
What was it like working at the MGM Studios,
on the Twilight Zone sets in particular?

Well, it was good. There was one called "A

Hundred Yards Over the Rim," and I had
done my research, because it was about a fam
ily going westward on a covered wagon, and
they become discouraged because they hit this
desert, and a boy was sick. The leader, the
character I played, was determined to contin
ue on, and they want to turn back, back from
Ohio or something. So, I did my research, and
I think what was so interesting to me was
these people were poor, the clothes they wore
were always those black wool things, which is
all right in the winter, but god forbid you hit a
desert. So I thought that was kind of even, that
that would add to the terrible odds against
them - the heat, they didn't have the right
clothes. So I went to the wardrobe and I
picked these clothes, and then I picked a
stovepipe hat, because I was looking at it visu
ally with my directorial eye, and I thought,
visually, if he walks a hundred more yards
over the rim, and he said, "Just let me look
over this rim," this would be a very effective
shot of this guy in the ill-fitting, black, hot
trousers, and with this hat. I thought that
made a very effective shot.
Anyway, I went to the wardrobe and I
picked my outfit, and then I got the producer
and he said, "Oh no, you can't use that hat! "
I said, "Why not? It keeps the sun off his
head . " He told me they wanted to dress me
like a banana safari outfit. I said, "Wait a
minute, they were people that weren't pre
pared, and if they were, they didn't have the
money. " So the producer and I disagreed, and
the producer finally called Rod and Rod said,
" He's right ! " And I always remember that -

Cliff Robertson stars as settler Christian Horn in Serling's

"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim." The desert scenes were
filmed on location near Lone Pine, California, and to save
money on the budget, this episode was filmed along with
"The Rip Van Winkle Caper."

he supported me. The producer had only hit a

blind spot there. Buck was a good guy. But it's
like going to war without bullets. You've got
to have something in there to not only achieve
some kind of even questionable victory, you've
got to do something to protect yourself. So the
more information you know about the charac
ter and about the play and about the relation
ships - it's not that you're being artsy-craftsy,
it means you're being responsible.
You filmed normal days, morning and midday?

It was a regular day shoot on "The Dummy. "

But in "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim," we

203

liked his words, and I liked his personality. He

liked actors; he didn't come in with this atti
tude that actors are all children. He treated
actors as adults. That was reassuring, and the
people that did the show, his staff, were effi
cient, but they were very good. And so I was
delighted.
When did you meet Rod Serling, and what was your
first impression of him?

Actress Miranda Jones costars with Cliff Robertson in "A

Hundred Yards Over the Rim."

went up to Lone Pine. I fly my glider over that

now, I'm a commercial pilot and could be
doing it for a living, if I had to. I've been doing
that for 3 5 years, and I also love soaring. I
have a glider I keep up in Mendon, Nevada,
on the eastern slope of the Sierras, where we
get this mysterious, what I call " Rod Serling
wave . " That's the wave that is invisible but
fascinating.

I had the highest regard for Rod. I talked with

him on the phone before I ever met him person
ally. When I met him personally, face-to-face, it
was very friendly and he knew I'd gone to
Antioch, which probably helped. But he also
seemed to like the fact that I was stage-trained.
He liked actors that had come from New York
- one of the reasons, I suspect, was because he
felt they were not just a pretty face, a haggard
face. He liked the theater, and I always had a
feeling that he maybe harbored an unadmitted
desire to write for the theater, but maybe
wasn't quite ready for that quantum leap.
That's nothing more than a guess.
We talked on the phone, we were always
going to do more, but then he died. He liked
my work and I sure loved his. He was so sup
portive on that thing on "A Hundred Yards
Over the Rim . " He said, "I do appreciate an
actor who takes his work so seriously that he
does his research and homework." Anyway,
great guy. I just thought he was terrific, a man
way ahead of his time, obviously.
What was your impression of that script when you
read it?

What was it like coming into that show during its

second and third seasons, when it already had
some momentum to it?

It was a delight. Rod Serling went to the same

college as I did, quite a bit before I did, and he
lectured in the summertime, but I knew
enough about him to trust him. And I also

204

Well, I was fascinated, as it's a story of early

1 800s migration from the east coast to the
west - in this case, a wagon train. And I knew
that was a tough thing, because I had ances
tors who had been on wagon trains, so I knew
it took a lot of courage, a lot of grit. So I did a
lot of reading about that migration, east to

west in those days, and one of the obvious

things was they were, for the most part, very
poor. They came in those wagons with every
thing they had, and it wasn't much. And the
clothes they had were the clothes they had on
their back, and that was a trigger for me.
Because the character has gone over the moun
tains, he's gone a ways in the desert, and the
people are tired and his son is sick. And there
is every reason to do a 1 80 and go back, and
all the people want to go back.
Tell me about working with director Buzz Kulik.

Buzz was a very amiable guy. So amiable that

I sometimes thought that he must've once been
an actor. Because he seemed to understand.

not satisfied, you recognize maybe you've

done about as much as you can do, given the
limitations of the script, of the production, of
the actors. You can only do so much. As my
late grandmother used to say, you cannot get
blood out of a turnip.
"The Dummy," which was also written by Rod,
was directed by Abner Biberman. What was it
like working with him?

Abner was a delightful man. He had been an

actor, and I think he'd also been blacklisted at
one time. He was pretty much of a political
activist, I guess, maybe in his earlier days.
Bright, very persuasive, and at the same time
he'd listen to the actor. That's why I think he'd

Most of the shows were shot on the lot, but as

you've mentioned, this one actually went out on
location to the desert. How tough of a challenge
was that?

Hotter than hell. But I was glad. Because it

helped again - it helped me realize how des
perate this man had to be, and all these people
had to be. And it helped me get into the char
acter, if you will. So I may have been a little
discomforted with the heat and the sand and
all that, but, hey man, it just helped that char
acter and I embraced it with great alacrity.
Do you have a favorite moment or scene in the
episode?

I must tell you in all honesty, and this is not

modesty, I've done Spider-Man as my 60th
starring film, and I've done god knows how
many television shows. But the dead truth is I
have never been satisfied. It's a degree of dissatisfaction - I'm less dissatisfied with some
things than others, so there's nothing in "A
Hundred Yards Over the Rim" that I'm particularly struck or impressed or amazed by. As
you get older and more mellow, you gradually
come to the realization that, although you're

Actor Cliff Robertson poses with the ventriloquist

dummy made from his likeness, in the frightening
episode, "The Dummy." The dummy of Robertson was
created by William Tuttle, and based on caricature
sketches commissioned from artist Frank Campbell.

205

ensemble really - chances are they were good,

certainly experienced in plays off Broadway,
and the Actors Studio whatever - so there
was a degree of comfort. On the other hand,
you come out here from New York, and
you've got your chip on your shoulder, you're
so full of yourself. You come on the set and
you see your bunch of Hollywood types, with
your pretty faces male and female, you have a
tendency to kind of get a little chip on your
shoulder. But many times they were just young
people trying to do the same thing you've been
doing - make a living. But we had a tenden
cy to be a little bit [points up his nose] up
about being a New York actor, and many
times we weren't that good at all.
During the final sequence, the cameras had a tilted
angle on virtually every shot in that chase, which
makes for a very eerie sequence. Do you remember
anything about filming that sequence and whether
that presented any challenges technically?
A candid shot of Robertson, Willy, and a crewman on the
set of "The Dummy."

been an actor. I have a tendency to do that whenever a director is particularly compliant,

I have a tendency to automatically affix in my
tired brain, "Well, he had to be an actor. "
How else would he know the problem?
Did you do the voice of Willy? Was that you?

Yeah, that was me.

On "The Dummy," what was Frank Sutton like to
work with?

Frank was a delight. He was good, he had

studied, he worked in New York. When you
came out to do these shows, when it was a
movie or television show, you were delighted
to see on the set actors that you knew from
New York. There was a kind of an invisible

206

When I saw Abner doing that, I was delighted.

I felt, "Yes, this is right." I didn't feel like some
artist who was being self-indulged, I felt, "Hey
this is great, it's a wild, wild scene and I think
he did a hell of a job. " You know, you hear
grumbling sometimes in those days of a guy
who had the courage to do that. You'd hear
some old gruff voice somewhere saying,
"What the hell is he doing, what's he trying to
do, who's he trying to put on ? " And in many
cases these guys were on the cutting edge, and
maybe some of the big movie directors looked
at some of those shows, those relatively small
shows, and picked up on some of the things
they were doing and used them in their big
films. They may not have admitted it to them
selves, but it had an influence.
Why do you think this show is so timeless and has
found new generations to watch it?

This is a generation fascinated by sci-fi, high

tech, fantasy. This is not a kitchen-sink genera

tion. Some of the wonderful things that Paddy
Chayefsky and those wonderful writers wrote
are not in vogue right now, but it doesn't in any
way diminish the quality of their words, it just
means they are going through this thing now of
hi-fi and crazy stuff. My daughter said to me
one day, "Daddy, let me get this straight. You
fly a twin-engine airplane all by yourself across
these United States and you cannot work my
stereo? " And I said, "You know, you're right,
because I don't really give a damn about your
stereo. "
It always struck me that Rod found a good way of
using fantasy and drama to talk about other, more
important, real issues that if he dealt with overtly
audiences wouldn't be absorbed or entertained.

Very good point. He had his own agenda and

it was relevant to today. He had a wonderful
way of bouncing it off of these surrealistic
things, but somewhere or another it permeat
ed our brain. We were left with a feeling of,
even though this is sci-fi or whatever, it was
relevant. And I think he was a moralist in that
sense. He was a great man, and we lost a great
man, and those were great times. And I'm
delighted it's being shown all the time some
where around the world. Not only for the
actors, although we don't get any money from
it, but the ideas. If those good ideas - even
though they're subtitled maybe in certain
countries - if some of Rod Serling's ideas are
percolating and distilling themselves down to
people who are examining it and saying, "This
is true, this is true, this is true . "

Actor/comedian Shelley Berman seems t o be doing an

impression of Rod Serling, posed alongside rubberlatex
masks of himself from the comedy episode, "The Mind
and the Matter."

What were your first impressions of Rod Serling?

All my impressions, first and always, of Rod

Serling were of admiration. First of all, he was
such a sweetheart of a guy, a gentleman. You
didn't know how such a really relaxed laid
back type of guy like that could think of the
things he thought of, and be able to discipline
himself to put it down. He was quite a decent
man. He loved to sit out there and write by his
pool. That was his big thing, he had a world
class tan and he was happy with that, he was
a nice-looking guy.
Did you have an opportunity to work on anything
else of his?

Shelley Berman
She l ley

Berman

starred

in

"The

M atter," as A rc h i b a l d Beechc roft .

M i nd

and

the

No, just that, but of course, nobody knew at

the time. When we got an opportunity to be
featured in one of his works, we didn't know
that it was forever. Nobody dreamed that it

207

would continue, that a following would result,

that a kind of cult group would take up this
piece of work, all of his works. I still love to
see Agnes Moorehead in that marvelous thing
where she had to fight off the " invaders. " She
is such a glorious actress who, even without
dialogue, just was magnificent. I loved one
with Burgess Meredith where all he wants is to
read - the irony is so terrible! Those of us
who have seen these things are pretty much
thrilled to witness them; we enjoy seeing them
again and again. You didn't know when you
did this that you would be honored to be a
part of that milieu, and people would say,
"Hey, I saw you on television last night, you're
part of that Twilight Zone."
A s actor Shelley Berman stands by, director of

Along with your colleagues, that must have been

photography George T. Clemens and a cameraman

a good gig to get.

prepare the next shot for one of the subway scenes.

Oh yeah, for sure! Everybody wanted it - a

supporting player, a starring player; you were
dying to have that. But you didn't know how
important it was, it's eternal. I swear, after we're
all gone, people will be looking at this show.
You can revisit and revisit, and you don't tire.
I've seen every episode so many times, and it
never ceases to amaze me how I can always
catch something that I haven't before.
When you were working on the episode, "The Mind
and the Matter," do you know if any other episodes
were being filmed or rehearsed at the same time,
in the studio?

Rod Serling poses for a candid shot during the filming of

"The Eye of the Beholder."

208

No, we did one show at a time. He may have

been sitting at home writing the next one, but
he was at the shoot all the time. You always
knew he was going to be around. Little
changes would be made and he would watch
rehearsals, and he would be involved. He was
on set a lot, yet you had to know he was busy,
still creating what was going to be happening
in the future. He made little writing changes
in our script; they just couldn't figure out the

best way to have this sudden change, the sud

den transition where he has now done the
incantation or whatever, and suddenly the
world has changed for him. We had a bit of a
big rocking affair, a kind of an explosive
earthquake affair with lights blinking, and
they tried that, they tried something else. And
my memory on that particular thing was that
we spent most of the day trying to make that
change - how does Beechcroft get into that
other world? They tried it three or four differ
ent ways, shot it a couple of times, and they
had to set up the set in order to do that. They
finally settled on how they were going to do it
and we went on, but Rod was very much
involved in that.

The crew rigged the camera to move with Berman and

alongside the subway train, thus giving the illusion that
the train was moving into the station.

Did he make any changes to dialogue for you?

Well, he rewrote here and there, it was not

major rewriting. And it was Buzz Kulik, a
marvelous man, who directed this, who was in
conference with him frequently, so they could
come up with the best possible way. You
know, in those days, we simply didn't have the
special-effects capability that we have today.
For example, the masks. I had to go in there

209

210

A makeup artist fits actors with rubberlatex masks of

Berman is surrounded by a group of Archibald

Shelley Berman.

Beechcrofts.

and sit there while they made a life mask on

my face. I sat there for a couple of hours with
plaster of paris put on me, and today they
make a rubber mask and that's it, it's amazing.
But there I sat and breathed through a straw
and had my eyes covered, so I wouldn't get
that crap in my eyes. Afterward, they had the
mold and poured rubber masks, and the inter
esting thing is that there is an increase in the
size of the face because you've now applied
something and now you're going to apply
something else, so you have the increase of the
face that you can't avoid. So there were a lot
of big-faced Shelley Bermans walking around
in there. Like in the subway station, all of
those people piling in, I was looking at about
50 people wearing Shelley Berman masks.
Very interesting, because when I finally get to
see the show on the air, I said, "My god, look
at all those people wearing Shelley Berman

masks. I don't know if they really look like me

at all, they j ust look like people with my face
on them." It was okay, it did the job, and the
viewers, as always, cooperate. They fill in.
They understood what was happening,
because the viewer, the spectator, invariably
supplies what is needed; film artistry can rely
upon it. Yet today, we have such abilities and
such capacity for special effects that the view
er isn't obliged to do anything.
Had you ever been considered for other
Twilight Zone parts?

No, just the one. It was written for me and I'm

very honored by it. That was it, but that's
enough, it really is enough. One time and peo
ple can relate to it. Whenever the marathons
happen, people see it and say, "My god, you
were on that thing I saw." Hey, that's just
super! It shows every time and is quite a thing

for me. I don't get any money [laughs] . They

could show it maybe 1 ,000 times and I'd get
1 2 cents if anybody sent me anything. There
was some other show that I get three cents on.
Percentages have to go out.
Were there any script changes during filming?

Well, I didn't have any changes, but I did say

to Rod after the first or second day of shoot
ing, "You know, this guy hates all kinds of
people, and now they've all turned into him.
His face is there, he's all the people, but you
don't have a scene in which there's a woman."
And the very next day there was a script
change, and I was in the elevator and I was a
woman. And I was standing next to a guy who
looked like me, and it was me. I'm not sure
what the line was, but as we're in the elevator
riding, I said something like, "Would you
watch your hands, you dirty little man. " And
it got us an extraordinary reaction. It was a
funny moment. And Rod was very happy with
it. So was 1. It was j ust beautiful.

Director Buzz Kulik sets up a elevator scene with Berman

and a group of Beechcrofts.

Tell me about working with Buzz Kulik.

It was so easy. It was really so easy. You never

thought you were being directed. You thought
you were being carried and taken care of. You
always felt at ease with him. You didn't feel
like somebody saying, "Well, you go here, you
sit here, and you do that." However it came to
you, you knew where you were going to sit,
you knew what you were going to do. Because
the writing was so good. Rod was a marvelous
writer. You always knew how to interpret; you
always knew what you were going to do, how
you were going to do it. We had a special
effect, and that is when this magical moment
comes of changing everything in the world. It
was supposed to be a big shake-up of the
world. So the set shook and the camera shook
and I flew. And they had to do it again, and
the set shook and the camera shook and I flew.

Kulik directs Berman for the earthquake shot.

211

ACTORS TELEVISION MOTION PICTURE MINIMUM THREE-DAY CONTRACT

Continuous Employment-Three-day BuiThree-d8y Sa(ary-Three.oay Minimum f.mployment
THIS AGREEMENT mid.I:

MarCh 28

19-61.

belwn

JACK GRINli.AGE

corporalion, hereindtcr c.lled "Producu," lnd

CAYUGA PRODUCTIO::S,

nc .

hereinafter c.lled "PI'yef,"

WITNESSETH;
Produ("" berelly eng.

1. Pltowp/oy ; Role ."d Guarantee.

to render lIoCrIice u .uc.h in the role Of UfiENRT'

Wilning title of which i l now "THS! r.j:I1ID &; THE HATTERIt

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be lellii thin the minimm required by the 1960 s.:reen Acton Guild Televit.ion
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Rdr,n:nce is m..de 10 the 1960 Scl'fffl Ar.lt>f') Guild Telni!iun Agl'f:<'ment and to the ..pplicable provi&ions $et lonh

in ueb A@:I'eemenL Pllyer', employment shall i"dude perlornl..nec

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for other utt:, Player eh.U be paid the added nlinhuum (O)n'pelIaatiOl1. il llny, required under the pro..iaioni of Ihe Scrttn Actou Guild

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27

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27

I.

Actor Jack Grinnage's signed contract for his part as Henry in "The Mind and the
Matter," also signed by producer Buck Houghton.

212

And Buzz wasn't happy with it, and we did it

again. Till finally I thought maybe I'm going to
die here, and we're never going to shoot this
and I'm going to be shaken to death, and
everything is going to end, and my life would
end here.

Jean Carson
Jean C a rson starred in "A M ost U n usual Camera , "
a s P a u l a Diedric h .

What did you think o f The Twilight Zone while it

was in production and what do you think about
the show today?

I don't think any of us expected it to be on the

minds of people this much later. I was thrilled
because I thought Rod Serling had a wonder
ful eye for proper casting, and I know that he
liked to use people who he had seen working
on Broadway before. He used a lot of people
who he knew had true theater experience
rather than just screen experience. He came to
see me in a play out in Los Angeles that I had
done when I had first come out to the coast,
and he came backstage, which of course
thrilled me, and said that he had something in
mind for me that he was writing ["A Most
Unusual Camera " ] and that he knew I would
be right for, and of course that was quite
thrilling. It took a little bit of time to get that
particular show done, because CBS continuity
didn't accept the ending. In the story, Fred
Clark and I were con artists and thieves, and
we would steal from antique stores, and we
just happened to have stolen this most unusual
camera from a pawnshop.
You mentioned how CBS continuity weren't
accepting the various endings?

Actress Donna Douglas seen in character for her role in

"The Eye of the Beholder."

Well, they wanted the characters to be pun

ished more for all the money that we'd stolen
and that we made from going to the races.
Did they shoot any of the alternate endings?

No, they didn't shoot any of the other endings.

Serling was so prepared with his scripts once
they were ready to do, and I don't remember any
cuts, changes, or anything during our reading or
rehearsals before we actually shot. Naturally, we
didn't shoot with an audience, that wasn't the
type of show that would have an audience. They
finally accepted the ending where we all fall out
of the hotel window [laughs]. I would get a call
now and then, from the casting woman or from
Rod, saying that they still hadn't been able to get
the ending passed. I believe it was more than a
year before he had finally done that ending, the
way we died. The Twilight Zone Companion
thought the ending was very arbitrary.

213

It's a fun episode and the fans like it. People ask
how the very last guy fell out of the window, and
my answer is that he was shocked to see himself
down there, dead in the photo, and he fainted and

episode, Agnes Moorehead was just begin

ning to rehearse one, and I remember going
over to their rehearsal room and listening to
some of the show.

fell out the window.

Exactly! Because he counted the bodies, and

then there were "four" ! ?

Did working on Twilight Zone differ in any way to

working on other shows you had been doing, like

The Andy Griffith Show?

Do you remember working with the director of the
episode, John Rich?

Yes, but I'm not going to say much [laughs] .

I don't think he liked women too much. It's
all right, it's just that I was the only woman
in the cast, and he was kind of rough on me,
I felt. He said to me once, "Can't you hear ? "
H e was the only director I ever worked with
- Broadway, live television, television, film
- who treated me like that.
After you had done that episode, were you ever
contacted to do another?

Oh no, that was it. Nobody talked to me

about another one, and of course if you're
not invited to do more than one episode in
something, you worry about it a little bit. I
noticed in rewatching a lot of the shows that
if an actor did a strong character, they didn't
usually repeat him. Now, Burgess Meredith
did two or three, I think.
He did four Twilight Zone episodes.

He was probably one of Rod's favorite

actors. Then, of course, a lot of other peo
ple's favorite actor, and he fit into an awful
lot of those scripts. Now, in my case, when
you do a character like that, what else are
you going to do with them, you know what I
mean? I was kind of dumb and whiny, I
would say, " Oh, palpitations ! " She was
always sort of whiny. " Oh, Chester. Poor
Chester. Poor Woodward. Oh, well, life must
go on. " Or something like that. I know that
at the same time we were shooting our

214

I was very impressed with the fact that it was

so well prepared, and so many of them aren't
when you go in for a guest shot. So many of
them are not prepared that well, and it was
just uneventful from that standpoint. We
didn't have a hassle about changing this and
changing that, and in those days we wore
our own clothes. If you notice the neckline,
you'll notice net[ting] that has been sewn
into the dress, because at that time, in the
' 60s, they were very fussy about too much
bosom showing [laughs] . I believe they did
that with two dresses of mine that were low
in the front.
So, did you get to know Rod 5erling outside of the

Twilight Zone work?

I remember seeing Rod at a party up in

Malibu. I think we talked about the show,
because by that time the show had been done,
and that was about it. He was very nice, just
charming. He was very little, you know like five-foot-five. I remember not looking up
at him.
And was he happy with the episode?

Oh, yes! He said it was one of his very

favorites. I think that the Twilight Zone fans
are a far more sophisticated audience, a more
intellectual group of people. You know, the
fans of The Andy Griffith Show are more like
teachers, policemen, laborers . . . But listen,
without the fans, I would be nothing right
now. The Twilight Zone and Andy Griffith are
the only two things I'll be known for.

Anne Francis

Actress Anne Francis stars as Marsha White in Serling's

A n n e Franc i s starred as M a rsha W h ite in "The After

counterpart, "Marsha" (created by makeup artist William

Hours," and in the title role of "Jess-S e l le . "

Tuttle), and costar, character actor James Millhollin.

bizarre episode "The After Hours." Francis poses with her

You worked o n the show i n the first season, and

then again in the fourth season. Was there a
change between that time? Can you describe
what it was like for you being on the set?

Well, as far as the work, no, I don't recall any

big change from the first season to the last. Of
course, the last one I did was an hour show, so
it took a little longer with rehearsal and all.

But it was always a very professional show,

and the folks who worked on it were just pros
from the top to the bottom, just wonderful,
wonderful people. I enjoyed it tremendously.
It was a wonderful experience for the actors,
we had time to rehearse, and there were no
surprises. We started rehearsal on a Monday

215

ber of interesting characters, whereas on "The

After Hours," it was a study of the growth of
fear of the complete unknown, and the other
was a story story.
When you were working on this show, did you
have a sense that the quality was such that it
was going to stay around for 50 years, whereas
so many other shows had their run and were
pretty much forgotten?

or is it Marsha?

Well, Twilight Zone is a timeless show.

Because it's dealing with so many dimensions,
the hidden aspects of ourselves, as well as the
material. It played with the fact that - Ah,
I'm trying to find the right words . . . the won
derful switch of mind. See that's what it is,
Twilight Zone is very difficult to pinpoint,
because it's dealing with so much of ourselves
that we can't see.
It's hard to define, that's why we love it. I
love all of the Twilight Zone shows, because
you're not dealing with what we can feel and
touch as the worldly. It plays with our senses;
it plays with our imagination.

and usually shot on a Friday, so we had three

days to completely rehearse scene after scene.
When I did "The After Hours," the whole
soundstage was that department store, and
there was an eerie feeling when we were work
ing on that show, because of the immensity of
that stage, and the lighting and the darkness
beyond. Ah, I still get the chills sometimes. But
it was a lot of fun working on that particular
project. And the last one, the hour show, that
was completely different. That was written by
Earl Hamner, and it was a story of a back-hills
country hillbilly gal who wanted desperately
to hook this young man. But that show was
different in the respect that there were a num-

There was one with the outer space ship, and

as I recall, the people in the ship were tiny, and
this was with Agnes Moorehead. And she was
this big creature with the broom going after
this small ship, and all of these frightened
characters. That's where they are playing with
the mind. I mean, sometimes we consider our
selves like ants on this planet, but for the most
part, man and womankind are strutting
around being bigger than the next guy, and yet
when you look at it from way up here, it's kind
of funny looking at all of these little critters
down here, posturing and trying to be of great
importance, Agnes Moorehead can come
along with a broom and knock you out. It's
twisting the general reality, as we know it. And
that's such fun to me.

During a break o n the shoot for "The After Hours,"

Rod Serling sits for a candid shot with Anne Francis

Do you have a favorite episode?

216

Do you think the show had a social and moral

voice, using drama and fantasy to talk about
issues that might have been difficult to deal
with in a more direct manner?

I never really thought Twilight Zone, as they

say today, had an " agenda. " The main idea
was to make us think, to make us step into the
realm of our imagination. It helped us to
stretch our thinking and look at what we look
at normally and be able to see it a little askew,
rather than straight on. It was always playing
with what we would imagine the outcome
would be. It was always surprising us, always
sneaking up with something else that we did
n't expect.
Describe your first meeting, and your impression of
Rod Serling.

Well, the first meeting was on set. He just was

a delightfully charming, kind human being.
Good sense of humor, very gentle. Just very,
very, very bright. You could see the sparks
going on, but a gentleman above all other
things, with an incredible imagination. And
great respect - great respect for everyone
around him. Great respect for his actors, great
respect for his producers, his directors. I was
going to say you have a feeling of family, but
it was more than that, it was camaraderie. A
general reciprocal respect for each other.
What was your first impression when you read

Do you remember how you landed that role?

I was called to come play it. In those days, the

producers and directors pretty much knew
who they wanted. Today they could call in 5 00
people to read the role. It was different then.
In "The After Hours," what was it like working with
director Douglas Heyes?

Love Doug Heyes. Worked so well with him.

He just stepped back and let it happen. He
created the wonderful images, the darkness
beyond where we were. There was always the
feeling of being in another realm when I was
doing it. When I was doing the part, there
were a few lights and there's darkness be
yond. I had to be able to imagine all of these
strange things in the darkness that seem to be
following her, and her not being able to get
down to the root of what all of this was, until
the very end.
Have you got a favorite moment or scene in the
show that comes to mind?

Ah, I think when Doug decided to do that shot

of her final desperation - not final despera
tion, but the impending desperateness behind
the rippled glass on that door. I thought that
was quite brilliant of him. To see the distortion
of her shadow when she said, " Somebody?
Anybody ? " And then the final turning event of
just crumpling completely, and her fear, and
pam.

Serling's script for "The After Hours," and how did

you feel about the show?

What was it like working with Buzz Kulik in

I loved it. My first impression was what fun it

was going to be to play that role. The humor
in the beginning. The spaciness of each little
step that took place, sort of just a little bit
off-center until the horror begins for this
young woman who has absolutely no memo
ry at all of who she is or why she's on the
ninth floor. The progression of the character
was a lot of fun.

Buzz was excellent. I remember more of the

characters working with Jeanette Nolan and
Jimmy Best. Buzz guided us, moved us through,
but again, he let us be who we were as those
characters. I don't recall his particularly leaning
on any of us for a certain interpretation. Again,
you know, we're working with an Earl Hamner
script, and Earl is a wonderful writer. So the

"Jess-Belle"?

217

writer's intent was there, o n the page, and it

was for us to take it in through osmosis,
become these characters for Earl. I'm delighted
he was so pleased with it. He really enjoyed
that show.
Did you get the feeling that there was a difference
between that and doing the half-hour?

You can do a lot more developing of charac

ters in an hour. However, "The After Hours"
was basically one theme - a haunted woman
finally facing reality. This one, we were able to
indulge more in the different characters. Like
Jeanette Nolan as the witch was wonderful,

218

Francis plays a sultry brunette country girl, in Earl Hamner

Jr's tale of black magic, "Jess-Belle."

and she had her great scenes. And Jimmy as

the innocent young man who is tormented
really with these two women - the darkness
of Jess-Belle and the spell of Jess-Belle, and the
other woman, the sweet woman that really
should be his love. But every time Jess-Belle
was around, her spirit invaded him. There was
more time to play with these emotions and
characters, and to sit back and see how all of

them were tormented in their own way. Except

for the witch. I've told Earl I want to play the
witch in his musical version. And he said,
"No, I want you to do Jess-Belle . " But I'd
think it would be such fun to play the witch.
With all the little potions, and wear the won
derful crazy nose and put the warts on and the
wild hair. Anyway, the hour show gave time
for all of these characters to emerge for the
audience to enjoy. But probably everybody
knew that Jess-Belle would eventually come to
no good end.

James Best
James Best starred in " T he Grave , " as Johnny R o b ,
i n " T he Last R ites o f Jeff M y rt l e b a n k " as the t i t l e
c haracter, a n d i n "Jess-B e l l e , " as B i l ly-Ben Turner.
After giving instructions on how to do a fight scene,
Montgomery Pittman, the writer and director of

Twilight Zone was already fairly successful by the

"The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," observes actor

time you appeared in the third season. What was

James Best throwing a punch at actor Lance Fuller.

it like coming onto a show that was already

a phenomenon?

Well, I was very lucky, because I was under

contract with Universal Studios for two years,
and after I got out of there I got up with Gene
Autry and his series. So I was working con
stantly.
Twilight Zone was a class act. I did an
awful lot of westerns and everything, you see,
and they shot in 1 5 minutes for 4 5 cents. And
you did all your own stunts - fistfights and
everything - until you're ready to get killed,
and then they double you perhaps. But
Twilight Zone was a whole different thing:
they had the real professional writers, they
had the real actors who had trained and had
the experience needed to really give a beauti
ful performance. That's why it was successful.
This day and age, of course, the industry is

full of personalities, and if you're over 3 0,

you're not on the cutting edge and have no
knowledge of the business.
Did you watch the show much as a viewer?

Of course, I was a fan of Twilight Zone. As I

say, it was a class show. It was very interesting
and different. What I loved about it, it didn't
rely on naughty words or body parts or sparks
flying off of people's chests, it was more real
istic. They had a wonderful imagination. It
was a very intriguing show and so well done,
because you had the best actors in Hollywood
- later on they all became superstars, or a
very large percentage of them.

219

Actors Strother Martin, James Best, Ellen Willard, and

In a scene that passes through a graveyard, Gunman

Lee Van Cleef, with some of the crew during a cemetery

Connie Miller, played by Lee Marvin, is wagered to visit

scene in "The Grave."

the site of outlaw Pinto Sykes.

Did you get a chance to meet Rod Serling on the

set of your episodes?

I met him briefly. He came down to the set.

He was very much interested in what was
going on. Unfortunately, I didn't do one of his
scripts - it was written by Monty Pittman
"The Grave," which I was fortunate enough
to do with Lee Marvin and Strother Martin
and Lee Van Cleef and a wonderful cast. It
was a ghost story I had told Monty Pittman. I
was born in Kentucky, and adopted and
raised in southern Indiana across from rural
Kentucky, and for entertainment in those
days, we told stories. And ghost stories, of
course, were very intriguing. I think later on
that was my fascination with The Twilight
Zone
they, to me, were elaborate ghost sto
ries, very interesting stories that were a little
beyond the average imagination. So when I
told Monty Pittman the story, he wrote it into
-

220

a western and called me up and I was in it,

and very flattered to be so.
When you told it to him, was it with the idea that
it could be a show?

Oh, no. I had no idea he was going to make it

into a western. I was quite surprised when he
called me, and I read the script and said, "Oh,
this looks familiar. " Well, he told me then, "I
based this on the story you told me. " He was
a nice man.
With the character of Johnny Rob that you played
in "The G rave," do you remember any special
James Best additions that you brought?

I played Johnny Rob as a sort of sniveling

loudmouth coward, and I like to believe I'm
anything but that. And I'm hoping it took a
certain amount of talent to portray that, you
know. Because in those days, I can truly say I

wasn't afraid of anything that walked, talked,

or dug holes.
You have some really fabulous costars in that
episode - Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, Lee Van
Cleef. Any comments about working with them in
"The Grave?

Well, I worked with both Lee Van Cleef and

Lee Marvin before. Lee Marvin was a practi
cal joker as I was, too; we'd get bored on the
set. I remember we pretended we were fighting
between filming once, and needless to say,
there were quite a few coronaries when they
saw us playing like we were fighting. But Lee
loved to have a nip now and then. And he got
himself into trouble for a while, but he was
always there, he knew his dialogue, and Lee
was always exciting to watch.
Strother Martin was one of the most insecure actors, and one of the finest actors I've
ever worked with. But he's always insecure,
and he'd come and say, " Did that look all
right? Was that all right ? " And I'd say,
" Strother, it was marvelous."

Actors Strother Martin ( Mothershed) and James Best

(Johnny Rob) visit the graveyard the following morning,
when Miller never returned.

D o you have any favorite moments o r scenes from

"The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank"?

I'll tell you one that wasn't my favorite was

them closing me into a casket, and I took a
pencil and put it into the lid, and said, "Don't
close it all the way down." And they'd leave
that little pencil in there. I guess I was afraid of
getting closed in that coffin. Working with
Anne Francis in "Jess-Belle" was a pleasure.
Because I've played so many mean guys and
heavies and getting killed and stuff, so I didn't
have too many chances having romantic
scenes with beautiful ladies like Anne Francis.
I really enjoyed that, certainly.
In retrospect, was there anything with Jeff

Connie Miller ( Lee Marvin) makes it to the gravesite of

Myrtlebank that you would have done differently?

Pinto Sykes.

No, because I think as an actor, and I've taught

221

A cameraman captures a fight scene between James Best

and Lance Fuller in "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank."

Sherry Jackson stars as Best's love interest, Comfort

Gatewood, in "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank."
Jackson is seen here with her father, director and
writer Montgomery Pittman.

222

acting for about 3 0, 3 5 years, motion-picture

technique. When I do a performance, I don't
really judge myself. If I have fun doing the part,
if I really enjoy doing the part, modesty be
damned. If I have fun doing the part, I feel that
I did it correctly. Not saying that if I had anoth
er take or two takes or three takes, that it
would improve. In my case, I don't think that's
true, I think I'm better in the first shot. First
time out of the box, you've got the energy, it's
like throwing a punch, you know. You throw a
real good one and deck him in the first punch,
you've won. If you have to hit him four or five
times, he's gonna get up and maybe kick you
around. Same thing with acting.
"Jess-Belle" was one of the one-hour shows. How
was that different than working on the half-hours?
Did you feel you had more time for the character?

It didn't matter to me. I didn't care if it was

five minutes or five hours, it's acting. I know
my dialogue, I get in front of the cameras, I
expect the other actors to know theirs. We do
the best shot we can, and most takes don't last
longer then 1 5 or 20 seconds. And the editor
puts it together and makes you look like a
hero. But the cameraman, you hope that they
can follow your actions if you give them false
starts and so forth. I certainly hope I've
improved over the years, become a better actor
than even in The Twilight Zone, if they consid
ered me a good actor. Perhaps I was certainly
adequate at that time, at that age. I hope that
I'm better now that I'm at this age.
Tell me about working with Buzz Kulik.

Buzz Kulik was one of the better, fine directors

around. He was an actor's director. There are
a lot of bad actors out there who are mechan
ics. But then you have wonderful directors,
like Buzz Kulik, and a whole raft of certain
people that really talk to you as a human being
rather than a piece of acting material. That

they just push you in front of the camera and

say, "Just say the line, don't worry about it. "
I've had a lot of those. So you sometimes
remember certain directors, and he certainly
has to be one of them that was very favorably
thought of in my opinion.
Are there any fun stories or anecdotes about
making that episode?

Other that when Anne Francis turns into the

panther and they put the panther on the roof,
and I walk out and light my pipe and the pan
ther is over my head. And the keeper of the
panther said, "Don't move." And I found out
later that they had not really tied that panther
off to the extent they should have, and the pan
ther normally, he said, jumps on their prey
from the top. So I suggested a long chain,
which they didn't use, but they did use enough
cable. I think I was safe. At least, I hoped I was.
Any favorite moments in the finished show?

Oh sure, kissing Anne Francis was fantastic.

Dennis Weaver
Den n i s Weaver starred in " Shadow P l ay , " as Adam
Grant. This was h i s last

Twilight Zone i nterview.

What did you think of Twilight Zone at the time of

production?

Well, I thought it was terrific. I loved Twilight

Zone in those days. It was a real ground break
ing effort on the part of Rod Seriing, and it
was innovative.
What were your impressions of Rod Serling?

[Laughs] I wish I could answer that from my

own experience, but I never had a chance to
actually meet him while he was on the set

223

Seen with costar Jack Hyde, is a candid shot of actor

Dennis Weaver observes Serling discussing his opening

Dennis Weaver, staring as Adam Grant in "Shadow Play."

narration with director John Brahm.

doing his narration. It was one of those weird

things that I thought, " Boy, I'm going to have
the opportunity of seeing this creative genius,
and actually talking to him and getting some
impressions, and some thoughts of his about
the industry and all that sort of thing." And it
just never happened.
What stands out most for you in the making of
your episode, "Shadow Play"?

Well, yvhat ecited me about the sttipt was

dealing ith the dream cncept, that life is a
dream. That's also very muh part pf East'el1
philosophy, that we're living in a dreain, and
they compare it to a lot of our dreams at night.
When we dream at night, it's totally real to us
- nobody can tell us it's not real until we wake
up. And then we say, " Oh, that was a dream,
that wasn't reality at all . " But when we're liv
ing through it, dreaming it, it is terribly real,
and sometimes it can be absolutely frightening.

224

Characters can change very quickly and it's just

an incredible experience, but we feel that it's
real. That's the point, and that was the point of
this "Shadow Play. " Which I felt dealt with
that subject matter very interestingly.
What do you think makes a good Twilight Zone?

First of all, the writing. It always goes back to

the writing. In other words, you have to have
a good concept of some subject matter that is
not common to everyday life as we understand
it, but dealing with things that are in the
Twilight Zone. That's what made it unique,
and that's what created such an appeal that it
had for so many people.
I don't think anyone turned down working on

Twilight Zone.

They jumped at the chance. I was very excited

that they offered me a part on Twilight Zone.
Those were the days, I guess, that I'm sure it

was during the time I was on Gunsmoke, and

I had such a recognizable kind of character on
Gunsmoke, that it gave me an opportunity to
play something totally away from that, and
that was one of the things that excited me
about that opportunity.
What do you think of the original Twilight Zone
series today?

Well, I still think it's a lot of food for thought.

"Shadow Play," for instance, has got to make
a lot of people think, a lot to question life and
that sort of thing, and that was one of the
motivating forces behind Twilight Zone
to
make people think past what they normally do
in their daily routine.
-

How was it working with costars Harry Townes

and Wright King?

As seen in the opening shot, a distraught Adam Grant

faces his terrifying recurring dream of being executed.

Well, of course, Harry Townes was a very

popular television actor in those days. Wright
King was a very dear friend of mine, we had a
very close relationship family to family. He
had three boys who were practically the same
age of my three boys. As a matter of fact, I
directed a Gunsmoke once that required six
kids, and I used his three and my three. It was
a fun thing to do. So it was nice to see Wright
again on television.
I certainly enjoyed doing " Shadow Play. " It
was a feather in my cap at the time. You know,
most of the actors on Twilight Zone are not
with us anymore.

225

How would you compare working in live television

and then doing filmed television?

In "Shadow Play," Harry Townes stars as District Attorney

Henry Ritchie. Townes also starred in the episode, "The
Four o f Us Are Dying," a s well a s in Serling's Playhouse
90, "The Rank and File."

Well, in many ways it was a relief to do filmed

television, because I got my beginning in televi
sion, my roots were in New York when televi
sion was totally live. What you did at the
moment, the audience saw at the very same
time, there was no delay. You know, if you
blew a line you just covered up, and there were
a lot of carpenters walking through sets, a lot
of dead bodies getting up and walking away,
and it was a pretty exciting time. And you had
to really be on your toes, you had to rehearse
tremendously. We did a lot of time rehearsing,
so it was like a stage play, the same kind of
immediate contact with the audience. So, get
ting on filmed television, where you have a
retake or two, or three, or five, was kind of a
blessing in a way. You'd say to the director, "I
think I can give you something a little better
than that, if you give me another take." We
had the rehearsal of the scene, and the blocking
of the scene the day we shot it.
There's nothing like the old pictures.

Yeah, you go back and you see the very first tel
evision series about Superman, it's so laughable
because, you know, today they do Spider-Man
and all of these wonderful special effects, and
they couldn't possibly do that in the infancy of
television - it wasn't available to a director. So
they tried the best they could, and in this day
and age, if you see it, it's very funny.
What was it like working at the

MGM

studio, on

that back lot that was just so immense.

Adam Grant ponders the many illogical details of his

dreamlike world.

226

Well, Universal had a big back lot also; we

shot most of McCloud on the back lot of
Universal. You know, in those days, the whole
studio, the whole atmosphere, was family. It's
so different than it is now. You had people
who made decisions at the top, and they were
made on the lot, they were made at the studio.

You could go to a producer or somebody and

mention that there was a certain kind of film
that you'd like to do, and they wouldn't just
dismiss it.

Wright King
Wright

King starred i n

" Shadow

P l ay , "

as

Paul

Carson, a n d i n "Of Late I T h i n k o f C l i ffordv i l l e , " a s

Hecate.

What were your impressions of Rod Serling?

Rod Serling was an exciting man. I knew him,

I can't think exactly where, early on some
where in New York, and the last time I saw
him was in Los Angeles, in the airport, and he
always remembered you. We talked just briefly
- he was going his way, I was going mine but he was just a wonderful, always-up kind
of guy, always interested and interesting. He
was vital, very substantial, and a very attrac
tive kind of guy. I'm always amazed when they
say he was short - well, he was, but you
didn't get that; he was a very straight guy, very
straightforward.

before, and I had to show up at Harry Townes

and Anne Barton's house drunk. I had never
played drunk onstage before, and that was a
little bit of a problem for me. I tried out a cou
ple of things, and John said, "What you're
doing is just right," and it worked out. On
"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville," I played
this young guy Hecate, and you had to know
that he was the guy, later on, that was an older
man. And the director, David Rich, wanted
some handle on that, so he gave me a nervous
kind of thing where I pulled at my ear, and so
I was doing that in both scenes. I think I would
have done that differently - I had some kind
of an idea that was different than that.
I remember that tall gal that was in
"Cliffordville," Julie Newmar, I didn't have
scenes with her in that. She's really quite good
in it. Albert Salmi was a weird guy - a good
guy and a good actor who took a lot of
chances. I remember he had a collection of

What do you think of the show today?

Today, I'm so happily surprised. There are so

many things I did, and so many phases, and
The Twilight Zone is right up there. It was
done with segments that are going to bend
your mind and it's done concisely. That was
good writing and it was directed well, and it
went well. In those days, I was spoiled, I
worked with a lot of good writers.
There was a guy named John Brahm, he was
a very famous director. He directed the movie
Fury, which got him a lot of notoriety. He was
a nice guy. He wanted me to be drunk in
" Shadow Play, " and I'd never played drunk

Actors Wright King and Harry Townes star with Dennis

Weaver in "Shadow Play."

227

canes. I liked him - he was really nice. And

John Anderson was in that, he was a very
good friend. Harry Townes was a very close
friend, too.
The makeup for the aged version of your character
Hecate worked out fairly well. How was it to see
an elderly version of yourself?

I remember William Tuttle was a very famous

makeup guy. He had made up all the different
people, and he was still there and he did my
makeup, made me an older man, for
" Cliffordville . " And what they do is put a
plastic cap on over your hair
I had thick
hair - and then he colored it the same color
as my face, he made the guy kind of bald. I had
a homburg hat on, as I recall, kind of on the
back of my head, and I looked like my dad!
Somebody said, "That's what you're going to
look like when you're old . " I was going from
a fairly young-looking guy, the character I was
playing, to this, and it was a big thing to me.
And William was really nice to talk to. He had
done all kinds of things. He's like any of these
guys. They're the oldest guys, the ones that
have been around in the old studios who were
j ust fantastic, and had a lot of great stories to
tell you. So he left the bald makeup on, and I
went home and scared the hell out of my wife!
That was good.
-

Julie Newmar has her devil horns applied by a makeup

artist for "Of Late

I Think of Cliffordville."

William Tuttle proudly holds the masks he created of

Battling Maxo and Maynard Flash for the episode,
"Steel."

228

Having directed several Twilight Zone episodes,

James Sheldon

do you have any favorites?

James

Sheldon

d i rected

Twilight Zone epi sodes

"The W hole Trut h , " " A Penny for Your Thought s , "
" Long

Distance

Call,"

" It ' s

Good

Life , "

Va l l ey , " a n d " I S i n g t h e Body Electri c . "

" St i l l

He also

di rected numerous other television shows, i n c l ud i ng

My Three Sons, The Waltons, and The Equalizer.

My favorite episode was " It's a Good Life,"

with Billy Mumy, where he turns people into
things, and another one with Mumy called
" Long Distance Call," where his grandmother
had died, and she had given him a toy tele
phone and he talked with her on the phone.

Cameramen await taping the next scene of "Long Distance Call," while James Sheldon directs a young Bill Mumy.
This was the sixth and final videotaped episode in production.

229

I can tell you a story about how I almost

closed down all of MGM. Little Billy Mumy
and I had worked together before, and it was
6 P.M. and he had to leave - kids had to only
work certain hours and that was Billy's time
and I needed one more shot. And illegally I
went to his mother, who was a lovely lady, and
I said, " Could I get just one more shot? " And
I did, and it worked fine, but the next day the
producers and the studio executive and every
body were on my back, because if anybody
had found out about that, I would have been
in trouble. So I never did that again.
What can you tell me about working on the few
taped episodes in comparison to the majority of
episodes done on film?

It was a show that was really better on film,

but CBS co-owned it with Rod, and they had
these big studio facilities at Television City,
and they wanted to do them on tape to utilize
the facilities. So we did six shows on tape; the
two that I did were the one with Billy with the
telephone and another with Jack Carson
where he couldn't tell a lie [ " The Whole
Truth " ] . But I think that after they saw the six
shows on tape, they realized that having
George Clemens and the camera crew, you
could do much more in the vein of The
Twilight Zone in film. George Clemens was a
great cinematographer and a delightful guy to
work with.

what really made it work. These guys were

such good writers, and it was always a pleas
ure to go there, and we always had good casts
and all of the good directors.
One of the most exciting things about The
Twilight Zone is that every week you'd have
something completely different. Not only was
it a completely different storyline, but they
were completely different in style, because
Charles Beaumont wrote one kind of thing,
George Clayton Johnson wrote another kind
of thing, Ray Bradbury another. It wasn't like
doing another episode of The Fugitive or some
other show, which had similarity. This not
only had new casts, but the whole concept was
always different. One week it might be a com
edy, another week it's frozen people, or you're
on a foreign world or another planet. So it was
exciting, as it was for the audience, but for a
director, that was fun.

Bill Mumy
B i l l M u my starred in " Long Distance C a l l , " as B i l ly
Bayles, in " I t ' s a Good Life , " as A nthony Fremont,
and i n " I n Praise of P i p , " as Pip P h i l l i ps.

Did you have a chance to meet Rod Serling while

he was doing his narrations or when he was visit
ing the sets?

Did your work on The Twilight Zone have a unique

ness that your other shows lacked?

The Twilight Zone wasn't just a job. It was

fun. It tested your imagination all the time,
and the tools that you worked with, because
of people like Buck Houghton and the unsung
hero Jim Lister [casting director], who really
brought all these actors forward for us, and
the whole crew. You j ust knew you were on a
good show. It had good scripts, and that's

230

I remember him being around quite a bit.

remember him doing the narration for "It's a
Good Life," because we were out on that
exterior set and it was the same day when we
were filming the " Gopher, you be dead"
thing. So, I was there for that, and he was on
the set on "Long Distance Call" a lot because
they were rewriting that ending. My memo
ries of Mr. Serling were basically that when he
was around, everybody was relaxed, as

opposed to when a lot of producerlcreator

type people come around on a set, and people
get really uptight. I remember his presence
being very relaxing, and I also remember him
cracking jokes and being light. You think of
him as being this stolid character in a way, or
at least it seems that that was his image. But
he wasn't the least like that - he was light
and funny and very cool. Also, remember,
when you have a television series that goes
multi-seasons, when you've got a hit series, or
a popular series, your actors can tend to get
fabulous or difficult - not so much in that
era as in the last couple of decades, but

Billy Mumy stars as the series' number one most-powerful

character, Anthony Fremont, in the chilling episode,
"It's a Good Life." Mumy reprised his role as Anthony in
the revised episode of The Twilight Zone (2002), "It's
Still a Good Life."

nonetheless personalities, celebrities, they can

be obnoxious. But because there was no regu
lar recurring cast, he was, in essence, the star
of the show.

231

What do you think makes a good Twilight Zone?

Mumy stars a s innocent Billy Bayles in h i s first o f three

episodes, "Long Distance Call."

Grandma pretends to talk with Billy through his toy tele

phone, a game that proves to become a twisted reality.

232

Wow, it's a hard question. First of all, I think

all of them are good. I think most of them are
great, and I think a lot of them are excep
tional. A lot of elements go into that, although
90 percent of the great ones, you just have to
say that Rod Serling is what makes a great
Twilight Zone. It's like when you ask what
makes a great Beatles song - I mean, it's the
combination of the Beatles. If you say what
makes a great Bob Dylan song, it's Bob Dylan.
And it's Rod Serling. Which is why I've always
felt that all of the Twilight Zone projects that
have been called The Twilight Zone, since he
passed away, should not have been called The
Twilight Zone.
The writing of The Twilight Zone is number
one. The shows were largely in a fantasy or
science-fiction arena, but the themes of the
shows were very socially applicable to what
was going on at the time. The fact that you're
in an arena where your emotion and your
imagination can run free makes it easier for
people to j ust kind of suspend disbelief and get
into it. I loved the Twilight Zone scripts,
because they gave me the opportunity to do
unusual things . . . fantasy things. I wanted to
be an actor, as a child, because of watching
Guy Williams as Zorro and George Reeves as
Superman. It was fantasy, sci-fi, adventure
stuff that I wanted to do. The Twilight Zone
was close to that.
I also think, quite honestly, that black-and
white is a perfect medium for this kind of tel
evision or this kind of film. I remember when
we were doing the sequel, "It's Still a Good
Life," a couple of years ago, and Ira Behr and
I both really wanted to do it in black-and
white. We really wanted to do it that way, and
there was no way at all. You can see the very,
very beginning is a fade from black-and-white
into color, which was as far as we could get
with it.

So let me ask you, you worked with director James

Sheldon on " Long Distance Call" and "It's a Good
Life." Do you remember much about working with
him and what he was like?

I remember him as being a really, really pleas

ant guy. I remember running into him at
Disneyland, he had a couple of daughters that
were close to my age. I was really young when
I did those shows, but I know that I went in
there reasonably prepared, even though I was
a little kid; it's not like I showed up not know
ing my lines or anything. I know they were
pretty happy with what I chose to do and there
wasn't a whole lot of any crisis or anything
like, "What are we going to do with this kid ?
How are we going to make him work ? " It
went reasonably smoothly. I know that on
" It's a Good Life" we worked together on
making the eyes really big when I was using
Anthony's powers, and I can remember Mr.
Sheldon kind of working that stuff out with
me. And I remember working with Cloris
Leachman, because I had already worked with
her before on a Loretta Young Show when she
played my mom in an hour drama. On "It's a
Good Life" she helped me focus. I can remem
ber goofing around off-camera, when I was
doing off-camera dialogue for her, and her j ust
kind of letting me know very nicely and very
professionally that when you're doing off
camera, you've got to do it as well as you were
doing it on-camera. And that was an early but
big lesson learned. I just remember James
Sheldon not being stressed, and believe me, a
lot of directors, especially television directors,
can be really stressed.
Sheldon mentioned something about how one of
the shoots went over your time limit, in regards to
child labor laws. Do you remember that at all?

No. I never heard about that at all. Well, cer

tainly I wasn't looking at my watch wanting to
go home. I can remember every day on Lost in

Space was like that, because I was generally

heavy in all of those shows, and there is the
time limit, and I can remember the teacher
social worker saying to the assistant director,
"You're going to lose Billy at six o'clock, and
it's five minutes to six." And I can remember I
was always like, "Oh come on! Who cares!
Let's get the shot." I'm sure my mother would
have said, " Oh, who cares ? " I don't mean
overwork the poor kid, but if you've got a shot
to get and you need an extra ten minutes, it's
not the end of the world.
Anthony Fremont is literally the most powerful
character in the series, if you think about it. He
predates the Q, from Star Trek: Next Generation.
Tell me a little about the role, how you prepared,
and what place Anthony holds for you?

Anthony Fremont was the ultimate mutant.

He could do anything. He was totally in con
trol of everyone and everything. He took
absolutely no bullshit from anyone. I just
loved playing him. Oh, I knew it was pretty
cool to be able to read everyone's minds. It's
pretty cool to wish people into whatever you
want to wish them into. I can remember using,
or pretending to use, Anthony'S powers all of
the time when I was little, going to and from
the studio with my mom, to like, make the
traffic lights green. I'm sure a lot of other
actors will say this - you learn from charac
ters that you get to play, because obviously
you've internalized these words and things,
but I've kept a lot of Anthony inside with me
over the years [laughs] . It's probably the sec
ond most popular character I've ever played.
Not to diminish or say it's a better character
than Will Robinson, but it's probably not as
popular. I've had 40 years of people coming up
to me and going, " Oh, it's good you did that.
Don't wish me into the cornfield, man." Who
wouldn't have wanted to play Anthony when
you were a kid? I mean, it's the ultimate char-

233

acter, and I loved returning to it in the sequel,

and with my daughter. I really wanted to do a
whole spin-off series, j uSt the Fremonts.
So you worked with Ira Behr to come up with the
story for the sequel?

Yeah, we did. Ira couldn't have been nicer

about the whole thing. When he got the gig of
producing The Twilight Zone [2002], he asked
me, "Do you think I should do The Twilight
Zone? " And I said, "Dude, you have to do it
so you can protect it. " And that was his reason
for doing it. He kind of knew it was a damned
if you do, damned if you don't gig, because he
knew you can't be The Twilight Zone without
Rod Serling. Yet he knew that if he didn't say
yes to the job, they were going to get someone
else, and he wanted to be as much of a protec
tor of the original concept and what Rod
Serling would have wanted as possible. So I
admired his guts and tenacity, and I really
appreciated him doing it.
We were talking and having dinner one night
when he first got the gig, and I said to him,
"Wouldn't it be cool to see what Anthony
Fremont was up to now? Not a redo. Just like,
40 years later, what happened to Anthony
Fremont? What happened to Peaksville ? " And
he thought that would be very cool. We tossed
around a handful of other concepts, and I
ended up writing the story for one of the ear
lier episodes, and then I get a call from Ira and
he says, "The network wants to do your idea."
And I said, "What idea ? " He says, "They want
to do a sequel to 'It's a Good Life.'" I said,
"What? ! You're kidding. " He said, "Yeah, and
they want to do it for sweeps week, and they
want to do it right away. " I really liked the
idea of doing the sequel, but I didn't want to
do it, or agree to do it, if there wasn't a really
good story in place. I told that to Ira and he
said to me, " Look, I'll make you a deal. You're
on board. Tell them you're going to do it. If

234

you don't think the script would be given a

thumbs-up by Rod Serling, we'll can the whole
thing, I won't cast anyone else as you. I prom
ise that I would never let anyone else do it, and
if you don't think it's good, we won't do it. "
Which was pretty damned generous o f him;
it's not like he's talking to George Clooney.
So I agreed, and I wrote a treatment and he
wrote a treatment, and we exchanged them.
And quite honestly, I have to say, his treatment
was much better [laughs] . His treatment
included Liliana [Mumy's daughter] as my
daughter with the power and everything.
Working together with Liliana like that was
just fantastic. I thought she was just great in it,
and I would have loved to have done a whole
series: On the Road With the Fremonts.
Getting back to the original series, how was it
working with Jack Klugman on "In Praise of Pip"?
Do you have any memories of working with him?

Oh, absolutely! He was wonderful, a very pas

sionate actor and really into it. First of all, I'm
really proud to be a part of the first American
teleplay that addressed American casualties in
Vietnam. It was a bold show, and I salute Rod
Serling for writing it. As you know, we filmed
a lot of that episode outside, out at this old
creepy amusement park. Anyway, there was a
scene where Jack Klugman grabs Pip and
swings him around, and kisses him and every
thing. And, you know, look, I'd been working
for quite a few years at that point in time, with
a lot of very talented people, and everybody
knew what they were doing. But he was such
a gentleman, he came up to both of my parents
who were there on location at this pier, and he
came up to my mom and my dad, introduced
himself to my parents, and said, " Look, I just
want you to know in this next scene that we're
going to shoot, I'm really going to kiss your
son. I'm going to really grab him and kiss him
and hug him, and really go for it. And I want-

Jack Klugman, as seen in the episode, "A Passage for

Trumpet."

Seen here is the cast of "Long Distance Call," Patricia

Smith, Lili Darvas, Bill Mumy, and Philip Abbott, during
the filming of a scene where Grandma pronounces her
love for her grandson, Billy.

ed to say hello first and let you know I'm

going to do that." And they thought that was
so sweet of him. It was unnecessary for him to
do that, but I always remembered that. I saw
him a few times over the last ten years, and it
was just great - we reminisced a little about
Pip and Twilight Zone and how proud we
were to have that in our catalog, so to speak.
I've always dug the scene inside the House
of Mirrors.

That was creepy. I remember that reasonably

well, because it was the House of Mirrors at
Pacific Ocean Park. It was a really long shot to
set it up with the cameras and the reflections of
the lights and everything. It was a pain in the
ass to shoot that scene. On one hand, the char
acter I'm playing is basically a ghost, who had
to have that ghostlike expression, which I was
aware of. So you couldn't be looking down,
and the only way to know where you were

going in the House of Mirrors was by small

marks of tape on the floor that were little cues
to go here, go there, so you wouldn't smash
into a mirror; as Jack Klugman did. So, here I
am, I'm nine or ten years old, I'm moving at a
pretty fast clip through this House of Mirrors,
trying very hard not to look down at the floor,
because I'm supposed to be like this ethereal
being just kind of moving. And certainly in the
rehearsals, I was smacking into a few of them.
I remember that.
"Long Distance Call" has a pretty intense
subject matter.

Very creepy. My mom almost didn't want me

to do it, she says. I wasn't aware of that at the
time, but I know later on that because of this
boy attempting to kill himself in several ways,
she was just very anxious about that, and she

235

almost said she wasn't going to do it, but I'm

glad that she did [laughs]. It never crossed my
mind and it never creeped me out. I'm pretty
sure I was six when we did that.
What do you think of the original Twilight Zone
today, when you look back on it?

I think it's the best television series ever pro

duced. It's timeless. I think it's beautiful to
watch, I love the cinematography. It's I 5 6 act
ing lessons right there. They're just beautifully
acted, beautifully written, beautifully shot,
great little moral plays within a sci-fi or fan
tasy arena that was unique and to this day
stands alone, and has its own thing that no
one else can duplicate. If you opened a trunk
and found three Twilight Zone scripts that
were written by Rod 5erling that were never
read or produced before, and you had The
Simpsons do them, you would still know,
immediately, that it was Rod 5erling's work.
You would recognize, in a very short amount
of time, that there is a unique way these char
acters are speaking, there is an intelligence that
these characters are speaking, there is a certain
thing that was Rod 5erling. That no one else
can do. Rod 5erling is The Twilight Zone. I
think it's the best show ever made.

Actor Joseph Ruskin stars as the contemporary genie

from "The Man in the Bottle," a genie that's so with it, he
supplies those who possess the lamp with four wishes
instead of the customary three.

velous. And Don Medford was wonderfully

acerbic, quiet, very much an in-charge director,
who was really just so easy with everyone. 50
for me, on the one hand, it was oh, another
good job. Period. I had no idea that I was real
ly into something that was really special.

Joseph Ruskin

Looking at "The Man in the Bottle," is there

Joseph R us k i n starred in "The Man in the Bott l e , "

the story, or was it just the excitement of getting

as t h e g e n i e , a n d i n "To Serve M an , " a s a voice-over

the job?

anything in particular that appealed to you about

for the Kanamit a l i en s .

What was it like being a part of Twilight Zone at

the time?

Lots of rehearsal, and to work with Luther

Adler, who is a god in my eyes. Certainly from
that family of actors and all, so that was mar-

236

It was the excitement of getting a job. I mean,

I was much too green and new to Hollywood
and the West Coast, and all that happened
here, to really have an opinion or even venture
an opinion about whether it's a good part to
play. Most actors, all they wanted to do was
act as long as they possibly could. But the
biggest thing was the amount of rehearsing we

Director Don Medford (far right) looks on with cameramen, as Ruskin performs a scene in which he offers the Castles
their wishes.

A makeup artist works on Luther Adler's transformation into Adolf Hitler.

237

Tell me about working with director Don Medford.

Don was an actor as well before, so he knew

how to deal with actors. There's no fuss and
feathers with him, there's a great deal of
humor. But he really knew what he wanted
and he was clear about it. So you didn't have
to go wondering, "But what did it mean?
What is he saying? " It wasn't a great acting
lesson, he wasn't trying to be a teacher. He was
doing his part of the job, and he was very cre
ative in what he asked us to do.
How did you think the end product compared to
the script when you finally saw the show?

Adler in full Hitler makeup and garb.

did for this show. Vivi Janiss, Luther Adler,

director Don Medford, and I spent the after
noon reading the script and discussing it, then
rehearsed all the next day, and the day after
that, and then on the fourth day we shot it.
Don would call, "Cut, I want a little more of
it, a little less of that. " We all knew where we
went back to, what the line was, where it was
to be, no time was wasted. We knew how to
work with him. And I have never rehearsed a
television show in that manner or as fully
since. And that's over 40 years ago.
It's amazing that you shot in one day.

Well, it was two. The majority of the show

was shot in that one day. I don't remember
what he asked for with the wishes, but one of
them he turned into Hitler. We had a lot of
extras in that, and that scene was shot by
itself. I think they shot maybe two other days,
but they were all exteriors, which you would
take longer on anyway.

238

I was surprised at some of it. I mean, the

rhythms that Don and the editor put into it, I
was pleased, it really moved much better than
I thought it was going to. It's a great rhythm
and a quick one, so it just moved right to the
climax.

Joanne Linville
Joanne

L i nv i l l e

starred

in

" T he

Passersby , "

as

Lav i n i a Godw i n .

Tell m e what i t was like t o work o n the Twilight

Zone episode, "The Passersby."

First, it's probably my favorite work that I've

done, primarily because of the character. The
character was so beautifully written. The dia
logue that he wrote for that show was just
beautiful, and it was all memory, her memory
and her past. And it was so much like the char
acter of Melanie in Gone With the Wind. I
loved working with Elliot Silverstein, he's such
a wonderful director. And he made it such a
good place to work; he let us be and he
encouraged us, and it was just beautifully put
together. And in such a small area that you

Joanne Linville stars with James Gregory in the Civil War

After the shoot, James Gregory was able to keep this box

drama, "The Passersby."

guitar as a memento from the show. He kept it for many

years, but it went missing after a move and he had no
idea of what ever happened to it.

could have all of that work, all the horses

coming in and everything, in this little space,
not big at all. And to think that you could get
that kind of quality - I mean, the cinematog
raphy, the lighting of the whole thing - I was
just very, very happy with it.

sensitive, and took care of you in such a way

that it made you feel comfortable and coura
geous.
Were you able to work any elements into your

What was most appealing about the story?

I would have to say that the characters love,

she so loved, and she had such hope in her.
And there were long scenes, you know - you
don't have those scenes anymore.
So Elliot Silverstein generally gave you room
to work?

Elliot was a very serious director - a lot of

directors don't have the kind of depth that he
was able to bring onto that set. He was very

character that weren't necessarily written on

the page?

Yes, and I'm proud of it. The use of props, the

use of the coat, the use of his jacket that
showed how I touched that jacket, how I felt
about who wore that jacket. So I felt that I
brought that to it, that perhaps wasn't really
written. The love came from that, rather than
just in memory he was there. You see, memory
is a fantastic thing. Because you can see a little
wet in the eye from thinking about that

239

moment. Just little things like that, I was very

happy with it.
And when you saw the finished show, how did it
compare to what you thought about it when you
first read the script?

Better, better I thought. Elliot really did a

beautiful job, and so did James Gregory. It was
wonderful working with James, too, because
we had known each other, we had the same
agents. And I've done over a hundred shows,
and over a hundred live television shows too,
so altogether an awful lot of work, and this is
my favorite character, and also the Romulan
commander of Star Trek, which has become
kind of a very famous character.
Twilight Zone hasn't stopped running for nearly

Ida Lupino during a makeup session on "The Sixteen

50 years, yet so many other shows have come

Millimeter Shrine."

and gone. Why do you think that is?

Truth. It is a basic truth that's in it, of our

fears; Rod wasn't afraid to go after that, the
important issues we face in life. He was able to
come up with and write it, and to say it in a
half-hour show. That's remarkable kind of
writing, to get a beginning, a middle, and an
end in that length of time.

Nan Martin
Nan

Martin

starred

in

"The

I nc redible World of

Horace Ford , " as Laura Ford .

Can you recall any notable experiences around

working on The Twilight Zone?

I'd have to talk j ust from my memories of

shooting it. Which are quite vivid. I was a
New York actress, and I was a big favorite
with some of the television producers in
California, and I don't really understand that.

240

Except I think they watched each other's

shows. Rod Serling would watch The Fugitive
and say, "I like that actress, I think I'd like to
use her. " I know my agent told me that Quinn
Martin, a big producer, loved me. I don't
remember meeting him, although I did all of
his shows. They would fly me from New York,
put me up in a hotel, I would shoot the show,
take me back to the airport, and I would fly
back to New York.
And I got here for The Twilight Zone, and I
had done a play in New York with Pat Hingle,
so for a while I called us the Jeanette
MacDonald and Nelson Eddy duo. Because
we seemed to be put together on The Fugitive
or The Twilight Zone. See, I started in live tel
evision, with the good writers - Reginald
Rose, Horton Foote - good directors Arthur Penn, John Frankenheimer - you
know, aces. And "The Incredible World of
Horace Ford" was a script by Reginald Rose

and it was sort of haunting. And I remember

the set on the Metro lot. It was a convention
al living room and so forth. And there was a
street created with buildings and stoops. And I
remember one scene where I come and watch
in the shadows my husband Pat Hingle reliv
ing, you know, playing the game. And I
remember what an eerie scene it was to act.
It's amazing how strong those memories are.
And I remember that Rod was very hands-on,
not like today's producers. Not back at the
office, you know, making calls about his stock
investments. He was right there. If there was a
camera problem, he was right there.
What was your impression of him when you first
met him?

He's charming. Very compelling, very com

pelling eyes, never took his eyes off you, you
know, studying you. But I'm a great studier
myself. So mutual, mutual respect, I would
think.
How did live television compare to recorded
television back then?

I remember disastrous moments in live televi

sion, like they couldn't zip up my dress in the
back, so I came into the scene and stood and
played the whole scene with you walking over
to the sink and walking back from the sink
and backing out of the room when I left. I
remember I played another one with Pat
Hingle again, where Pat was supposed to come
fiying through the door, entering through the
door. And you could hear the door going
umpf, umpf, umpf. And finally I was onstage
and I'm in front of the camera and I remember
thinking, " Oh, now what could I say here?
Can I say, 'I forgot and I locked it - just call
to me, dear ? ' " I was trying to see what I could
add in. And suddenly he just came through the
window; he solved it - he just crawled in.
Or that terrible man who crouched in front

Patricia Barry during makeup touchups in "The Chaser"

and

"I Dream of Genie."

241

of you at the end of the show. And he did one

of two things: he went like this [puts her hands
in front of her and stretches the air between
them] and you talked very slowly. "Does . . .
this . . . mean . . . that . . . this . . . is . . . the
end . . . of . . . us . . . then ? " Or he went like
this [moves her hand in a circular motion
quickly], which meant that you said, very
quickly, " Yes, well does this mean that this is
the end of us? If it is then I want to say good
bye first because I will not let you say goodbye
first. " Then go out the door and slam it with
out even waiting for a reply. It was one or the
other, and you had to kind of get used to that.
Those were very good days for actors who
want to develop improvisational skills.
Now one thing about the stories was that they

What was it like coming onto that show during its

fifth and final season?

It was a terrific experience to do the show, and

I had a very good director, who I like very
much. His name was Ted Post, and we get
along. I recently hired Ted, and I just did a pic
ture which I wrote and star in and produced
with Ted called Four Faces, where I play four
different people. It's not released yet, but I'm
very hopeful that it will soon be. For "The
Fear, " Ted was the director, and I had a won
derful actress to work with named Hazel
Court. I recently found out that this was the
last show that Rod wrote. Rod was an
extremely creative writer, had an imagination
that was profound, and he was, I think, run
ning on all fours when he wrote this. Rod was
a gentlemen and a terrific guy to work for.

were more than just dramas. They were morality

plays. They were social explorations. Do you have
any feelings on how Rod used the medium to work
that way?

Yes. He was very skillful, wasn't he? And very

ambiguous. At a time when people like a
beginning, middle, and end, he left things for
you to sort of figure out, you know, what the
implications of something were in a script,
which is really interesting. If he were alive
now, for instance, it would be interesting to
see what he'd be doing. I was going to say the
paranormal, but I don't think so. But certainly
going toward science fiction, that would inter
est him. Because we're on the threshold of a
lot of new worlds, and that would intrigue
him very much. He was a very strange man,
very strange. But you got his concentration,
always.

Peter Mark Richman

Peter Falk stars as Ramos Clemente in another of
Peter

M ark

R ic h m a n

starred

Trooper Robert Fran k l i n .

242

in

" T he

Fear"

as

Serling's tales of fear, "The Mirror."

What was it like working with director Ted Post?

Ted is very much a director who has wonder

ful ideas if you need them. He always tries to
hire good people, so the direction is minimal.
You don't have to give a lot of direction to
professional actors. You have to set up your
cameras properly and have a sense of story
concept and a little nudge here and there. But
you don't want to overdirect in television there's no time. So Ted was very aware of that,
and he had good quality actors. And we ful
filled what needed to be done. So I don't
remember a lot of conversations about moti
vations and stuff like that. We certainly were
aware of what we were doing.

actors, the directors, all were very dedicated.

So the episodes hold up today because nothing
has changed in terms of quality. A quality
piece of work is a quality piece of work. If you
take a look at some of the greatest films that
were done 50 years ago, 60 years ago, and you
say, "My god, that's incredible . " Or you see a
performance that has not dated. And that is
why Rod Serling's work is not dated, because
the quality is there.

Phillip Pine
P h i l l i p Pine starred i n "The Four of U s A re Dy i n g , " as

What specific things did you bring to the character

Virgil Sterig, and i n "The I nc redible World of Horace

in "The Fear"?

Ford , " as Leonard O ' B rien .

There had to be a great sense of mystery to it,

and curiosity and faith and peculiarity of
something happening, because she's talking
about hearing and feeling something about
this. I'm a little skeptical when I come in, and
then suddenly it begins to build on me that
there is something happening here. So that a
sense of something untoward is hovering
around here that the actor has to create. And I
remember that was very much a part of what
I was doing. And also I had to quote
Shakespeare in that particular segment, so that
was another challenge for me, to do it as a
trooper, not as a Shakespearean actor with a
Shakespearean company.
After decades in syndication, why do you think we
still watch The Twilight Zone?

I believe that it all starts with the writer, the

creativity of the writer. Rod Serling had an
enormous imagination that was god-given.
And he set up circumstances human beings
must face, on an almost metaphysical level.
And they hired very good people - all the ele
ments of the cameramen, and the crew, the

When you were working on Twilight Zone, did you

have a chance to meet Rod?

Oh yeah, on occasion, when making the next

setup or something. He was a man that you
wanted to talk to, because he was an educated
man and a damn good one. Another interest
ing thing, I've forgotten the name of it now,
but I was going to Europe - my wife and I
obviously were going by plane - and sitting
in the waiting room before the plane was
ready to depart, I looked over and there he
was. And he had a couple of film canisters; he
was taking them over there himself, and we
chatted for a few minutes. And I thought,
"Jesus, that's wonderful. I thought you would
have given it to someone else. " And he said,
"Oh no, this is the only print I have of this and
I want to take this myself."
Rod Serling was a hell of a nice guy, he was
a decent human being. He was not always
there when the show was being produced or
rehearsed, but when he was on set, it was very,
very easy to ask him if there was any possible

243

In "The Mirror," paranoia sets in as Clemente

Seen here during filming of an early scene in "The Mirror"

( Peter Falk) believes he sees his associates plotting his

are actors Richard Karlan (O'Allesandro), Will Kuluva

assassination through a reflection in the mirror. The

(General OeCruz), Tony Carbone (Cristo), Peter Falk

reflection in this shot is actor Richard Karlan.

(Clemente), Rodolfo Hoyos (Garcia), and Arthur Batanides

(Tabal).

way to do something about a particular para

graph or something. He would tell you what
he had on his mind when he put it into those
particular words or sentences. If he hadn't
become a writer, he would have been a teacher
of literature.
Well, he was teaching writing at Antioch, and from
what I gather, he really enjoyed it.

I didn't know he did that, but I could under

stand his doing it, because he was that way;
the phrases he would put in, he was very char
acter-oriented. Like, where he had one man
that he wanted to make sure that the actor
portraying it was an educated man, he would
n't put the de's, dem's, and dow's in there, you
know, he made the difference to it, and he was
careful about the way he wrote a sentence for
you, that it was something that any teacher in

244

English would applaud. There were charac

ters, of course, in it where he went to their
type of language, but depending on the char
acter, and he obviously gave them his dues if
he was an educated person, or if he were not
a deeply educated man, the dialogue would be
different.
Do you think the show lost anything by moving to
an hour-long format?

No, not really. It makes a better story. It

releases more of what the writer and the direc
tor wanted. You get a chance to go up to the
climax of a picture, and that was one certain
ly that they built and built and built for a cli
max, for in the ending he just stops there and
it's all over. I remember when the little boy

came to the door [in "The Incredible World of

Horace Ford " ] , and the first time when he
went out to the place where he lived in the old
section. And I thought he did a hell of a good
job in doing it. There were not two or three or
four shots that had to be redone; he really had
a grip on that picture in his area, in his inner
feelings about what was happening to him. I
thought they did an excellent job with it. The
part that I had was really there to show the
difference in what people believe and how
their mind reacts to things.
"The Four of Us Are Dying" was written by Rod. Do
you remember what your impression was when you
read the script?

The first thing that had happened was I knew

all the guys that were gonna do it. We had
worked at one place or another, we had
worked with each other. Harry Townes was a
very, very good friend of mine for many years
back when we worked for Clare Tree Major,
which was a theater company that went all
over the United States with stories for chil
dren, and I said, " Hey, maybe we can do one
of these like we did for the kids. " And he said,
"Yeah, it would scare the bejeezus out of
them, wouldn't it? " That was one of the things
that came up. We enjoyed it. I think we had
more fun than the audience, because they
picked up guys who, the four of us, could have
been so easily translated into, because each
one of us had a different inside, but we
exposed the same outside in the thing, and
that's what he was hoping to get.
Your primary scene was with costar Bernard Fein.

"Someday t h e s e w i l l be co l l e ctor ' s i t ems , "

ponders Rod Serling , creator o f TV ' s l and
mark s c ie nce fiction s eries "Twilight Zone . "
Perusing production s t i lls in Sept ember 1959
with Serling i s actor Harry Townes who ap
peared in the T Z episode . "The Four of Us
Are Dying . "

Actor Harry Townes ( "The Four of Us Are Dying," "Shadow

Play") and Rod Serling view portions of the original
photograph collection featured in this book.

were in the argument. And it helped, I think it

worked. I know that when they were shooting,
everybody seemed to be happy about it, and
that makes us happy.

What was it like working with him?

I hadn't worked with him before, and we were

knocking our heads during the scene. And we
went together, as a matter of fact, off of the set
for a couple of minutes to see what it was,
what the argument was, what our feelings

Can you tell me about working with Abner

Biberman on "The I ncredible World of Horace
Ford"?

Abner Biberman was one of the most wonder

ful people I've had. I'm gonna tell you a little

245

The show has been playing for nearly 50 years

now. Why do you think The Twilight Zone still
grabs an audience today?
Beverly Garland ( M aggie i n
" T h e Four o f U s A r e Dying " ) : " Rod Serling
was on the set that morning and came over to
me after the scene was finished ( w hi c h w e did in
one take) , and said, 'My god, I didn't know I had
written her so deep. You brought so much more
to t h i s part that I did not know was there when I
wrote i t . ' I ' l l never forget that. I was so flattered
and was on c l o u d nine for a week! I even
thought my singing was okay."

story about him. He came to me one day and

he said, "You know some people up in Las
Vegas, don't ya ? " And I said, "Yeah, I know
quite a few. " And he said, "Jesus, I'm in trou
ble . " And I said, "What's wrong? What's the
matter? " And he said, "I've got a bad check. I
gave them a bad check." And he came to me
and we're talking about it, and they were
really about to punish him. And he said,
"Well, jeez, give me a break and I'll get it
straightened out." And he came to me because
he knew that I knew one of these guys that
were up there. Who unfortunately was not my
brother, but a good friend of my brother's.
And I said, " Manny, can you help him with
this ? " And he said, " Oh, how much does he
owe? Five grand? Oh Christ sake, five grand,
I'll give him a talk. " And he got on the phone
and said j ust a few things, I won't mention it
- most of them were one-syllable words and I could see it was getting along pretty
good. And Abner came afterward and said,
"Oh god, Phil, you saved my soul. " And I
said, " For $ 5 ,000, they don't kill anybody,
believe me. " But he was still frightened.

246

The idea was to find strangeness, and the

strangeness there is in the movements of life in
the human being. And he was telling you that
we are not all alike. The brain has a lot to do
with the individual's soul, and the way it react
ed to the specific things that were in the film
ing. Those things being: the fear of life, the
fear of his ability to do what he expected of
himself. They were all pictures that - joking
now - I guess all of the shrinks would love.
They were all pictures that you could go to
and say to yourself, "Yeah, the mind now is
working against the heart. Their inner spirits
are being exposed now. " What I get out of it is
that human beings are human and they have a
lot of problems in their lives, and this is a won
derful way to show the ability that some peo
ple can pursue the good in life, while others
are dreaming about everything that goes
wrong with their lives and think about that all
the time. I think the stuff was a teaching of
humanity.

Jacqueline Scott
Jacque l i n e Scott starred in "The Paral lel , " as Helen
Gaines.

Twilight Zone was a bit of a phenomenon by the

time you had appeared on it in the fourth season.
Do you remember what your reaction was to being
part of this popular series?

Working on The Twilight Zone was exciting

because it was a successful show. And that was
a show that people arranged their time
around, along with Perry Mason and Gun
smoke and some of those really standard

Filming during a scene on the apartment balcony with

Ida Lupino and John Clarke for "The Sixteen-Millimeter
Shrine."

Actress Jacqueline Scott stars as Helen Gaines, opposite

Steve Forrest as Major Robert Gaines, in "The Parallel," a
bit of a clunker fourthseason episode. Jacqueline Scott
also starred in

The Outer Limits pilot, "Galaxy Being,"

opposite Cliff Robertson.

247

shows. And obviously they were good shows,

because they're trying to redo them, or already
have tried to redo them. Television shows as
well as feature movies.
Well, it was certainly popular in its day, but here it
is almost 50 years later and it is still running.

I would say there is a very large percentage of

young people out there for this show who really
love it. And they've seen the new Twilight
Zone series and they feel that the initial ones
were better shows. Better conceived, better
scripts - not that the new ones were bad.
Can you talk a little bit about film actors versus

to meet him for a drink at the Polo Lounge, at

the Beverly Hills Hotel. And he said that he
liked my performance so much on this seg
ment that he was going to write a woman's
script for me, which he never had, and unfor
tunately he didn't. I guess he got sidetracked
by something else. But that was a really spe
cial thing for me, because he was one of the
premier writers of that period. I didn't know
him personally, but I knew his writing from
live television in New York.

Warren Stevens

television actors and stage actors at that time?

A lot of people will tell you that when you do

movies you can't smile too big, because your
smile is this big, and none of that has ever
meant anything to me. I think you have to
imagine yourself in different circumstances. If
you're playing in a 1 , 5 00-seat house, you
always have to talk, to speak to the person in
the back row. That's the easiest way to talk
about projection without talking about
yelling. And if you're doing film, the camera is
right in your lap, as well as the audience, so
you're not going to project that much. But as
far as the actions and the way you prepare a
script, to me it's the same thing. If it's not real,
it's not going to work - if it's 1 , 5 00 people
away or right in your lap. And if it is real, it's
gonna work.
Can you tell me about meeting Rod Serling?

That was a really wonderful experience, one

of the loveliest things that's happened to me.
I'm talking to my husband one day, and I was
talking about something about this segment,
and the phone rang and I picked up the phone
and I said hello, and this man said, " Hello,
this is Rod Serling . " And I went, "Ah! " It
about scared me to death. But he invited me

248

Warren Stevens starred in " Dead M an ' s Shoes," as

Nate B l edsoe.

The Twilight Zone series was a very popular

phenomenon even in its day. Did you get a sense
that what you were working on was going to have
the popularity that it did?

No, when we worked on any of those shows,

including The Twilight Zone, we never had an
inkling that some of it would turn into - well,
you might call them a cult. But work was
work in those days, we did what came along.
All of those series, like The Twilight Zone and
One Step Beyond and The Outer Limits. Now
I find that they are all being rerun and run,
and rerun and run. And I must say, particular
ly the Twilight Zone things are very good, they
hang in, they stand up under all kinds of mod
ern special effects and influences of the so
called modern-day stuff. And they are still
good. All those stories are so solid. And I'm
very grateful that I was in one.
Tell me why you think the shows are holding up so
well, given the fact that they're not relying on spe
cial effects?

Cameramen film a scene where Wilma ( Marshall)

attempts to leave the apartment, after a vagrant sows
up wearing the shoes of gangster Dane.

Actors Warren Stevens and Joan Marshall star in

"Dead Man's Shoes." Even though Ocee Ritch ghost
wrote the first draft of this script, this episode was solely
credited to Charles Beaumont, due to an unintended
production oversight.

249

without the shoes. So that's what I did, I tried

to do this, and he sat back and he said, "Well,
let's do that, let's print it. " He was absolutely
no help, but he didn't interfere.
Describe how you got the role.

I think somebody just said, "You're going to

do Twilight Zone next week," or whatever it
was. I didn't audition for it or read for it. An
interesting thing, though - Buck Houghton,
who was the producer, eventually became the
producer on The Richard Boone Show. He
was a marvelous guy, I liked Buck very much.
He was a very talented man.
In creating this character, Nate Bledsoe, how did
you prepare for that role to figure out the answers?
Warren Stevens, Joan Marshall, and director Montgomery
Pittman, during a scene where vagrant Nate Bledsoe
transforms back into himself upon removing the shoes
that possessed him with the spirit of dead gangster Dane.

First of all, everybody forgets the writer these

days, and I think that's where you have to
start. If you don't have a good script - a good
story and a good script - you don't have any
thing. And people forget that. And nowadays,
to overcome the lack of a script, the lack of a
story, they overload the stuff with special
effects. But you cannot, in my estimation,
overcome a bad script with a whole bunch of
other stuff. You gotta have a script.
What appealed to you about " Dead Man's Shoes"?

First of all, what appealed to me was getting

the job. And then I remember Monty Pittman,
who was the director. I get on the set the first
day, he says, "I don't know what to tell you.
You're on your own, I can't help you . " Well, I
had no idea what I was going to do. I knew
there had to be a change with the shoes, and

250

Well, I really had to take it from the shoes, and

incidentally, they hurt my feet. So I had to take
it from making a real transition when I put the
shoes on and when I took them off. And I had
fun doing it. I was a little bit concerned that
what I was doing might be too much. But
Monty said, "No, that's fine. " So I don't know
whether he knew what he was talking about
or not, but that's the way it ended up.
Interesting thing, I did one of the new
Twilight Zone episodes in the '80S [ "A Day in
Beaumont " ] . And Philip DeGuere, who pro
duced that series, he directed it. I never saw it,
but the first show that he did on that new one
was called "Dead Woman's Shoes." And he
did not know that I had done "Dead Man's
Shoes. " I don't think he ever saw it, actually.
What was the greatest challenge in shooting
that episode? Do you remember anything that
stands out?

The transitions from with shoes and without

shoes, they were the most difficult things to
do. Although I enjoyed doing it, I had to work
a lot on it, to change an entire physical atti
tude, actually. That was the difficult part.

William Windom
William

W i ndom

starred

in

" Five

C haracters

in

Search of an Exit , " as the M aj or, and i n " M i n i ature , "

a s Doctor W a l l m a n .

What was your first impression o f Rod Serling?

I never met the man, would you believe ? So

my first impression of him was either seeing
one of the Twilight Zone episodes, or reading
the scripts of the two I was in. Or best of all,
he phoned me after an episode of Night
Gallery called "They're Tearing Down Tim
Riley's Bar, " which he had written himself,
and he said he liked it. And that was good
praise, I was happy with that. But I've never
met the man, I'm sorry. He was a paratrooper,
so was I, so we had that in common, if you can
call that common. I guess it's pretty common.
Do you remember what your impression was when

Murray Matheson stars as the Clown, William Windom as

you read the script for "Five Characters in Search

the Major, in Serling's "Five Characters in Search of an

of an Exit"?

Exit" (based on Marvin Petal's short story "The

Well, I had just come out from New York to

do a show based on the writings of John Dos
Passos in a book called USA . We had done a
play called USA at the Martinique Theatre in
New York. Six characters sitting on high
stools and playing all the parts. And one of the
people who came out to see it was the guy
casting " Five Characters in Search of an Exit."
And before the show closed, I had that job.

Depository") . As a New York actor who had just relocated

to southern California, this episode was Windom's very
first Hollywood film.

hear that," or "Turn your head more this way. "

But he didn't say, "Now the character does
that. "

The episode was directed by Lamont Johnson.

One of the peculiarities of this particular role was

A noble fellow. Good sense of humor, easy to

work for, handled the crew and cast nicely.
Nice director.

that makeup artists William Tuttle and Charlie

Did he give you any special direction of the charac

ter of the Major that you remember?

No. No. He let me run, pretty much. He might

have said, "Faster" or " Slower," or "I didn't

Schram had to make life-size figures with life

masks of the actors.

Yeah, they did that. I've never had one of those

made before. But for some reason they made
two of them on me. And eventually I was
given those two masks, those two heads. And
I remember, one Christmas some makeup

251

artist talked me into wearing one as if I had

two heads, and the second one coming out of
my fly, and having a picture taken. So there
I'm lying on the ground with three heads, two
coming out of my shirt and one coming out of
my fly, all looked j ust like me. It was a strange
Christmas card.
Do you still have the heads?

No. I gave them finally to Universal's makeup.

I was going to throw them out, I didn't want
them. But I finally thought, "What the hell, do
you want these ? " " Oh sure, we'll take them. "
And they've got them stored there somehere,
or maybe they've got them crumbled up by
now. I don't know what they did with them.
The set was very unusual, all aluminum and round.
I can only assume there must have been some
production challenges working in that set.

Yeah. He had his hands full. I didn't know

much of the technical stuff. But I know that
from having us climb up out of the barrel, they
obviously had to tilt it, and then shoot it as if
it were upright, which was a little tricky, but
they did that, so we could stand on our own
shoulders to get up to the top. It took a little
doing, but they shot that at about a 40-degree
angle. Which is a little easier to stand on some
body's shoulders at that rate. And we worked
hard, and we got it right apparently, and it
worked as an effective little Christmas show.
How gratifying is it for you as a performer that you
get to meet people who years later have their lives
continue to be affected by the work that you did?

Well, it's gratifying in the sense that you don't

want to get a swelled head. You really don't. I
know that because when you're working alone
onstage as I did with those 1 , 5 00 perform
ances, you figure out very soon - do not talk
down to these people, no matter what their
age group or their nationality is. Because there

252

is someone in this theater every night who

knows more about Thurber or Ernie Pyle than
you'll ever hope to learn.
And another lesson you'll learn is you're
never gonna get 100 percent approval. Don't
tell me the audience was eating out of your
hand - bullshit. If you got 90 percent of them
to stand up and give you a hand, that's terrif
ic. But the other I O have something to offer
too. What didn't they like? Why didn't they
like it? If you can get them to tell you, and the
critics will, learn it, pay attention to what they
say. Because you need to balance that informa
tion along with the adulation you got from the
other 90. I like people - every one of them
has a nugget to offer you. The worst bum in
the street has something of a sparkle if you just
give it a second to come out. Even if it's only a
belch, it's a belch you've never heard before. If
you want to do a good belch someday, he just
showed you how.

Kevin Hagen
Kevin Hagen starred in " Elegy," as Captain James
Webber, and in " You Drive , " as Pete Radcl iff.

Did you feel that The Twilight Zone was unique in

comparison to other television gigs?

Oh yeah! Absolutely! The Twilight Zone was

unique, but it was 5erling himself, his manner
and the way he introduced his episodes and
talked about them. He was unique, definitely.
And certainly the writing was exceptional; it
wasn't just everyday television-series writing.
It wasn't rushed. A lot of times, back in those
days, you'd go from one to the other, you
didn't have much time. Time was of the
essence, even more so today. I did a lot of
television.

Seen here from Beaumont's "Elegy" are stars Don

In "Elegy," almost out of fuel for their spaceship,

Dubbins, the wonderful Cecil Kellaway, Kevin Hagen,

astronauts land on an Earthlike asteroid inhabited

who would later costar in Hamner's "You Drive," and

by inanimate people. Everyone they come across is

Jeff Morrow.

completely frozen, except for the caretaker of this

strange place, Wickwire, played by Kellaway.

It was a special time for a lot of us, we had

a good time doing it. Also, there was a cama
raderie that I don't think exists today. Maybe
we'd be doing something out at Universal, or
whatever studio it was, and the casting direc
tor would be there while you were having
lunch, and he'd come up and say, "Are you
free next week? " And I'd say, "Well, yeah."
"Well, I've got this . . . " So it wasn't a matter
of just going in for a reading and somebody
saying, "Well, let's see, what have you done ? "
I didn't d o too much live television, I did a
Studio One, it was a supporting role, and I
was glad to do whatever it was. You went
where the jobs were. At one time, seven out of
IO were westerns. One of my favorites was for
Thriller. Boris Karloff was the host, and he
would narrate them as Rod Serling did
Twilight Zone.

Of course, the theme of Twilight Zone has

become eternal. Anytime somebody starts
thinking something's kind of weird, they'll go
into that "Da da da da . . . " As I remember, it
was an easy set to work on; the work was flex
ible and calm, good crew.
In "Elegy, " you had to work around all those still
people, which must have been something.

Yeah, it was. Those weren't dummies, they

had to be absolutely still. It was a good story.
I remember Cecil Kellaway, and how delighted
I was not only to meet him, but work with him
and talk to him. I had worked with Don
Dubbins a number of times, and he was a spe
cial kind of friend. Jeff Morrow I'd never
worked with, and it came at a good time.

253

Ivan Dixon
Ivan Dixon starred in "The B ig Tall W i s h , " as B o l i e
J a c k s o n , and i n " I A m t h e N i g h t - Color M e B l a c k , "
as Reverend Anderson.

While you were working on Twilight Zone, did you

spend some time with Rod Serling? Any anecdotes,
thoughts, or reflections on the man that you'd like
to share?

Wickwire may seem like a friendly fellow, but underneath

that supposed guise of humanity lies an ulterior motive

I did spend a few precious moments with Rod

Serling and we talked about many things. One
day I was driving down Wilshire Boulevard,
and this guy in a black Cadillac kept honking
at me like he wanted to pass. Finally he pulls
up on my right and I was just about to shake
my fist at him when I realized it was a grinning
Rod Serling waving at me!

about the fate of the astronauts. Meyers asks, "But why?

Why us?" "Because you are here, and you are men. And

"The Big Tall Wish" is the wonderful story of

while there are men, there can be no peace."

worn-out boxer, Bolie Jackson, his wishful young

companion Henry, and a twisted reality both ironic
and sensitive. What place does the part of Bolie
hold for you? What memories do you have of

Do you have any comments on the director of

working on this episode and with costars

"You Drive," John Brahm?

Steven Perry and Kim Hamilton?

That's interesting, because John Brahm also

directed the Thriller episode, " Flowers of
Evil . " That possibly explains why I did
Thriller later on, because we worked together.
That's weird. But I thought " Elegy" was a very
interesting story - a celestial burial ground,
and there's a caretaker there, and it's secret.
That last line, " Give me the antidote! " It had
that little bit of humor in it, where I kept get
ting Wickwire's name wrong, I kept saying,
"Wirewick. "
And finding out the caretaker is a robot.

Oh, now that never occurred to me at the

time, but he was a robot. You see, that never
occurred to me.

254

This was a particularly delicate and sensitive

story. The director was good, and Steve and
Kim were excellent. I stayed in touch with
Steve for a number of years. He matured and
had a fast-food business on Crenshaw Boule
vard. I am still in touch with Kim Hamilton,
who married Werner Klemperer of Hogan's
Heroes many years ago. She played my wife or
love interest many times.
At the time of "The Big Tall Wish," my son
was a few years younger than Steve, and came
with me to the set. At lunch I bought Steve a hot
dog, and my son got so upset and was angry
with me because he thought Steve and Kim
were my new family. He wouldn't talk with me
for a week afterward, he was that scared.

During the filming of a street scene in "The Big Tall

Ivan Dixon stars with Steve Perry, and Kim Hamilton,

Wish," Henry (Steven Perry) , watches from the window as

as Frances. This is an example of who Serling was in

washed-out boxer Bolie Jackson, played by Ivan Dixon,

those times, in recognizing the worth of talented people,

makes his way out of the neighborhood and back into

casting African-Americans as leads and costars in a

the ring.

drama not concerned with a racial issue.

How do you feel about the story in "I Am the Night

- Color Me Black," and has that role held
significance for you over the years?

Certainly not as much significance as " The

Big Tall Wish." I'm honestly not really sure
that I ever truly understood that story. I
tried to delineate the meaning as the director
saw it.
Twilight Zone became the premier showcase
for much of the top talent in the acting
profession. At the time, were you aware of the
popular status of the series among your
colleagues?

Yes, The Twilight Zone and Studio One were

my two favorite shows and I was lucky to
appear in both of them several times. Rod's
talent drew the participation of the most
prominent actors of the day.

Charles Horvath costars as the boxer fighting Bolie, seen

during filming, throwing punches into the camera for use
as first-person Bolie shots.

255

Even the occasional television viewer can easily

remember your role as radio man Sgt. James
Kinchloe in the unforgettable

WWII

sitcom, Hogan 's

Heroes. Rod Serling didn't care for this show all

that much, as he once mentioned, " I see nothing
comical about Nazis." Any comments on this point
of view?

Not really. Rod was of the most creative peo

ple I've ever met. If he didn't like Hogan's, so
be it. I didn't like it much either!

With actors and crew looking on, the cameraman films

first-person shots of both fighters being counted out by
the referee, played by Frankie Wan.

Special effects shot through glass of Van and Bolie

(Dixon); also seen is some of the crew, among whom is
assistant director, Kurt Neumann.

256

App reciation E ssays

The House that Rod Built
Dana Gould

One may wonder what a writer for the The Simpsons, an

animated comedy, is doing writing a tribute to The Twilight
Zone. What could these two things possibly have in com
mon? On the surface, it is a conundrum worthy of The
Twilight Zone itself. (Well, that might be stretching it, but
it would make a pretty good Night Gallery, or at least a
Boris Karloff's Thriller. Anyway . . . )
To explain, let's stay true to the form of the show.
We've introduced our mystery, now we'll take a short
break and, when we return, we'll backtrack to before it
occurred.
Fade to black.
Opening credits.
Fade up.
" Everybody has a hometown. Binghamton's mine."
That is what Rod Serling said about Binghamton, New
York, the small city upstate of Manhattan, where he grew
up. If you've never been to Binghamton, watch The
Twilight Zone episode "Walking Distance. " That's Bing
hamton, or at least as Rod recalled it. It's also Hopedale,
Massachusetts, where I was born and raised, or at least as
I recall it. Or maybe it's your hometown, or at least as you recall it.
I was born in 1 9 64, which prevented me from enjoying The Twilight Zone
in its original run, but it did put me at j ust the right age to soak up "the monster boom" of the early 1970s. Like so many kids of that era (certainly the ones
reading this book), I glutted myself on Famous Monsters magazine, Aurora
monster model kits, and spent an endless succession of Saturday afternoons

Rod Serling on location

between takes of his
narration for "The Fugitive."

257

bathing my eyeballs in the soothing glow of Creature Double-Feature,

( "Boston's Monster Matinee" ) .
N o matter what movie I was watching a t the time
Dracula, The Wolf
Man, Godzilla
the one thing these films all had in common was that they
were set far away, in some exotic, often mythic locale. Be it Transylvania, Skull
Island, the Black Lagoon, or Planet X, good old Hopedale, Massachusetts was
always safe and sound.
I saw my first episode of The Twilight Zone at the ripe old age of I I , and it
totally freaked me out. The episode, "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, "
quickly became and stayed my favorite. Maple Street was, for all intents and
purposes, where I lived. There were no mysterious counts or mad scientists. The
angry villagers were just like my parents and their friends. And the monster?
The monster was . . . us? I couldn't get over it.
This is what The Twilight Zone has always meant for me. It made clear that
every horror, every ghastly creation that ever stalked Creature Double-Feature,
was already in existence, in a slightly different form, in your own hometown. Rod
Serling, along with Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, George Clayton
Johnson, et. al., took the horrors of Transylvania and Planet X, rewired them, and
set them loose in a universal suburbia that still feels familiar half a century later.
As I grew older, and my Famous Monsters magazines were forced to share
shelf space with my Elvis Costello records, and my monster models suffered the
indignities of little hats and such to give them a sense of, I'm ashamed to say,
" irony," The Twilight Zone survived unscathed. Such was the genius of the
show's design, that an I I -year-old and a 20-year-old could sit side-by-side and
enjoy it equally, if on totally different levels.
Which brings us, cue Bernard Herrmann sting, to The
Simpsons.
If there is one unarguable similarity between The Simpsons
and The Twilight Zone, it is that each show respects the intel
ligence of its audience. This might not seem like an
earth-shaking attribute, but the assumption that the viewer can
indeed walk and chew gum at the same time is not often found
on network television. This explains why both shows are so
beloved amongst their fans. Somewhere, on some level, you sit
there and think, "Wow! These guys know I'm not an idiot! "
As a devotee and fan of The Twilight Zone, I am forever
thankful for my involvement in one of the few other programs
that actually appreciates its viewer's intelligence. Don't believe
me? Walk into any major network and suggest to the powers
that-be that they invest their time and money into a really
smart, literate show, then watch as they shift in their chairs and
eye you uncomfortably, as if you've just wandered in "from
another dimension. "
-

Rod Serling performing his

on-camera narration for
"Shadow Play."

258

The Simpsons, Star Trek, The Sopranos, any program that makes you feel
better after you've watched it, any show that surprises you, that talks up at you
instead of down to you, in my opinion, all share a debt to the pioneering bril
liance of The Twilight Zone. They're rooms in the house that Rod built.
Fade out.
Dana G o u l d i s a n executive prod ucer for

The Simpsons, as w e l l as a w riter and voice

actor for several episodes. He's also w ritten several screenplays, as well as act i ng in
suc h television shows as

Roseanne, The Ben Stiller Show, and Seinfeld.

A Reminiscence
Christopher Beaumont

There's always a moment when I'm speaking with a Twilight Zone true believer;
a moment when he or she realizes that I know far less about the series than they
do. They mention the name of an actress who played the third lead in their
favorite episode and their eyes slowly narrow as they watch the wheels of my
memory spinning for all they're worth.
They're polite and I'm polite, but we both know what's happening here - I
don't have the vaguest idea who this actress is. The truth is, I don't even remem
ber the episode - certainly not the way they do. Their next expression is usually
a mix of sadness, disappointment, and no small amount of confusion. How
could this be? How could I not know every detail of every show? After all, I
grew up with the show; my father was one of the three primary contributors to
the writing team that made Twilight Zone possible, the group of magical minds
that created a parallel universe that unlocked the imagination of a generation.
How on earth (or anywhere else for that matter) is it possible that I am not the
fan to end all fans! ?
The answer is that I am a fan ( not only of my father's episodes, but j ust about
every single one of them) ; my experience of Twilight Zone is just as rich and
detailed as theirs, only the details are different ones. I was IO years old when
the Twilight Zone first went on the air, and I was immediately hooked. But
watching the actual program on our black-and-white Zenith was, in an odd
way, the least exciting part of it. What I remember most is the enthusiasm, the
joy, the creativity, the incredible sense of adventure that happened in our living
room and around our dinner table as my father and his friends helped to give
birth to the kind of storytelling that has since become so famous, and so very
beloved. The possibility that Rod Serling had convinced CBS to do this kind of
show, and to do it right, was cause for great celebration. In today's world of
Stephen King and Dean Koontz, etc., it's hard to imagine that, back then, it was
next to impossible to earn a living writing fantasy and science fiction. Serling,

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s s ay s

259

Matheson, Johnson, my dad, they all hoped that Twilight Zone would help
change all that and create a real audience for the kind of stories they loved to
tell. Forty years later, the show is still in constant syndication and you would be
hard pressed to find anyone, young or old, who doesn't have a favorite episode.
Allow me to submit for your consideration a couple of quick details from my
own personal Twilight Zone memory bank.
I'm seven years old. My parents are taking me with them on their first trip
to Europe together. My father is no fan of flying machines, so we board the
HMS Ivernia for the trip across the Atlantic. It's a gorgeous old ship with grand
staircases, mahogany paneled ballrooms, and etched crystal everywhere you
look. In I 9 5 7 jet travel is all the rage, and it seems as if ships like the Ivernia are
not long for this world. At dinner on the first night I hear my father mention
casually to my mother that the passenger list seems to have been drawn exclu
sively from World War One veterans. There isn't anyone on board under the age
of 70. The next day at breakfast he makes the same observation, but this time
he begins to wonder aloud if there isn't some plot, some hidden reason that we
are the only ones in the room without liver spots. I don't remember my father's
exact words. It was a long time ago and, even as a child, I was used to him tak
ing a casual observation and weaving it into a complex scenario before he
finished his scrambled eggs. Sometimes the stories were sinister, sometimes sen
timental, frequently a little of both. This particular observation went on to
become a short story called "Song for a Lady, " which subsequently became an
episode of The Twilight Zone entitled " Passage on the Lady Anne. " So when the
show aired in May I 9 6 3 , I watched, along with a great portion of the country,
as the Lady Anne sank into a sea of memories and a doomed love for a time
gone by. But in addition to enjoying the images on the screen, I was also remem
bering the dining room of the Ivernia, and the sweet, ancient faces that tripped
my father's imagination. To watch an episode of T-Zone was, and is, always a
fantastic experience. But to have been present at the birth of the idea was an
incredible gift.
A similar thing occurred later during that same trip to Europe. We had rented
a car and were making our way across Germany. As we passed through the
countryside, we could see the remains of the bombed-out villages that still
scarred the landscape, reminders that it hadn't been that many years since the
devastation of World War Two. Curled up in the back seat, not quite asleep, I
heard my father whisper: " It's as if evil itself had walked through this country,
as if the devil came to earth. " I'm sure my parents thought I was asleep, but I
heard every word - and you can be quite sure that I checked the hotel closets
twice, and under the bed countless times before attempting sleep that night.
So, again, when the episode entitled "The Howling Man" aired several years
later, I viewed it with my own set of (some would say bizarre) memories. Lucky
( in my opinion) to have been present at the very moment when the devil got his
due, courtesy of Charles Beaumont.

260

Others who are contributing to this collection will have far more to say
about the show itself. They are the wonderful and loyal fans who have kept the
Twilight Zone alive all these years and they, quite simply, know more than I do.
In my father's absence, I thank them. And if I should encounter any of you at a
gathering, or at a party, and I look confused when you ask me a particular ques
tion about a particular episode, please know that I am at that moment traveling
to a place deep in the recesses of my heart, to a sweet and treasured memory of
my very own, personal, Twilight Zone.
C h ristopher Beaumont i s a w riter and the son of the late Charles Beaumont .

Rod Sterling

Serling during filming o f his

Robert Hewitt Wolfe

oncamera narration for

"The Whole Truth."

I have an embarrassing confession to make. The guy in the black suit? The natty
dresser with the clenched jaw delivery and the dry wit? I never, ever, get his
name right. Every single time I say it aloud or in my head, I always screw it up.
I always call him Rod Sterling. With a T.
I know that's wrong. I know it's Serling. Rodman Edward Serling. That infor
mation is duly recorded somewhere in my tangled neuro-pathways. But it doesn't
matter. I open my mouth to talk about the man, and out comes "Sterling. "
I blame my seven-year-old self. I was born the same year The Twilight Zone
was canceled. By the time I was seven, The Twilight Zone was being rerun on a
regular basis in glorious black-and-white on one of our local stations. It's the
first television show I have any memory of watching with regularity. I didn't
understand it all the time, it scared the crap out of me, but I thought it was
great. The pathos of Burgess Meredith in the bank vault with his broken glasses,
the madness and paranoia of the residents of Maple Street, the tempting false
paradise of Willoughby - each made their indelible impressions on my young
mind.
And lording over it all was the ringmaster of The Twilight Zone, a well
groomed, rapier-thin man whose name sounded a lot like " sterling." He seemed
to be perfectly named, this sterling fellow, struck from some kind of pure metal,
of unquestionable character and integrity. In my head, he became Sterling then.
In my head, he remains Sterling to this day.
At the time, I had no idea that Rod Serling had actually written these
episodes, and many more that fired my young imagination. My seven-year-old
self had no inkling whatsoever that television episodes were written at all. I
thought they j ust happened. I didn't know what a teleplay or an executive pro
ducer or a showrunner was. Ah, simpler times. I thought that Serling was j ust

Appreciation Essays

261

Actor Dan Duryea and

Serling during a break from
filming " Mr. Denton on
Doomsday." On the far
right is second assistant
director Kurt Neumann.

262

the host, the guy who said the clever stuff at

the beginning and end of the show. In my
ignorance, I believed that each character,
including this host fellow, made up what they
were saying themselves. I was wrong, of
course. Wrong about everyone except Serling.
Over the years, I finally began to under
stand Rod Serling's monumental contribution
to The Twilight Zone and to American cul
ture. I began to appreciate him not only as an
impeccably dressed host, but as a stunningly
talented writer and producer. As I took up the
craft of writing myself, my earliest short sto
ries were clearly influenced by Serling's work.
I wrote a story about a music producer who
finds out his most talented and reclusive artist
is actually a Chinese unicorn. I wrote a story
about a freakish mutant in a postapocalyptic
town who, despite the scorn and fears of his
neighbors, ends up saving them all. I wrote a
story about feuding statues in a small town
square whose petty rivalries reflect the hidden
ethnic and cultural divisions in the town's res
idents. None of them were particularly good,
but all of them were attempts to replicate the kind of storytelling Serling
achieved on The Twilight Zone.
Serling told clever, tight little stories that were self-contained, twisting and
turning. But most importantly, Serling told stories about people. Like a master
painter, he created detailed and identifiable characters with a few quick brush
strokes. Then he used these characters to explore the human condition, to make
us think and feel. For Serling, the startling premise or the clever twist wasn't
enough. For him, these were just launching pads, opportunities to explore our
common human psychology. His stories did more than just scare or surprise,
they provided insights into our shared human experiences, our hopes, our
dreams, our nightmares.
As I grew into a man and a professional writer (not necessarily in that order),
I tried to emulate Serling. I tried to tell stories that were just as insightful, just
as resonant. I'm still trying. It's good to have goals.
A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to write an episode for
the latest incarnation of The Twilight Zone. I won't pretend I came even close
to the standards set by Mister Serling. But it was an honor to be allowed to walk
in his footsteps, to have my name on a Twilight Zone, to be a footnote in the
legacy of one of the great American storytellers.

To my chagrin, even while I was in The Twilight Zone office, breaking my

episode with Ira Steven Behr and his staff, I still called that storyteller
"Sterling. " My adult mind knows better, but the echo of my seven-year-old con
sciousness somehow intercepts the word "Serling" somewhere along its journey
from my brain to my mouth and transfigures it to " Sterling . "
The American Heritage Dictionary o f the English Language defines "ster
ling" as, among other things, "of the highest quality: a person of sterling
character. " Merriam-Webster On-Line gives us "conforming to the highest stan
dard (as in, sterling character) . " Serling, both as a man and as a writer, certainly
embodied those definitions. He was of the highest quality and conformed to the
highest standard.
So in my mind Rodman Edward Serling will always be Sterling.
Robert Hewitt W olfe

has w ritten sc r i pt s for television shows such as The Twilight

Zone ( 2002) , The 4400, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, as w e l l as being a pro
ducer

and w riter for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Serling and Beaumont: A Game of One-Upmanship

Roger Anker

Midway through Twilight Zone's second season, Charles Beaumont expressed

"surprise" over the growing volume of fan mail he had been receiving from that
series' audience.
Though he had established himself as one of the show's principal writers and
was "proud" of his contribution to its critical success, Beaumont attributed
much of Twilight Zone 's high level of quality to Rod Serling, who had penned
most of the series' teleplays.
By November 1 9 60, Beaumont had developed not only a successful working
relationship with Serling, but a close friendship as well. Beaumont noted that he
had become particularly fond of Serling's "offbeat sense of humor" and "love
for the occasional practical joke . " As Beaumont also possessed what his family
and friends described as "a devastating sense of wit and humor," the pair began
a friendly game of "one-upmanship. " In one such instance, Serling jokingly
complained to Beaumont that he was " sick and tired" of receiving his fan mail.
Furthermore, Serling wrote, if said fan mail was not "immediately diverted to
Beaumont's mailbox, Beaumont will find himself forever blacklisted in
Hollywood. " Upon receiving another letter from a fan - one who considered
Beaumont's episode of "The Howling Man" to be "one of the best Twilight
Zones ever" - Serling promptly forwarded the letter to Beaumont with the fol
lowing attachment: "The enclosed was received the other day, and I thought

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s s ays

263

you'd be interested," he wrote. "Of course, it means you're blacklisted as of

now! It isn't that I'm little and petty about these things - but I will not have
my office cluttered up with your fan mail! "
Beaumont, o f course, wasted no time in sending his reply to Serling:
"Perhaps someday, if you work at it, and if you develop a fantastical (fanatical ? )
imagination, not t o mention sound writing skills, you too can enjoy ( a s I do)
such complimentary mail from adoring fans. So don't give up! "
Sadly, Beaumont and Serling's friendship was short-lived. In I 9 64, Beaumont
was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's Disease, which claimed his life
on February 2 I , I 9 67, at the age of 3 8 .
Before his untimely death, however, while i n the midst of a heavy work
schedule, Beaumont noted that his enthusiasm for Twilight Zone never waned.
" Thriller offered to hire me for a quartet of horror stories," he wrote in January
I 9 6 1 . "I turned them down. Sam Goldwyn, Jr., offered to hire me to do the pilot
script of a new half-hour series . . . Turned him down. Twentieth Century
offered to hire me to write a picture for Gary Cooper . . . Turned them down.
Twilight Zone got renewed, with a fresh new sponsor. Offered to hire me to do
stories and things. Didn't turn them down."
Roger A n k e r i s t h e editor for t h e award-w i n n i ng
and

Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories,

The Twilight Zone Scripts of Charles Beaumont. He is c u rrently w o rk i ng on a book

length biography of Beaumont, and

The Blue A ngels Experience, a 60-year history of

the famed U .S . Navy Fl ight Demonstrat ion Squadron.

George Clayton Johnson

August 9, 2006
TO:

Mr. Rod Serling

S omewhere in The Twilight Zone . . .

A DD R ESS:

Dear Rod:
My wife Lola and I were talking about you the other day, and began
to realize fully how truly important you have been in our lives. We
were remembering those early days when I was writing those scripts
for you, starting to get out of debt. If you and The Twilight Zone
hadn't come along when you did, I don't know what would have
become of us. There didn't seem to be anything else on the tube that
might exercise my particular gifts and talents, and, who besides Ray
Bradbury could make a living writing short stories?
When you made the decision to buy my story, "All Of Us Are

264

Dying," to adapt for the series you changed my life forever, and later,
when you hired me to write the teleplay of my story, "A Penny For
Your Thoughts, " you handed me a career, gave me standing among
my fellows, and caused me to believe for the first time that I could
make a living as a writer.
Things never seem to become real for me until I have written them
down, Rod, which accounts for why I am putting this on paper. By
buying my stories and by giving me a job working on the frontiers of
the limitless, you have enlarged my awareness and altered the fabric
of my life.
You put me on a permanent search for what Charles Beaumont
called "The Greater Truth. " Not what really happened, but rather,
what might have happened, if only . . . You freed me to look behind
the curtain and to question everything I know, providing me with an
unusual education. I learned to think sideways as I explored the puz
zling geography of The Twilight Zone. Like yourself and Charles
Beaumont and Richard Matheson and Earl Hamner and Jerry Sohl
and others, I had to learn how to get into that state of mind where
the universe becomes transparent to thought. I remember Buck
Houghton saying, "A Twilight Zone story must be impossible in the
real world. A request at some point to suspend disbelief is a hallmark
of the series. " By listening to him carefully during story conferences
I came to understand how surrealist art attempts to enlarge reality by
making the imaginary plausible within a realistic setting, bringing
together the undeniable and the unbelievable within a single emo
tional framework.
What got Lola and I on this kick is the fact that we're getting me
ready to wing off to fabled New Jersey in a shiny airplane to serve as
a guest speaker at a science fiction autograph show. After all these
years watching The Twilight Zone myth grow, this event will feature
scores of surviving actors that you hired to portray characters on
your program, and where untold numbers of hardcore fans will
gather for a weekend to celebrate your show with banquets and
speeches and parties to honor you and your work.
After an endless number of reruns of the series on every channel
and in every time slot, Image Entertainment has made available to the
public all five seasons of the series in boxed sets, the Falcon Film
Group is in the process of adapting all of your scripts into radio pro
grams available on CD, and Gauntlet Press has j ust issued volume 3
of As Timeless as Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of
Rod Serling, edited by Tony Albarella. Your stuff in its pure form is
finally in the bookstores and on library shelves where it belongs.
Congratulations.

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s s ay s

265

You can't have failed to notice that your name has become one
that everybody knows, and that the title of your show has become an
essential part of the English language.
With admiration and immense gratitude.
Your friend,
George Clayton Johnson
P.S. Lola sends her love.

The Vibe of the Twilight Zone

John Ottman

One of my fantasies is to get into a time machine and set the dial to 19 60. I
would then make my way to one of the recording studios in town where a young
Jerry Goldsmith, Leonard Rosenmen, or already famous Bernard Herrmann or
Franz Waxman is standing before a small orchestra conducting the latest music
for The Twilight Zone. As I peer through some smoky doorway, I can hear the
downbeat of music that will forever define a classic world; I hear a slate, " 1 M2,
take 2." I hear vibes sing eerily, as a violin plucks and a trumpet sneers. The
sound is pristine - live, and unencumbered by the mono TV speakers of the
time. As I study the people working, I look at them knowing they have no idea
the legacy that is to come from their work. This was the TV era of vastly unex
plored territory. Just as the early settlers of America had no idea what lay
beyond the next mountain pass, the players involved in the early days of TV
were discovering and creating a new world. Ideas were ideas, not rehashes of
concepts from other shows. And the music came from passionate minds of
people who would become the inspired masters of their craft. Especially for
youngster Goldsmith, this was a new experience. Fresh from a job as a clerk at
CBS, he was now being commissioned to write music for the TV show's second
season. This had to be an exciting time for him and his contemporaries to push
the envelope musically for a show unlike any other. But there was a catch. They
had to do it with one hand tied behind their back: The music would have to be
produced with about 1 0 musicians sitting in the small recording studio.
Music was perhaps the most victimized department in low budget shows of the
time - and in retrospect, it was ironically one of the most powerful forces behind
them. Today, a composer on a low budget production can use multiple layers of
synthesized instruments to create his score. He has unlimited choices to use any
orchestral flavor he wishes, albeit electronically sampled from the real thing. (It's
still debatable just how much worse or better off TV music is because of this.) In

266

the days of The Twilight Zone, the only electronics were those
which scarcely supplemented real instruments (i.e. the
theremin - that outer-spacey sing-saw thing most identified
with The Day the Earth Stood Still and other sci-fi movies of
the ' 5 0S.) For the composer, it took tremendous musical
instinct, clarity of vision, and prowess to milk interesting over
tones and themes from such a small ensemble of instruments.
But that limitation is what made the music of The Twilight
Zone stand out as something unique and strangely timeless.
Limitations in general are what made The Twilight Zone so
inspired. Instead of relying on fancy sets or cushy schedules, it
forced the show to rely on ingenuity. For Serling, the ingenu
ity of his writing; for the cinematographers, the ingenuity of
getting around limited time to light and shoot many angles
with maximum expression. For the composers, it required
imagination and resourcefulness to come up with strange
atmospheric music utilizing so few players. The result: instru
ments in the ensemble emerged as star players in the cast of
musical characters. Vibes offered that weird dreamy atmos
phere, woodwind clusters created their own odd colors, and
that sneering muted trumpet in the background usually pro
vided the bizarre tension. Masterfully blended with an electric
guitar here, and an off-beat violin pizzicato there, the interesting sonic landscape of The Twilight Zone took shape. It was
as if the spirit of The Twilight Zone came to be. Even listening
today, so provocative are the musical illusions, it's sometime
PIPPA
''The
hard to believe that so few musicians are playing. This was the
mastery of the composer-magicians behind the music.
Bernard Herrmann, who wrote the first season's music,
was already a film music veteran utilizing large ensembles for
the films he scored. For TV, he too was forced to be resourceful. And this was part of the art. Great things come of situations where the artist
is boxed into being clever. For instance, telling a painter he can only use three col
ors may render something far more unique and inspired than had he been given
the entire palette. Other times, an artist will self-enforce these challenges in his
own work to create something far more effective and original. For Goldsmith, this
resourcefulness stayed with him in many of the major films that followed in his
amazing career. Even for large-scale motion pictures, he would often surprise
everyone by endeavoring to use the unique characteristics of the instruments in the
orchestra, as opposed to falling back into the security of a huge ensemble. For
Chinatown, it was strumming a washboard and the strings of the piano, rather
than playing it with the keys; in Patton, it was the now-famous three-note trum
pet line put through an echo machine to reflect Patton's belief in reincarnation;
ro '"

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267

and in Planet of the Apes, a thumb rubbing on the skin of a drum. Interestingly,
those more intellectual scores are the ones that endure the most; we still marvel at
them today. Film composers, such as me, are often blessed with huge orchestras.
We have to remember the creative rewards for being discerning and judicious in
how we use the orchestra. The Twilight Zone is a testimony to the power of this
creative selectiveness. Its simplicity in all departments, including music, makes it
startlingly effective. It's funny to think that a strange little television show's budget
restraints were part of the genesis of inspired scoring ideas that endure today.
Another by-product of a tight budget were the musical motifs throughout the
series. A motif is a theme that recurs. It can be as simple as two chords, or a
three-note melody on a cello. The bottom line, it's something immediately rec
ognizable that we latch onto, at least subconsciously. It was too expensive to
custom score each and every episode of The Twilight Zone. Therefore, the com
posers offered long pieces of music, or suites, from which the music editors cut
and pasted into the other episodes. Bernard Herrmann was the first composer
on The Twilight Zone series, and had already composed a 2 5 -minute piece of
music in I 9 5 7 called, "The Outer Space Suite . " This was often the well to draw
from for the music editors. Herrmann had already well established himself as a
composer with the likes of Citizen Kane, The Devil and Daniel Webster (for
which he won an Oscar), and The Day The Earth Stood Still. The latter's influ
ence is very apparent in his " Outer Space Suite . " Other composers were hired
to add to this musical library by writing suites that included a variety of differ
ent moods. There were, of course, many episodes that were custom scored; but
even in these episodes, sections were sometimes left that could be scored from
the ever-growing musical library. Soon, cues from the custom scores themselves
added to the music editor's arsenal to re-use them in other episodes. Music edi
tors in this era were the other unsung creative force behind how the episodes
were " scored. " The fluky brilliance to come out of this was that the recurrence
of musical motifs throughout the series gave it a sort of signature. A familiar
musical thread wove throughout the seasons, making The Twilight Zone an
immediately recognizable world. Shows like Star Trek and Mission Impossible
followed suit in this manner - a similar result of custom scoring only selected
episodes, and re-using music from others.
Being renewed for a second season, The Twilight Zone producers were look
ing at ways to spruce up the opening. This soon gave rise to a totally different
approach in which Herrmann's main theme seemed too dreary or serious. Much
of his disturbing somberness worked brilliantly as underscore, but as a main
theme, it was lacking something. The problem: no one knew what that "some
thing" was.
Herrmann submitted two new themes, and Goldsmith and Leith Stevens sub
mitted their own. In the end, none of them were used as a main theme; however,
they were wonderful new additions to the music library for use in future episodes!
Thinking "out of the box," the musical director for the series, Lud Gluskin, found

268

a couple of obscure cues written by a French avant-garde classical composer

named Marius Constant. Constant had written them to be part of the library to
be used for background music in the series. But his cues were so short and strange
that they had never been utilized in the series. Constant's titles for these two cues
were " Etrange 3 (Strange NO. 3 ) " and "Milieu 2 (Middle No. 2 ) " The pieces were
performed with the typical small group, including two guitars, percussion with
bongo drums, a saxophone, and French horns. Gluskin simply spliced them
together so that they formed a somewhat cohesive piece with an opening and
strong conclusion. The first part, ( "Etrange 3 " ) contained the weird guitar motif
we all identify as the Twilight Zone "theme," and the second part spliced onto it
from "Milieu 2" was the familiar downward chromatic wrap up to the segment
we all know and love.
Stepping out of the time machine into present day, I turn on the TV, close my
eyes, and it's often hard to tell what show I'm listening to based upon the music.
One drum loop and guitar sample just sounds like another. But if I keep my eyes
closed and keep flipping that remote long enough, sooner or later I'll hear a dif
ferent sound. A sound I'll not hear the likes of again. And at that moment, I'll
know I've entered The Twilight Zone.
John Ottman has c o m posed sou ndtrac k s for n u merous fi l ms , i n c l u d i ng

Superman

Returns, X2, and The Usual Suspects. H e ' s also edited a n u mber of fi lms, i n c l u d i ng
those same three, p l u s

Urban Legends: Final Cut, Apt Pupil, and Lion's Den.

Magic Realism Comes to the Suburbs

Neil Peart

For a kid growing up in the Canadian suburbs in the late ' 5 0S and early '60S,
television was limited in quantity, variety, and scope. (And color, as our family
didn't get a color set until I was in my teens.) Our rooftop antenna brought in
five channels - three American and two Canadian - and some of the shows
were unique to the times, like westerns and the kind of variety shows hosted by
Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, or Red Skelton. Other shows were the familiar sit
coms with Andy Griffith or Lucille Ball that still play on cable channels (and are
still remade every season with different names), and the eternally popular, ever
changing (yet never-changing) crime dramas and doctor shows.
At first, the big television event of the week for me was Saturday morning
cartoons, but a little later, I discovered The Twilight Zone. Not only was it dif
ferent from everything I had seen before in mood, style, and depth, it introduced
the possibility of magic into everyday life - just as Rod Serling and the show's
other writers often did in their stories.

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s s ay s

269

Director Buzz Kulik breaks for some brushing

up on a drum kit on the set of "The Trouble
with Templeton."

In retrospect, Rod Serling may have pioneered what is now called "magic
realism" even before the Latin-American novelists. His screenplays were always
rich in carefully drawn details of background and character, whether the story
was set in the familiar world of the suburbs, a typical contemporary background
like the Old West, or an imaginary planet. But in the end, there was always a
supernatural twist, sometimes ironic, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes
chilling. It was those deeper qualities that elevated the story, and the series,
above any of the other " sci-fi" shows of the time, or since.
For me, The Twilight Zone stood out on the telescape like color against
black-and-white (though the opposite was true, of course), and it was an intro
duction to the wonderful notion that entertainment could embrace imagination,
irony, morality, and intelligence, in addition to suspense, atmosphere, action,
and drama.
In my early years with Rush, in the mid '70S, when we first played in the Los
Angeles or New York areas, we were thrilled to find television channels that still
showed reruns of The Twilight Zone. Our youthful fascination with the show
was rekindled, and we were inspired to dedicate one of our early albums ( Caress
of Steel, I 97 5 ) to Rod Serling, and we wrote a song for our 2 1 1 2 album, in
I976, titled after the show and in tribute to it. The song included references to
two episodes in particular, "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up," and
" Stopover in a Quiet Town."
Almost 30 years later, and 40 years after the series was aired, it is wonderful
to know that The Twilight Zone continues to be celebrated and enjoyed, as this
book proves, and I am very happy to see the legacy of Rod Serling and his col
laborators live on.
N e i l Peart i s the author of

Masked Rider, Ghost Rider, and Traveling Music: The

Soundtrack to My Life and Times, and is the d r u m mer and lyric i st for the legendary
rock band, R u s h .

270

Reopening the Door of Imagination

Pen Densham
I think Rod Serling changed television. He was a legitimate writer, a consum
mate thinker, and obviously very skilled at the craft of creating drama. But he
also had something that very few writers had, which was this ability to enter
tain through parables. No one in television had made that breakthrough before.
To put on an anthology series on television takes an extraordinary skill, espe
cially at that time because there were less and less Playhouse 90 kind of
opportunities. There was much more reliance on cowboys and series. So, to
come along with the template for horror and science fiction was pretty amaz
ing. What you get is an immense respect for the staggering number of scripts he
wrote that were tremendously evocative and dynamically powerful. Rod
Serling's work was all about psychology, about taking characters and putting
them through cautionary tales of a slot-machine with a conscience, or a clock
that will allow you to stop time, and what kinds of statements those wonderful
opportunities create in us. We learn that sometimes the mechanism is the reason
we get trapped, because we dropped or fumbled it, but it was our doing so that
caused the problem.
When I was working on reviving the series, I had to sit down and analyze
and break it down into the opportunities and the process. But if you really look
at it most simplistically, it's a human being who is a character, with some kind
of behavior, that through the use of a supernatural science fiction or a fantasy
element, it speeds them up. And it makes you see the human reactions that
demonstrate them much more profoundly, and then the concept of having a
morality twist, because frequently there's a profound lesson that makes you
wrestle with your own comprehension of what life is.
We had been lucky enough to revive The Outer Limits, and now we wanted
to revive The Twilight Zone. With The Outer Limits, we always sort of jokingly
said that we were making a little miniature feature each week. We wanted to be
able to follow in the same footsteps that Rod had started, not claim that we
were inventing anything, but really paying an homage to what he had achieved
and try to follow. Originally I wanted to be able to revive it and put it on CBS.
Les Moonves [head of CBS], kicked the idea around very sincerely when I
approached him, and then he got cold feet about anthologies. I wrote him this
very long, passionate, essential bible for revitalizing The Twilight Zone and the
logistics of why its moods and its values hadn't gone away. There isn't anything
old-fashioned about The Twilight Zone in the slightest. It's always built on
human nature. I stated that 60 Minutes and Unsolved Mysteries were antholo
gies and tried to convince him that way. Both anthologies were totally ignoring
the fact that they were anthologies. And the argument that anthologies don't
work is because no one ever tests the theory.
Then a year later, when the renewal season came around, we put together a

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s s ays

271

demo of all of the best elements of our Outer Limits show and put them to The
Twilight Zone theme to show him what you could really achieve in quality stan
dards in special effects on a television budget; which again, we presume that
they didn't necessarily understand or know. Les' people were very excited, but
Les again said, "Too risky. No lead-ins. No flow. " And even though he recog
nized the value of the label of The Twilight Zone, there was nothing before or
after that they could combine it with. So, when I had heard that Les had taken
responsibility for programming UPN, I realized that they might be able to
achieve the flow by combining it with Star Trek: Enterprise. And I felt rather
embarrassed to kind of go back for a third time, having been rejected twice, and
my partner John Watson [executive producer] said, " Listen. You love this thing.
You've got to go back. " So, I wrote a letter that said, "So help me Les, I prom
ise you I will never mention the words Twilight Zone to you ever again after
this." And I told him that it should be the companion piece.
I was in his office within a week. I had written the pilot within ten days after
that, and we were casting and putting a director on it immediately. UPN was
developing their market and deciding what their demographics were, and I think
they were exploring that as the show was being developed. So, we started to find
certain categories that they wanted to achieve. They wanted an inner-city look.
They felt that their market was going to be reflective of a sophisticated neigh
borhood, so they wanted a variety of types of people but they didn't want to
play the aged actor routine. So there would be no Burgess Meredith. They
didn't believe a young audience would tune in to look at older people. However,
a couple of times we were able to really do quite well with older actors. Our
sequel to " It's a Good Life," with Cloris Leachman, was fantastic. I didn't mind
that it was targeted to a younger audience; I figured that if we can get a new
audience to discover that kind of imagination and to champion an anthology,
it's a great thing. Ira Steven Behr [executive producer] came on board and had
this relationship with Bill Mumy. He worked very hard with Bill to find the right
way to express this new incarnation of this story, in a sense, this outcome of
what had happened in the past and it was not an easy birthing. Bill and he
swapped notes, discussed it a lot, and then Ira wrote the screenplay. Bill felt that
if you were going to go and do this, it had to be very special, and I think they
accomplished it. We were eager that Bill should be comfortable and that Cloris
would want to come back. In order to do that, we had to write something that
really reflected their own perceptions of the value of the original story, which is
one of the best-remembered episodes.
And UPN 'S other stipulation, which was a bizarre one, was no science fiction.
We never really figured out who said that or why, but it was one of those things
that in a way we thought maybe they meant no hard science fiction, but we just
sort of soldiered on and never really discussed whether our stories were science
fiction or fantasy or whatever. It was odd. They probably felt that there was
something organically Twilight Zone-ish, but that science fiction wasn't it. But

272

we did our best to mediate, and we went through a

lot of story development and I thought we did
extremely well, given our circumstances. We went
through hundreds of stories, and we had a working
writers' room, which was wonderful to be embrac
ing. The thing was not to clone the originals, but to
try and go forward from it and see where we could
take another team of creative people, and see if we
could find our Richard Mathesons from this age,
and discover what their contemporary parables
would be like.
Originally, I was looking at the remake of The
Twilight Zone as hour-long shows, and they tested
the pilot and they decided the numbers they got
were not sufficient to do an hour show. SO UPN
decided to do half-hour shows, which then put an
immense amount of pressure on us. A half-hour
show actually increases the work because we're
working on a show every four days. When the pilot
aired, I think it was the highest-rated show of all our
films. Which begs the question: if we'd gone one
hour, maybe we would have got more depth of character, more elements
corrected, and maybe it would have been similar to the power we got out of our
revised Outer Limits. UPN put us on Friday nights and we were going to go for
another season, but they couldn't find the right show to team us with. We were
game for another year and emotionally ready for it, and it was the most
exhausting thing I'd ever done. Trying to do a show every four days is absolutely
amazing work.
With a choice for host, we explored a number of people, and Forest
Whitaker was someone that we knew and felt close to. And again, we were try
ing not to emulate Rod Serling. You can't do the show and pretend you have a
Rod Serling. We were really looking for someone who had his own credibility
as an artist, and Forrest had a big heart. He's both an actor and a director, and
he's championed several other people as filmmakers, helped them get their
movies made, and we thought that was the kind of statement that we wanted
by putting Forrest at the beginning of the show. He's a very classy guy, and he's
not just a comedy actor or a dramatic actor, he's really a purist. So, we felt that
he spoke from the choices of the people who were available, and from our com
patibility with him, we thought he was a great choice. Again, there was a degree
of trying to control how he was. He was " televisionized" a little bit more than
I think we would have probably wanted it to be, and what he was allowed to
say was really edited and reviewed. So, it became much less purposeful, in terms
of letting him be him, and I would have much rather seen him have more time

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s says

Actors Brian Aherne and

Larry Blake in a scene
during the filming of "The
Trouble with Templeton."

273

to elegantly bring us into his perceptions of what Rod Serling made you feel.
You felt Rod Serling was introducing you to a part of human nature, and I don't
think we were given the freedom to really get Forrest to that level of intimacy,
which might have been interesting.
I really think that most of us really deeply care. We feel that as much as there
are people who feel that there's really something unhallowed about us trying to
revive The Twilight Zone. Everybody there cared deeply and really wanted to com
municate effectively. None of us had what would seem like a kind of arrogance
"I'm doing my thing and I don't care if you get it or not." We really wanted to
share and make sure that people understood and enjoyed what we were trying to
do. A couple of our shows really tried to touch places in the political world that
need to be explored. We were not a smash hit, but we actually got respectable audi
ence numbers and we were starting to build a fan base and loyalty.
Above all, it was done with a lot of love, a lot of respect, and a lot of
attempts to overcome some limitations. But I wouldn't use the limitations as an
excuse. I still feel we did the best we could do, and the material was strong. I
know the fans have a different feeling, but you have to take these chances. In
fact, it's rather an antithetical problem that people who worship creativity actu
ally want to put up a wall against it. They, more than anybody else, should have
championed the search, and it would have been great to have a thematically
cohesive and caring fan-base who said, "It's not the best yet, but there's hope,"
as opposed to, "How dare they even think that they could be like Rod Serling? "
Well, w e never said we could d o that. We j ust said there's nothing on the air that
champions this kind of imagination, this kind of cathartic storytelling, and it
can be wonderfully subversive. But then again, what we're really doing is j ust
delivering eyeballs between commercials.
Pen Densham w as executive producer and writer for the remakes of both

The Twilight

Zone ( 2002) and The Outer Limits ( 1995) . He's written several screenplays, and has
produced fi l m s such as

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Tank Girl.

Felicity Meets the Twilight Zone

Michael Bonvillain

More than 40 years after the first Twilight Zone aired, I was standing on a
sound stage with Lamont Johnson. Our goal was to make an episode of Felicity
that actually looked like it was part of the original Twilight Zone series. Lamont
was the ideal collaborator, as he was one of the series' original directors.
Many of the creative decisions grew out of our desire to use period lenses,
lights, and equipment. We endeavored to put ourselves in the shoes of original

2 74

series director of photography, George Clemens, and experi

ence the advantages and disadvantages of the old equipment.
To a great degree, your tools affect how you render your
images, and by sticking with the older equipment, it really
helped us match the early '60S style. It's amazing to me how
little the technology has really changed in the last 40 years,
and it was very easy to find lighting fixtures that would've
been used on the original series. Old scoop lights were one
thing that we actually pulled out of the mothballs, and used
to great effect. We shot on Kodak plus-x black-and-white
film, and used the old Super Baltar lenses. We also used a
Houston fearless dolly, I think it was called, a real beast that
gave a deliberate, massive feeling to the camera moves. Our
camera body was a Panavision R-200, which is basically a
Panavised version of the old Mitchell BNe cameras. It was
large, due mainly to the fact that it was blimped for sound
(it has an external soundproof shell).
The film stock used back then was slow, really slow, like
25 ASA, and this means you need a lot of light. I'm used to
5 00 ASA, which is almost "what you see is what you get" when you transfer it
to television. But black-and-white slow-speed stock presents its own set of challenges and delights. Anything you shoot in black-and-white is already stylized.
But plus-x is 50 ASA, so I had to retrain my eye to see the balance in shadow and
light. Partly for this reason, my gaffer Marshall Adams and I shot black-andwhite Polaroid exposure shots, to pre-visualise what the final film would look
like. ( He later put together a limited edition book created from these Polaroids
and our lighting diagrams. I so treasured mine that I put in inside a Ziploc baggie and hid it away - now I have no idea where it is.)
I studied the early Twilight Zone shows, and one thing that really struck me
was the change in lighting styles from then until now. Traditional three-pointkey fill-backlight was the accepted aesthetic in the early sixties. Back then, front
light was common, whereas the style these days is generally more backlight,
lights always coming towards the lense, or from the side. One of the most interesting things I learned was pointed out to me by our soundman, Scott Jacobs.
Since our normal, contemporary style is mostly backlight, with little light coming from the camera side, we generally have no problem with boom shadows.
But on the first shooting day, as we were lighting, Scott came in and started to
swing his mic around. He said I needed to leave him "a channel. " I had no idea
what he was talking about, so he explained that it was necessary to leave a gap
in the lighting. You actually have to carve open a three-dimensional space to
allow the boom pole and mic to move without casting shadows. I have much
respect for the guys who had to deal with this on every setup. It's an invisible
accomplishment.

A pp r e c i a t i o n E ss ays

Mitchell Leisen directs Ida

Lupino in "The Sixteen
Millimeter Shrine,
" preparing her for the
shock of seeing her once
young co-star from the
Golden Age, a now much
older retired actor and
owner o f a chain of
"shupermarkets."

275

While out on location for

the episode, "The Hitch
Hiker," director Alvin
Ganzer gives Inger Stevens
the word on how to play
the scene.

276

In the '60S, shows tended to use a lot of

wider lenses, in the 21 mm to 3 5 mm range,
which was quite a departure from our usual
Felicity style - I S O mm and longer. They also
let shots play out in longer masters and two
shots. Today, there's a lot more cutting, and
the shallow depth of field of the longer lenses
really forces audience to look where you want
them to. In the longer takes with wider lenses,
the audience can choose for themselves what
they want to focus on.
The "Five Characters in Search of an Exit"
episode was almost a formal exercise in how to
create drama and tension without really hav
ing a set - just white walls. To a certain
extent, the limitations imposed upon the orig
inal series made it extremely important that
the writing, directing and characters were
compelling - a good lesson in limitations set
ting you free. Lamont did an amazing job on
the original, and his staging was something we
really drew upon in our final act. There's a nice
use of high angle shots, which make sense since the characters are always looking up. Our last act was a straight homage to Lamont's "Five Characters"
episode, in which the characters are trapped in a small, high-walled room, and
don't have any idea how they got there. The original set was round, but due to
the references to our show, we had a rectangular set. It didn't really matter from
a lighting point of view, in that we tried to emulate the single source coming
from above, casting a strong shadow on the walls and floor. One thing we were
very conscious of was the tendency of the old shows to have shadows within
shadows. That is, they would use more fill light than we might today, when the
single shadow doctrine has such a stranglehold on lighting styles. We found our
selves adding lights just to add shadows. That was fun, being released from the
need to make it look real.
For the most part, we used our existing Felicity sets, and as with the lighting,
they had been dressed to look "real. " But back on the Twilight Zone, due to
budget and time constraints, and probably the sensibilities of the time, sets and
the set dressing were much more highly stylized. We had a good time pulling
dressing out to make the sets look more simplified, more ' 5 0S.
The Twilight Zone has always been more than just a TV show - it's part of
our culture, and that this feeling could actually take over the psyche of a film
crew nearly 50 years later is but one testament to its enduring influence. The
crew was incredibly impressed with Lamont, and decided to emulate what we

thought was on-set protocol from the old days, so we started wearing sports
coats and neckties instead of our usual set wear. It may seem unimportant, but
I think it made overt the psychological change everyone was feeling, and it sub
tly made us feel that we weren't j ust in Culver City shooting a TV show on a
warehouse stage in 1 9 9 9 , but somewhere else, somewhere in the past.
Somewhere - that's right - in the Twilight Zone.
M ic hael Bonv i l l a i n i s a C i n ematographer for numerous television shows, i n c l u d i ng

Felicity, A lias, and Lost.

Lunch in the Twilight Zone

Kevin Hudson

Behind the scenes,

Patricia Breslin and

I can clearly remember summer vacations with my father, a teacher and artist as
well, who would take his summer break to do his ceramics in our family garage.
My brother Scott and I would be left with the clear activity choice of most teens
- watching television.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your perspective - my father
was adamant that we were not to spend all our daytime hours watching what
he would refer to as the " boob toob." Rather, we were to spend our time in
more beneficial activities like reading or exercise - anything but watching TV.
But somewhere around lunchtime, an exception would be made. Between
bites of mac-and-cheese or Mini-Raviolis, the three of us would be taken to the
far points of the human imagination - the next stop, The Twilight Zone. Each
day, during back-to-back half-hour episodes, I witnessed modern morality plays
performed by the top talent of that time. And thinking back, I learned every
thing I needed to learn about life during those Twilight Zone lunch hours. I
learned to carry a spare pair of glasses. I learned that evil is evil no matter how
pleasing it looks. I learned not to listen to future-predicting napkin dispensers.
Fortunately, I never did learn to smoke, though let's face it, Rod Serling certainly
made it look cool.
As a visual effects artist, I learned a lot from The Twilight Zone. It exposed
me to the genius of makeup effects artist William Tuttle, who played an instru
mental part in creating the quality visuals that were part of the show. From the
gremlin in "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" to the truth-revealing Mardi Gras masks
in "The Masks," he embedded in my young mind visions of the macabre that
were both horrific and compelling. The show also taught me about the efficient
reuse of assets. I saw the effects, costumes, and " Robby the Robot" from
Forbidden Planet on TZ long before I saw the original film from which they
actually came. Most importantly, The Twilight Zone taught me the importance

A p p r e c i a t i o n E ss a y s

William Shatner discuss

their parts in "Nick of
Time."

277

of story. A good story well told is more important than any

visual that I will ever provide. As has been said (though often
forgotten in the current technology-driven film industry), "An
audience will forgive anything but a bad story" - and The
Twilight Zone had many a good story to tell.
To this day, The Twilight Zone often plays around midday,
and when in the lunchroom and it's playing, I journey back to
those summers of my youth, to mac-and-cheese or Mini
Raviolis, to that place between the realities of motion picture
production and The Twilight Zone.
Kevin H udson created visual effects for several fi l ms , i n c l u d i ng

Ghost

Rider, The Polar Express, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, as
well

as

spec i a l

effects

and

makeup

for

fi l m s

such

as

Edward

Scissorhands, The A ddams Family, and Ultraman: the Ultimate Hero.

Bare, Clemens, and a

cameraman continue to
set up a shot.

My First Twilight Zone Episode

Dean Haglund

Few things in my life have burnt themselves onto my brain: My first standing
ovation, the eyes of the first girl I loved, and that first episode I saw of The
Twilight Zone. I remember it so clearly. That Friday night in a basement on a
cold winter night in the dark desolate Canadian Prairie.
Winter in Canada was a unique experience, particularly for a hyper youth of
I I in Winnipeg. Nights were too harsh for hanging with friends. It would be
dark by the time you got home from school, so any spontaneous hanging out
with friends had to be carefully planned and discussed, including weather fore
casts and parent chauffeur bookings. More than any teenager could think
through.
Instead, I hung out alone in a part of the house where no one else would be.
Sometimes it was my room, and most times in was in front of the TV in the
basement.
At I I years old, I was already bent on a career in the arts, acting being the
obvious choice. And without an interest in hockey, I had plenty of time to plan
the future. Add to that the joy of staying up late, and a fevered imagination, and
you had all the dominos set.
That winter was particularly brutal, and it was also the year my dad finally
" finished" the family room in the basement. And by finished, I mean he added
the suspended ceiling and the fake fireplace with the rotating cylinder of orange

278

gel paper that glowed behind the fake plastic logs. That was
pretty much it. But I didn't notice, because just beside the
whirring orangey log was the green portable Viking TV. It
weighed about 70 pounds but you knew it was portable
because of the luggage handle at the top of it. Even though
there was nowhere to take it that had a plug or a table that
could support the weight, it was "portable. " It had I 3 chan
nels of UHF and 64 channels of VHF - whatever the hell that
was. And in the days before cable TV, we could get three chan
nels of entertainment, all which signed off around midnight.
And CBC consisted of Tommy Hunter, a country singer who
seemed very cheesy, and Front Page Challenge, a quiz show
where four old people had to guess who was standing right
behind them. So despite the appearance of 77 channels, we
only had about two that we would ever care to watch.
Till that winter.
My brother came with the news. CKND was going to
become a 24-hour station! TV shows all night and into the
morning. No more listening to the radio from 1 2 till sunup.
And not new shows - reruns! From the ' 50S! Like Have Gun
- Will Travel, and one I hadn't heard of before: The Twilight
Zone. My dad, overhearing the excitement, remembered that show "scaring the
bejeezus" out of him. Having just perused the Medical Dictionary, I did not
know what the " bejeezus" was, or that it could be extracted by fear alone . . .
but I did know that must have meant it was good.
We looked at the calendar. It was going to happen next weekend. We
planned. The week was cruel. I talked it up at school but some sports-like event
had everyone else's attention that epoch, so it was useless to speak of it.
That Friday, we planted ourselves on the couches and waited. My dad made
it to the regional news and then "couldn't hack it anymore" and went to bed.
Mom was in bed long before that. So it was just my brother and me. And we
flipped to see the national anthem playing on the other channels, but on CKND,
there was the line-up till 6 A.M. First the western, then The Twilight Zone at
I 2: 3 0 A.M.!
Have Gun - Will Travel was dull, and the theme song made us laugh. "Have
gun will travel reads the card of a man." So this guy has a small enterprise where
he goes and shoots things ? We laughed, and had a prolonged conversation about
gun control and American penchant for weapons and how closely aligned that is
to their justice system. Clearly, to our Canadian teenage minds, the history of vio
lence as a definition of frontier building made for a nation that was bent on
war-mongering and the danger of the ultimate rise of fascist regime in the guise
of a democracy. Kids say the darndest things. We pondered the future of a coun
try with a binary two-party system when, suddenly, it was I 2 : 3 0 A.M.

A p p r ec i a t i o n E ss ays

Contrary to his deadpan

on-camera persona, Serling
truly was a gentleman with
a smile.

279

Actor Alan Sues displays

his mask of a "dull stupid
clown."

"There is a dimension, not only of sight and

sound, but of mind . . . "
The twinkling stars, the pan down to the open
ing frame.
"Witness if you will . . . "
That episode had Ed Wynn doing a sales pitch of
a lifetime to Death to stop him from taking a little
girl and taking him instead. I was a huge vaudeville
history buff, so knew of Ed Wynn but had never
seen him on camera before. It was beyond cool, it
was everything I wanted that green Viking portable
to be to me. To entertain and scare and laugh and
fascinate. There were great cameos by the likes of
Dennis Hopper as a Nazi, or Charles Bronson as
the last man on earth. Did Batman's arch-nemesis,
the Penguin, just break his glasses when he was
finally alone in the library? Every episode a com
plete story unto itself, entertaining, imaginative and
thought-provoking. Well-acted, great production
values, beautifully shot . . . and, something I didn't
grasp till later, they were all done every week!
How did Mr. Serling survive that ? Writing
every one of those plus hosting and producing. And then later j ust dashing
off Planet of the Apes. What the hell ?
Just writing this essay took me all afternoon, and that included me playing
with my dog, planning some flights, paying some bills. A fully coherent 3 0page script with a point and some scares ? That would take a week for me just
to format.
I later perfected my Rod Serling impersonation by folding my upper lip
underneath, exposing my teeth while squeezing my eyebrows together, fake cig
arette in my hand. Oddly enough, j ust creating that face gives me more focus at
the keyboard. Try it sometime when you got writer's block.
Sometimes, I will still find an episode buried deep in my TiVO list, between
dragged-out episodes of Lost and incoherent sci-fi movies of the week. And I
will still unplug the phones, turn off the heat, and wait till the middle of the
night to watch an episode on the couch with the blanket pulled up to my curled
under upper lip. It will be my time, "a trip back, if you will, to a place that can
only be found . . . in the Twilight Zone. "
Dean Haglund is an actor best known for his television role as R i c hard " R ingo" Langly,
in

The X-Files and its spi n-off series, The Lone Gunmen. H e ' s a l so acted in numerous

fi l m s , i n c l u d i ng

280

Face of Terror, Spectres, and Stage Kiss.

Kidding Around the Twilight Zone

Jim Houghton

It was pretty wonderful, growing up in Hollywood in the ' 50S and ' 60S with a
father who could show me what was going on behind the scenes. Dad would
take me in to the studio whenever something special was happening: a stunt or
a special effect for one of his shows, or perhaps something being shot by another
crew on another soundstage. I watched as they filmed horse falls, car crashes,
shootouts, fistfights, a raging storm sequence in Brando's Mutiny on the
Bounty, all sorts of things to amaze a kid. There were lunches in the commis
sary with a band of Indians in war paint having the blue-plate special over here,
some silver-skinned Martians over there, beside a troop of bloodied, bedraggled
soldiers waiting for their burgers at the counter. I looked forward to those days
when he'd casually ask, "You have anything important going on at school
tomorrow ? " I never said, " Sorry, Dad - got a math test."
People always seemed to be happy to be working for Dad. Along with being
a thoroughly charming and engaging man, Buck had the ability to pull all the
strings and push all the buttons necessary to get a script on film and ready to
broadcast without imposing himself any more than necessary. He didn't see
himself as a storyteller, rather a story-ena bler. Buck knew how to get the best
work out of his collaborators, allowing each to contribute his or her particular
expertise while nurturing and protecting the original spark at the core of the
enterprise.
When Bill Self had the elegant idea of putting this level-headed, experienced
producer together with a brilliant, headstrong creative powerhouse of a writer,
I doubt he realized the legendary partnership he was creating.
Rod and Buck could hardly have been more different as people. Dad stood
6 ' 4 " and Rod a whole foot shorter. Dad was a tennis player for whom violence
meant a disputed line call; Rod had been a boxer, a war-decorated paratrooper,
and demolition expert. Dad was laid-back, careful; Rod was intense, passionate.
Dad simply wanted to be involved with quality projects, to make the best show
he knew how; Rod was driven by something deeper. Rod had seen awful things
serving in the Pacific during WWII. Dad once said he thought Rod was looking
for some way to regain his affection for the human race. He wanted to warn
people of the dangers of hubris and selfishness, of not caring about the things
that really matter. Dad understood Rod's goals, but he was less viscerally bound
up in them, which freed him to think about the nuts and bolts of assembling a
television show while Rod wrestled with themes and messages. They comple
mented one another beautifully.
I didn't spend much time chitchatting with Rod Serling. He wasn't cold or
distant in the least, but he was a no-nonsense guy who always seemed to be
looking and thinking "over the horizon. " Rod had that same voice, that same

A p p r e c i a t i o n E ssays

Jim Houghton makes an

appearance playing Jerry in
"The Last Rites of Jeff
Myrtlebank."

281

Romney Wordsworth
stands on trial for being
of no use to the state,
and therefore, obsolete.

282

way of biting off the words that you hear in his

Twilight Zone narration. He didn't create an on
camera persona for himself, what you heard and
saw (including the oft-present cigarette) was him.
The Twilight Zone offices on the MGM lot were
perpetually wreathed in cigarette smoke and fes
tooned with overflowing ashtrays. There wasn't a
piece of furniture that didn't have a burn hole or
scorch mark on it somewhere, if not several. With
29 to 3 6 shows to make in a season, often shoot
ing two a week on a shoestring budget, with a few
scripts at various stages of development, a couple
of shows being cast, one shooting, and several
more in various stages of post-production at any
given time, the place literally hummed.
To a kid, the carelessly colorful language that
accompanied all that hustle-bustle was icing on
the cake. Jason Bernie, the outstandingly gifted
film editor, was my favorite practitioner of the
blasphemer'S art. Many's the time I had to leave
the room to hide my adolescent tears of laughter.
Besides amusing everyone within earshot, Jason
made a contribution to the show's effectiveness that cannot be overstated.
Unlike typical television episodes, each Twilight Zone was a brief play unto
itself, with its own rhythm, its own visual language. Jason had to understand
exactly what a given episode was trying to accomplish; he had to be deeply
involved in the writer's ideas and the director's style. "The Eye of the Beholder, "
for example, i s a n episode that builds t o a single punch line. The tension and
anticipation that builds throughout, the sense that there is something going on
here that literally doesn't meet the eye - it was Jason's job to cut away at the
exact frame to allow us to see just enough, and no more. Jason was handed odd
little stories, tilted cameras, fifth dimensions ( "Little Girl Lost" ), and back-pro
jected doppelgangers ( "Nervous Man in a Four-Dollar Room " ) , and used his art
to augment their effect. He died far too young and was missed by everyone who
ever worked with him.
The Twilight Zone was made on budgets so tight they squeaked. There was
very little hardware on-screen, and when there was - for instance, the mecha
nized rubber puppets that chased Agnes Moorehead around in "The Invaders,"
or the prosthetic makeup in "The Eye of the Beholder" - it was because a
dozen other shows used very little but the imagination to achieve their effect. A
prime example is the scene at the end of "Nothing in the Dark," where Gladys
Cooper's character finally accepts the comfort of death, and takes Robert
Redford's outstretched hand. The simple act of turning the film over at that

point, of having left become right and right become left,

achieves - at zero cost - a sense that she has departed
this world and entered the next.
Other times, a little more "high technology" was
required. My father came home one evening looking
pleased with himself after seeing the dailies for "The
Midnight Sun . " They had needed an inexpensive effect
to convey a sense of unbearable heat, of things coming
apart in a cataclysmic way. A painting had been created
in colored wax on a sheet of metal, which was then
torched from behind on camera. There was only the one
painting, thus only one take. Though the idea seemed
workable, no one knew whether it would look right on
film. Half the crew showed up for the dailies and every
one agreed that the goal had been achieved. There were
many experiments like this, brought on by necessity and
brought off with elegant ingenuity - and sometimes,
some nail-biting moments.
One such was the day Dad brought me to the stu
dio to see them film the final moment of "Will the Real
Martian Please Stand Up. " In it, John Hoyt's character
reveals himself as a three-armed Martian advance
scout for a takeover of the Earth. Then Barney Phillips' character takes off his
soda-j erk's cap to reveal his Venusian third eye and announces that the
Martians' plans are foiled. After a few takes, Mr. Phillips hadn't gotten his victorious cackle exactly the way Monty Pittman, the director, wanted it. The
third arm wasn't difficult, involving someone hiding behind Mr. Hoyt and the
services of a specially tailored overcoat. But that eye on Mr. Phillips' forehead
was tricky. It was made of various gooey and rubbery substances, painted
carefully and mechanically wired up into Mr. Phillips' hairline so that it could
be made to move. That eye was only good for so many takes, and despite Mr.
Phillips' best efforts, there was always reason for Mr. Pittman to say, " Let's
try it one more time. " I was 1 3 , and had been brought down here to see something goofy and fun. But suddenly, the faces on all the men who joked around
and called me " Fifty Cents" were not j ovial at all. The episode hinged on this
moment, there was no alternative ending, and the budget didn't allow for
another eye to be built.
At work on a soundstage, there are long periods of waiting punctuated by
occasional moments of pure focus and intensity. This was one of those intense
moments, in spades. You could hear a pin drop. Bill Tuttle pronounced the eye
ready for another take. Everyone could tell by his tone of voice that this was
probably their last chance. " Roll . " " Speed. " "Action. " Mr. Hoyt delivered his
line, then Mr. Phillips took off the cap and produced a perfect belly-laugh of

A pp r e c i a t i o n E s s a y s

Actors Joseph Schildkraut

and Oscar Beregi star in a
final scene of retribution,
from "Death's-Head
Revisited."

283

In what appears to be a
blooper, actors Jonathan
Harris and Liam Sullivan
crack up during filming.

interplanetary one-upmanship. The episode was saved, everyone (including me)

exhaled, and the friendly, relaxed expressions returned to the faces of the crew.
All that for what was probably a $ 2 5 0 phony eye.
My most exciting visit to the set occurred during the shooting of "The Last
Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank, " because I finally stepped into The Twilight Zone
myself. " Last Rites" was one of the lighter-hearted episodes, written and
directed by Montgomery Pittman - a man of enormous warmth and humor and featuring a deftly amusing harmonica score by the incomparable Tommy
Morgan. I had been in a couple of other of Dad's shows, playing very minor
roles. I loved the makeup, being fitted with a costume and, above all, being
treated like one of the crew rather than a privileged onlooker. Dad always
insisted that I interview under an assumed name to avoid undue pressure on the
director. So, all on my own I got the part of young Jerry, which consisted of
three substantial scenes with plenty of dialogue. I was too cocky to be nervous,

284

Out of character, the guys

share a laugh with the
amusing Cecil Kellaway.

and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I did an okay job for a kid, with one glaring
exception, which still causes me to cringe. In the scene where the three kids are
fooling around and trading adult gossip they've overheard, the little girl says
something to the effect that Jeff Myrtlebank is " behavin' strangely, " and my
response is, "Oh? How's he been actin' ? " Obviously, the line was, "Oh? How's
he been behavin' ? " which is the proper comeback, repeating the key word. I can
imagine the hurried conference between Monty Pittman and the script supervi
sor: "We'd better live with it, at least the kid's got everything else right." A
couple of days later, hunched over his Moviola, I'm sure Jason Bernie was
cussing me out under his breath as he discovered he couldn't edit around that
bump in the road of dialogue.
Such was my contribution to The Twilight Zone. Maybe if I'd known people
would still be watching "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" in the 2 I St century,
I'd have been a little less cocky and a little more careful.

A p p r e c i a t i o n E s s ays

285

Lee Marvin, Ellen Willard

(lone), and crew during a
scene when lone greets
Miller at the graveyard.

There was never any sense that what was

going on at Cayuga Productions would last
through the ages. In that era, you made up to
3 9 shows, reran a choice few in the summer,
then either shot another season or went off the
air, never to be heard from again. If the idea of
syndication existed, it was a gleam in someone's
eye. It never occurred to anyone that the unique
qualities of The Twilight Zone - combined
with the fact that Viacom eventually came to
own all episodes free and clear, making them
inexpensive to rerun - would create an endur
ing classic with no end in sight forty-odd years
later.
Even though I saw many episodes filmed,
though I often knew what made the tricks
work, The Twilight Zone left its mark on me as
I suspect it has on many others. Shows like
" Escape Clause" told us that making a deal
with the devil will come back on you in surpris
ing ways. I don't know about you, but after
seeing "The After Hours," I was never again
completely comfortable in a department store
with mannequins standing about. And years later, when I'd become a father, see
ing "Walking Distance" again reminded me to be mindful of how precious and
fleeting my children's innocent summers would be.
Thanks, Dad, for making this wonderful show a part of my life, and for
everything you did to make it something that will touch Twilight Zone fans for
ever, doing its part to remind us of the things that matter - and the danger of
not giving those things their due.
Jim Houghton i s the son of the late

Twilight Zone producer B u c k Houghton . He's

worked as a television actor, inc l uding roles on

The Twilight Zone, The Young and the

Restless, and Knots Landing, and as a w riter for shows such as Tales from the
Oarkside, and a staff w riter for The Young and the Restless for 15 years.

286

Perchance

to

Dream

A speculative question: Had Rod Serling lived longer,

what do you think he would have achieved?

Lamont Johnson

The guy was such an imaginative character, I'd have loved to see him write a
play for the theater, learn from working in the theater. There's still nothing more
growth-producing and thrilling than working with an audience. Working with
actors for a period of time in rehearsal, and then the curtain goes up, and you're
out there. I'd love to have seen Rod exposed to that, and see what would have
happened. He might have been intrigued with the theater.
Richard Bare

Rod would always have been a writer, whether it was television, features, or
stage.
Richard Donner

He probably would have looked back on it and say, "I had the best of it. "
There's not much out there anymore. 1 think most television today is kind of
embarrassing.
Shelley Berman

He wrote some beautiful work, and he would have written more classical pieces.
1 don't think he would have stayed with Twilight Zone. He would have gone to
theater or film. But he also would have stayed with his teaching as well, because
he had a lot to teach and he knew a lot. He would have ultimately have had to
move to film exclusively. He could write quickly. A movie takes a little bit more
time. He would have found himself a perfect director, never changed that direc
tor, they would have teamed. Because he was very faithful to certain people. And
he would have done things on a very large, very vast scale. We would have been
waiting for Rod's next movie.

287

Del Reisman

I'm absolutely convinced he would have created and written for television a
comedy series. He loved comedy so much, and he was quite funny and a great
comedy storyteller. I mean, he was not a stand-up comic, but he was a great sto
ryteller, and he definitely would have gone into that world. I also think he would
have branched out. He would have gone into major screenplays and certainly,
I'm convinced, a comedy series - not a sitcom, but a very quirky comedy series
like Northern Exposure.
Robert Serling

It's hard to answer that question. I think only Rod could have answered it. As
a matter of fact, I don't think anybody could answer it, because it didn't hap
pen. We can only speculate, surmise, or guess what it would have been like. His
future probably would have been in film. He eventually would have come up
with one hell of a movie script. And god knows, films could use good writers.
Rod was good. Maybe he stood on soapboxes too long, too many times, but I
think he would have adapted to that. For example, some of the funny stuff he
wrote could have been turned into movies.
Earl Hamner, Jr.

I'm sure he would be writing. He would have written to the very last day if he
could. His work would probably have been a little more refined in the fantasy
area, but he would have continued that. But he would have gone into larger
social issues. Rod was very socially aware; he had that sense of outrage that
causes a lot of writers to respond to injustice and cruelty and the things we all
hate. But Rod was able to respond to those things in such a way as to drama
tize them. To illuminate them for us, and to illuminate even those people who
felt hatred. What a pity he didn't live, he would still be contributing forcefully
to society and certainly to writing.
He was such a driven man that it's hard to believe he could have kept up his
level of creativity, because he'd burned his energies so relentlessly.
Richard Matheson

Written some brilliant scripts and, perhaps, books as well. His was a rare talent.
And he was so aware of social discords that he might have become a speech
writer for favorite politicians.
George Clayton Johnson

He would have certainly stayed with teaching, but if he were healthy and had
his vigor and strength, I can imagine him writing something, maybe for
Broadway. Something that would have returned him to what he started with,
because he had one of those bizarre, upside-down careers, where he started
winning big awards right at the beginning, and doing great long magnificent tel-

288

evision plays, and then here he is stuck doing these little half-hour, often times
burlesque, dramas. And people at the time must have thought it was a great
come-down, although when you say " Requiem for a Heavyweight" and
" Patterns," and The Twilight Zone - which is the bigger, then your critic
would say, " The Twilight Zone is much bigger than those other two dramas. "
S o in his own way, h e sort o f climbed from one thing to another thing, to anoth
er thing, which would lead me to believe that there were yet higher mountains
for him to conquer.
Fritz Weaver

There was a little boy in him, and I'm not sure that age would have been as
much fun, unless he kept that sense that he had. Knowing Hollywood, you go
up and down like a yo-yo out there. And he had had his moment of glory, and
I hope he would have found another way. He may have even gone back to play
writing, his first love.
William Reynolds

He was so good at what he did, with the short story, he was tight and efficient
and he didn't overwrite. So, I don't know whether he would have written nov
els or stayed with short stories. It would have been his kind of project; he was
n't just a writer and producer - he was also a star. He was like an Alfred
Hitchcock.
Paul Comi

Oh, he would have gone beyond, and on and on. He would have done features.
In fact, the quality of his writing for features, he would have been vastly disap
pointed though by the time that he had hit the ' 80S and early '90S, with what was
happening then. He would have ended up forced to do features. I can't believe he
would have done television. His subject matter - they wouldn't allow him to do
it. It was an era of experimentation with television; it was fortuitous that he was
around at that time, and we were fortunate to be around when he was.
Robert Sorrells

He was just smoking an awful lot of cigarettes. He smoked those Pall Malls,
those great big strong red ones. But I think his own creativity and his own sensi
tivity, which I acquaint with each other . . . well, look what happened to Mozart.
Ruta Lee

I'd like to think he would have taken us into the big major motion pictures, but
as much those technical shenanigans are wonderful to look at, his would have
been spiritual, moralistic shenanigans that would have tickled our brain as well
as our heart, as well as j ust our eyes. Everything now is such a feast for the eyes.
Whatever Rod did was somehow a feast for the spirit as well.

P e r c b a n c e to D r e a m

289

Cliff Robertson
I believe if he had lived longer he would have done some theater work, if only
trying out a new play or something. He also would have seen to it that a major
motion picture was made with his name on top as the writer, and possibly the
producer, and who knows - director. He may have had ambitions to be a direc
tor. Certainly he could communicate to the actor, and that's essential if you're
going to be a director.
Anne Francis

If he were around today, he still would be creating these wonderful stories. I

hope that the young people today would enjoy the modern fairy tales. So much
of what exists today in the early 2 I St century is sort of blundering humor and
very little imagination. I would hope that young people's minds would still be
able to soar and be able to appreciate The Twilight Zone.
Dennis Weaver

He would have continued to be a very creative person, an innovator. That was

his nature. We lost a lot when he died so young.
Kevin Hagen

He might have become the lead in a very important television show, because he
was so unique.
Bill Mumy

Rod Serling did more than most people ever do in their life. He owes us noth
ing. I can't imagine what he'd have done if he'd lived longer. I just wish he'd had
more time to do whatever it was he liked doing the best. He created wonderful
pieces of art, great stories that will live forever. Rod Serling is immortal.

290

Sources

: .1

Marc Scott Zicree, The Twilight Zone Companion

Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, Into The Twilight Zone: The Rod Serling
Programme Guide
Tony Albarella, ed. As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone
Scripts of Rod Serling
William F. Nolan and William K Schafer, eds., California Sorcery
Scott Skelton and Jim Benson , Rod Serling's Night Gallery; An After-Hours
Tour
Buck Houghton, What a Producer Does
TV.com
Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
Internet Movie Database (imdb.com)

291