Before ‘The Twilight Zone,’ sci-fi was for kids — and writers didn’t run series, says Susan King in the L.A. Times.
If anything deserves the term “iconic” it is the original TV series “The Twilight Zone.” Even though the last episode aired 45 years ago, it still fascinates and stimulates our thinking. Rod Serling was a seminal figure in the history of television and science fiction:
"He created a new form of television," said screenwriter Marc Scott Zicree, author of "The Twilight Zone Companion."
"Science fiction was basically viewed as kids’ stuff," he says. "There is a great interview that Mike Wallace did with Rod just prior to ‘The Twilight Zone’ where he says to Rod, ‘Now you are doing this kind of kids’ stuff, are you giving up writing anything important?’ "
The American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre is paying tribute to this seminal series, which paved the way for countless shows such as "The Outer Limits," "Star Trek" and even "Lost," with a three-hour program Friday including screenings of some of the best-loved episodes, as well as discussions with Zicree; Serling’s widow, Carol Serling; and writers Earl Hamner Jr. and George Clayton Johnson, who wrote such memorable installments as "Kick the Can," starring Ernest Truex as an old man in a retirement home who quite literally returns to his childhood.
You can read the rest of the piece here.
Couldn’t agree more, Edmond. It seemed regardless of one’s political orientation back then, people in Hollywood believed in a human nature. There was enough residual Judeo-Christian moral sensibility left that it infused much of the art. The Twilight Zone was an amazing study in human nature.
I’m happy to see you guys giving some much deserved attention to Serling. Although certainly a liberal, he was an old-style – pre political correctness, pre 1960s radical kind of liberal. He was against racism, anti-racism having been co-opted and perverted into group rights today, but I don’t know too many conservatives who are pro-racism (despite what the left says).
Serling was something that liberals today hate: he was a principled indivual. He was a thoughtful, curious person. You can watch his stuff and practically see the wheels turning, as he thought things through. Today’s liberals don’t THINK. They parrot the same thoughts, the same emotions, over and over again. Basically they’re intolerant and dull. Serling was the opposite of dull and I share your appreciation of him.