The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone was a television series created (and often written) by its narrator and host Rod Serling. Each episode was an individual fantasy or science fiction story, often concluding with an eerie or unexpected twist. A popular success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction ideas. Writers for The Twilight Zone included leading science fiction writers such as Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison and Robert Bloch and it dramatized stories by other writers including Ambrose Bierce. (However, it should be noted that several of Ray Bradbury's stories were not converted into Twilight Zone episodes because of their perceived implausibility onto the screen on the part of the producers and Serling.) Several renowned Hollywood actors also had notable appearances in The Twilight Zone such as Agnes Moorehead, Charles Bronson, Burgess Meredith, Elizabeth Montgomery, Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, and William Shatner.
Television and cinema history
The original Twilight Zone ran from October 2, 1959, to 1964, a revival ran on CBS from 1985 to 1988, and a second revival starring Forest Whitaker as host and narrator aired in 2002 on UPN for one season. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) remade three classic episodes and included one original story. A TV movie, Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics, aired in 1994, was narrated by James Earl Jones, and was a compilation based on two unused Twilight Zone scripts.
During the making of Twilight Zone: The Movie, actor Vic Morrow died in an accident involving a helicopter.
The Twilight Zone was sponsored by a variety of companies, especially cigarette companies. Some product placement can be found at the end credits of some episodes.
Though the original Twilight Zone has largely disappeared from syndication it is still aired on the cable and satellite television channel the Sci-Fi Channel. It is also available on DVD from various companies, such as Columbia House, Panasonic and Falcon Picture Group.
Reruns of the 1985 version were formerly shown on the cable television channel Turner Network Television (TNT) as filler, especially during rain delays or after early conclusions of baseball games.
Radio revival
In 2002, the Twilight Zone was revived as a nationally syndicated radio drama. Many of the stories were based on Rod Serling's original scripts and were slightly expanded and updated to reflect contemporary technology and trends (e.g., the mention of "cell phones" and "CD-ROMs" which, of course, weren't around when the television show aired in the 1960s). Taking Serling's role as narrator was Stacy Keach. A different Hollywood actor and actress, such as Blair Underwood and James Caviezel, took the lead role in each radio drama. The radio series was produced by the Falcon Picture Group. Oddly, the compact disk and cassette tape versions of the radio dramas contained several advertisements, some in the form of direct pitches and others as humorous skits. Its main sponsor was the Hollywood Celebrity Diet.