"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone." (opening narration for season 1)
"You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone." (opening narration for season 1, alternate)
"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone." (opening narration for season 2)
"You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone." (opening narration for season 3)
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound...a dimension of sight...a dimension of mind. You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into...THE TWILIGHT ZONE." (opening narration for seasons 4 and 5)
TWILIGHT ZONE is TV at its best. Rod Serling created the series and was the host for 156 episodes, all in black and white. He wrote or adapted 99 of the episodes and won two Emmy's for outstanding writing (1960, 1961) and a Golden Globe award for best TV director/producer (1962). The famous hypnotic four-note theme music is by Marcus Constant, who also composed the end titles. Bernard Herrman, Jerry Goldsmith, Nathan Van Cleave, and others also provided music.
Rod Serling is like an eloquent Martian in his prologues. The episodes are science fiction, fantasy, horror, and suspense with a blurry line between reality and illusion. Situations are innovative and range from drama to comedy to tragedy. There are unexpected twists and endings, and usually a moment of revelation. Stories are simplistic and special effects are minimal. The science fiction is rarely explained scientifically. Instead there is a moral, or at least a subtle morality lesson.
Often there are horrible twists of fate that destroy characters. A good example is "Time Enough At Last" written by Serling from a story by Lyn Venable. Burgess Meredith stars as Henry Bemis. He is a bookworm who survives a nuclear holocaust. Now he can read all the books he wants. He says, "And the best thing, the very best thing of all, is there's time now... there's all the time I need and all the time I want. Time, time, time. There's time enough at last." But he breaks his eyeglasses and cannot read, then says, "That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was, was all the time I needed..." (episode 8, season 1, original air date: November 20, 1959)
Talky Tina doll: "My name is Talky Tina, and I'm going to kill you."
My favorite episode is "To Serve Man" written by Serling from Damon Knight's 1953 story. Mr. Chambers (Lloyd Bochner), a government decoding agent cannot decode a book, "To Serve Man", brought by superior aliens (Kanamits) to Earth. As he boards a spaceship to their home planet, his colleague Pat (Susan Cummings) yells to him: "Don't get on that ship! The rest of the book, 'To Serve Man', it's...it's a cookbook!" But it's too late and Mr. Chambers is now on the menu. The main Kanamit is played by Richard Kiel who later played "Jaws" in the 007 movies. Also the spaceship is from FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956). They should make this gem into a movie. (episode 89, season 3, original air date: March 2, 1962)
Rod Serling: "You are looking at Mr. Fred Renard, who carries on his shoulder a chip the size of the national debt. This is a sour man. A friendless man. A lonely man. A grasping, compulsive, nervous man. This is a man who lived thirty-six undistinguished, meaningless, pointless, failure-laden years. And who, at this moment, looks for an escape, any escape, any way, anything, anybody to get out of the rut."
In "Night of the Meek" Art Carney stars as an alcoholic Santa Claus:
Rod Serling: "This is Mr. Henry Corwin, normally unemployed, who once a year takes the lead role in a uniquely popular American institution, that of a department store Santa Claus, in a road-company version of The Night Before Christmas. But in just a moment, Mr. Henry Corwin, ersatz Santa Claus, will enter a strange kind of North Pole, which is one part the wonderous spirit of Christmas and one part the magic that can only be found in the Twilight Zone." The closing narration: "A word to the wise - to all the children of the 20th century: whether their concern be pediatrics or geriatrics, whether they crawl on hands and knees and wear diapers, or walk with a cane and comb their beards. There's a wonderous magic to Christmas and there's a special power reserved for little people. In short, there's nothing mightier than the meek." (episode 11, season 2, original air date: December 23, 1960)
NIGHT GALLERY (1970-1973) is similar, with 100 episodes, all in colour. Rod Serling hosts the series from an art gallery. He had less input in this collection of spooky, intriguing, and sometimes humourous stories. There was a communication problem with production, and Serling often didn't know what was going on.
Rod Serling: "Good evening, and welcome to a private showing of three paintings, displayed here for the first time. Each is a collectors' item in its own way - not because of any special artistic quality, but because each captures on a canvas, and suspends in time and space, a frozen moment of a nightmare."
TWILIGHT ZONE--THE MOVIE (1983) was produced by Steven Spielberg and was a box-office failure. There are four stories, three from the original TV series. "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" is considered to be the best. But the brief first segment is one of the scariest I've ever seen in a movie.
THE NEW TWILIGHT ZONE (1985-1987) (1988-1989) produced 94 colour episodes. Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks provide the prologue narration. A second revival of the series, narrated by Forest Whitaker, lasted only one season (2002-2003).
