Rod Serling: Submitted For Your Approval (Serling Documentary On TV Tonight)

PBS.Org ^ | December 2003

[jocon307]

Thanks for this, I'll be sure to tune in. My fave twizones are the ones where you see Serling smoking his cigarette (which ultimately killed him, i'll admit it) at the beginning. He was just a handsome guy, and I love him.

[PJ-Comix]

The one's I remember are: 1) the painting of the house that keeps changing, showing a cadaver emerging from a grave and closing in on the house...

That one was the SCARIEST!!!

[PJ-Comix]

I always heard, and seem to remember, that The Twilight Zone was NOT popular, and always had very poor Neilson ratings.

WRONG! The Twilight Zone was VERY POPULAR from the get-go.

[Maria S]

"4) the earwig."

Ah, yes...the earwig! Now THAT was a scary one!

Another favorite of mine was about the man who read...constantly! He would sneak to the basement during breaks and lunch, just to read, read, read. One day, while he was at lunch reading, a bomb destroys everything and everyone except him. He comes out of the basement, and to his joy, finds that the library is intact so he can read in peace and quiet as long as he wants! He bends over to pick something up (a book?) and his verrrrry thick glasses fall off and break. Since he can't read without them, he's stuck for the rest of his life without being able to read...and all alone on the earth without anyone to talk to.

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

My Dad owned a Funeral Home in Rochester, NY.

I was a kid, tagging along for a ride, when my Dad and I stopped by Mt. Hope Cemetery to bring in a remains for cremation.

Rod Serling passed away 1 day earlier at the University of Rochester Medical Center while having heart surgery.

As we entered the retort area I casually asked the Director of Operations if Rod had stopped by.

He directed me to the looking glass of the retort.

I saw the last Rod Serling "Twightlight Zone!"

True story, I still retain my FD's license in NY.

[Political Junkie Too]

I remember one with Joan Crawford who played a rich blind women who bought sight from a poor man...

I remember that one. The day she gets her sight was the day of the big NYC blackout. She freaks out, trips, and falls out the window.

camera obscura(sp) a primitive camera that could see into hell...

I vaguely remember that one. The camera obscura usually is a rooftop reflector projected on a tabletop. I forget the plot of this episode.

another one about an SS death camp guard and a painting.

I remember the Twilight Zone episode where the prison guard goes back after the war and sees the ghosts of his prisoners, who reclaim him.

-PJ

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

Twiglight=TWILIGHT!

[Political Junkie Too]

Another favorite of mine was about the man who read...constantly!

That was a Twilight Zone episode of the kind that Serling loved to do -- the ironic twist.

The one you described starred Burgess Merideth. There were many other cute ones like that: 1) the one where the man has a watch that stops time, but he breaks it, 2) the crabby man (Shelly Berman) who wishes the whole world were full of people just like him, and then he wakes up and everyone is him, 3) the astronaut on the planet with tiny people who take him as their leader, only to be crushed by astronauts 100 times bigger than he is, and on and on.

-PJ

[FlyVet]

I watched the Twilight Zone as a kid. The only episode I remember is the one about the "earwig". Ouch.

[FlyVet]

No mention of Night Gallery, a watchable reprise of Twilight-Zoney themes for a season or two in the early 70s. Used to come on after Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, I think.Now that you mention Night Gallery, the "earwig" episode may have been on that show. So long ago I can't remember.

[FlyVet]

the earwig.

Dang it. LOL. That'll teach me again to read the thread before I post. I thought I'd be the only one to remember that.

He survived, but....

Earwigs lay eggs.

ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

[nicksaunt]

Another favorite of mine was about the man who read...constantly!

Agreed, I love that episode, it's also one of my favorites. What was the name of the actor? I can see his face, but I can't for the life of me remember his name. This is killing me, does anybody out know who was the actor?

[Dr. Scarpetta]

BUMP

[breakem]

Burgess Meredith, also in Rocky and another Twlight Zone where he was sentenced to death for having books but got the Judge to admit he believed in God and was arrested.

[jolie560]

So far--20 minutes in--the report is very good.

[nicksaunt]

Thanks so much Breakum, I had Rocky in the back of my mind, but I couldn't come up with the name. Burgess Meredith. What a great actor. He was a treasure to watch and could out-act almost anyone in the business today. They sure don't make 'em like that anymore!

[bootless]

I'm looking forward to seeing this.

I did like "The Mission" in the New TZ... the one with Kevin Costner as the commander of a B-17. The belly gunner was trapped in the bubble ... I liked that one a lot.

[nicksaunt]

Breakum=Breakem. Sorry.

[bootless]

Wow. Even before I scrolled all the way down your message about NG, I thought "the earwig episode," and lo and behold! There it was! I was about 12 or 13 at the time - creeped me out for a couple of weeks!

[supercat]

The one you described starred Burgess Merideth. There were many other cute ones like that

I liked Once Upon a Time. Remember that one?