Marc Scott Zicree, Screenwriter/Author: It holds up because it's not about something trivial,
The Twilight Zone is about something profound, deeply profound.
Film Courage:
What makes The Twilight Zone different from everything else quality it's good okay
The Twilight Zone is possibly the best television show ever made
I think there's an argument argument that can be made for that Rod Serling never
wanted to be a science fiction writer he wanted basically to be the Arthur Miller of television
and when he was censored when he couldn't write about politics when he couldn't write about race
there were so many things he wanted to write about and the censors just would not allow it
and his work he felt his work was being turned into meaningless crap
because of these limitations he thought well if I do science fiction maybe I can slide these things
past and they won't notice what I'm actually doing and that that's worked it worked exactly he
he ended up writing four pilot scripts for The Twilight Zone before the show got greenlit
he was very determined to to have that happen and so I think it came from the fact that this
was a man who had a lot to say and knew how to say it twilight zone just isn't about the
gimmick the gimmicks are great and the twist endings and all of those things are wonderful
and the fact that it was science fiction and horror and fantasy allowed it to be universal
in a way that had he just been writing about Medgar Evers or something it wouldn't have been
because then it would seem very dated and the writers from that era of live television generally
are not well known Tad Mosel or Reginald Rose or even Paddy Chayefsky had Serling stayed in
live tv and not created The Twilight Zone and he'd probably be forgotten now as good
as Requiem for Heavy Weight was or Patterns but because he was forced to write in this wonderful
genre and write on universal themes fear alienation loss of identity
it just created these amazing stories and his scripts are so good that they would get
the top actors actors who often wouldn't do television and and you got Bernard Herrmann and
Jerry Goldsmith these amazing composers and George Clemons this phenomenal cinematographer it's just
you look at the best episodes of The Twilight Zone and there are a lot of them
and you're just you hold your breath they're so beautiful in every way and timeless and and
they work and even when what the story is you're moved by these people because Rod had a genuine
sympathy and empathy for the little guy for someone working in as a bank teller or a woman
who's a secretary or he's not writing generally about presidents or kings or wealthy people
he doesn't even though he himself was one of the best paid writers in television
he's not fawning he doesn't idolize the rich like some writers have
he's some he's a regular guy he's a he's you can get the sense that he has this big heart
he really cares deeply and he's coming from the heart and again when I was talking a few minutes
ago about authenticity Rod when you see Rod Serling on television he's exactly that guy I mean
I've seen videos of him teaching classes where he wasn't he knew these wouldn't be broadcast
and he was absolutely himself warm and funny and smart and and caring and and that really
comes across on twilight zone this is a man saying here's a story I want to tell and I'm
sharing it with you or here's these other writers that I've brought aboard who have these wonderful
stories to share with you it's his gift to the audience and it holds up because it's not about
something trivial The Twilight Zone is about something profound deeply profound and its
meaning conveys to the younger generation as much as to the audience it was made for back in 1959.
have you seen every episode oh yeah okay what would you say the top five I've actually when
I when I started writing The Twilight Zone it was two year twilight zone companion it was two
years after rod's death and Carol Serling his widow was still living in the house in Pacific
Palisades his dog was there this Irish Setter and all these everything was exactly as he'd
left there was one room that was just the awards the six Emmys and the peabody awards and on and on
and so in the garage there were film cans his film cans of twilight zone episode 16 millimeter prints
it was part of his contract that he would get two prints of every episode because there's no VCRs
there was no home recording back then so often I would go home with a stack of these film cans
and put them on the projector and they had the original commercials in the original coming
attraction spots and many of these had never even been put through a projector they were just
pristine they were gorgeous and so yeah and there were four episodes that weren't in syndication
and then there was an a season and 18 episodes that were hour-long episodes that weren't
generally syndicated they every now and then they'd pop up but yeah I had to do a little bit of
pursuing some of these episodes that were not in the in the general audience though
one of the funniest stories in that regard was that I was researching The Twilight Zone
companion and this was just as VCRs were starting to become available for purchase
but they weren't widely available so I recorded the episodes off the air on reels real tape I'm on
cassette tape and Rod didn't have copies of every episode it got more and more hit and miss as the
seasons went on and so at one point they were like I think two episodes that I could just not two or
three episodes that they just never aired on KTLA [an Los Angeles television network] so which was
syndicating twilight zone so I called the station manager and I said listen I'm doing a book on on
The Twilight Zone and I there's three episodes I need to see and I want to find out when you're
going to be airing them because I really need to see them he said well which episodes are they
and I told him he said well we'll broadcast them next week so all of la watched the episodes
just because I needed to see them oh wow I thought he was going to just have me in and maybe screen
them for me but nope everybody got to see him and so that was that was really funny and wonderful
but but it was great that I was able to do to produce the blu-ray set and do 52 commentaries and
and now of course I'm going to do the the rest of them 104 that are left and so people will be able
to buy buy all of them so they'll be able to hear everything I know about The Twilight Zone and for
all of the episodes it's gonna be great fun if you had to choose what would be the top five I love
walking distance which was rod's personal favorite it's about a man who goes back in time to his own
childhood it's a wonderful episode On Thursday We Leave For Home which is a great episode that
Rod wrote with James Whitmore it's one of the hour ones I have the I the beholder which is the woman
whose head is wrapped in bandages waiting to see if she's been made to look normal nightmare
twenty thousand feet which is the Gremlin on The Wing with William Shatner that Richard Donner
directed it's a great episode I mean I could I could list 20. I mean and it's a good life
with billy mummy that's a great one where he's got the power to do to terrorize a small town
but again I could easily pick death ship miniature there's so there's so so many in praise of pip
there's just it just goes on and on time of the last with Burgess Meredith as The Last Man on
Earth there's just I mean week after week after week after week it was an astonishing artistic
feat what he was what he was pulling off it was no one has ever really equaled it I don't think
I mean I've been very, very lucky because I met Elaine [Zicree] when I was
I think I just turned 20 and so that was perfection that was great because again when she
met me I was just a little college student there was no telling if I would accomplish anything
and she had faith in me so I mean when I met her I already knew she was wonderful
but she was taking a big risk in me and it worked out but but I've been very lucky because
think of all the people who as kids they want to be writers or directors or or producers they
watch tv shows they say god i'd like to be part of that world I want to be on the other side of the
glass of the tv screen and I got to do that I got to be that I mean my heroes were Rod Serling
and Ray Bradbury because they were doing tv and books and movies and I got to do all of that.