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#RodSerling

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Speckled Band<p>📺 Back There (The Twilight Zone, 1961): A patron of a gentlemen’s club finds himself transported back in time to a point shortly before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.</p><p><a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/thetwilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thetwilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/twilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>twilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/tv" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tv</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>television</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/1960s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1960s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/60s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>60s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/tvshow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tvshow</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/abrahamlincoln" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>abrahamlincoln</span></a></p>
Speckled Band<p>📺 Dust (The Twilight Zone, 1961) is a Western-themed story about a conman peddling ‘magic’ dust - which he says could save a man from hanging. </p><p><a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/twilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>twilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/thetwilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thetwilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>television</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/tv" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tv</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/1960s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1960s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/60s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>60s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/western" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>western</span></a></p>
Sci Fi Brickyards 🚀<p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/NowWatching" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NowWatching</span></a> 🛸</p><p>UFOs: It Has Begun (1979)</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/UFOsitHasBegun" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>UFOsitHasBegun</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/1970s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1970s</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/1970sTV" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1970sTV</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/1970sTelevision" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1970sTelevision</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Conspiracy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Conspiracy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Aliens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Aliens</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/UFO" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>UFO</span></a></p>
Barbara Monaco<p>In 1963, in the fourth season of "The Twilight Zone", Rod Serling imagined fascism in the US.<br><a href="https://mas.to/tags/twilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>twilightzone</span></a> <br><a href="https://mas.to/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <br><a href="https://www.openculture.com/2025/03/when-the-twilight-zone-imagined-fascism-in-america-in-a-1963-episode-starring-dennis-hopper.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">openculture.com/2025/03/when-t</span><span class="invisible">he-twilight-zone-imagined-fascism-in-america-in-a-1963-episode-starring-dennis-hopper.html</span></a></p>
Speckled Band<p>📺 Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room (The Twilight Zone, 1960): Jackie Rhoades (Joe Mantell) makes an alarming discovery in the mirror of his cheap hotel room.</p><p>www.speckled.band</p><p><a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/TheTwilightZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheTwilightZone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/twilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>twilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/tv" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tv</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>television</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/1960s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1960s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/60s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>60s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/supernatural" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>supernatural</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/spooky" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>spooky</span></a></p>
Edward Champion<p>Fuck me, Rod Serling was a motherfucking poet with "The After Hours."</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/twilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>twilightzone</span></a></p>
Tanquist<p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> distilled the essence of <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/maga" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>maga</span></a> in 1964.</p><p>Rod Serling's "Carol for Another Christmas"</p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/PeterSellers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PeterSellers</span></a> as "Imperial Me" (starting at 1:01:45)<br>"I am the Imperial Me, and this is the non-government of the Me people.<br>"... finally the word "we" will become stamped out and will become "I" forever! Because we are each the wise. We are each the strong. And we are each the individual me's."</p><p>Crowd screaming: "Me me me me me me me..."</p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/carol-for-another-christmas-1964" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">archive.org/details/carol-for-</span><span class="invisible">another-christmas-1964</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/InternetArchive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>InternetArchive</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/movies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>movies</span></a></p>
Jenny<p>Saw this on BSky today. Apparently it’s from 2016, but feels even more accurate today.</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/TwilightZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TwilightZone</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/FOTUS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FOTUS</span></a></p>
Speckled Band<p>📺 The Man in the Bottle is episode two of the second season of The Twilight Zone, written by Rod Serling. A luckless couple - Arthur and Edna Castle - stumble upon a genie. </p><p><a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/thetwilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thetwilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>television</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/TV" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TV</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/1960s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1960s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/60s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>60s</span></a> </p><p>www.speckled.band</p>
Speckled Band<p>📺 King Nine Will Not Return (1960) opened the second season of The Twilight Zone with the haunting tale of a wartime pilot, played by Bob Cummings, who’s stranded in the desert, seemingly deserted by his crew. www.speckled.band <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/thetwilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thetwilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>television</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/tv" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tv</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/1960s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>1960s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/60s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>60s</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a> <a href="https://ravenation.club/tags/Supernatural" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Supernatural</span></a></p>
Jason William Karpf<p>Where Is Everybody? The Twilight Zone’s First Episode Tackled Atomic Anxieties—Den of Geek</p><p>Excellent essay on Twilight Zone ushering ‘60s zeitgeist in 1959 debut.</p><p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://newsmast.community/@books" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>books</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/religion" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>religion</span></a></span> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ChristianSciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ChristianSciFi</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/space" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>space</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ProfessorK" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ProfessorK</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AmWritingSF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AmWritingSF</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/secretscifinetwork" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>secretscifinetwork</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TwilightZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TwilightZone</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/where-is-everybody-the-twilight-zone-first-episode-nuclear-anxiety/?utm_source=denofgeek.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=the-twilight-zone-double-feature-proves-why-the-show-will-always-resonate&amp;_bhlid=a8f9af4f3e6a61a9e6ab01787045e7655c4b95d7" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">denofgeek.com/tv/where-is-ever</span><span class="invisible">ybody-the-twilight-zone-first-episode-nuclear-anxiety/?utm_source=denofgeek.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=the-twilight-zone-double-feature-proves-why-the-show-will-always-resonate&amp;_bhlid=a8f9af4f3e6a61a9e6ab01787045e7655c4b95d7</span></a></p>
Cultura<p>Matt Zoller Seitz has a fantastic piece up at RogerEbert.com about Rod Serling and how he used genre to write about political, social and moral concerns. <a href="https://culturalgutter.com/2025/01/21/the-metaphor-years-writing-lessons-from-the-twilight-zone/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">culturalgutter.com/2025/01/21/</span><span class="invisible">the-metaphor-years-writing-lessons-from-the-twilight-zone/</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/tv" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tv</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/series" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>series</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/TheTwilightZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheTwilightZone</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a></p>
Flipboard Culture Desk<p>Rod Serling, creator of "The Twilight Zone," believed that the arts were a vehicle for social criticism. While his famous show is now thought of as a sci-fi and fantasy anthology, it was also a way for Serling and others to critique the United States' policies. "The late 1950s and early 1960s were a time of lingering McCarthyism, Cold War paranoia, rampant racism, and relentless pressure to conform to a middle American, white, heterosexual, three-kids-and-a-suburban-house idea of normalcy," writes Matt Zoller Seitz of Roger Ebert. Here's his tribute to Serling's creative courage.</p><p><a href="https://flip.it/loMEqM" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">flip.it/loMEqM</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Television</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/TV" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TV</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Entertainment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Entertainment</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/TheTwilightZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheTwilightZone</span></a></p>
Em-squared<p>Apparently written to bolster then flagging support for the United Nations in the US (1964) then not shown again until 2012. It's a melancholy watch but for the joy of seeing Sterling Hayden, Peter Sellers &amp; Robert Shaw. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> #1964 <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TV" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TV</span></a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjAQHuM85M&amp;t=5042" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=RPjAQHuM85</span><span class="invisible">M&amp;t=5042</span></a></p>
Wm.son<p><a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Prejudice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Prejudice</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Conquest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Conquest</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Men" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Men</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Weapons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Weapons</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a></p><p>A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:<br>The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs, and explosions, and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy; and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. -Rod Serling, writer of the science fiction TV series "The Twilight Zone" (25 Dec 1924-1975)</p>
Jason William Karpf<p>100th anniversary of birth of Rod Serling. My hero.</p><p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://newsmast.community/@books" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>books</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/religion" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>religion</span></a></span> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>bookstodon</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/space" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>space</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AmWritingSciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AmWritingSciFi</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ChristianSciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ChristianSciFi</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ProfessorK" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ProfessorK</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TwilightZone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TwilightZone</span></a></p>
Levka<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Christmas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Christmas</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbp1du33l0c&amp;t=8s" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=gbp1du33l0</span><span class="invisible">c&amp;t=8s</span></a></p>
Starchy Compliment<p>Happy 100th Birthday, Rod Serling!</p><p>Photo: "Binghamton Press &amp; Star Bulletin" via Rod Serling Memorial Foundation online<br><a href="https://newsie.social/tags/RodSerling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling</span></a> <a href="https://newsie.social/tags/RodSerling100" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RodSerling100</span></a></p>
Brandon<p>New post up: The Loner, a Forgotten Series by Rod Serling <a href="https://brandons-journal.com/the-loner-a-forgotten-series-by-rod-serling/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">brandons-journal.com/the-loner</span><span class="invisible">-a-forgotten-series-by-rod-serling/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://500.social/tags/theloner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>theloner</span></a> <a href="https://500.social/tags/thetwilightzone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thetwilightzone</span></a> <a href="https://500.social/tags/rodserling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rodserling</span></a></p>
Seattle Worldcon 2025<p>It is impossible to overstate the revolution that was Rod Serling’s speculative fiction anthology show, <i>The Twilight Zone</i>.</p><p>On October 2, 1959, television entered the science fiction age with <i>Twilight Zone</i>’s debut episode, “Where Is Everybody?” The episode was pure science fiction, featuring an astronaut who returns from a lunar mission only to discover everyone had vanished. For the next five years, <i>Twilight Zone</i> offered a steady stream of speculative delicacies—usually more-or-less straight SF (at least by the standards of the time), although the show sometimes veered into the fantastical and often into the horrific. While there were clunky episodes, particularly as the program ran on, in the later seasons it’s increasingly clear that Serling, tasked with producing half of the scripts, ran out of ideas.</p><p>Nevertheless, <i>The Twilight Zone</i> managed to deliver a fairly consistent quality of programming right up to the end. More than that, it provided a high standard of <em>writerliness</em>, of erudite television almost single-handedly belying FCC Chair Nelson Minow’s 1961 observation that television was just a “vast wasteland.”</p><p>By the early 1950s, TV had become a widespread medium. Until <i>The Twilight Zone</i>, the visual airwaves were almost bereft of adult science fiction. There was kiddie fare like <i>Space Patrol</i>, and smug extollations of technology like <i>Science Fiction Theater</i>, but nothing really for grown-ups. What took so long?</p><p>Two things: Firstly, television had to grow up. When TV broadcasts began, they didn’t diverge much from their theatrical stage origins. Live shows, or ones that felt live, were the norm. Then came anthology shows like <i>Playhouse 90</i>, upon which up-and-comers like Rod Serling cut their teeth. By the end of the ’50s, there were enough mature TV writers to make a go of something like <i>The Twilight Zone</i>.</p><p>Secondly, by then, there were also enough science fiction writers for the endeavor, for <i>The Twilight Zone</i> resembles nothing so much as a visual translation of <i>The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction</i>. Started in 1949, <i>F&amp;SF</i> had established itself as the most literate of the SF digests, the most varied in theme and content, the most focused on shorter stories⁠… and the most willing to feature stories by and for women (thus ensuring a more balanced readership).</p><p>It is no coincidence that many of <i>The Twilight Zone</i>’s finest episodes were penned by folks whose names often appeared on the <i>F&amp;SF</i> cover: Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Robert Bloch, Jerome Bixby, Lewis Padgett, Henry Slesar, Ray Bradbury.</p><p>The impact of Serling’s project, <i>F&amp;SF</i> in living black and white, still echoes today. There have been three revivals and, even today, countless inspirations like <i>Black Mirror</i> and <i>Love, Death, and Robots</i>. Serling’s likeness and the words “submitted for your approval” have become part of our memetic vocabulary.</p><p>So, when you go to Seattle Worldcon 2025, revel in the fact that you are largely breathing the same cultural air that con-goers were breathing waaay back at Seacon 1961. There’s a signpost up ahead—you’re still well within <i>The Twilight Zone</i>!</p><p></p><p><a href="https://seattlein2025.org/2024/11/15/fantastic-fiction-a-signpost-up-ahead/" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://seattlein2025.org/2024/11/15/fantastic-fiction-a-signpost-up-ahead/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://seattlein2025.org/tag/rod-serling/" target="_blank">#RodSerling</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://seattlein2025.org/tag/the-twilight-zone/" target="_blank">#TheTwilightZone</a></p>
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