On a weekend excursion into upstate New York, we stopped for lunch at a small town called Binghamton. It was an unremarkable town, in which we ate a reasonable but unremarkable lunch. But all that changed as we walked back to the car. Outside the high school, we stumbled across a sign erected in honour of one of the town’s sons – Rod Serling.
I was immediately transported back to my youth – glued to our black and white TV set as Serling invited me to travel to “… 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 — Next stop, the Twilight Zone.” ….. cue creepy music.
How I loved that show!!!
The original series ran from 1959 – 1964 – I hasten to add that I was watching re-runs.
I’ll never forget watching William Shatner (later to become Captain James T Kirk) panic as a monster only he could see began to tear apart a passenger plane in mid-air.
Then there was the episode with the evil ventriloquist’s dummy – and the time travel .. and the aliens and…
Serling wrote most of the stories – and while the plot lines now seem old hat – at the time they were quite ground breaking.
The series helped launch the careers of actors such as Robert Duvall, Ron Howard, and Robert Redford – and of course William Shatner.
There have been various incarnations and remakes since that original series – with brilliant writing by the likes of Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, George R R Martin and Stephen King… and featuring actors of the calibre of Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman. The series has captured the imagination of directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron … but for me, Rod Serling will always be my guide as I enter the Twilight Zone.
His stories centred on people – characters who, to me, seemed so very real. The plots were driven by human flaws and fears and failings… I guess that’s why it was special.
The Twilight Zone certainly opened the imagination of this small town girl. Finding myself outside Serling’s high school, it was so easy imagining him as a teenager – staring out the windows as his imagination took flight. I know that’s what he did – because I did exactly the same thing from the window of another school in another small town a long long way from Binghamton, New York.
