Let's Talk About "Twilight Zone"...!

One of the most memorable shows from my early days was "The Twilight Zone" with host Rod Sterling.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one that spent many hours in front of the tube watching this show. In fact, there are a few stations that still show the series to this very day! That says a lot about both the acting and the writers, in my opinion. I thought that this article about anthology series from the Listverse folks was worth sharing.

Anthology Series

The heyday of the network news anchor was also a formative time for television storytelling, and a transition from the techniques of radio and stage. Many early television shows were essentially filmed radio or stage plays, and one of the most effective ways to try out new ideas and techniques was the anthology series. These shows would use some sort of framing device to present a new story—with a different cast—every week, often employing a stable of writers and drawing from literary and theatrical sources. One of the most popular, Studio 60, ran for over a decade between 1948 and 1958, and helped to solidify the genre and its conventions; but another, debuting a year later, would have an enormous and lasting impact not just on television, but entertainment and storytelling in general.

The Twilight Zone was created in 1958 by Rod Serling, a veteran writer of anthologies like Kraft Television Theater and Hallmark Hall of Fame. A sort of pre-pilot, “The Time Element” aired on The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, another anthology series; by the time its run had concluded in 1964, it had established and cemented conventions of script, camera work, and acting that had not been present on television before, and continue to be used today. Too many famous actors to list here had breakthrough appearances on the show, and one of its head writers is such a towering influence on popular culture that he may yet garner a list unto himself.

The anthology format was used to great effect to explore the fledgling television medium’s language, boundaries and techniques—a purpose it appears to have largely fulfilled, as it is all but extinct today. Even separate revivals of The Twilight Zone in 1985 and 2002 couldn’t help bring it back.

You know, in all the shows like the Twilight Zone that I watched, I don't remember ever hearing one cuss word or seeing any nudity at all. Things have certainly changes in the "entertainment" industry and not completely for the good! Just my opinion, ya know?

How about some coffee out on the patio this morning? Gonna get hot later, but right now it isn't too bad!