Rod Serling
He was known as the "angry young man" of Hollywood, clashing with television executives and sponsors over a wide range of issues, including censorship, racism, and war.However, the United States was involved in World War II at the time, and Serling decided to enlist rather than start college immediately after he graduated from Binghamton Central High School in 1943.[2]: 34, 37 Serling began his military career in 1943 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, under General Joseph May Swing and Colonel Orin D. Haugen[2]: 36–37 and served in the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division.Serling returned from the successful mission in Leyte with two wounds, including one to his kneecap,[2]: 47 but neither kept him from combat when General Douglas MacArthur deployed the paratroopers for their usual purpose on February 3, 1945.It met minimal resistance until it reached the city, where Vice Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi had arranged his 17,000 troops behind a maze of traps and guns and ordered them to fight to the death.[3][14][15] Carol Serling's maternal grandmother, Louise Taft Orton Caldwell,[2]: 60 had a summer home on Cayuga Lake in Interlaken, New York, which was the honeymoon destination for the newlyweds.[5] In the autumn of 1949, Martin Horrell of Grand Central Station (a radio program known for romances and light dramas) rejected one of Serling's scripts about boxing, because his mostly female listeners "have told us in no uncertain terms that prize fight stories aren't what they like most".[5] Serling submitted an idea for a weekly radio show in which the ghosts of a young boy and girl killed in World War II would look through train windows and comment on day-to-day human life as it moved around the country.[3] He continued at WKRC after graduation and, amidst the mostly dreary day-to-day work, also created a series of scripts for a live television program, The Storm, as well as for other anthology dramas (a format which was in demand by networks based in New York)."[6] The writer Marc Scott Zicree, who spent years researching his book The Twilight Zone Companion, noted, "Sometimes the situations were clichéd, the characters two-dimensional, but always there was at least some search for an emotional truth, some attempt to make a statement on the human condition."Patterns" dramatized the power struggle between a veteran corporate boss running out of ideas and energy and the bright, young executive being groomed to take his place.[2]: 37 The New York Times critic Jack Gould called the show "one of the high points in the TV medium's evolution" and said, "[f]or sheer power of narrative, forcefulness of characterization and brilliant climax, Mr. Serling's work is a creative triumph."[19] Robert Lewis Shayon stated in Saturday Review, "in the years I have been watching television I do not recall being so engaged by a drama, nor so stimulated to challenge the haunting conclusions of an hour's entertainment.[21] Immediately following the original broadcast of "Patterns", Serling was inundated with offers of permanent jobs, congratulations, and requests for novels, plays, and television or radio scripts.However, when Serling mentioned in a radio interview that it was inspired by the events and racism that led to the murder of Emmett Till, censorship by advertisers and the TV network resulted in significant changes.[23] He subsequently returned to the Till events when writing A Town Has Turned to Dust for 'Playhouse 90' but had to set it a century in the past and remove any inter-racial dynamics before it would be produced by CBS TV.In an interview, Serling said the show's science fiction format would not be controversial[27] with sponsors, network executives, or the general public and would escape censorship, unlike the earlier script for Playhouse 90.Occasionally, the point was quite blunt, such as in the episode "I Am the Night—Color Me Black", in which hatred caused a dark cloud to form in a small town in the American Midwest and spread across the world.[30] The only television movie directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this was the film in which Peter Sellers gave his first performance after a series of near-fatal heart attacks in the wake of his marriage to Britt Ekland.Set in a dimly lit museum after hours, the pilot film featured Serling (as on-camera host) playing the curator, who introduced three tales of the macabre, unveiling canvases that would appear in the subsequent story segments.On the insistence of the producer Jack Laird, Night Gallery also began including brief comedic "blackout" sketches during its second season, which Serling greatly disdained.Zone") in a comedic bit on The Jack Benny Program; he appears in a 1962 episode of the short-lived sitcom Ichabod and Me in the role of reclusive counterculture novelist Eugene Hollinfield; and in a 1972 episode of the crime drama Ironside entitled "Bubble, Bubble, Toil, and Murder" (which also featured a young Jodie Foster), in which he plays a small role as the proprietor of an occult magic shop.The program, written and produced by McLendon National Productions Director Steve Blackson, featured performances by dozens of rock stars of the day, and even reunited the Beatles.[2]: 218 [41] The ten-hour-long procedure was performed on June 26, but Serling had a third heart attack on the operating table and died two days later at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York.He encouraged sponsors to see television as a platform for the kind of dramatic entertainment that could address important social matters through subtle meanings, instead of being "an animated billboard".[47] The second live performance, only a month later, was equally successful and inspired New York Times critic Jack Gould to write an essay on the use of replays on television.The show was one of the highest-rated of the television season, but both Serling and his brother Robert, a technical advisor on the project (a specialist in aviation), regretted making the film.Riders enter an abandoned elevator shaft as they become part of a "lost episode" of The Twilight Zone, with the attraction taking guests up 13 stories and dropping them multiple times.This was accomplished using footage from The Twilight Zone episode "The Midnight Sun" and digitally manipulating Serling's mouth to match new dialogue spoken by voice actor Mark Silverman.On August 11, 2009, the United States Postal Service released its Early TV Memories commemorative stamp collection honoring notable television programs.
Syracuse, New YorkRochester, New YorkInterlaken, New YorkAntioch Collegespeculative fictionscience fictionhorror fictionPatternsRequiem for a HeavyweightThe Twilight ZoneSeven Days in MayNight GalleryPlanet of the ApesInkpotPeabodyGolden GlobeRobert J. Serlinganthology television seriescensorshipJewishBinghamton, New Yorkpulp magazinesfootballArch ObolerNorman CorwinBinghamton Central High Schoolhigh school newspaperU.S. ArmyCamp ToccoaJoseph May SwingOrin D. Haugen511th Parachute Infantry Regiment11th Airborne DivisionTechnician Fourth GradeflyweightBerserkerGolden GlovesEmpire of JapanNazi GermanyAdolf HitlerPacific TheaterNew GuineaPhilippine islandsLeyte, PhilippinesPhilippinesBattle of LeyteStar of DavidDouglas MacArthurTagaytay Ridge188th Glider Infantry RegimentManilaSanji Iwabuchioccupation force in JapanPurple HeartBronze StarPhilippine Liberation MedalflashbacksCombat Infantryman BadgeArmy Good Conduct MedalAmerican Campaign MedalAsiatic-Pacific Campaign Medalarrowhead devicecampaign starsWorld War II Victory MedalArmy of Occupation Medalservice starGlider BadgeParachutist BadgeArmy Presidential Unit CitationPhilippine Presidential Unit CitationG.I. bill's educational benefitsYellow Springs, OhioBachelor of ArtsUnitarianCayuga LakeUnited States Army Air ForcesDr. ChristianJean HersholtEarl Hamner, Jr.Grand Central Stationcontinuity writerCincinnati, OhioCrosley Broadcasting CorporationCrosleyLos Angeles TimesWKRC-TVCincinnatitestimonialConnecticutKraft Television TheatreAppointment with AdventureHallmark Hall of FameMarc Scott ZicreeEd BegleyEverett SloaneRichard KileyThe New York TimesJack GouldRobert Lewis ShayonPlayhouse 90sponsorsRonsonlightersSouthern United StatesEmmett TillA Town Has Turned to DusteditorialSouthwesternChrysler BuildingMike WallaceDesi ArnazLucille BallWestinghouse Desilu Playhouseattack on Pearl Harbortwist endingThe Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)Richard MathesonCharles BeaumontI Am the Night—Color Me Black156 episodesWarner BrosBurgess MeredithCharles AidmanRobin WardForest Whitakerthird attempt