The Twilight Zone FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Fifth Dimension and Beyond

by Dave Thompson

Overview

(FAQ). The Twilight Zone is among the most beloved shows in American television history, a pioneering fantasy behemoth that bridged the cultural gap between the 1950s and 1960s with thought-provoking mystery, mind-boggling theorems, and occasionally outright horror. The Twilight Zone FAQ takes the reader back to that halcyon era, looking back on the show and its impact as a force for societal change, via reflections on the manifold topics and controversies that the show took on from the space race to the Red Menace, from paranoia to madness and beyond. Dave Thompson traces the history of the show from its earliest flowering in the mind of then-unknown Rod Serling through its slow birth, shaky beginning, and breathless five-season run and he shows how it became the blueprint for so much of the fantasy television that has followed. Chapters deal with the comic books, novels, and many other spin-offs, including the movie, the TV revamps, and even the amusement park ride. In addition, this FAQ offers a full guide to every episode, providing details on the cast and music and pinpointing both the best and the worst of the series, all adding up to a brightly opinionated time machine that catapults the reader back to the true golden age of American television.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781480396180
Publisher:	Applause
Publication date:	11/01/2015
Series:	FAQ
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	1,099,706
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Into the Zone xi

1 The Roots of the Zone: Or, The World According to a Nation Running Scared from Aliens, Communists, Giant. Bugs and Atom Bombs 1

2 Après Moi, Le Deluge… As the Atom Bomb Said to the Peacenik 9

3 Science Fact and Fantastic Television: The Birth of a Genre 18

4 The World at War: World War II in The Twilight Zone 22

5 A Writer Writes, a Script Writer Waits: The Search for a First Big Break 31

6 Patterns and Punch-Ups: A Reputation Is Wrought 39

7 Out for the Count: Fading Fame in The Twilight Zone 44

8 "I've Got an Idea for a Brand New Show": Pitching and Piloting The Twilight Zone 50

9 Traveling in Time: The Twilight Zone Turns the Clocks Back and Forth 58

10 A Show Is Born: The Beginnings of The Twilight Zone 64

11 The Final Frontier: Or, Twilight in the Black of Space 72

12 The Aliens Have Landed: Tentacled Terrors in The Twilight Zone 85

13 Perchance to Write: Charles Beaumont in The Twilight Zone 91

14 His Name Is Legend: Richard Matheson in The Twilight Zone 113

15 Back in the Saddle: Season Two of The Twilight Zone 129

16 But Who Are the Monsters Really? Criminals, Con Men and Man's Inhumanity to Man 135

17 Cheating Death, Racing the Devil… And Other Fortuitous Adventures 155

18 Sickness and Diseases: Don't Worry, It's All in Your Head 161

19 Dashing Through the Fallout: Christmas in The Twilight Zone 165

20 The Toddler of Terror: The Twilight Zone, at Three 169

21 Parallel Universes: The Crack in Everyone's Wall 175

22 In the Presence of More Masters: Johnson… 182

23 The Inimitable Earl of Hamner: Writer of Weirdness 188

24 I, Robot: And Other Mechanical Marvels 194

25 Raygun Fight at the OK Corral: Or, Do Robo-Cows Dream of Electric Rustlers? 203

26 Your Host for the Next Sixty Minutes: The Fourth Season of The Twilight Zone 210

27 The Grass Is Often (But Not Always) Grimmer: Or, Home Is Where the Hurt Is 217

28 Time to Say Goodbye: The Fifth and Final Season 230

29 The Plane Now Vanishing… Or, Further Nightmares at. 20,000 Feet 236

30 The Stories That Never Were: Or, Writing Inside The Twilight Zone 241

31 The Twilight Zone in the Twilight Zone: The Future Is Unwritten 249

Epilogue: Another Decade, Another Dream: The Twilight Zone Forever 268

Appendix 1 The Twilight Zone-1959-1964: Complete Cast and Episode Guide 271

Appendix 2 The Twilight Zone: The Movie-1983: Complete Cast 319

Appendix 3 The Twilight Zone-1986-1989: Complete Cast and Episode Guide 323

Appendix 4 The Twilight Zone-2002-2003: Complete Cast and Episode Guide 353

Bibliography 365

Index 367

Twilight Zone Permissions 373