exlibrislarsen

Facebook is telling me that today is “National Twilight Zone Day” … but I can’t find the sanctioning body. I can’t even find out how long this has been a thing, although I recall it happening at least the past year or two. Nevertheless, National Twilight Zone Day is now among my favorite holidays, because Twilight Zone. It’s the best TV show ever (with my sincerest apologies to BREAKING BAD).

Rod Serling created THE TWILIGHT ZONE in 1959 and wrote 92 episodes of the fantasy, horror, and science-fiction anthology series. Other contributors included such giants in the field as Richard Matheson (I AM LEGEND), Charles Beaumont (THE INTRUDER), George Clayton Johnson (LOGAN’S RUN), Earl Hamner (THE WALTONS), and even Ray Bradbury (FAHRENHEIT 451). Hamner, who died March 24, was the last to pass away.

The original TWILIGHT ZONE run concluded in 1964, with a feature film in 1983, two television revivals in 1985 and 2002, a radio adaptation that same year, a second feature film in development with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, and an ‘interactive’ TV revival in development with Interlude. And don’t forget the pinball machine, the magazine, and 1982 Golden Earring hit.

But it’s the original black-and-white show that drives the franchise.

The original 1959 title screen.

Whatever shadow agency that’s backing this whole National Twilight Zone Day thing is telling us to watch one or more of our favorite episodes today. If you need some suggestions, here are the most popular entries, according to IMDb:

• “To Serve Man”
• “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”
• “Eye of the Beholder”
• “Time Enough at Last”
• “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street”
• “Living Doll”
• “It’s a Good Life”
• “The Obsolete Man”
• “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?”
• “A Stop at Willougby”

Some of my personal favorites include “The Dummy”, “Five Characters in Search of an Exit”, “A Nice Place to Visit”, “Steel”, and “The Hunt”, but whatever episodes you choose to watch, you can’t go wrong celebrating National Twilight Zone Day, especially since the government is watching. Always watching.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

This entry was posted on May 11, 2016 at 11:08 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.