Created by writer Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone was an anthology television series, filmed in black-and-white, with storytelling based in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. Disguised underneath the themes of fantasy and science fiction, the series was known for delving deep into the human condition, and with each episode, delivered morality plays and modern-day parables with a signature ironic twist ending. Since the series was an anthology, there were no recurring characters or stories; each week brought with it new characters, plots and settings. The stories and characters were usually established within a framework of normality; banks and bank-tellers, diners and patrons, and the like. A recurring theme throughout, revolves around comeuppance being dishing out to bad/evil characters, and second chances and redemption rewarded to good characters. In comparison to later shows influenced by the series - such as Outer Limits and Star Trek - the Twilight Zone was neither a total sci-fi show nor a monster of the week fest.

The majority of the episodes were written by Rod Serling; creator, host and executive producer. Serling wrote 92 of the 156 episodes, a handful of which featured stories by other writers. The other two main writers were Richard Matheson (14 episodes), and Charles Beaumont (18 episodes). Due to Beaumont's busy work schedule, and later, in lue of an affliction with Alzheimer's Disease, Beaumont had a few episodes ghostwritten by other writers; OCee Ritch ghostwrote "Dead Man's Shoes," Jerry Sohl ghostwrote "The New Exhibit," "Living Doll" and "Queen of the Nile" and John Tomerlin ghostwrote "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You." Tragically, Beaumont died at the age of 38 on February 22, 1967. Two other main writers were Earl Hamner Jr. (8 episodes), and George Clayton Johnson (4 episodes, 4 stories), followed by Montgomery Pittman (3 episodes) and single episodes written by other writers such as Ray Bradbury.

Well, some may consider "The Time Element" a sort of predated Twilight Zone pilot, since it was written by Serling and felt like a Twilight Zone. However, "The Time Element" was originally written for The Storm back in 1951, which then was expanded to hour length and submitted to CBS in 1957. CBS did indeed buy the script, intending to have it produced, but it was shelved due to it's time-travel fantasy based theme, which seemed too risky to CBS executives. It wasn't until Westingham Desilu Playhouse producer Bert Granet bought it, with interest to have it produced for his show, that gave it it's start again. However, Granet again fell against the network and sponsor's unwillingness to produce a fantasy show, and it wasn't until owner Desi Arnez backed Granet up, that the script was finally produced. "The Time Element" aired on November 24, 1958, and it soon proved to be the most popular production that year. CBS then realized the mistake they had obviously made with shelving it in the first place, and bought into Serling's project, The Twilight Zone.

Looking at the big picture, even by the beginning of the fifth season, Twilight Zone had already lost several of its most essential talents. Houghton was gone, some of the directors were gone, and at this point, Rod Serling was exhausted from writing for the series. He admitted he was burned-out and knew he was not only repeating earlier stories, but that he just couldn't tell bad from good anymore. And even though the show's final fifth season features some of the most memorable episodes, it's clear that CBS president Jim Aubrey was tired of the show. Actually, by the end of the second season, Aubrey had already admitted he was bored with it (some people clearly have little imagination). However, cancellation at that early stage would have been improbable. But by the end of the fifth season, even though the show's ratings were fairly good, they weren't high enough to justify renewing it for a sixth season, and the CBS fall schedule did not include Twilight Zone. At the time, in the February issue of Daily Variety, Rod Serling was quoted as saying, "I decided to cancel the network."

Up next for Serling's television work was the short-lived black-and-white western called "The Loner", starring Lloyd Bridges as William Colton, a Civil War veteran tarnished by the idea of killing. The series, which ran for only a single season of 26 episodes during the 1965-66 season (15 penned by Serling), aired on CBS, the same network home of Twilight Zone. Since this was a thinking-man's western, and thusly lacked the barroom brawls and gunfights normally associated with the western craze of the day, it led to fairly low ratings and was cancelled. And guess who was at the reins of cancelling the series? None other than, yep, you guessed it... CBS president, Jim Aubrey. Following The Loner, Serling offered his go at made-for TV movies, including "The Doomsday Flight," and an adaptation of Irving Wallace's novel, "The Man." Then came his screenplay for the big box-office hit, "Planet of the Apes," and in 1969, the TV pilot movie, "Night Gallery," a similar fantasy format to Twilight Zone. However, when Night Gallery was picked up the following year, Serling passed on heading up the project as producer, and control went over to Jack Laird. The series, which lasted for one short intro season and two full seasons, soon turned from a serious terror-driven show, to a somewhat spooky goofy horror-fest, far from what Serling had established with the Night Gallery TV pilot movie. Regardless, all of Serling's scripts are solid, and pack with them that same twist-ending punch that fans had come to enjoy. Unfortunately, Rod Serling's days as one of Hollywood's heavyweight writers soon came to an end. For he passed away on June 28, 1975, from complications during open heart surgery.

Since Rod Serling's departure from this dimension, Hollywood has tried to remake and revive Twilight Zone four times. These imitations naturally pale in comparison to the original series. The first attempt, Twilight Zone: The Movie, played in theaters in the summer of 1983. It featured narration by Burgess Meredith of TZ alumni fame, an opening intro story, one new story, and three remakes of original episodes. The film does have a few moments that feel sort of Twilight Zone-ish, but overall, it's a disappointment. The second attempt at revising the fifth dimension came about when CBS decided to return to their Twilight Zone license by creating a new series, unofficially referred as The New Twilight Zone. This Twilight Zone ran for two seasons, from 1985 to 1987, with a third direct-to-syndication season in 1988. Again, the series had a few good moments, but overall, it proved to be another disappointment. A third attempt, CBS'S Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics, was actually more directly related to Serling's original creation. This television special, which aired in 1994, featured the half-hour "The Theatre," a Richard Matheson script based on a Serling story treatment, and the 90-minute "Where the Dead Are," an unproduced Serling script. Both stories play as lost treats, but again, cannot quite create the past. The most recent attempt to revisit the Twilight Zone was UPN's single season series, which aired in the fall of 2002. It attempted to pay homage to the original series, but unfortunately, production fell under marketing demographics and limitations set by the network. Despite the producers good intensions, this new and yet still unimproved Twilight Zone fell into the same ballpark as it's predecessors; a remake in the format of an anthology, with The Twilight Zone title affixed to it. Up next is a Hollywood Twilight Zone movie headed up by actor/producer Leonardo DiCaprio. I have no opinion, other than, isn't it better to leave well enough alone. As we've come to find from all of the remakes and revivals, the answer is quite clear.

Actually, I find it only fitting to simply ask the Mystic Seer sitting atop my glass cabinet full of Zone memorabilia. Picture this, while it happens - tzoneman inserts a penny into the machine and asks the Mystic Seer, "Will this upcoming Twilight Zone movie be worthy of Rod Serling's dimension?" tzoneman then pulls down on the lever, takes the fortune from out of the slot, and reads it aloud, "Chances are slim that it could happen." HA! There you have it folks, straight from the Mystic Seer's mouth!!!