Rodman Edward Serling :: essays research papers

Rodman Edward Serling, in my opinion one of the to the highest degreebrilliant manpower of our time, was born in Syracuse, New York,on December 25, 1924, to a wholesale meat dealer, andgrew up in Binghamton. By his own account, he had no too soon literary ambitions, though from an early age, he andhis older brother, Robert, immersed themselves in moviesand in shows like Astounding Stories and Weird Tales.Rod was best known from the intro where he was seenwearing a suit and most often dangling a cigarette, whichwas unfortunately the cause of his untimely demise."There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known toman. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless asinfinity. It is the middle ground among light and shadow,between science and superstition, and it lies between the pitof mans fears, and the summit of his knowledge. This is thedimension of imagination. It is an area which we call... THETWILIGHT ZONE," Serlings masterpiece would not comeuntil later in h is composition career.He began writing full-time in 1951, more than seventy of histelevision al-Qurans were produced, garnering both critical andpublic acclaim. Full-scale success came early in 1955 withthe production of a script called "Patterns," deemed a"creative triumph" by critics, and the winner of the first ofSerlings six Emmy awards. Serling went to work onscreenplays for MGM and as a writer for Playhouse 90,for which he crafted ninety-minute dramas. A critical andfinancial success, Serling shocked many of his fans in 1957when he left Playhouse 90 to create a science fiction serieshe called The Twilight Zone. 156 episodes of TwilightZone, ninety-two written by Serling, aired on CBS over thenext five years. The show went on to be one of the mostwidely recognized and beloved series in television history,and achieved a permanent place in American pop culturewith its instantly perceptible opening, theme song andcharismatic host, Rod Serling. With appearances b ypersonalities such as Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds,Dennis Hopper, and more, Twilight Zone became alaunching pad for some of Hollywoods biggest stars. Theshow headed downward-sloping in its fifth season chiefly due to thefact that Serling lost most creative control of the show.After production ended in January 1964, Serling go alongto write for film and television series and movies, and oftenappeared in his own productions, such as Rod SerlingsNight Gallery. He returned to Antioch College as a professor and lectured at college campuses across the