Rod Serling

Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form television industry standards. 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. Serling was posthumously inducted by the Television Hall of Fame in 1985 and by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2008. A star honoring Serling can be found at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. TV Guide ranked Serling # 1 on its "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" lists. His Awards include: 1955 Emmy Best Original Teleplay Writing Patterns 1955 Emmy Nomination Climax! 1956 Emmy Best Teleplay Writing Requiem for a Heavyweight 1956 Peabody Award Personal Recognition for Writing Requiem for a Heavyweight 1956 Writers Guild of America Award Best One Hour Drama Requiem for a Heavyweight 1957 Christopher Award Requiem for a Heavyweight 1956 Writers Guild of America Award Best One Hour Drama A Town Has Turned to Dust 1959 Emmy Best Teleplay Writing The Comedian 1960 Emmy Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama The Twilight Zone 1960 Emmy Nomination A Town Has Turned to Dust 1960 Hugo Award The Twilight Zone 1961 Emmy Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama The Twilight Zone 1961 Hugo Award The Twilight Zone 1962 Golden Globe Award Best Male Television Star The Twilight Zone 1962 Hugo Award The Twilight Zone 1963 Emmy Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama It's Mental Work 1964 Writers Guild of America Award Nomination Seven Days in May 1965 Golden Globe Award Best Director The Twilight Zone 1970 Edgar Allan Poe Award Special Edgar Best episode of a TV series for Night Gallery 1971 Christopher Award 2001 Daytime Emmy Award Nomination (posthumous) Writing for a Children/Youth/Family Special A Storm in Summer. Some of my favorite Rod Serling Quotes: I happen to think that the singular evil of our time is prejudice. It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I've written there is a thread of this: a man's seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself. ROD SERLING, Los Angeles Times, 1967 There is a fifth dimesion, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimesion as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is in the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. ROD SERLING, introduction, The Twilight Zone (season 1) You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone! ROD SERLING, introduction, The Twilight Zone (season 2) I think the destiny of all men is not to sit in the rubble of their own making but to reach out for an ultimate perfection which is to be had. At the moment, it is a dream. But as of the moment we clasp hands with our neighbor, we build the first span to bridge the gap between the young and the old. At this hour, it’s a wish. But we have it within our power to make it a reality. If you want to prove that God is not dead, first prove that man is alive. ROD SERLING, speech at Moorpark College, Dec. 3, 1968 The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs, and explosions, and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy; and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is, that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone. ROD SERLING, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," The Twilight Zone, Mar. 6, 1960 It is said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, and fantasy is the impossible made probable. ROD SERLING, The Twilight Zone, 1962 It’s hardly a revelation to me that the young people in this country take a dim view of our current up-tightness when it comes to street rioting. They believe, and I think quite properly, that on the scale of misbehavior the black man who takes a torch to a building or breaks a window to loot, and does so out of passion, is less the criminal than the white man who puts his torch to human beings and does so with a cold, calculated, predatory pre-planned blueprint of destruction. ROD SERLING, speech at Moorpark College, Dec. 3, 1968 Hollywood's a great place to live ... if you're a grapefruit. ROD SERLING, Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval How can you put out a meaningful drama when every fifteen minutes proceedings are interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits with toilet paper? No dramatic art form should be dictated and controlled by men whose training and instincts are cut of an entirely different cloth. The fact remains that these gentlemen sell consumer goods, not an art form. ROD SERLING, Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man. ROD SERLING, speech at Binghamton Community High School, 1968 Here is my caricature of Rod Serling done as a labor of love for one of my favorite authors and a huge inspiration to me as a young man. I still watch episodes of the original Twilight Zone series to this day, and they still amaze me. He truly was an American Master of his art form in my opinion. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!!!