Prepared by
HEURISTIX
Laurie Blass and Pam Elder
Instructional Designers

The Twilight Zone series of 156 episodes originally aired in 25-minute formats (50 minutes in Season Four) over five seasons from 1959 to 1964. Series creator Rod Serling wrote over half of the scripts.

Characters portrayed people caught in unusual circumstances where fantasy intrudes into reality or moral or ethical decisions come into question. There is always something to think about after the episode ends. A simple message runs through the series: that only by reaching out to others and trusting in their common humanity can people overcome fear, alienation, and despair. Giving in to fear means total loss; only through imagination, beauty, and our relationships with others can we transcend the darkness.

By today's standards, The Twilight Zone may appear dated or perhaps even heavy-handed to some viewers. There is no doubt television arts have developed considerably since Rod Serling and his crew created The Twilight Zone some forty years ago. Compared with today's color video with its seemingly unlimited possibilities for digital special effects, black and white film is a completely different, almost rustic, medium. As for content, today's primetime TV fiction features more situation comedy, serial drama, and suspense than analysis of moral and ethical dilemmas.

Although derived from and set in a different era, The Twilight Zone still captivates. Its twisting plots, interesting characters, surreal settings, and existential questions endure, as those of classics will. Young audiences who look beyond the surface, who suspend their techno-sophistication and allow themselves to explore the fifth dimension that Rod Serling drew upon, will find rich reward for their efforts.

 

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