The enduring appeal of the original the Twilight Zone is explored in two pending books and as part of our coverage; I got to ask Rod Serlings daughters about the books and his legacy.
Anne Serling’s Answers:
How did the idea for As I Knew Him: Rod Serling come about?
I was demolished when my father died, paralyzed with grief. I could not imagine a world without him. Eventually, though, I found the same catharsis that worked for him – (and many others) – writing. I wrote and wrote and wrote. My first attempt was called, “IN HIS ABSENCE.” Because I hadn’t even begun to process my grief, that book was never completed. Years later, “AS I KNEW HIM: MY DAD ROD SERLING” finally got off the ground.
I ultimately wrote the book for three reasons: to navigate my way through that minefield of grief after my father’s death, to learn more about the professional “dimension” of my father and to dispel offensive assertions that some had written, characterizing my father as a dark and tortured person.
What do you hope readers will get from the book?
My first response to your question is that my book provided an unforeseen “gift.” Following an early reading I gave at the Paley Center, a woman came up to me and said that her father had a terminal illness and that he would be gone any day. She told me that after hearing me read, she knew that she would be okay. That my words had helped her in some way moved me immensely; I was so grateful. All I could do was hug her. Grief is universal and ultimately slams us all; there is no correct way to pilot it, no preordained amount of time to “recover.” No one ever really does truly recover and that’s ok. I learned that at last.
Why have the newer attempts at The Twilight Zone series not found the desired success?
Regarding the reboots, I think Buck Houghton (the original Twilight Zone producer) said it best: “The key element, Rod Serling, is missing.”
Sharing below Jodi Serling’s responses as well.
JODI SERLING
Why do you think the original episodes have endured so well?
- The issues that my father wrote about are cyclical – they never go away with time.
We still see racism, we still have fears of nuclear annihilation, we have
lots of problems that either were not solved or are back again. My father’s works continue to pop up in strange places and will remain with us forever.
He hadpremonitions of what was to be and many of these premonitions have come to fruition, even in his own family.
He never really saw the lasting future in his work – even with his super nova imagination, he could not see the pervasive and lasting influence that his work has had. The Twilight Zone has literally and figuratively become so thoroughly ingrained in our collective consciousness, and I
wish he was here witness it.
- Every character in my father’s episodes were all pieces of him. His soaring and overwhelming generosity, his quest for heroism, his irrepressible spirit and
above all, his profound sense of decency. There was always an attempt to make a
statement on the human condition.
What are your favorite episodes?
- “Walking Distance,” “Time Enough At Last,” “Where Is Everybody?” “Deaths-Head Revisited,” “A Stop At Willoughby,” “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar,” and “The Purple Testament” are my favorites. The TV drama “A Storm In Summer” was also a favorite along with the “Night Gallery” series as well.
Why did you choose these episodes as your favorites ?
- “Walking Distance” is my favorite episode, and I believe it was my father’s also.
It was his yearning to go back in time and see his own father. He had had an idyllic childhood that he had taken it for granted until he went into the war and was convinced that he would never see his parents again. My father acknowledged
that his time in the war was his lowest emotional point in life, and to make things even more difficult, he was denied permission to attend his own father’s funeral. The message was that reclaiming your past is impossible. The horrors and
devastation my father experienced, created so much post-traumatic stress that he turned to writing, and it was cathartic for him and a means to get things off his chest.
He clearly had a fondness of time travel and changing the past and it is
only fitting that his work has traveled forward to impact the future. I too would like to go back in time and be with my parents and tell them how much I love and miss them.
- Death Head Revisited tackled the themes of guilt, remorse, and the
consequences of one’s actions. It serves as a powerful reminder of the atrocities committed during the holocaust and the need to confront our past history from repeating itself. It’s a display of irreplaceable literary masterpieces and how fortunate we are to witness my father’s genius. -
Many of the Twilight Zones and other works of my father were my favorites, but the ones that dealt with beliefs in morality, ethics power, racism, prejudice and humanity stood out the most.
However, the bottom line is that we preserve my father’s legacy not out of fame and wealth and awards, but by highlighting that he was a unique storyteller who knew how to deliver meaningful sermons wrapped in the
cloak of science fiction entertainment.
My father had the ability to transform his life, his feelings into meaningful display of irreplaceable literary master pieces
and how fortunate we are to witness his genius.
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