Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Douglas BrodeEditor: Carol Serling
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-15
ISBN: 1569803587
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Barricade Books
Book Reviews of Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute
Book Review: What a Dud
Summary: 5 Stars
Two biographies have been written about Rod Serling, both endorsed by Carol Serling, his widow. The reason I purchased them was because I read Carol Serling's endorsements in magazine articles some fifteen or twenty years ago. In Stewart Stanyard's book, she was interviewed and commented that the books do not portray her husband in the right light. Repeatedly she has publicly blasted those biographies so I assumed one day she was going to do it herself.
So when I heard that she co-authored a book about Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone (because that's what the title of the book reads) I assumed this was going to be the book she's been working on for decades. The "Rod and I" autobiography. Family photos, lasting impressions and candid thoughts of him coming home late from work, you get the idea. Her father did not approve of their marriage but Rod Serling rose to fame and fortune. They had a house in Calfiornia and a maid and a gardener and so on. That is success.
The book arrived the other day and my jaw dropped open. There's only three photos that are not Twilight Zone DVD screen captures and two of them had appeared in magazines in the sixties. I suspect Carol Serling did not write the book but Douglas Brode because she only wrote the introduction and at the end of her intro she states "I know that Rod would approve of Douglas Brode's remarkable book and the insight that he offers into Rod's work." That means the dust jacket for the book is misleading. It should read "by Douglas Brode with a foreward by Carol Serling."
Worse, before you even get to page one, there are mistakes galore. On page xvii, Brode states that Arch Oboler created "Lights Out." This is incorrect. Wyllis Cooper created "Lights Out." Oboler was one of the script writers for the series. On page xx he incorrectly titles an Orson Welles program with the wrong title. On page xxi, he states "Serling persuaded New York agent Blanche Gaines to send his scripts around to Manhattan TV producers." This is incorrect. It was she who persuaded Serling to allow her to send scripts to producers (and even then it took him a year and a half to sign up with her because he didn't want an agent). On page xxvi, he incorrectly states Hitchcock's movie "The Lady Vanishes" was released in 1937. It was 1938. Other movies he doesn't list the year of release at all. On page xxvii, he incorrectly claims "Twilight Zone-The Movie" was released in 1978. It was 1983!!!
I was not nit-picking for errors. These were the ones that stood out as I read the book. There is no in-depth production notes about the program. Instead, the book is nothing more than critiques, analysis and opinions from repeat viewings of the episodes. I gained no insight reading these.
In closing, this is not a "Rod and I" book that was expected. Press releases and announcements for this book heavily suggested this so I guess I am not the only person to have been duped. If you love books that offer psychological viewpoints of fictional characters and how one episode might have influenced Serling to write another of the same subject matter than this book is for you. If you are looking for a book that offers trivia, production notes, behind-the-scenes stories, then buy Marc Scott Zicree's book or Martin Grams' book about The Twilight Zone. As a fan who has every book ever written about the Zone, this came as a disappointment. Final chapter in the book is titled "Why Should We Take Serling Seriously?" The author did not.
Summary of Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute
2009 marks the fiftieth anniversary of The Twilight Zone, arguably one of the most popular television shows ever. Drawing on photographs and personal remembrances, Rod Serling's widow, Carol, gives commentary on some of the series' most memorable episodes. Veteran film historian Douglas Brode gives in-depth descriptions of these episodes and why they were so resonant with viewers.Television Books
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