Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Into the Zone xi
1 The Roots of the Zone: Or, The World According to a Nation Running Scared from Aliens, Communists, Giant. Bugs and Atom Bombs 1
2 Après Moi, Le Deluge… As the Atom Bomb Said to the Peacenik 9
3 Science Fact and Fantastic Television: The Birth of a Genre 18
4 The World at War: World War II in The Twilight Zone 22
5 A Writer Writes, a Script Writer Waits: The Search for a First Big Break 31
6 Patterns and Punch-Ups: A Reputation Is Wrought 39
7 Out for the Count: Fading Fame in The Twilight Zone 44
8 "I've Got an Idea for a Brand New Show": Pitching and Piloting The Twilight Zone 50
9 Traveling in Time: The Twilight Zone Turns the Clocks Back and Forth 58
10 A Show Is Born: The Beginnings of The Twilight Zone 64
11 The Final Frontier: Or, Twilight in the Black of Space 72
12 The Aliens Have Landed: Tentacled Terrors in The Twilight Zone 85
13 Perchance to Write: Charles Beaumont in The Twilight Zone 91
14 His Name Is Legend: Richard Matheson in The Twilight Zone 113
15 Back in the Saddle: Season Two of The Twilight Zone 129
16 But Who Are the Monsters Really? Criminals, Con Men and Man's Inhumanity to Man 135
17 Cheating Death, Racing the Devil… And Other Fortuitous Adventures 155
18 Sickness and Diseases: Don't Worry, It's All in Your Head 161
19 Dashing Through the Fallout: Christmas in The Twilight Zone 165
20 The Toddler of Terror: The Twilight Zone, at Three 169
21 Parallel Universes: The Crack in Everyone's Wall 175
22 In the Presence of More Masters: Johnson… 182
23 The Inimitable Earl of Hamner: Writer of Weirdness 188
24 I, Robot: And Other Mechanical Marvels 194
25 Raygun Fight at the OK Corral: Or, Do Robo-Cows Dream of Electric Rustlers? 203
26 Your Host for the Next Sixty Minutes: The Fourth Season of The Twilight Zone 210
27 The Grass Is Often (But Not Always) Grimmer: Or, Home Is Where the Hurt Is 217
28 Time to Say Goodbye: The Fifth and Final Season 230
29 The Plane Now Vanishing… Or, Further Nightmares at. 20,000 Feet 236
30 The Stories That Never Were: Or, Writing Inside The Twilight Zone 241
31 The Twilight Zone in the Twilight Zone: The Future Is Unwritten 249
Epilogue: Another Decade, Another Dream: The Twilight Zone Forever 268
Appendix 1 The Twilight Zone-1959-1964: Complete Cast and Episode Guide 271
Appendix 2 The Twilight Zone: The Movie-1983: Complete Cast 319
Appendix 3 The Twilight Zone-1986-1989: Complete Cast and Episode Guide 323
Appendix 4 The Twilight Zone-2002-2003: Complete Cast and Episode Guide 353
Bibliography 365
Index 367
Twilight Zone Permissions 373