Reading The Twilight Zone

A friend of mine lent me two books recently. Because they were borrowed, I had to finish them fast. I was able to finish them in two weeks. Hmm, I'm catching up on my reading (wink).

The books belonged to a two volume set entitled Forgotten Gems: Scripts from The Twilight Zone. In case you don't know it yet, The Twilight Zone was a popular program in the early 1960s. I used to watch reruns of the black and white shows when I was a kid. It featured strange stories that implied you were in another dimension called -- what else -- the twilight zone. The show was sort of narrated by Rod Serling.

Back to the books.


The scripts were chosen from all the seasons of the show. Volume 1 contained the shorter scripts. They were the ones shown when the show as still only 30 minutes long. Volume 2 on the other hand contained scripts from the latter runs when the show already had a one hour time slot.

I like the choices. The ones included give a good representation of what the show was about. There were feel good stories with happy endings. Thgere were dark tales that usually ended in cliffhangers. Drama and light comedy stories were represented.

I also appreciate the inclusion of stories about the storywriters themselves. Scriptwriters are usually invisible to the audience. The book gives us a glimpse of the life of these men who create the tales we see on TV. This is of particular interest to me who also aspires to be in that circle.

All in all I like the two volumes. I would have wanted more scripts included though.

Too bad for me the books aren't mine.




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