Customer Reviews

As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts Of Rod Serling, Volume Two

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Ever since the release of "The Twilight Zone Companion" by Marc Scott Zicree twenty-two years ago, followers of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and Rod Serling have awaited the possible release of a second opinion, if you will. Zicree's comprehensive volume covers the series in depth, and everyone who calls themself a fan of THE TWILIGHT ZONE has a copy of this book. "The Companion" has been criticized for its brevity and lack of thorough coverage of many episodes, possibly due to publisher requests that the book serve as a casual episode guide.

Other attempts have been made in recent years to expand upon what "The Companion" did. Most recently and notoriously, the horridly-written and overpriced volume by Presnell and McGee (1998) and several other books on the series that have included episode guides with commentary. 2001 and 2002 marked the release of Richard Matheson's TWILIGHT ZONE SCRIPTS, and in 2003 Earl Hamner's eight scripts were released. The scripts of Charles Beaumont are also now in print (edited by Roger Anker, published by Gauntlet Press), the three TWILIGHT ZONE scripts written by Jerry Sohl (edited by Christopher Conlon, BearManor Media, c. 2004), as is a collection of eight scripts written by non-mainstream writers compiled by Andrew Ramage (c. 2005, BearManor Media). The eight ZONE scripts and stories written by George Clayton Johnson were released a number of years ago, in 1976.

Tony Albarella undertook the project of introducing all ninety-two scripts written by Rod Serling. Having gotten a warm-up on the art of commentary writing as editor of Hamner's TWILIGHT ZONE SCRIPTS (Cumberland House, 2003), Albarella's commentaries here are excellent. Although not cast as an episode guide, this looks to be the finest analysis of TWILIGHT ZONE episodes to date. After audiences have taken Zicree's words as 'the last words on TWILIGHT ZONE' for many years, Tony Albarella gives a particularly insightful look at each episode. He has taken the time to interview many actors who appeared in/starred in each segment.

Included in each volume are the original, unedited, typewritten copies of Serling's scripts, sometimes with handwritten annotation. Bonus items include a photo gallery with never-before seen production and publicity stills, and short but touching tributes to Serling and the series by actors. Also included are nice essay appreciations by well-known TV and sci-fi writers.

Volume 2 includes the scripts for "Walking Distance", "Judgment Night", "King Nine Will Not Return", "The Silence", "The Passersby", "The Trade-Ins", "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville", "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain", and "I am the Night - Color Me Black". Albarella offers fine,
in-depth commentary on all, and they are generally right on the mark. They include fascinating anecdotes from over a dozen actors who appeared in these "classic" episodes.

Volume 2 also includes musical cue sheets for each episode, taken straight from CBS's archives, which list the composer and title of the stock music clips that underline certain pointed dialogue and give dimension to scenes. These have never seen the light of day until now; this is very welcome information to diehard Zone fans.

After years of being bottled up and not readily available, this series of script books may well be the finest, if not
the most distinguished, presentations of TV scripts
currently out there.

I could cop out and simply say that Albarella's As Timeless As Infinity is written such that it is more than worthy to be associated with the high quality of that most unique of television programs - but hell...anyone lucky enough to own any one of the volumes publish to-date knows that. This is beautiful work - well-thought out with rare photos and wonderful anecdotes from those responsible for its greatness.
Serling would indeed be proud of these works. I confess to popping in DVDs and following along with each script - One gets a real appreciation for the art of the script and how it is brought to life and just how good these things were when conceived - nearly "camera-ready"
But I will also confess that I enjoyed reading Mr. Albarella's uniquely titled and very insightful episode commentaries as much or more.

Reprinting scripts to a television program we enjoy watching isn't very exciting. Even less interesting for people trying to study film making, which is the point of reviewing scripts. Very few exceptions make scripts worth any value -- one being a page or two of dialogue that never made it to the finished production or handwritten notes from the author. While this is a valid and negative point, I would like to note that the commentary and insight behind the production of each episode is a plus. In fact, the best part of the book.

I share the same opinion with another reviewer: Marc Scott Zicree's book is NOT the "final word on Twilight Zone." The author who put this series of Rod Serling teleplay scripts did a good job with the commentary which makes Zicree's book even more obsolete.

Sadly, more than half of the book is reprints of scripts. And if this series concludes with the intended ten volumes (I have no doubt it will succeed) it will only cover two-thirds of the Twilight Zone scripts since it will only focus on the Serling teleplays. And at a price tag of $55 - $299 per volume depending on where you buy your copy, this is an expensive proposition.

Amazon.com does offer a solution cheaper than the cost of even one volume of this script series. THE TWILIGHT ZONE: UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO A TELEVISION CLASSIC by Martin Grams Jnr. covers the entire series with 800 plus pages of behind-the-scenes trivia, exclusive interviews with cast and crew and a detail level will exceed anyone's expectation. if you are looking for a book that covers "everything" about the TV series, the Grams book is the one to invest. If you are looking for scripts to read, then this is your best source.

As for this Serling script book, don't buy this unless you want to spend hours reading the same dialogue you can watch on TV tonight.