Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic

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The shelf in my bedroom is inundated with all things Twilight Zone. I have every book, magazine and DVD featuring Twilight Zone. I am highly qualified to judge a good book versus bad bearing the Twilight Zone name. And I am proud to say this is the best d*** book ever written on the subject. As far as price goes, it made my wallet creak, but I just ordered a second copy because I know I am going to wear this out.

In his introduction, the author makes it apparent that this is not a biography about Rod Serling. It focuses solely on Twilight Zone. Chapter One begins with Serling winning the "Dr. Christian" script writing contest, featuring in script form the dialogue exchange between Jean Hersholt and Serling on the May 18, 1949 broadcast. From there the history picks up momentum.

The detail level is freakin' exceptional. Proposed summer rerun schedules. CBS contract terms. Short stories and plot summaries proposed and purchased that never became Zone episodes. Day-by-day chronology of Serling's publicity tours. Neilsen ratings. Hugo Awards. Sponsor contracts. The contents of each 60s and 70s comic book. List of network affiliates. Telegrams and letters from Theodore Sturgeon, Steve Allen, Phil Baker and others are reprinted. (As far back as 1958, Sturgeon suggested "To Serve Man" to Serling for adaptation!)

While this kind of detail may not interest casual fans, the trivia will. Why the first season features two different openers. The battle between Kuppenheimer and Eagle Clothing for wardrobe credit. Community Fund spots and radio promos. How "Playboy" magazine got involved. Details behind the six taped shows in the second season. Serling's failed attempt to bring "The Time Element" to the big screen with Kirk Douglas. Why Hirschman quit producing the hour-long season (he was fired, if one wants to call it that). Why Republic Studios was considered a prime source for wardrobe, props and sets. Censorship battles. Princess Twilight Zone on tour in 1963 was apparently interviewed with great behind-the-scenes stories. Reprints of comic strips spoofing Twilight Zone.

The best part of the book is the episode guide. Each entry in detail with production costs (broken down -- director fees, talent fees, script fees, etc.). Dates each episode was filmed and rehearsed. Complete cast lists (who played who) includes actors not credited onscreen. Studio lots and sound stages. Production credits. All of the music scores and cues, names of composers, length of time, in the order they appear. Props and costumes that were reused for multiple episodes. Proposed casting that was never assigned. In-jokes that can be found on screen. Bloopers and microphones that appear on screen.

Serling wrote an unproduced screenplay in the mid-sixties based on "The Lonely." A casting call sheet is reprinted. Explanation why "Eye of the Beholder" also features the onscreen title of "A Private World of Darkness." Lawsuits brought about from various episodes. The automobile featured in "Third From the Sun" was a George Barris custom initially created for "The Time Machine." The 1951 radio script, "The Button Pushers" was the influence for "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." "The Mighty Casey," "To Serve Man" "No Time Like the Past" "It's a Good Life" and "I Sing the Body Electric" were refilmed after rough cuts were viewed, adding further expense to ensure quality. Robert Cummings loved "King Nine Will Not Return" so much he was disappointed when it was not submitted to the Academy for the Emmy Awards, losing Serling's chance to feature Cummings as the star of "The Loner." The space ship in "Probe 7 - Over and Out" was originally constructed for "Specimen: Unknown" on "The Outer Limits." Origin of stock footage. Why Bernard Herrmann composed the music score for "Little Girl Lost" from Paris, France. Story origins that remained a mystery are finally revealed.

The book was clearly written with a labor of love. Serling's generosity as an exceptional human being shines. When a viewer in New Jersey wrote to him asking for the chance to learn how involved set decoration was, and promised to arrive in California once she graduated from art school, he mailed her his personal home number and arranged with set decorator Ralph Nelson to give her the required tour. When Theodore Bikel was verbally attacked on a talk program, Serling as a guest the week after on the same program defended Bikel in a manner that would make any racist blush. I always thought the Zicree book was the closest thing to a complete reference guide, even with the errors. I was wrong. This is the best book ever written and it will never be surpassed.

Right off the bat in Grams' book, he takes pains to establish that he's written this book to correct the many errors contained in other TZ books, including Marc Scott Zicree's Twilight Zone Companion. In the first page of his introduction he offers an example: "The TZ Companion had producer William Froug recall purchasing . . . An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge for $10,000. The fact is . . . the film was purchased for $20,000 plus an additional expense of $5,000 for editing and sound fees."

If you find this the type of error that could not possibly stand going uncorrected, this is the book for you!

Echoing many others here: This is easily the most exhaustive and "definitive" compilation of Twilight Zone lore ever published - but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Reading this, one gets the impression that Grams did not leave a single WORD on the cutting room floor (so to speak). This book isn't for die hard fans, it's for DIE HARD fans . . . and maybe not even for them. (The usual testimonial: I am a HUGE fan of Serling and TZ and I've read Zicree's TZ Companion so many times that my copy looks like something Burgess Meredith found in the rubble.) In his quest to include literally every piece of information he's uncovered, Grams has almost completely sacrificed readability. Add to this that Grams is nowhere near the writer that Zicree is, and this can sometimes be a very long slog. Paragraphs are sometimes complete non-sequitors from what has come before, the chronological sequence in which certain info is presented is often haphazard, and the general organization of the book itself (photos show up with absolutely no relation to the surrounding text) is a mess.

Having said all that, I am amazed with how much "new" information Grams presents us with. For one thing, it seems Grams must have had access to every piece of correspondence Rod Serling ever wrote or received in his entire life! The full text of a letter written by Theodore Sturgeon to Serling before the start of the series is included. A constant stream of correspondence from actors and agents suggesting stories for inclusion is offered and it's fascinating stuff (it provides a constant "what if" exercise about what TZ could have been had different stories been chosen and produced). But probably the biggest revelation surrounds letters sent to and/or from Serling, Charles Beaumont and Ray Bradbury.

It's old news that charges of plagiarism dogged Serling throughout the course of the Zone. Here, for the first time, I realize the full extent of those accusations, the full toll they took on Serling. When Charles Beaumont (one of Serling's fellow TZ writers) writes to Serling to say that he's become exhausted in defending Serling from these accusations, and pointedly tells Serling that it is "clear" that he's lifted ideas from other writers, my eyes almost fell out of my head! For this sequence alone (Serling's response, and the following exchange with Bradbury), this book is necessary reading for any Serling and TZ fan.

Again, I would still recommend Zicree's TZ Companion to 9 out of 10 people. If you're a Zone fanatic like I am, and you've already read Zicree's book, then I do recommend reading this as well.

I fell in love with The Twilight Zone when I majored in television in UCLA. My fascination for the series has grown because of this book. This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill fan book with glossy, slick pages and huge color pictures. Instead, the author provided an extremely detailed look of the show with detail level that exceeds anything ever done on Twilight Zone. At 800 pages in length, this book is the best thing that you will ever read about The Twilight Zone.

To be honest I am half way through. I am watching one episode every night from the DVD box set and then consulting the trivia under each episode entry. What have I learned so far? Let's see... bloopers I missed warranted reviewing the same episode twice. The great Theodore Sturgeon wrote a letter congradulating Serling for his success and the letter is reprinted. What a letter! The car engines in "Third From the Sun" are jet engines... clever! John Anderson recalls how Jack Klugman ruined his chance of playing the trumpet realistic in "A Passage for Trumpet". The stories from the cast, writers and directors are great.

Bad news: very few photos and none in color.

Good news: the lack of tons of photos is made up for with detail and trivia that surpasses anything ever written on the subject.

Closing note: This book surpasses even the detail level in The Outer Limits Companion and since that book went out of print it goes for about $190. Buy this book as an investment.

This book looks pretty good. My first impression was that the author, Grams, was aiming for self-promotion more than anything else. But after reading the book, that definitely changed. Having done "Twilight Zone"
stuff (paying projects, nonpaying projects, agenting for TZ actors, and whatnot) for about 8 years now, and having watched it for 15, I kinda thought I 'knew it all' when it came to TZ. Kudos to Grams for unearthing
an enormous amount of information that I never thought existed, except perhaps deep inside the CBS vault. It's unlikely that Grams had access to this "vault", however. Although it is unstated in the book, the author undoubtedly was in touch with a person or organization (not CBS, because I know for a fact that they would never let this information out unless they were doing the book themselves) who had a great deal of Rod Serling's records, or the records of TZ's production company, Cayuga Productions. Instead, the author says only that the information in the book came mostly from items purchased from eBay and private parties, as well as consultation with actors and others who were involved in the production of the original series.

Now, this book is, in fact, for diehard - and only diehard - TZ fans. Casual TZ fans probably wouldn't find it very accessible.

There is perhaps an unspoken debate about whether this book will ultimately dethrone M. Zicree's immortal Companion. To give my own educated and humble opinion - I doubt that will happen. This book (Grams) focuses more on factoids and interesting trivia and the finer details that fans who have been watching the show forever, will immediately relish. Zicree's book is broader, but the splendid writing and the mere fact that it's been around for going on 30 years will probably always place it at the very front of the line. While Zicree's book is sometimes incomplete with its quick dismissals of fine episodes, it remains the unsupplantable standard for TZ books. And it also set the standard (and, I believe, the genre) for television 'companion' books.

What I'm not really quite sure of is why a bigger publishing house did not pick up Grams' book. It should've been, but it looks like it was independently published by Grams. Apparently no medium to large-scale publishing houses are releasing new TZ books nowadays because they feel that TZ is "far overpublished." Which of course is untrue. The (quite bad) "Rod Serling & Twilight Zone - The Official 50th Anniversary Tribute" by Doug Brode somehow slipped through the cracks and made it into bookstores. It shouldn't have happened, and exactly why it happened is anybody's good guess.

Anyhow - if Grams' book isn't going to replace Zicree's, the two books should probably sit together on the coffee tables of diehard TZ fans.

this book is completely staggering. the depth of detail is truly stunning. easily the single best book about the nuts and bolts of the twilight zone's history.
WOW!

Martin Grams has written a fascinating and well-researched account on one of the most beloved and critically accalaimed TV series of all-time. "Unlocking The Door..." is filled with 800 pages of facts, info, and juicy tidbits on what made "The Twilight Zone" the cultural hit it became in the sixties when it was first broadcast on CBS from 1959-1964. Grams details creator and writer Rod Serlings' attempts at getting "The Twilight Zone" on the air and his battles with network executives and advertising agents who would sometimes veto his story ideas before the shows even got to air.
The greatest part of the book is the chapter on all 156 "Twilight Zone" episodes. In this each show is discussed in full with air dates, who played who, bloopers that took place, salaries of directors, shooting locales, and what made each of these shows the gems that they ultimately became.
There have been other "Twilight Zone" books that have been released through the years, but all pale in comparison to this jewel. A lot of time and care went into the writing of this work, and it's obvious Grams has a special place in his heart for both Serling and the series itself.
This softcover book was originally published in September, 2008 and it has already gone into out-of-print status which shows the demand that "Twilight Zone" enthusiasts had for this book. If you see a copy anywhere grab it despite the cost. What is great is that while watching the individual episodes you can use this book as a companion piece which will give you a good idea as to how each show was put together.

"You are travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!"

Now let us make no mistakes here: this is a must-have book. If you like The Twilight Zone, that is. No question. It's a book you will want sitting beside you the next late-night, half-drunk, weekend-welcoming time you are watching two or three episodes of Rod Serling's classic series run back-to-back. You will never lend it, because you know that if someone lent it to you, you would never give it back.

This all has to be stressed, because if as a result of this review you actually buy the book, on opening your prize you will wonder for a moment whether you have entered an episode of the Twilight Zone itself. An episode where everything is painted grey, where sparkle and wonder have been banished. It looks, at first sight, so very mind-numbingly dull. The opening sentence has all the excitement of low-calorie reduced-fat cardboard. You will flick through page upon page headed "Fourth season production costs". You will, for a moment, wonder how many DVD episodes you could have purchased instead.

Ah, gentle reader, persevere! Trust that gorgeous cover, settle down, and dig a little deeper. Rather than reading from page one, let the book fall open, enjoy the gem uncovered, and repeat. Then use the rather clever index to look up that episode, you know, the one with him from that other TV series. You will soon be hooked; the cat will have to find another place to sit; and the charity shop will be deprived of stock. You won't want to give it up.

Martin Grams, Jr.'s book covers the original five seasons of the show. The first two-hundred pages are a historical narrative that has obviously been thoroughly researched from original sources. That gives it the benefit of being both fascinating and academically appealing. Some observations, such as that No Blade of Grass was never produced as a film (it was, in 1970, but not with Serling's screenplay) may raise eyebrows but do not detract from an excellent account. Particularly interesting is the description of allegations of plagiarism and of Serling's relationships with contemporary writers. This is Grams at his best, with his obvious admiration for Serling not precluding more critical observations. The overall insight into the trials and tribulations of media production is very satisfying.

However, the bulk of the book is devoted to an episode guide, including plot outlines, cast lists, and trivia sections as well as rehearsal dates, music cues, and other minutiae. Perhaps inevitably, episode coverage is uneven, with some titles receiving far more commentary than others, but the accounts are consistently interesting. Serling's opening and closing narrations are set out, as are, perhaps less usefully, the trailers for each episode. Grams' approach is disciplined and organized, which makes for ease of reference. Production costs are included, but are fortunately not as all-consuming as the page headings suggest.

This book could not be described as lavishly illustrated. There are no plates, the bulk of images looking like monochrome thumbnails of library photos. However, what is really lacking is not photographs, but opinions. The level-headed follower of the show knows that episodes ranged from the brilliant to the bad. Grams' commitment is such that he's earned the right to share his views. Maybe he was afraid that would reduce his work in some way, but the book needs (ideally) that kind of entertainment factor.

Overall, though, an excellent work. It will certainly be worth looking for further titles by this author. Possibly Grams will feel able to turn his attention to the Twilight Zone film and remakes, although what would be really nice would be to see a similar work on the underrated Night Gallery.

[Review written by Jon Radlett for GUD Magazine]

Sometimes I wonder if author Martin Grams isn't from the Twilight Zone, himself...how else could he have collected all of this information? Some details in this book are the sorts of things that would have only been crumpled carbon-paper copies, tossed in the office wastebaskets of CBS-TV, not-quite-lost but mostly forgotten - until somehow, somebody, some fifty years later manages to assemble them into a monstrously cohesive reference book. I just don't know he managed it, but he did.

Firstly, the book is definitely a reference book, packed full of information. Well-organized, fully indexed, and so on, it's not such a "sit down and read" type book as some other previous Twilight Zone books may have been (and at around 800 pages, you would be sitting down for quite a while!).

This book lists just about everything you could imagine about the series: how many pages scripted for each episode, script revisions, what got censored and why, precise costs incurred for specific items, which actors were chosen or passed over and why, musical cues, alternate opening and closing monologues, and so on and so forth.

I particularly like the numerous quotes from Serling's own letters, whether they be to the studio, defending why the series needed to be filmed rather than videotaped, or to any number of fans (Tom Brown, in the ninth grade in Towson Maryland, wrote to ask permission for the school Drama Club to perform his own adaptation of "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine", admitting that if royalties were involved, he could probably not pay them. Mr Serling granted him permission - cool!).

Quick - how many euphoniums were used in the score for the First season show "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street"? There's the answer, right on page 311, listing all of the instruments for the First season Original music scores! What the heck IS a euphonium? You can look that up in some other reference book, I expect...

Let's say you wanted to build a computer set just like Agnes (from the 1964 Wally Cox TZ episode "From Agnes...With Love") for your groovy basement Twilight Zone screening room. Well, just collect the 60 or 70 items listed on page 670 and 671 of the book, the "recipe" for Agnes. She cost the Cayuga team about 600 dollars back then - though she might cost a bit more to reassemble, now.

By delving into the minutiae of the Twilight Zone, the book actually creates a deeper understanding of the day-to-day workings and personalities of those involved in this series. For instance, by noting *all* authors (from conception to pitch to final teleplay) and their pay, we are presented with the specifics which show us how Serling and several other writers would cover for, and (against Writer's Guild rules) ghost write for Charles Beaumont, whose inestimable writing talents were being cruelly eroded by a mysterious debilitating brain disease. His friends and coworkers made sure that he got full scripting pay, even if he only came up with the bare bones concept.

Not only an account of the past history of this influential show, the book is also peppered with later references: TZ being mentioned in the Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It To Beaver, The Lucy Show, Gilligan's Island, Laverne And Shirly...was the 1982 movie "Poltergeist" a blatant rip-off of the episode "Little Girl Lost" (probably, so why no legal action? Read the book and find out!)? The 1993 movie "Last Action Hero" copies a scene from this episode, and even plays the TZ theme music in the background! A six-piece band from New Jersey calling themselves "Number Twelve Looks Like You" has released a number of singles and albums since 2003. An animated character named Homer Simpson has been heard to mutter things about that "twilighty show about that zone". The Twilight Zone has been, and continues to be, a powerful, influential show.

The book is not particularly exhaustive in photographs, but there are certainly enough to spark your memory about entire episodes if the titles didn't happen to be enough. And *look* right there, on page 546, is a hand-drawn diagram of a naval destroyer with notes, sketched by Production Manager Ralph Nelson for the 1963 episode "The Thirty Fathom Grave" - never saw *that* before: just one more example of the far-from-trivial Trivia that fills this book.

A great read. A great reference. WELL WORTH OWNING.

This is a GREAT book. I am a TZ fanatic. I have all the individual DVDs as well as the definitive edition DVDs. This book has been meticulously researched by someone with a great passion for the show. Grams leaves no stone unturned. For anyone who loves this show and longs for the days when Hollywood could put out fine, quality, high class entertainment (instead of the pathetic junk they put out today which is 90% garbage) then this book is for you. Not so many pictures, but literally TONS of information. It's a brick of pure pleasure to read. A HUGE book. Reading this book is like going back in time. In my opinion Twilight Zone was the PINNACLE of quality and achievement in sci-fi/fantasy/suspense. I'm I writer, and was so enthralled with Serling's writing I began to write my own stuff in the same vein. That's how influential the good Mr. Serling was. His insistence on quality and morality and well written scripts is LITERALLY unsurpassed. If you like Twilight Zone and want the Bible to the series...GET THIS BOOK! Also check out Dimension Behind the Twilight Zone by Stewart Stanyard...a great companion piece to this book as it supplements this book in just about the ONLY place it is deficient...the photos. High praise for a work well done!

To be a Twilight Zone buff is to love not only the films themselves, but to revel in the behind-the-scenes stories. The juicy romances or rivalries between stars, the hazards of location filming, the absurdity of budgets that spiral out of control, the technical wizardry that makes the impossible seem real. If this is what you craze than I am pleased to announce this is THE book for you.

There is commentary between the lines but you have to digest them. For example the episode "Walking Distance." Martin Sloan travels back in time to his childhood and when something bad happens, he gains the wisdom to return home from of all people... his father and since he went back to his childhood, I find that fitting irony which was overlooked in past viewings.

This massive-sized book is loaded with entertaining memoirs and so much detail that this book is true scholarship. While some people may not value such details as the cost breakdown or dates of filming/production, and focus their disappointment on this alone, the fact that such detail inside reveals how this book was researched to the extreme.

Fun facts I learned while reading this book. MEN INTO SPACE had a budget of $50,000 per episode during the 1959-60 television season while THE TWILIGHT ZONE had $75,000. And of all the programs that season only THE LINEUP had a larger budget. Hugh Hefner wrote a plot summary for a proposed TWILIGHT ZONE but they had already finished filming an episode weeks before with a similar plot. Hefner's plot summary is reprinted in the book. In 1963 a UCLA student was hired to tour the country as "Princess Twilight" to promote the fifth and final season of the program. The author apparently tracked her down as she comments with fascinating memories and stories how they introduced her to Black Russians and Brandy Alexanders on tour and she was underage!

Some of the actors like Jay Overholts played doctors and cab drivers on the progam and were friends of Rod Serling and it was he who arranged for them to move out from Cincinnati to California to play supporting roles. A casting call sheet is reprinted in the book so we get an idea of the paperwork used to produce the television dramas. Bloopers are revealed including Serling misquoting the wrong Shakespeare play in his closing narration of "The Purple Testament," the shadow of a boom mike that can be seen in "Black Leather Jackets" and fans who caught bloopers and wrote letters and some are reprinted in the book. "Mr. Bevis" was a pilot for a proposed comedy series. Four plot proposals for the series (should the program be picked up by the network) are reprinted. Two unused plots were later blended together to form the episode "The Whole Truth." Amazing.

Do not be discouraged by the very few who expected something else. I made that mistake until my wife surprised me on my birthday with this book giftwrapped in the Sunday funnies. I should have bought the book months ago.

If pop culture television is archaeology, then there must be film archaeologists and author Martin Grams Junior has a membership card. THE TWILIGHT ZONE: UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO A TELEVISION CLASSIC is the cinema-history equivalent of the skeletal goodies unearthed by Dr. Leakey at Olduvai Gorge. We have all seen THE TWILIGHT ZONE - at least, I thought I did until I read this book and discovered so much more. This book is truly definitive.