Serling: The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man

A biography of the creator of The Twilight Zone draws on interviews with more than two hundred of Serling's family and friends to trace his rise from scriptwriter at a college radio station to TV's "golden boy." National ad/promo.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) is considered one of the stalwarts of television's so-called Golden Age (roughly 1951-1957), along with Paddy Chayevsky, Reginald Rose and Tad Mosel. He wrote scripts for such prestigious drama programs as Studio One and Kraft Television Theatre in the days when the industry was based in New York City, and he won three Emmys. He became the chief writer, producer and then the on-screen MC for The 7Yvilight Zone, which ran for five seasons until it was canceled by a management made uncomfortable by Serling's propensity for tackling controversial subjects. (The show has become a classic in syndication.) Serling subsequently wrote scripts for two less successful series, The Loner and Night Gallery, and made commercials. A Marymount Manhattan College professor of creative writing, Sander has done a fine job of reconstructing Serling's life without the cooperation of his widow, but Sander is perhaps too generous in his assessment of Serling's contributions to literature, if not to popular culture. Photos not seen by PW
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rod Serling authorized only one person to pen his biography. However, the TV legend's anointed protege, Mark Olshaker, was so distraught over Serling's death in 1975 that he eventually turned the project over to Sander. Using these files and numerous interviews with Serling intimates, Sander has fashioned a vivid and fascinating portrait of this complex innovator from television's Golden Age. While not skimping on his analysis of Serling's famed masterpiece The Twilight Zone (1959-65), he also gives in-depth examinations of the making of such early TV classics as Requiem for a Heavyweight and Patterns . The five-time Emmy Award-winner's life is examined in detail. While always giving the pioneering TV writer/producer his due, Sander does not shirk from any of Serling's blemishes, including his eventual embrace of the crass commercialism in television that he initially opposed so vehemently. This excellent book is an essential purchase for public and academic libraries.
-David M. Turkalo, Social Law Lib., Boston
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.