I leapt at the chance to write my foreword, what came to be called “A Historical Portal,” in Henry Chamberlain’s graphic novel, George’s Run. Now, with some time to reflect upon it, deeper and more personal observations come to me.
The Twilight Zone offered me proof positive—to this future editor/publisher of a little magazine dedicated to demonstrating the significance of popular culture—that a generation had been more than enriched by it. George Clayton Johnson, a writer for the show, as well as Star Trek, had a lot of insight to deliver, and Henry Chamberlain was the one to winnow it out and to illustrate it.
Astute critics of American cinema have often remarked that the Star Wars series of blockbuster movies, beginning in 1977, marked the return of films but also chunks of television shifting from serious social themes of the later 1950s to later 1970s, back to the Outer Space version of cowboys-and-Indians, with the “Indians” now aliens, some of them friendly (aka “on our side”) and others dangerously hostile. Many critics observed, after the 1999 Star Wars feature, The Phantom Menace, that “African Americanism,” aka Minstrelsy, had been transformed into amusing-looking aliens with humorous talk or behavior. The source of this gloomy transformation might be attributed to the world cinema market for action films or some other external cause, but it is hard to avoid the consequences for Hollywood-produced films as art or cultural/political statements. The social movements of the 1960s shook up Hollywood and created a socially critical audience whose favorite films came and went, in the following decade or so. M*A*S*H, their TV equivalent, was by the end of the century the most “re-run” of all shows and also held the most “peacenik” sentiments. It counted.
In this light, The Twilight Zone looms as a late, major statement of a different era. Rod Serling was a serious and important figure in US culture, a critic and artist who after trying various professions and skills, radio broadcaster to television writer, created the most important television drama in the era when television had a monopoly on media attention.
It was a moment when live television drama, vibrant and often socially critical despite the Blacklist and cultural cold war, hard shortly before reached its peak with a half-dozen theatrical-style shows, just as it poised to rushed production from New York to Hollywood. The Twilight Zone could not have worked as live drama, but it had the dramatic quality of what had gone before. Even in melodrama and seemingly far-fetched plots, the acting was serious. The show was showing something and saying something, working urgently to open up minds. At the right place and time, George Clayton Johnson found himself and helped make television and pop culture history.
George’s collaboration with Rod Serling occupies a central place in George’s Run. But the meeting of George Clayton Johnson with Ray Bradbury offers us something from the comic that retains all its meaning, six decades later. Bradbury (a museum bearing his name and artifacts, in my wife’s hometown of blue collar Waukegan, Illinois, opened last year) stands for a starkly different view of science fiction and its role in opening minds. His stories, adapted to EC Comics shortly before the massive wave of repression, offered readers a glimpse of the horrors ahead if the atomic/nuclear arms race were not halted but also a glimpse of aliens and civilizations that had something to teach the self-proud human race. Farenheit 451 along with a large handful of short stories best realized the social criticism made by a raft of science fiction writers, including some others who knew George well.
Onward and upward.
That George went onto Star Trek is logical, as part of the trajectory of a fantasy writer’s life. But there is much more. The world of fan publications and fan events can be traced back to networks of amateur (unpaid, mostly unpublished) writers who traded their own mimeographed newsletters as early as the 1920s. Sci-Fi fans gathered here, virtually, and then in person by the middle 1960s, trading publications directly, meeting and partying with authors as well as each other. “Trekkies,” a much-discussed phenomenon, led in time to comics events, later to Comic-Cons and all the regional events of today, sometimes grand but most often with self-publishers in the booths, chatting and selling copies to whoever the passers-by they could convince.
The subject of Star Trek itself remains, for many fans and scholars, important and bears symptoms of the richer mix of American popular culture emerging at the moment of its production. This brings us to the topic of the Other, a theme that endlessly drives discussion. Yes, Leonard Nimoy started in Yiddish theater; Spock is culturally Jewish without a doubt. And Uhuru is a staggeringly beautiful African American woman with all the sexualized implications, even if hardly acted out. And so on. But these, considered seriously, are minor notes. George Clayton Johnson’s scripts quietly urged viewers to ponder the fate of humanity within the cosmos, to get off the pedestal of human-centeredness and come to grips with terrestrial reality.
George’s Run bears all this meaning and so much more. But there is one more, albeit indirect, connection too delicious for me to leave out. Rod Serling called upon the blacklisted screenwriter Michael Wilson—before being purged from Hollywood, he had scripted the 1951 Oscar-winning A Place in the Sun—to help develop a crucial subplot that most viewers have taken in subconsciously. The humans are now allowed to speak. But when the human played by Rod Taylor asks to speak, the Chairman of the Tribunal interjects, “the exhibit is indeed a man, therefore it has no rights under ape law.” Those outside the definition of having the right to speak, cannot be allowed to speak, for fear that they will bring down the system. It was a plot that could easily have been taken out of Berthold Brecht’s Life of Gallileo, including the responsibility of the scientist to speak up against the threats facing society.
Such weighty considerations would have been thought, only a few decades ago, as being properly far beyond the scope of anything resembling comic art. Now, at last, we know better. Henry Chamberlain has given us a gift in George’s Run. Let us use it well.
George Clayton Johnson: Master Storyteller SDCC panel, 23 July 2023.
In 2012, I had the honor of being in the audience for a memorial tribute to one of Comic-Con’s founders, Richard Alf. And when I heard the introduction for one of the speakers, it immediately got my attention. The next person up to the lectern was this older elfin man with long gray hair and a full length beard. He had on a vest and Panama hat and, when he spoke, he seemed more wizard than elf. He had just been introduced with the longest list of credits I’d ever heard at Comic-Con. George Clayton Johnson had written for many of the leading television shows of the 1950s into the 1970s, including the biggest of pop culture icons, The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. George began his career by co-writing the story that was the basis of the Rat Pack classic, Ocean’s Eleven. And here he was, essentially the last man standing of a certain group of writers who would launch into the world the modern horror and dark fantasy genres we take for granted today. Fast forward a few more years, and here I am at Comic-Con leading a panel discussion of my graphic novel, George’s Run and honoring the man I was so fortunate to get to know and build a book around.
The gang’s all here: David Weiner, Wendy All, Mark Habegger, Henry Chamberlain, Phil Yeh, Martin Olson, and Marc Zicree.
The panelists all came through with flying colors. It felt like the gang was all here. That’s because they were, coming from various locales, all assembled to speak about George and basically help me launch my book.
This is the book for any fan of comics, pop culture, and great stories!
Heck, it’s a little awkward, I suppose, being my own marketing person but I sincerely believe there is nothing quite like this book outside of, say, Tim Scioli’s own unique graphic novel tribute to another legend, Jack Kirby: King of Comics. I’m very pleased with the journey I’m on as I go about promoting the book. It is a labor of love I would have created one way or another, which I did. It was first self-published and then it got published by Rutgers University Press. It’s a process that requires grit and dedication. That’s exactly the fighting spirit that kept George going.
Me and Marc Zicree, the man who gave us The Twilight Zone Companion.
Persistence, my friends, pays off. So, when your time comes, and you’ve put in the work, you’ll be ready. For anyone out there who enjoys a good story, would like to learn from George Clayton Johnson, a true master storyteller, then read on. This is Comic-Con history! This is storytelling history! Here is the transcript to the panel as well as the video at the end.
This panel took place at San Diego Comic-Con, in Room 29CD, 12:30-1:30 pm, on Sunday, 23 July 2023. It was a pleasure to organize and I look forward to the chance to organize more panels in the future. George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone is published by Rutgers University Press. I am very grateful to Rutgers and to Comic-Con for supporting my vision and helping me spread the word about my book. The panel begins with an introduction where I present some context and images from the book. I then pass it on to our moderator, David Weiner.
Henry Chamberlain: This is a story about ideas and about storytelling. George and I went on an adventure together where he shared with me his secrets to great writing and the meaning of life. I got to know George pretty well and finally worked up the courage to ask for his blessing on a graphic novel about him and the unique group of writers he worked with. George approved and wished me well, encouraged my creative license. Who was George? Well, many of you pop culture fans will instantly recognize some of his best known work, like the iconic episode, “Kick the Can,” from the original Twilight Zone. George was blessed to work with some of the greatest writers of the era who essentially invented the modern horror and dark fantasy genres we take for granted today. Richard Matheson single-handedly invented the zombie genre with his novel, I Am Legend. Robert Bloch set the tone for many a personal horror novel with Psycho. George was drawn to this dark fantasy world and gave it his own more whimsical twist. In public, he always talked about his love for Ray Bradbury–which is true. I private, he also talked about something with a darker tinge. At the end of the day, George held Theodore Sturgeon in the highest esteem. I will stop there and hand over the ceremonies to our moderator, David Weiner.
At the end of the day, George held Theodore Sturgeon in the highest esteem.
“A Penny For Your Thoughts,” one of George’s landmark works, is explored in GEORGE’S RUN.
David Weiner: That was Henry Chamberlain, the author and artist of George’s Run, this delightful book we’re going to discuss along with speaking about George. I’m David Weiner, former executive editor of Famous Monsters and director of the In Search of Darkness documentaries. Let’s go down the row here and have everyone introduce themselves and how you are connected to George Clayton Johnson.
Wendy All: Hi, I’m Wendy All. I’m an artist. I first met George around 1975. It was for a meeting, at the home of magician Patrick Culliton, to discuss the direction that Comic-Con was heading in. This was still in the very early days of Comic-Con. I didn’t know George. I saw a man with long hair wearing a bright orange vest. George was sitting playing the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto on his harmonica. That fascinated me.
Later, at the El Cortez, a bunch of us were going to lunch, and I remember that George stopped to pick up a penny he spotted on the sidewalk. He was jingling it in his pocket. This is something he would do, all the way to the very end. I recall meeting him one last time, before his death, and he was still jingling those pennies in his pocket. It was his way of recalling that very famous episode he wrote for The Twilight Zone, “A Penny For Your Thoughts.”
Marc Zicree: Hi, I’m Marc Zicree, the author of The Twilight Zone Companion, among other things. I met George when I was 16-years-0ld, around 1971-72 at a convention. This was before he had a beard, but he already had long hair. There was a wall-sized poster for the novel for Logan’s Run with his name in big letters. I had written my first book, while in college, Three Interviews on Media and Society, which featured Ron Cobb, Ted Sturgeon, and George Clayton Johnson. George was the impetus for The Twilight Zone Companion. I think back to how we have a changing of the guard. But it seems to me that the older generation is more interesting. I think of Ray Bradbury, and George, and we won’t see their like again.
Original page from George’s Run.
Martin Olson: Hi, I’m Martin Olson. I’m a comedy writer and author. I met Henry going back to an interview he did with me. Later on, we met in person and he had just come from talking with George. When Henry told me that, I nearly fell over. George was an idol of mine. Going back to as a child, I’ve always diligently looked at the credits after a show. George Clayton Johnson had written some of my favorites ever. I was so intrigued by him and read up on him. After Henry told me about George, we never got around to talking about my shows as I was so thrilled to just chat about George, as we’re doing today.
Phil Yeh: Hi, I’m Phil Yeh. I created a magazine, with Mark Eliot, called Uncle Jam, and we have the issue available today which features an interview with did George for anyone who is interested. I was at the first Comic-Con and somewhere along the way, maybe at the El Cortez hotel, I became friends with George. He would speak to anyone. And, when you’re young, it’s nice to have someone older who will listen to you. George told me about a convention he wanted to do featuring him, called Clayton-Con, and I did the graphics for it. Over the years, George would come to our booth. And I always loved his enthusiasm.
Mark Habegger: Hi, I’m Mark Habegger, a writer and filmmaker. I probably have the shortest association with George. I became involved with Comics Fest, beginning with the first one in 2012, which was Mike Towry’s brainchild, a way to bring back the original Comic-Con vibe. George was part of that. Wendy did a recreation of George’s Cafe Frankenstein. The following year, I interviewed George for about an hour in order to help archive memories of the history of Comic-Con. It was just me and George in a white room. Once we started, he completely lit up. He was a storyteller who needed an audience. It didn’t matter if it was an audience of one or a thousand, he was going to tell his stories. You can find my interview at Comic-Con Kids.
David Weiner: Henry, you wrote George’s Run because George had a profound impact upon you. Please speak to the origins of your project and why it is so personal for you.
Henry Chamberlain: I’m a cartoonist and I’m always looking for a project to sink my teeth into, preferably a full-length graphic novel. I used to do comic strips, going back to working on my college paper, but I always wanted to take things further. I had done some graphic novel work in the past. When I went to a memorial tribute to one of Comic-Con’s founders, Richard Alf, in 2012, I was so impressed with the introduction given to this one speaker, George Clayton Johnson. He’d written for all the leading television shows of the era: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Honey West, and then the biggest ones, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. He began by writing the story that was the basis for the Rat Pack classic, Ocean’s Eleven; and he capped his career as the co-author of the cult classic novel, Logan’s Run. I instantly imagined this being a graphic novel if handled in just the right way, paying attention to various connections.
I approached George that night and we instantly got to talking. We ended up doing some podcast interviews, chatted on the phone, and got to spend some time at his home. I imagine you could say that I had around 20 interactions with him, some long, some short. Spending time with George in his own home was very much a Forry Ackerman (founder of Famous Monsters) thing to do, inviting people into your home.
I think about George all the time, during the week, perhaps not every day, but he’s a guiding light. I want to honor him. I feel his presence here.
David Weiner: How is a graphic novel the ultimate platform for all the stories you’re telling here?
Henry Chamberlain: I hope that folks will pick up on what I’m doing. It’s like the world you create in a prose novel or a painting. I got into a zone and dug deep and, I believe the reader will sense the dedication. Even my harshest critic can’t say that my work seems to have been rushed. I put a lot of work into it, connecting the dots. The whole experience is at a reader’s pace, the sort of cerebral vibe you can get in a daydream. Which seems fitting considering that George loved calling himself a “professional daydreamer.”
David Weiner: The initial motivation for George’s work as a writer, and he struggled a bit, was to talk a big name. George was with a group of writers who ultimately dubbed themselves, “The Group,” who were spectacular names, on the page and screen. Henry, and we can open this up to the rest of the panel, talk a bit about The Group and their influence on writer’s today.
Henry Chamberlain: George held his own with the other writers because he was a voracious reader. It may be lost to history but I don’t believe that George ever wrote for the pulps while all the other writers in The Group had cut their teeth on pulp fiction. George had to prove himself and he relished that. He’d talk about how everyone in The Group would regularly lay it all out, size each other up, and spill their guts out to each other. I’m not sure about every detail but I do know that, from the start, George was fortunate to become friends with Charles Beaumont since Beaumont was the key to gain entry into the rest of The Group, as well as the smaller core group.
The Core of The Group!
Wendy All: I can share about George and The Group. George hitchhiked across the country and he knew he wanted to end up in L.A. and he knew he wanted to end up with Ray Bradbury. So, he got into that group of writers, centered around Ray Bradbury, which included Charles Beaumont, who happened to live upstairs from the apartment my husband was renting in North Hollywood. Playboy magazine was paying $200 per story and, in those days, that was a lot of money. Bradbury had figured out a formula to sell stories. So, yeah, the writers would gather and critique each others’ work.
Marc Zicree: I just want to jump in and say that science fiction is unique, in a certain way. The fans who go on to become professionals don’t shut the door on the fans attempting to move up. If you want to meet someone in the science fiction and fantasy genres, whether an actor or a writer, they are there for the fans.
Ray Bradbury grew up as a fan of Ray Harryhausen and Forry Ackerman. Later, Bradbury became a mentor to Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and George Clayton Johnson, core writers, under Rod Serling, on The Twilight Zone. So, to have George in that circle, he was in the perfect fertile field for a writing career.
What I learned from George is that you can write one story on one show that is so well-written that it can have an impact on someone’s life that can last forever.
David Weiner: There’s that elusive ingredient you talk about in your book, Henry, that this group of writers strove for, that “touch of strange.” Can you tell us about it?
Henry Chamberlain: Rod Serling, under contract, wrote the majority of the episodes of The Twilight Zone, 80 percent for the first season alone; and around 70 percent of the episodes for the whole run of the series, which made sense considering his caliber of writing. And then there was that 30 percent to which Serling granted access to this select group of writers. Here’s the rub, it wasn’t easy to describe what exactly these writers were pursuing. It wasn’t just science fiction, or horror, or social commentary. When asked, George would describe it as writing with “a touch of strange.”
Now, I like to read and I discovered the origin of this term. This is, if I do say so myself, my original discovery. The term goes back to 1898 and the short story, The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. You’ll find it there and it basically refers to something not quite right, unnerving and unsettling. And then I come to find that Theodore Sturgeon made note of this term and named one of his own short stories after it. So, this is a very literary thing going on and it takes time to process such things. It seems as if we’ve lost the art of doing this. Of course, we haven’t exactly. It goes on–and it must. We need to celebrate this kind of thinking, and writing, every time we come across it.
David Weiner: We’re going through something that is very profound, the advent of A.I. and how that could affect writers. The nightmare scenario is that clients, who might prefer to not pay writers, could turn to A.I. Let’s talk about the writing process and the human touch. What was it about The Group, working as a group of writers versus writing alone?
Mark Habegger: I think that George was the kind of writer who saw something magical in the audience interaction with the storyteller. He saw himself as a shaman-storyteller. I think that The Group that we’re talking about, and other writing groups, like the writers he went down to Mexico with, even Cafe Frankenstein, were all opportunities to “gather around a campfire” and have an immediate interaction. I think he was a futurist-humanist. He wanted to take his forward-thinking sci-fi ideas and see how we would be affected by them, see how people would rise above it. It’s all a very human story. And I think he would have seen A.I. as a threat to all that. Not that he wouldn’t have embraced new ideas but he would have found very human ways to respond to them. None of us want to see the end of human creativity. It’s those human imperfections that inform the best art.
Wendy All: I have an example of how George would have agreed with the human factor. I asked him once how he came up with the idea for Ocean’s Eleven. He said that they (George and Jack Golden Russell) were sitting watching a grocery store being closed up. And it occurred to them how easy it would be to rob the grocery store safe. And then, George thought, may as well go where the big money is . . . go to Las Vegas. The details that George came up with were enough for the Nevada Gaming Commission to change some of its procedures. So, if you fed an A.I. computer footage of a grocery store, I don’t think it would come up with a heist movie.
Marc Zicree: Getting back to the idea of a circle of writers. I think of the energy that comes from being around other writers, great writers. I would seek out such writers, like J Michael Straczynski, James Michael Reaves, and many others–and I would then pace myself to them. It made me have to strive to do my best and really get proficient. That’s the same thing that happened with George. He came from a very impoverished background, his mother was an alcoholic. He had a very hard scrabble childhood. And he was now with all these big writers for television. A TV show on one of the Big Three networks, per episode on average, would have from 30 to 40 million viewers. Not like today at all. Charles Beaumont was at the core of all that with all of his astonishing energy. Ray Bradbury was on high as the patron saint.
When Beaumont died, at only 38, that whole circle of writers went spinning off into space. George and Bill Nolan were very good friends and went on to write together the novel, Logan’s Run. But when they go together to write a sequel, what had happened in the interim was . . . well, George was a chain smoker, of tobacco; but when the Surgeon General’s report came out, George made the switch from tobacco to weed. So, that brought on a change. George grew his hair long and became a hippie and all that. When they tried getting back to work, George had a fistful of joints that he placed in an ash tray. Bill Nolan took one look, and being so strait-laced, he shook his head and said he couldn’t work with George. That was the breakup of their collaboration with both agreeing to write their own sequels as they shared the property.
This is a case of who you are as a writer, the identity of being George Clayton Johnson, or Ray Bradbury, versus the reality of sitting down and doing the hard work of writing, having that discipline, that clarity of mind. Sometimes, when you lose that circle of colleagues, you lose something. George was extremely good at being George Clayton Johnson but, in terms of the ongoing discipline of writing, well, years ago, I read the outline to his sequel for Logan’s Run but, as far as I know, that never reached fruition. So, I think, there’s always that challenge.
David Weiner: Let’s go down the line and have panelists share with us their favorite moment or story by George Clayton Johnson, one of the great writers of that era.
Martin Olson: Well, everything that Marc, and Henry, have said about The Twilight Zone, and what I’ve come across myself is so interesting and then you add this: George wrote the very first episode of Star Trek! Are you kidding me? Then, when Steven Spielberg, of all people, decided to do a movie of The Twilight Zone, he arranged for different directors to do various classic episodes and, for his episode, Spielberg chose none other than George Clayton Johnson’s “Kick the Can.” That story was about a group of old people who, through fearing death, they discovered the secret to eternal youth. “Immortality is accessible to all of us,” that was what he was saying. “It exists forever in our memories, in our hearts, and in our minds.” That’s the strength of George’s writing.
Marc Zicree: I want to say something about “Kick the Can” in connection to The Twilight Zone movie. I was a consultant on the film. I believe it was Kathleen Kennedy I was talking with and I asked about what episode Spielberg was going to do and she said he was leaning towards doing “The Trade-ins,” about old people trading in their bodies for new ones. He wanted to do something with old people. So, I asked if he’d seen “Kick the Can.” She said she thought he had. And then I asked if he’d seen in recently. When I got a no, I immediately went to get my own copy of the episode to show it to him. It was a VHS that I taped off my TV. And he then chose to direct “Kick the Can.” What’s cool is that the payment George got for using the episode allowed him to make the last payment on his home.
A celebration of individualism!
Mark Habegger: My personal connection with George was through Comic Fest. My favorite part of my interview with George was at the very end. He was telling his stories and his son, Paul, was in the room. There’s a point when Paul ends up sitting in George’s chair, a sort of passing of the baton. Paul was chomping at the bit to get the details right on something. George gives Paul the mic and Paul goes on to talk about the artist group that George traveled with to Mexico. It was a very fortuitous way to end the interview. I think this idea of gathering around like a tribe, being around the kids at Comic-Con, was something that George loved.
George Clayton Johnson
Phil Yeh: When George would come by our booth at Comic-Con, most of time people had no idea who George was. But he would talk, and all these ideas would come out of him. He was very animated. One time, I recall, one of my son’s friends was listening to George, then he went over to buy a book by George, this was like an hour later, and when he came back, George was still talking, still very lively. George was, more than anything, great about encouraging younger generations about the world of ideas.
Henry Chamberlain: I wanted to point out a few things before we wrap up. There’s a collection of the work by George Clayton Johnson, All of Us Are Dying, and it’s the size of an old classic thick phone book so he did do quite a lot of things beyond the well-known work. He was always looking for original ideas. He liked to say that, as human beings, we’re free agents, we could rob a bank if we chose to. He was constantly thinking up plots and scenarios. He was an idea machine. He wrote a story that was the basis for Charlie’s Angels. There’s a musical he wrote about Emile Zola. There’s a satirical play he wrote about Christopher Columbus.
Henry’s book, George’s Run, is a must-read for fans of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. George was in the thick of all of that. George was such an unusual character. This book is about storytelling and humanism. So, for those of you who appreciate these things, get this book, George’s Run, because it goes to the core of what happened within The Group, this celebrated writing group. It’s just a beautiful surreal brilliant graphic novel.
— Martin Olson
Marc Zicree: Well, George talked to me about his famous episode, “A Penny For Your Thoughts,” starring Dick York, about a bank teller who flips a coin and it lands on its edge. As long as that coin stays on its edge, the character has telepathic powers. He comes to listen in on the thoughts of people and finds they don’t always do what they think or vice versa. So, George actually wanted to turn that episode into a full-fledged series. Each week would follow a new person on a coin adventure. Finally, there’s one episode that features a high stakes poker game and the main character with telepatyhic powers thinks he’s going to win big. Except, in turns out, the greatest poker player in the world is Chinese, thinks in Chinese, and our hero can’t understand a word!
George was great about paying it forward. As Bradbury did. Beaumont did. And as Matheson did. As I do. The Twilight Zone Companion was my first book out of college. It was what led to my writing for television. I was 21 when I first got the idea to write the book and George encouraged me to pursue it. He introduced me to everyone he could involved with the show. Finally, I approached Rod’s widow, Carol Serling, who had turned down many professional journalists. This was only two years after Rod’s death. The book went on to great success. Years later, we were at a American Cinematheque tribute for The Twilight Zone, and I asked George why he was willing to take a chance on me, some 22-year-old kid. And he said that I seemed very intelligent and that I looked like I could pull it. If it hadn’t been for George, I wouldn’t have had a career.
George Clayton Johnson’s Cafe Frankenstein
Wendy All: I was so grateful to get a chance to honor George in 2012 at Comic Fest with my recreating George’s Cafe Frankenstein. Among George’s work, I loved “All of Us Are Dying” or “The Four of Us Are Dying.” I loved the idea of transformation. All the character had to do was concentrate and he’d change into someone else. It was interesting to read it and then seeing it on the screen.
Marc Zicree: The idea that someone could change their face, to be a shapeshifter, you see that go from “The Four of Us Are Dying” in The Twilight Zone to George’s “The Man Trap” in Star Trek. Interesting to see the shapeshifter motif cross over like that.
Martin Olson: In fact, the Star Trek story, “The Man,” was the first transgender alien story. And the whole idea of that salt vampire is a great example of George’s wild imagination.
George keeps on running!
Martin Olson: Marc, I want to say something to you. I didn’t know about the origin of your book, The Twilight Zone Companion, with George standing up for you. As a comedy writer, going back to 1980, I can tell you that every writer in a writer’s room had your book. We would read your book because it was a catalyst for great stories.
Marc Zicree: My big interest in writing The Twilight Zone Companion was the writers: how they did what they did. At the time, Bantam, my publisher wanted me to take out all the information on the writers. I told them that they could do whatever they wanted with the photographs, and I had all of them, but they’d have to leave the content on the writers alone.
Henry Chamberlain: Speaking about paying it forward, I want to thank Rutgers University Press for believing in me and my vision and publishing George’s Run. I am forever grateful to them.
Martin Olson: Henry, I want to say something about your book. I imagine that the first comic strip cartoonists were influenced by maybe three or four things, like motion pictures. Then you think about, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek make up the major influences on cartoonists of more recent generations. You know, without George Clayton Johnson, and people like him, there would be no Comic-Con.
Henry’s book, George’s Run, is a must-read for fans of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. George was in the thick of all of that. George was such an unusual character. This book is about storytelling and humanism. So, for those of you who appreciate these things, get this book, George’s Run, because it goes to the core of what happened within The Group, this celebrated writing group. It’s just a beautiful surreal brilliant graphic novel.
Ray Bradbury lit the fuse and a smaller core group, led by Charles Beaumont, took hold.
David Weiner: As we close out, Henry, give us some final thoughts on what George Clayton Johnson’s impact on pop culture is today. George was part of the foundation of so much of the pop culture that we love today.
Henry Chamberlain: I was asked on a radio show what I thought were the hot new science fiction writers today and I sort of drew a blank for a moment since it was such a big question. I keep coming back to the concept of “a touch of strange” and some writers have picked up on that. I think of Charles Yu, as just one example. It’s not hard science fiction we’re talking about. It’s more literary. That’s a big influence. And then there’s the love of storytelling in general. And love for the written word. The Twilight Zone was syndicated beyond belief. The local affiliate in L.A. broadcast it twice a day, at noon and at midnight. So, yeah, it ran, and still runs, very deep for people on many levels.
David Weiner: Thank you, Henry.
Henry Chamberlain: Thank you, David.
The Core of The Group!
And here is the video . . .
George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone is published by Rutgers University Press.
It’s moments like this that can really make your day. I was just noodling around catching up on stuff and I stumbled upon this wonderful review on Amazon of my new graphic novel, George’s Run. It is published by Rutgers University Press and available at various platforms including Amazon.
Of course, the customer review photo of a Vulcan salute is utterly priceless! Maybe it will inspire you to do the same. So, yes, please do consider getting a copy and maybe even writing your very own Amazon review.
The review speaks for itself so I’ll just run it here:
I was gifted the unique graphic novel GEORGE’S RUN for my birthday, and am so happy I got to read it!
I wasn’t really ready for what I was in store for, but, being very into all things retro and 60’s and 70’s and cool, this graphic novel was a delightful surprise from start to finish.First of all, let’s address the fact that, although usually you should not judge a book by its cover~ it’s actually totally okay to do so in this circumstance; because the contents are just as intriguing as the beguiling face of the book!I was stunned and impressed by the overall presentation ~in the same way I was drawn to the deeply felt drawings and stories within.Although I am close enough to Henry’s generation to appreciate and remember the country’s love of all things Twilight Zone and Star Trek, I must admit~ I was unaware of George Clayton Johnson and his important role as a writer during this time. I certainly was completely unaware of his eclectic group of writing friends that influenced many aspects of pop culture~especially science fiction culture~at the time…
and I LOVE Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling!!There’s just so much coming at you these days, sometimes it’s difficult to follow even the threads of your heroes and potential creative literary longings.It was really interesting to learn (especially from such an unusual and non-linear format) about this particular outlier writer’s journey through Hollywood and the sort of rebel gang of writers he became a part of~in a way it was akin to the clan in the Ocean’s Eleven story he conjured up…except instead of a rat pack of swanky burglars, he was part of a bunch of literary iconoclasts who didn’t fit into any one particular category!
I loved the colors and the whimsical illustrations and the unexpected dream-like quality with which the book told its tales.
And most of the information included within was completely unbeknownst to me~ and that was surprising; because I love all things Sci-Fi!! What a lovely hardbound book surprise.
This book has a really good energy to it. You can feel the author’s love for his subject matter and for the stories he tells just jumping off every page.
And even though you never know where the tales are going to go, you can be sure that you too have gotten a taste of the Touch of Strange these writers were after on their mission to spread their weird around the world….
…..just by picking up a copy and taking a look for yourself!
Here’s my simple and direct approach at a book trailer in support of my new graphic novel, George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone, published by Rutgers University Press.
George’s Run is an inspiring and informative book about the golden age of television, specifically the heady late ’50s and early ’60s which gave us The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. This is a story about storytelling and I want folks to know about it. Necessity is the mother of invention and that led me to create this book trailer. Not bad, huh? I love the sketchbook-comes-to-life vibe. With the book trailer, I went back to the roots of this book which has always been a heart-felt effort to be in tune with the reader. This is a story about a regular guy who ends up doing extraordinary things. While George’s life gathers complexity over time, and the interconnections can get pretty involved, the core of this story is as simple and direct as the value of chasing your dreams, going against the odds.
This is the book for any fan of comics, pop culture, and great stories!
It is my pleasure to present to you my conversation with Ray Carcases on his YouTube channel. Just click the link to the video right below this paragraph. This time around it’s me who is being interviewed. We discuss my new book, George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone, published by Rutgers University Press. Ray is a kindred spirit and I am so lucky to have gotten this opportunity to chat with him. I look forward to pursuing more of these sorts of conversations with him in the future since he’s a thinker and an excellent conversationalist.
I’ll tell you right now and I’ll bring it up more as we continue to spread the word about George’s Run. I said it in so many words but maybe I didn’t come right out and say it in this interview. I really feel that I’m the ideal spokesperson to guide the reader along as we pursue several pop culture backstories. It’s folks like Ray and myself, from Generation X, that have a certain perspective and so much to share with each other and younger generations. And that doesn’t make me feel “old” at all. It just makes me feel like, as Ray expressed so eloquently, I’m in that group that “know enough to know.” You just don’t get it until you finally reach that point!
An old woman has fought with death a thousand times and has always won. But now she finds herself afraid to let a wounded policeman in her door for fear he is Mr. Death. Is he?
Ray and I got into a groove and built upon one observation after another. We marveled together over the cinematic elements to The Twilight Zone and how you need to appreciate them, “know enough to know,” in order to understand this most celebrated yet misunderstood pop culture phenomenon. I like one moment when Ray observed the quality of Rod Serling’s epilogue to the George Clayton Johnson masterpiece, “Nothing in the Dark.” Just as the scene comes to a close, that one final thought summing up the tension between fear and reason: “There was nothing in the dark that wasn’t there when the lights were on.”
Gladys Cooper stars as an old and dying woman named Wanda Dunn.
The time has come to start spreading the news. My graphic novel, George’s Run, will be out soon. It is in the March edition of Previews, and you can find it here. The book will become available as of May 12, 2023, published by Rutgers University Press–and I could not be more thrilled. If you’ve ever set foot in a comics shop for any significant amount of time, then you’re aware of the monthly Diamond Comic Distributor Previews catalog. Each catalog provides previews of comics and graphic novels that will be available in the next couple of months. The issue for March, which comes out on February 22, features items scheduled to ship in May 2023 and will have my book in it. This is a big step towards getting the book out into the world! And, for a comics fan, it’s a huge big deal.
This is the book for any fan of comics, pop culture, and great stories!
George’s Run has been years in the making. If you’re one of my loyal followers, then you already know that this book is about the power of storytelling, a special blend of it going back to pulp fiction, especially science fiction. I’ll keep you posted every step of the way. For now, if you happen to visit your local comic shops, ask them to check out my book in the March Previews catalog and seriously consider ordering some copies of George’s Run. Your support means everything to me!
Here I am debuting a mini-comic version of George’s Run at Short Run!
An early color version of a page from the book.
I love the promotional material put together by Rutgers. It sums it all up quite nicely:
George Clayton Johnson was an up-and-coming short story writer who broke into Hollywood in a big way when he co-wrote the screenplay for Ocean’s Eleven. More legendary works followed, including Logan’s Run and classic scripts for shows like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. In the meantime, he forged friendships with some of the era’s most visionary science fiction writers, including Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling.
Later in life, Johnson befriended comics journalist and artist Henry Chamberlain, and the two had long chats about his amazing life and career. Now Chamberlain pays tribute to his late friend in the graphic novel George’s Run, which brings Johnson’s creative milieu to life in vividly illustrated color panels. The result feels less like reading a conventional biography and more like sitting in on an intimate conversation between friends as they recollect key moments in pop culture history, as well as the colorful band of writers described by Chamberlain as the “Rat Pack of Science Fiction.”
Here is more marketing material:
New Graphic Novel Traces the Origins of Pop Culture Through the Life of Eccentric Storyteller George Clayton Johnson
“George Clayton Johnson was one of the most brilliant and important writers of the 20th Century, creating classic episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek, as well as co-authoring Logan’s Run and Ocean’s Eleven. George’s Run spectacularly and charmingly invites you on the amazing journey of his life and legacy, from 1929 through the Fifties and Sixties to 2015 and beyond. It’s a trip down Memory Lane via time machine and rocket ship—and it will definitely blow your mind!”
—Marc Scott Zicree, author of The Twilight Zone Companion
George Clayton Johnson
George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through the Twilight Zone (Rutgers University Press; May 12, 2023, 978-1-9788-3420-0; $24.95) is a mashup of gonzo journalism and whimsical storytelling with the overarching theme of how a group of writers influenced each other to create some of the greatest pop culture of all time. This is an exploration of self and creativity.
The reader follows cartoonist-journalist Henry Chamberlain as he seeks to reveal secrets and insights from a unicorn from a golden era. George Clayton Johnson was one of the greatest television writers of the 1960s. George showed up, as if out of nowhere, to command a significant place at the writer’s table for the original Twilight Zone and Star Trek. Co-writing the cult classic novel, Logan’s Run, was to be the cherry on top of a career that began, believe it or not, with George co-writing the story that was to become the original Rat Pack classic, Ocean’s Eleven.
Henry Chamberlain is a cartoonist, artist and writer living in Virginia Beach, originally from Seattle. Henry regularly writes about comics and pop culture on his blog, Comics Grinder. He writes for other venues, including The Comics Journal.
The Vast of Night, directed by Andrew Patterson, screenplay by Craig W. Sanger and James Montague, cinematography by Miguel Ioann and Littin Menz, Amazon Studios, release date May 29, 2020 (USA)
I enjoy exploring a broad range of topics but my core niche resides somewhere “between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge.” Go back far enough and maybe it’s the same for you. It sure is with this film. It begins with a retro living room scene and an antique television with a flickering image. An announcer refers to a “frequency caught between logic and myth” and introduces Paradox Theatre and that night’s episode, The Vast of Night, which is also the title of this film. As an added bonus for any loyal Twilight Zone fan, the next scene is set in Cayuga, New Mexico. Rod Serling’s prodcution company during TZ was named, Cayuga Productions. So, the bar is set pretty high and it follows through. I simply could not stop once I began.
Fay picks up strange signals.
The camera proceeds to snake its way into that night’s basketball game at Cayuga High School. It’s the 1950s and it feels like it in a glorious way. Everett (Jake Horowitz) is a teenager set on becoming the next Edward R. Murrow. Fay (Sierra McCormick) is a teenager completely enthralled with Everett. They both wander around the high school gym with a tape recorder making the most of the latest technology. Everett is so poised and Fay is so frantic. It seems like anything is possible with an added tension that maybe more is possible than anyone could ever have imagined.
This film makes me think of some of my favorite period pieces, like Back to the Future or The Last Picture Show. What The Vast of Night does so well is completely embrace its time period and manage to give it new life, say something new about it. The viewer enters into a complete and fully realized world. In fact, some of the best moments are when the camera is set loose and, like a snake, slithers about town, taking us on a ground level tour through main street, back to the high school basketball game, and over to the local radio station.
The camera slithers along like a snake.
However, in the end, it’s the dynamic performances by both Horowitz and McCormick that really steal the show: the chemistry between them; and the lonely moments when they’re apart. McCormick is especially engaging as an expert switchboard operator. I don’t know if, in fact, operators could work from home but Fay does in this movie. Fay and that enormous switchboard are quite a sight to behold. And, of course, all of this is leading up to something. These characters can’t be too far from Roswell, New Mexico. And those strange sounds that Fay is picking up must mean something. Overall, this is one of the most charming and engaging movies I’ve seen in a long while. Oddly enough, it fits right in with the strange times we’re all currently living through. This film won’t be out until May so keep an eye out for it.
There is this amazing new graphic novel that tackles, for the first time, the life and work of Rod Serling. It is The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, by Koren Shadmi, published by Humanoids as part of their new imprint, Life Drawn. I have a lot to say about this book, in no small part, due to the fact that I have my own graphic novel that overlaps on some of what’s going on in this book. I’m still in the process of getting my book out but I think it’s actually good to see a book like this out there. This is Koren Shadmi’s Rod Serling and his take on related events. There is definitely room, and interest, for more such books. One perfect example is what appears to be an ever-growing number of graphic novels on Andy Warhol. But I digress a bit.
I am familiar with Koren Shadmi and his work. I had the privilege of interviewing him in 2015 for one of my podcast interviews. In fact, I made a reference to The Twilight Zone and discovered that Koren, in Israel, had not grown up with the original Twilight Zone like so many of us did in the States. I don’t know about you but I’ve always had access to it. As a kid growing up in the seventies, TZ was well into syndication and very well accepted as part of the culture, even better than during its original run from 1959 to 1964. Anyway, Koren is a masterful illustrator on a fast professional track. Is it any wonder then that he was able to create this book in such a relatively short amount of time? I’d peg it at sometime during or after his previous book on Gary Gygax and Dungeons & Dragons which came out in 2017. Koren’s book on Rod Serling is fascinating and goes into as much detail as possible, even daring to cast Serling in less than a favorable light.
Rod Serling, chasing his dream.
If you want to see Rod Serling cast in an unfavorable light, look back fifty years ago. It was on November 8, 1969 that a TV movie was broadcast on NBC starring Joan Crawford, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Rod Serling. It was to be the pilot for the ill-fated anthology series, Night Gallery. It was pitched as something like Twilight Zone but turned out to be lackluster. Shadmi spends a good bit of time showing us the Rod Serling after The Twilight Zone and it’s not a pretty picture that he paints. Instead of wrapping up his graphic novel on an upbeat note, Shadmi has no qualms over depicting Serling as falling from grace, a little desperate and seeking approval in all the wrong places. We see Serling doing very un-Serling things: appearing in commercials, hosting a game show, and giving up all creative control all for the sake of being back in the game with Night Gallery. And, the coup de grâce for any Serling fan: Shadmi makes a reference to Serling engaging in an extramarital affair. I can only chalk it up to Shadmi compelled to show the man warts and all. But, if you want to see Serling at his best, well, there is plenty of that, enough to overlook a man’s weaknesses.
A good part of the book going in covers Serling as a brash young man eager to see combat during World War II. And that he does. While considered too short to be a paratrooper, Serling’s persistence wears down his company commander. Serling, cut from the same cloth as Hemingway, pushes himself to his limits, working as hard on his writing as his proving his manhood. Repeatedly, he pursues physical thrills and danger in the boxing ring and on the battlefield. He leaves the army permanently shell-shocked, experiencing nightmares for the rest of his life. It is such a uniquely talented and driven man who finds his way to writing for radio and later for television in New York City during the dawn of the golden age of television. And, on the strength of his landmark work on Playhouse 90, Serling ultimately finds himself on top of the world as one of television’s original show runners for The Twilight Zone. All of this and more, Shadmi faithfully brings to life on the page. It is more than enough to forgive him for daring to show the great man when he was down.
The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television is a 180-page trade paperback in duotone, published by Humanoids.
The Twilight Zone reboot hits the ground running by finding a way back into what made the original series work and trying to avoid adding and tweaking more to it and messing up a good thing. Just one more thing tacked on can be like playing a game of Jenga where you tear down an otherwise neatly put together structure. Without spoiling anything, if there is one criticism to the show, it is that it needs to keep to this golden rule. For the most part, it does that and that bodes well for what it shaping up to being a lively and compelling return to a classic. This series comes to you from CBS All Access and is hosted by Jordan Peele.
What would Rod Serling think of viewing Twilight Zone on a phone?
I will fast forward to the second episode as it is an example of how this series is finding its feet. We immediately start with a fresh look at something not directly referencing an iconic episode as is done in the first episode. We’re at a comedy club, which is an ideal Twilight Zone setting if ever there was one: in the darkness, the audience as well as the performer are looking for some catharsis. Our main character, comedian Samir (Kumail Nanjiani), is stuck on speaking truth to power but he’s not connecting with his audience. Then he has a talk with a veteran comedian J.C. (Tracy Morgan). The main bit of advice: Don’t try to make points; Go for the laughs by keeping it personal–but beware that once you take from your life, it’s out there and you can’t get it back. Samir goes against his better judgement and makes a detour that gets him the laughs.
Jordan Peele channeling Rod Serling
“The Comedian” is not a direct reference to any particular TZ episode, not like Richard Matheson’s monumental airplane nightmare. But it is a sly tip of the hat to Rod Serling nonetheless, just a sweet little Easter Egg (there are others, as in names used for some characters) as it refers back to one of Serling’s landmark teleplays prior to TZ. It is that sort of deep dive that will send a nice chill of recognition for diehard fans. The scirpt’s writer, Alex Rubins, would certainly be aware of that. So, we’ve got a character in crisis: Samir has made some devil’s bargain. All is set up for the chilling fun and it is delivered. In this case, a little editing somewhere in the middle to tighten things up would have been ideal. As for the end, it is spot on.
Twilight Zone on CBS All Access
I think the challenge for this reboot is satisfying an audience that is happy to take things further, like a kid in a candy store who risks a stomach ache. The first episode, “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” makes that mistake by pushing a bit beyond what would have been a perfect ending. And the second episode makes that mistake by packing it bit more background that drags an otherwise excellent story. There’s a very good reason that Serling and the rest of his writers concluded that the sweet spot for the show was the original half hour format. With streaming, the restrictions are lifted and so the creative team (a producing team that includes Glen Morgan, Greg Yaitanes, Simon Kinberg, and Jordan Peele) needs to be mindful of being disciplined storytellers. That said, my guess is that you can expect this reboot to indulge in providing viewers with a deluxe director’s cut excess. That could be very good news for some fans. Then again, who knows, maybe adjustments will be made and we’ll get this reboot refined to perfection.
As someone who is putting together a graphic novel that is directly related to The Twilight Zone, I am particularly intrigued by this reboot. I see the minor blemishes too. But, overall, this is a series that has its ducks in a row and I feel confident that Rod Serling, given a chance to process where we are today, would grin and give the show his blessing.
While Jordan Peele has downplayed any grand subtext to his latest film, I think Us may have an even grander subtext than Get Out. It comes down to privilege. The inspiration for Us comes from “Mirror Image,” an original Twilight Zone episode written by Rod Serling. In that story, pod people are replacing humans and they are assumed to be the superior versions. Peele reverses that and has his pod people as inferior to humans and seeking revenge as they attempt to replace them. A very scary prospect indeed: your less fortunate doppelganger, in a rage of resentment, is bent upon destroying you.
“If it wasn’t for you, I would never have danced at all.” That is the best line in the movie and speaks volumes to the super eerie tension between the humans and the subhumans, or as they’re called in the movie, “the shadow people.” Or call them whatever you like: the ugly, the misfits, the forgotten and the dispossessed. Or how about, “the silent majority” who find themselves thrust out into the open ready to wreak havoc and to “disrupt.” You see where I’m going with this? Well, it’s veiled social commentary in the best spirit of a good ole Twilight Zone episode. You don’t have to spell it all out for audiences. But, if there’s any doubt, all the shadow people wear red.
With Get Out and now Us, Peele continues to refashion the art house horror film, all too often exclusively made up of white actors, by replacing them with a predominantly African American cast. This act of replacement is subtext within subtext. Sure, it’s sad that such a movie should be a novelty on racial terms but that’s where we are today. It’s a scary movie for scary times.
There are a number of creepy coincidences in the movie that help to set the tone. But, in the end, truth is stranger than fiction. On the very date of this film’s release, March 22, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered his report on the Russia probe to the Justice Department. For starters, it’s scary to think of all the misinformation that lies ahead from the White House response to the report. That said, Peele’s movie is not so much political as psychological at its core, at least on the face of it. You won’t find any explicit message, per se. As a fine artist, Peele paints his canvas having brought in various elements to work with. We live in an era spiked with uncertainty and that creepy feeling makes it way into all our senses. Part of what Peele does is take that creepy feeling and give it a good tweak.
‘The Twilight Zone’ Hits the Ground Running
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone reboot hits the ground running by finding a way back into what made the original series work and trying to avoid adding and tweaking more to it and messing up a good thing. Just one more thing tacked on can be like playing a game of Jenga where you tear down an otherwise neatly put together structure. Without spoiling anything, if there is one criticism to the show, it is that it needs to keep to this golden rule. For the most part, it does that and that bodes well for what it shaping up to being a lively and compelling return to a classic. This series comes to you from CBS All Access and is hosted by Jordan Peele.
What would Rod Serling think of viewing Twilight Zone on a phone?
I will fast forward to the second episode as it is an example of how this series is finding its feet. We immediately start with a fresh look at something not directly referencing an iconic episode as is done in the first episode. We’re at a comedy club, which is an ideal Twilight Zone setting if ever there was one: in the darkness, the audience as well as the performer are looking for some catharsis. Our main character, comedian Samir (Kumail Nanjiani), is stuck on speaking truth to power but he’s not connecting with his audience. Then he has a talk with a veteran comedian J.C. (Tracy Morgan). The main bit of advice: Don’t try to make points; Go for the laughs by keeping it personal–but beware that once you take from your life, it’s out there and you can’t get it back. Samir goes against his better judgement and makes a detour that gets him the laughs.
Jordan Peele channeling Rod Serling
“The Comedian” is not a direct reference to any particular TZ episode, not like Richard Matheson’s monumental airplane nightmare. But it is a sly tip of the hat to Rod Serling nonetheless, just a sweet little Easter Egg (there are others, as in names used for some characters) as it refers back to one of Serling’s landmark teleplays prior to TZ. It is that sort of deep dive that will send a nice chill of recognition for diehard fans. The scirpt’s writer, Alex Rubins, would certainly be aware of that. So, we’ve got a character in crisis: Samir has made some devil’s bargain. All is set up for the chilling fun and it is delivered. In this case, a little editing somewhere in the middle to tighten things up would have been ideal. As for the end, it is spot on.
Twilight Zone on CBS All Access
I think the challenge for this reboot is satisfying an audience that is happy to take things further, like a kid in a candy store who risks a stomach ache. The first episode, “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” makes that mistake by pushing a bit beyond what would have been a perfect ending. And the second episode makes that mistake by packing it bit more background that drags an otherwise excellent story. There’s a very good reason that Serling and the rest of his writers concluded that the sweet spot for the show was the original half hour format. With streaming, the restrictions are lifted and so the creative team (a producing team that includes Glen Morgan, Greg Yaitanes, Simon Kinberg, and Jordan Peele) needs to be mindful of being disciplined storytellers. That said, my guess is that you can expect this reboot to indulge in providing viewers with a deluxe director’s cut excess. That could be very good news for some fans. Then again, who knows, maybe adjustments will be made and we’ll get this reboot refined to perfection.
As someone who is putting together a graphic novel that is directly related to The Twilight Zone, I am particularly intrigued by this reboot. I see the minor blemishes too. But, overall, this is a series that has its ducks in a row and I feel confident that Rod Serling, given a chance to process where we are today, would grin and give the show his blessing.
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