1x01 "Rod's Lonely Man"

After a month of protracted backstory and introductions, the podcast officially launches with host Craig Beam (My Life in the Shadow of The Twilight Zone) comparing and contrasting two Rod Serling classics: “Where is Everybody?” and “King Nine Will Not Return.” One will emerge the victor, and the other… well, you’ll have to tune in to find out. Somewhere in the all the chaos Teresa pops in to dole out some trademark spousal emasculation; also listen for a special appearance by Dr. Reba Wissner, PhD (author of A Dimension of Sound: Music in The Twilight Zone) and an unexpected connection between The Twilight Zone and Nine Inch Nails.

http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/fred-steiner#

Opening theme: “Neither Here Nor There” by Twin Loops

Closing music: “Earl Holliman State of Mind” by DJ Crabby CraB

The Twilight Zone is a trademark of CBS, Inc.

“Where Is Everybody?” by Lorraine Feather (from the album Tales of the Unusual; copyright 2012 by Jazzed Media)

“Where Is Everybody?” by Nine Inch Nails (from the album The Fragile, copyright 1999 by Nothing/Interscope)

Day of Our Lives theme composed by Charles Albertine, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (copyright Corday Productions and NBC)

Between Light and a Shadow: A Twilight Zone Podcast is a nonprofit podcast. Music clips and dialogue excerpts used herein are the property of their respective copyright owners; we claim no ownership of these materials. Their use is strictly for illustrative purposes and should be considered Fair Use as stated in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. section 107.

50 ("Where Is Everybody?")

So the fiftieth anniversary of The Twilight Zone's premiere has come and gone. I watched the pilot episode ("Where Is Everybody?") at exactly 7:00 p.m. last night as planned. I watched the American Masters documentary on Rod Serling. I watched the alternate version of the pilot episode. I listened to the DVD commentary tracks by Earl Holliman and William Self. I read both Serling's teleplay and short story adaptation. Oh, and I greatly enjoyed the musical score by Bernard Herrmann, my favorite film music composer of all time (might be a good time to mention that Herrmann composed the TZ theme for the first season of the series).

And I got drunk. Oh, and in true Rod Serling style, I smoked almost an entire pack of cigarettes. So yeah, I definitely celebrated.

So what's my problem? Why do I feel... I don't know....left behind, as if I've missed something?

Perhaps it's because I celebrated alone. Perhaps I needed to be in the company of other Zone-obsessed fans. Perhaps I needed to feel like part of a group, an extended family, a collective. Christ, maybe I needed to live in New York or Ithaca. That's where all the action was yesterday. Here in the Pacific Northwest, there was a whole lot of NOTHING going on.

*No, before you ask, I don't normally smoke.

TZ Promo: "Where Is Everybody?" (10/02/59)

"Hey! Where is everybody???"

Here's where it all started. The very first Twilight Zone episode, first broadcast exactly 50 years ago today.

TV guide listing, 10/02/1959 (thanks to Bill Huelbig for the scan).

Actor Earl Holliman, Producer William Self, Writer/Creator Rod Serling.

I had the flu when I was about 12 (or thereabouts). I had a tiny little black and white TV in my room, positioned near the head of my bed. As it happened, local channel KPTV-12 ran "Where Is Everybody?" that night, and of course I watched it. For the rest of the night, I faded in and out of consciousness in a kind of delusional fever dream, in which I wandered around in a town without people. It was surreal, let me tell ya. I've only been sick enough to cause hallucinations two other times in my life, and both of them happened in the last five years.... stories for another time.

Tonight at 7:00. I can't wait.