Twilight Zone Companion Read Online Free Page A
Author: Marc Scott Zicree
It was The Time Element, an imaginative time-travel fantasy that had been aired on The Storm in Cincinnati. He expanded the script to an hour and had his secretary type these words on the front page:
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
THE TIME ELEMENT BY
ROD SERLING Then he submitted it to CBS.II / ENTERING THE TWILIGHT ZONE
Lets not kid ourselves about Twilight Zone. A lot of luck was involved in selling that to anyone. It was a show no one wanted to buy.
To say that CBS greeted The Time Element with less than open arms would be an understatement. They did buy the script, but then promptly shelved it. And it would undoubtedly have remained on the shelf to this day, gathering dust like so many other worthy projects, had it not been for the efforts of a man named Bert Granet.
Even today, Granet seems a tough, hard-nosed realist who fights hard for the things he wants. In 1958, he was producing Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, a series featuring pedestrian dramas three weeks out of four and situation comedies starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz every fourth week. In years past he had encountered his share of difficulties while producing motion pictures such as Berlin Express, directed by Jacques Tourneur, and The Marrying Kind, directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Holliday, but on Desilu Playhouse he faced a new problem: how to lend prestige to a television show that had absolutely no pretensions to great art.
Granet went about solving his problem in two ways: first, by securing big-name film actors to star and, secondly, by buying up scripts from top television writers. Rod Serling was definitely a name he wanted on the credits of his show.
Through a mutual friend, television and film director Robert Parrish (who later directed One for the Angels, A Stop at Willoughby, Mr. Bevis, and part of The Mighty Casey for The Twilight Zone), Granet was introduced to Serling. Rod remembered that he had once sold something to CBS, and CBS wasnt doing anything with it, Granet recalls. So, using great persuasion, I found out what it was, got to CBS, and bought it for what was a lot of money at that timeten thousand dollars.
The Time Element was put on the production schedule of Desilu Playhouse for the 1958-59 season. As with every other script of the series, McCann-Erickson, the advertising agency representing Westinghouse, the shows sponsor, had script approval. Granet recalls their reaction. I got a call from New York: Absolutely, flatly no. They didnt want any unfinished stories. They wanted neat bows at the end where each story wrapped up, unlike Twilight Zone stories which gave you many outs, many possibilities of using the imagination.
So I said, Well, I want to do it. And with that, they flew out about four important vice-presidents to tell me why not. And I must say, at this point all it would have meant was swallowing ten thousand dollars in not doing it. But [Desi] Arnaz backed me up.
Reluctantly, McCann-Erickson relented, but not before setting up a few conditions. They said if we did it I had to make a blood promise that I would never do that kind of a story again. Then there was the matter of the script itself. In Serlings original draft, the main character tries unsuccessfully to warn the Army of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. But Westinghouse had a number of government contracts; they couldnt risk offending the Pentagon. The character would not try to warn the Army.
Once past this point, the production moved ahead smoothly. Granet hired director Allen Reisner, a talented man who had worked with Serling material before. Together, they assembled a cast of strong professionals, with William Bendix in the lead, supported by Martin Balsam, Darryl Hickman, and Jesse White. The budget was approximately $135,000.
On November 24, 1958, The Time Element was aired on CBS. The story, as finally presented, was an intriguing one. Pete Jenson (Bendix), a part-time unsuccessful bookie, card dealer and bartender, seeks out the aid of
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
THE TIME ELEMENT BY
ROD SERLING Then he submitted it to CBS.II / ENTERING THE TWILIGHT ZONE
Lets not kid ourselves about Twilight Zone. A lot of luck was involved in selling that to anyone. It was a show no one wanted to buy.
To say that CBS greeted The Time Element with less than open arms would be an understatement. They did buy the script, but then promptly shelved it. And it would undoubtedly have remained on the shelf to this day, gathering dust like so many other worthy projects, had it not been for the efforts of a man named Bert Granet.
Even today, Granet seems a tough, hard-nosed realist who fights hard for the things he wants. In 1958, he was producing Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, a series featuring pedestrian dramas three weeks out of four and situation comedies starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz every fourth week. In years past he had encountered his share of difficulties while producing motion pictures such as Berlin Express, directed by Jacques Tourneur, and The Marrying Kind, directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Holliday, but on Desilu Playhouse he faced a new problem: how to lend prestige to a television show that had absolutely no pretensions to great art.
Granet went about solving his problem in two ways: first, by securing big-name film actors to star and, secondly, by buying up scripts from top television writers. Rod Serling was definitely a name he wanted on the credits of his show.
Through a mutual friend, television and film director Robert Parrish (who later directed One for the Angels, A Stop at Willoughby, Mr. Bevis, and part of The Mighty Casey for The Twilight Zone), Granet was introduced to Serling. Rod remembered that he had once sold something to CBS, and CBS wasnt doing anything with it, Granet recalls. So, using great persuasion, I found out what it was, got to CBS, and bought it for what was a lot of money at that timeten thousand dollars.
The Time Element was put on the production schedule of Desilu Playhouse for the 1958-59 season. As with every other script of the series, McCann-Erickson, the advertising agency representing Westinghouse, the shows sponsor, had script approval. Granet recalls their reaction. I got a call from New York: Absolutely, flatly no. They didnt want any unfinished stories. They wanted neat bows at the end where each story wrapped up, unlike Twilight Zone stories which gave you many outs, many possibilities of using the imagination.
So I said, Well, I want to do it. And with that, they flew out about four important vice-presidents to tell me why not. And I must say, at this point all it would have meant was swallowing ten thousand dollars in not doing it. But [Desi] Arnaz backed me up.
Reluctantly, McCann-Erickson relented, but not before setting up a few conditions. They said if we did it I had to make a blood promise that I would never do that kind of a story again. Then there was the matter of the script itself. In Serlings original draft, the main character tries unsuccessfully to warn the Army of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. But Westinghouse had a number of government contracts; they couldnt risk offending the Pentagon. The character would not try to warn the Army.
Once past this point, the production moved ahead smoothly. Granet hired director Allen Reisner, a talented man who had worked with Serling material before. Together, they assembled a cast of strong professionals, with William Bendix in the lead, supported by Martin Balsam, Darryl Hickman, and Jesse White. The budget was approximately $135,000.
On November 24, 1958, The Time Element was aired on CBS. The story, as finally presented, was an intriguing one. Pete Jenson (Bendix), a part-time unsuccessful bookie, card dealer and bartender, seeks out the aid of
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