Rod Serling on Not Mentioning Political Parties In Movie Scripts | The Dick Cavett Show

[@Burps___]

Mr. Rod Serling passed away on June 28, 1975...less than three years after this airing. He was only 50 years old, and had heart disease. His wife, Carol, passed away at age 90 in year 2020 and is buried next to Rod in upstate New York.

[@JLMISR]

I could hear his voice reading that sentence

[@commanderkeen3787]

A war hero and a creative genius. A real mensch. But he had his demons

[@watchmanschannelofdespair]

@@commanderkeen3787 I wouldn't refer to them as demons, like many WWII vets he had PTSD, I mean he saw one G.I. die right in front of him in a resupply accident, when cargo dropped from a plane fell on a guy from his regiment, killing him instantly. Now, while we know that smoking isn't healthy, many do live beyond the age of 50, my own aunt lived to be 84, outliving her siblings who didn't smoke. I daresay she'd have lived longer and better without it, of course. My point is that it was more than smoking that hep to cut short Mr. Serling's life, he was overworked, as was common in his profession, unfortunately and as we all should know by now, stress kills, even the 'Good Book' mentions about not "worrying".

[@WalterBurton]

@@watchmanschannelofdespair Well put. 👍

[@serpentines6356]

@@watchmanschannelofdespair The good book mentions a lot of good things. One is to 'keep the sabbath,' take a day of rest. If you work a lot, always take a day off, relax, spend time with family, etc.

[@Cookefan59]

When Rod Serling died at the relatively early age of 50 yo, it really hurt. We lost an incredibly talented sincere decent courageous and eloquent man. He was a man’s man. A galant man. There’s never been another like him.

[@steveweiskopf2129]

Brilliant guy

[@danielhetue6968]

TV icon and brave war hero he was

[@willminkorea2010]

They are discussing the 1972 political drama "The Man" starring James Earl Jones, Martin Balsam, and Burgess Meredith and directed by Joseph Sargent. Rod Serling wrote the screenplay.

[@JLMISR]

Thank you, makes sense now

[@earlpipe9713]

I've never heard of that film, did the critics of the time dismissively trash it or something?

[@willminkorea2010]

@@earlpipe9713 It was largely ignored because of the subject- a black president.

[@michaelbayer5094]

@@earlpipe9713 I saw the fim many years ago in the early morning hours on broadcast TV (the ABC station?) James Earl Jones is an accidental president because he is Senate Pres. Pro Tem. when tragedy strikes. The most interesting part of the film is that the racist Southern segragationist senator played by B. Meredith (Strom Thurmond as the model?) finds common ground with the Apartied South Africans in a white supremacist birds of a feather flocking together scene. I can't imagine a screenwriter doing that today, but Serling was no ordinary writer.

[@ManeeVaughn]

The most fascinating man in history. Sad he passed away long before I was born. The Twilight Zone is my all-time favorite TV show.

[@fluorosco]

"Rod Serling UCLA" TYPE THAT ON KZbin. YOULL LOVE HIS 3 LECTURES.. LOVELY LOVELY MAN ❤

[@harmonicdissent]

I always feel smarter after listening to rod really give his opinion on something. Awesome guy.

[@twilightzone7600]

I was born in 1949 and my idol was Rod Serling. I got to know him, his wife and two daughters and wouldn't trade the time I spent with them for more breaths on my death bed. He was extremely down to earth and very approachable and very easy to talk with. I would almost sell my soul to the devil for one tenth of his talent! The Twilight Zone-still the best anything ever put on television!..

[@digitalsoldier3894]

Rod Serling, the timeless Genius fondly remembered and still celebrated 48 years after he suddenly returned home

[@DanielRucci]

Rod speaks with the fluidity and deftness of someone reading a script written by a room full of researchers - but it’s just him answering off the cuff. Watch some of his other interviews. He was amazingly intelligent.

[@wunone67]

Arthur C. Clark and Rod Serling together? An absolute treat! Thank you!!

[@theeditorrestrial]

was gonna say the same thing...brain overload!

[@wizkidsvideos]

More Rod videos please.

[@rogerparis]

Rod Serling, what a talent and obviously decent and sincere.

[@jennifersman7990]

If you think about it, Rod’s script for Planet of the Apes played EXACTLY like an extended TZ episode

[@BomChickyBowWow]

They complained about fair time doctrine then, but if Rod Serling saw 24 hour cable news today I think he’d be begging to have fair time back on the books.

[@BrettCagwin49ers]

Facts: Cassie Mackin died of cancer in 1982 :( Serling was a paratrooper during WWII and served in retaking The Philippines.

[@earlpipe9713]

RIP + thanks to both

[@somethingyousaid5059]

The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street may be my favorite T Z episode.

[@IamRa-18]

Ahhh yes. It’s definitely the cliché TZ episode but amazing nonetheless. To serve man has one of the best twists of all time. I think what people of today don’t realize when they watch the twilight zone, that they are watching the very first time this sci-fi twist ever played out on screen. He basically set the archetype for all future thriller and scary movies

[@boourns5898]

Walking Distance is such a beautiful story. One of my favorites.

[@Iknowthelaw13]

Especially relevant now with all this divide and conquer CONvid stuff going on

[@silasbarnaby8870]

"It's Charlie... he's the one" 😂😂

[@jennifersman7990]

Tough to choose, but “Where is Everybody?” came to mind first for me

[@francesjolly5106]

How lucky we were. This man brought to light unspeakable horrors. What a futuristic person. Thank you all for Mr. Serling. Thank u to the family that shares with us.

[@RodrickColbert]

Side note, as of this post, Dick Cavett is still alive!

[@dankemetick4492]

Rod Serling is my hero. I LOVED Night Gallery.

[@dianahohimer1107]

Oh I loved it too!

[@battlestarmarc]

Serling was a genius.

[@awg9dog]

My kind of person, RS took to media , tv and radio with the full intelligence of a forward thinking , futurist inspired by peace and unadulterated fair play in politics , the. board of television ethics and standards and in life . And , credit to Dick Cavitt ,as there would never be another tv guest show so open and honest .

[@johnnytoobad7785]

Rod Serling..I was so enamored with the the T-Zone as young boy I even got a T-Zone book and did my first "book report" on one of the short stories from the book. I also watch "Requiem for Heavyweight" at least twice a year. Love those T-Zone marathons too.

[@earlpipe9713]

There really were some classic treats for growing minds amongst the old black & white uhf syndication, as well as many also being huge nostalgia generators. Just thinking about watching some of my then favorite late night shows on the edge of my mum's bed, while she told me about their actors or explained something from em I was too young to grasp myself, fills me with all types of warm fuzziness

[@earlpipe9713]

Serling had a genuis just for the way he set up the T-Zone's beginning in a way that pulled ya right in, wondering what way your mind would be blown next

[@mdb831]

He seems like a guy I would have liked.

[@tahseti1113]

I always felt the same way.

[@mieleD]

@mdb831, When in his presence one could feel the aura of genius, yet he made you feel at ease. With piercing eyes, he was engaging and always interested in what you you had to say. -- And as humble and down to earth as they come. @mdb381, yes, you would have liked him...

[@randomrecipes5007]

You still can like him, I like him very much love twilight zone, love watchin his interviews, yeah you would’ve liked to be friends with him but you can still like him even though he passed long time ago.

[@Elphaba1952]

Re-watched "The Man" on KZbin recently. WOW! How I miss Rod Serling and his genius. At least we still have the amazing James Earl Jones!

[@nickowchar2001]

Amazing to have these people together on a show. Still possible to do that?

[@chobit76]

I would give years of my life to sit in a room or a front porch and just chat with Serling and Clarke for a few hours.

[@DerangedLeftWingers]

movie Rod is talking about is The Man (1972)

[@noeldown1952]

And then they cancelled the equal time doctrine, and we got we all know what...

[@forgottenmma3694]

Rod Serling should have lived to be 100. His brand, talent, and creations will never be matched. I take alot of inspiration for his class, intelligence and talent.

[@batman5224]

It’s ironic that TV networks were once concerned about appearing bipartisan. That certainly isn’t true today.

[@harrysachs2274]

This fact is only obvious to right leaning individuals.

[@rrbaggett7]

@@harrysachs2274 On what data are you basing your assertion?

[@harrysachs2274]

@@rrbaggett7 I'm using my eyes and ears. I know leftists will disregard what they see and hear if they are told to, "fire-y but peaceful" comes to mind.

[@mutualistmusings7040]

It doesn't really matter when the parties are so similar anyway. You're kidding yourself if you can't see that the Democrats and Republicans have very similar positions on most issues and they use bullshit cultural issues to distract and divide the working class while they and their donors take away all the money that the working class produces.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

@@mutualistmusings7040 One example of the bipartisanship was the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a boondoggle for the big media companies.

[@STONESGAM]

Total genius. Imagine if he had a little more time and bigger budget to get all of those TZ episodes done exactly the way he wanted. Season 1 alone has 39 episodes. They had to shoot a new episode almost every week back then. So many classics with a great message or something to think about after each episode and it was rarely heavy handed. All of the heavy smoking definitely took its toll on him though he looks about 60 ish here and he's only 47.

[@Rick-qh2zu]

A large bird apparently enters the studio around 1:06, giving it's opinion on the topic at hand.

[@JLMISR]

Can’t believe we watched TZ Sunday morning before church

[@JLMISR]

55 years ago🤪BEFORE LEAVING TO CHURCH......THANK GOD I STILL GO TO CHURCH!

[@c.7610]

Nothing against Dick Cavett or the lady there, but I really wish they would have just left the stage and let Arthur C. Clarke and Rod Serling, two of the 20th century’s greatest imaginative visionaries, simply talk to each other.

[@LDNBSTD]

I love listening to rod serling talk but for some reason it's harder to listen when he's not smoking a cigarette.

[@malissahyatt2425]

What would i give to have taken a creative writing class from him!!!!!!!!!?

[@paulrodriguez8852]

I think that Rod did want some control over the stories presented on the series, like he did on the Twilight zone. He wasn't necessarily mad at them.

[@dramamajor1985]

At the end it sounded like Dick was describing the movie Contact.

[@TheRoyaltyValerie]

He had a great voice

[@mieleD]

Have things ever changed. Down is up. Up is down. And the not-so-merry-go-round goes 'round...

[@kevinporter861]

Volume is too low i couldn't hear.

[@rieriec.36]

Whaaaaa?🤣🤣

[@j_c_93]

Then turn it up, genius

[@quapawqwerty1619]

What late night shows used to offer.

[@plophlegm]

Intelligence, how refreshing! thanks

[@octaviussludberry9016]

I can't imagine contemporary stars discussing anything like this on US TV. Never mind the subject matter, the degree of knowledge of the actual maxims behind the parties and the knowledge of other parties beyond Democrats and Republicans.

[@3373-g8z]

“The Man” ,can be seen on YT!

[@ronmackinnon9374]

The air date for this episode given in the description box -- July 12, 1972 -- is incorrect. It was actually a week later, July 19, 1972 -- which makes sense, since they're shown talking about the Democratic convention as if it's already in the past, whereas it would still have been in progress on July 12th.

[@guaporeturns9472]

Rod was a great man

[@fenwaypark1725]

I’m old fashioned. Earning the position

[@Dane_Youssef]

Rod tried not to let his own exact political views be directly mentioned in his stuff as--well, he was a Democrat. And if you're a Democrat and your stuff is ragingly liberal--the liberals eat it up. But the conservatives (and all other non-liberals) are going to just tune out. He wanted his stuff to be... really more philosophical. His brother Robert was a raging Republican. And their contrasting ideals are the real reason they had a feud. They mended the burned bridges eventually. But that's the problem with politics. It divides people. Tears them completely apart. Even Americans.

[@diegocosta9009]

I like how Clarke laughs at every comment he makes

[@earlpipe9713]

The unconventional nostalgia upon sight of decades long gone toupee stylings

[@earlpipe9713]

And the missed wholesomeness of a lack of division as media commodity

[@rieriec.36]

You have noooo life bruh!

[@andrewwilliams9599]

The same thing happened to George Takei when he ran for office during the original airing of Star Trek: The Animated Series. In 1973 he ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, finishing second of five candidates in the special election and losing by 1,647 votes; the winner, David Cunningham Jr., received 42% of the votes cast and Takei received 33%. During the campaign, Takei's bid for the city council caused one local station to stop running the repeats of the original Star Trek series until after the election and KNBC-TV to substitute the premiere episode of the Star Trek animated series scheduled by the network with another in which his character did not appear, in attempts to avoid violating the FCC's equal-time rule.[81] The other candidates in the race complained that Takei's distinctive and powerful voice alone, even without his image on television every week, created an unfair advantage

[@happysawfish]

Wish I had a cool voice like Takei. What was his character's name? Mr. Sulu?

[@heathstjohn6775]

Could somebody tell me why Rod Serling spoke with clenched teeth ? My favourite T. Zone episode is definitely 'Third from the Sun'.

[@gerrydooley951]

Yes , according to a bio i read Serling suffered from diverticulitus which led to chronic constipation. This was pre adult diapers so Serling was really trying to prevent himself from having an embarrassing accident.

[@heathstjohn6775]

@@gerrydooley951 Fascinating. Thank you.

[@eeddieedwards3890]

And he had "clenched fists" when he used sign language.

[@heathstjohn6775]

@@eeddieedwards3890 Hello. I'd never noticed. Next time, when in the Zone, I'll remember to look. Wondering again about the teeth. Thanks.

[@pendorran]

Anybody who the 'Night Gallery' actor running for Congress was? I know that George Takei has a similar issue the following year he ran for L.A. City Council, because of the frequent 'Star Trek' reruns on TV.

[@JohnInTheShelter]

I believe the NG actor was Ed Nelson, who's done a lot of TV and movie work.

[@malissahyatt2425]

The voice from space is Roddy McDowell.

[@SoldierUSArmy]

Rod Serling was the best known political Libertarian in the entire world as he was who.ishing government.

[@TheConstructiveCritic888]

Sounds like a better way to do television. We don’t need to be divisive.

[@lowerclassbrats77]

Fair time doesn't much matter. It's more a problem of big tech working as an agent of the Authoritarian Party to crush any dissenting voices and when a free speech alternative arises they simply collude to render them inoperable. The internet and big tech platforms are the new public square in the eyes of many. They need to decide if they're platforms or publishers, they cannot continue to enjoy the benefits of both.

[@earlpipe9713]

Yup, and even those who don't have eyes viewing that public square, eventually do have their ears absorbing it's propaganda points instead, as most they converse with will be discussing with them viewpoints taken from their social media perusals

[@Nigelpreece]

Submitted for your approval, the master storyteller, who even now still speaks to us, long long after he left us, and passed into that place he discovered, a place he knows better than any of us, a place as limitless as his very imagination, we will in eternity know it as . . . The Twilight Zone.

[@sophcass2974]

Rod seemed nervous here

[@thegiftedone]

Mr. Rod Serling never died…. He is a time traveler, from the future! He chose the 1950’s to warn us…. About the multiverse, multidimensional universe filled with entities and extraterrestrials … he used that new invention “television “ to reach millions…. He wasn’t allow to directly tell us but indirectly through his epic masterpiece “ The Twilight Zone”……. He has never seen cigarettes before because in the year 3030 cigarettes have been banned for the last 1000 years… he truly enjoyed them….. Lucky Strikes! he is a prophet and an activist who cares about the human race that is dwelling on a Mars after the artificial intelligence robots remotely monitored by an alien race known as ” The Greys “ … he is currently in the 8th dimension now….

[@Tmanaz480]

Dick's idea would have been a great Twilight Zone episode.

[@qed100]

-and as it turned out, his idea was the core of _3 Body Problem._

[@MoeGreensRightEye]

Who is the woman?

[@ronaldj.granieri5355]

Cassie Mackin was a network news reporter, first woman to be floor reporter at the Dem and GOP conventions in 1972. She became an evening news anchor, was a pioneer but died of cancer in her early 40s, in 1982.

[@MoeGreensRightEye]

@@ronaldj.granieri5355 thanks

[@frankpeter6851]

I love it when Catherine Mackin brings up the power of the medium of television in relation to the fairness Doctrine. And when the idea of the Communist Party getting equal time comes up. Her question is "have they ever gotten equal time".

[@Hypnogely]

"But that won't happen again..." The second woman to ever run for president just lost again in 2024. That glass ceiling is tempered glass.

[@pfflyer3381]

Dic always put himself in a question. Worse @8:15 he asked if his dream story was something... while two guests just gave examples of this dream story? As if he wasn't listening. He thinks about himself too much!

[@brainflash1]

Funny how they weren't allowed to mention parties by name in fictional shows while a failed actor was serving governor of California.

[@markmaki4460]

. . . . .

[@eeddieedwards3890]

Yeah, the "Governator" Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's a good one!

[@patrickhicks9880]

the blonde woman looks like malibu barbie

[@billmcintoshshow7223]

Rod would be dumbfounded (hopefully) to see the bias in favor of the left.

[@richardspeziale]

"GIW" ??

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Stands for Global Image Works. I guess they're the ones with the rights to these clips.

[@Gannooch]

Is this channel ever going to show Dick Cavett shows where he interviews Jackie Gleason and/or Art Carney? I don’t have the Decades channel at all.

[@flaccidusminimus2170]

The poor guy was 47 years old here and looked over 60.

[@criticalcatalyst]

And yet Rod... Here we are... Right smack in the middle of maelstrom currently spinning out of control that could only happen in this realm called the Twilight Zone...

[@luisspeciale4675]

I love Rod Sterling , is it me or does he looks like Ted Bundy?

[@JoshuaCastillo6309]

He looks like and talks like him. If you watch Ted’s last interview before his death, his voice and mannerisms are almost identical. Funny you noticed that too.

[@luisspeciale4675]

@@JoshuaCastillo6309 two very different people, Rod Sterling being a great person and Ted Bundy being a homicidal maniac.

[@JoshuaCastillo6309]

@@luisspeciale4675 Facts.

[@luisspeciale4675]

@@JoshuaCastillo6309 they both spoke slowly.

[@brianarbenz1329]

While they were mulling the chances that the U.S. could have a black president, an 11-year-old child was out there Dick Cavett would live to see elected. So sad that Catherine Mackin and Rod Serling would die in coming years after this aired.

[@Gannooch]

have nothing against the other celebs that were on this show but is this channel ever going to show the Dick Cavett shows where he interviews Jackie Gleason or Art Carney? How about any Honeymooners actors that were part of the main cast? These are rare much like the other ones.

[@JLMISR]

Wow wow wow..___NOTHUN HAS CHANGD

[@juliestrom412]

Well yes it has , DAH!

[@natalliaf6387]

Serling's wig is in the Twilight Zone

[@larryeagleson3182]

Rod did not wear a toupee.

[@MrRacket991]

I take a contrarian view of Serling. He was something of an overblown pretentious buffoon. All that purple language hid a lot of mediocrity. There was more meaning in an episode of Beverly Hillbillies or Green Acres than most of the hack writing he turned out.

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

He combs his air up starting at his ass. That is seriously the strangest hair I have ever seen.

[@rieriec.36]

Maybe he should French braid like your public hair

[@FelipeGarciaQuintino]

1970's style, normal.

[@dsim6703]

And today you can't make a film without diversity.....sad

[@questionreality2637]

So Rod Sterling is now Serling... so Mandela Effected anyone?

[@mr.horrorchild4094]

This guy did a lot of damage to the US

[@brainsareus]

It's cheesy to get into petty or specific politics in drama; plus, it dates the work. She is clueless, and Dick is being a glib jerk.

[@rieriec.36]

She is????MUST BE A RELATIVE OF YOURS

[@ImYourHuckleberry_29]

Who's the woman?