Rod Serling's Greatest Obsession

[@walterfechter8080]

For all of the creepiness of "The Night Gallery," the episode, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," evoked more emotion, than anything else that Rod put together for that TV series. I remember weeping bitterly after watching that particular episode. A few nights before that episode premiered on NBC, I had lost my dad due to a heart attack. He was also a WWII vet and a heavy smoker. "Walking Distance" left me with the comfort in knowing, yes, you CAN go "home" again. Likewise, for "Willoughby." Thanks, Rod Serling, for your service to your country and for providing a mirror for us to see ourselves. Thanks, ParkNarcz!

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you so much for this comment! It's because of men like your father that we even made it through WW2!

[@walterfechter8080]

@@ParkNarcz You're welcome. My dad was a big fan of "The Twilight Zone." WWII tested us like no other event in world history. Take care.

[@laurieemerson8159]

❤

[@walterfechter8080]

@@laurieemerson8159 Many thanks! 😺❤

[@walterfechter8080]

@@FrithonaHrududu02127 - 👍

[@joconnor57]

Rod Serling and I attended the same high school in Binghamton, NY. We both had a teacher named Helen Foley. Rod had her for English in her first year of teaching and I had her in her last year in 1975. He would later use Helen Foley's name as a main character in a story that appeared in the Twilight Zone movie in 1983. As a kid I loved watching Twilight Zone re-runs and Night Gallery when it aired from 1970 to 1973. Rod later died two days after high school my graduation in June, 1975. I was sad for his early passing at age 50 and wonder what else he could have written had he lived on. Rest in peace Rodman Edward Serling, you are missed.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

Helen Foley was first used as the name of Janice Rule's character on the original series episode "Nightmare as a Child."

[@matthewschwartz6607]

How did he die so young?

[@joconnor57]

@@matthewschwartz6607 He died of heart failure. Unfortunately, he was a heavy smoker (4-5 packs a day).

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

@@matthewschwartz6607 , Oasis cigarettes. He would light one up in cigarette commercials and tell you how refreshing and "clean" they were to smoke. No, I'm not kidding. Serling smoked during interviews, and there are almost no pictures of him without a cigarette in his hand.

[@clarityofmind7317]

@@matthewschwartz6607 super stressed, always from interference with his creative efforts in twilight zone and reduced creative license in night gallery, and the fact that he smoked an average 3-5 packs of cigarettes every day might’ve had something to do with it. Tobacco companies were major advertisers at the time and they insisted he smoke whenever he was on camera. He died while having open-heart surgery after suffering one or more heart attacks. Think if he could have lived another 40 or 50 years…

[@williamhannon6055]

He will never be forgotten. He was a master storyteller and a true genius.

[@-0rbital-]

He'll be remembered as long as television is remembered.

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

@@-0rbital- What's television? Oh, you mean streaming services on my computer.

[@daviddowns7552]

True

[@uwsgrrrl9981]

Twilight Zone episodes I never get tired of. So creative.

[@electrictroy2010]

@maskedmarvyl4774 I still have a television. It even has an antenna so I can receive ~50 channels free over the air. What’s streaming? Nah just kidding. I know what it is, but I don’t want to pay for it (Hulu, Netflix, etc). I’ll stick with my Antenna TV and KZbin .

[@sumralltt]

It's hard to leave the past as you get older - So many wonderful memories of great people that are now gone!

[@kevinroley4680]

The past is a much better place to live than the present or the future. General Patton used to say how I hate the 20th century. Now I say how I hate the 21st century

[@joycebrackbill-henderly8311]

I know. 😢

[@lovepet4565]

@@sumralltt i wish we could go back to the way the natural world was 50 yrs ago When 73% of the 5k species were still with us

[@kemouse]

In the movie Watchmen, a character says "Every day the past becomes a little brighter and the future a little darker".

[@staceyannjustus8245]

So true, Night Gallery and the Twilight Zone were so scary I remember my brother, sister and I would huddle around our mother. The writing was superb and they were able to scare us without being gross. I miss that too.

[@notbill08]

"A Stop at Willoughby" is one of my favorite twilight zone episodes!

[@susanverhoeven4962]

Mine, too.

[@boydmason4476]

Absolutely the best episode!

[@DonatoDamiano-r2g]

I, myself love that episode to pieces. Too bad the guy had that witch of a wife, though. Good episode that I can really relate to. As for Night Gallery, I would have to say "The Caterpillar." It's disturbing, yet fascinating. So many great episodes this series had. Rod Serling was a genius, an absolute dynamo for television! 📺🙂

[@damerochelle4014]

Mine too! That messed with my head and I never get tired watching that episode.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

Beautiful personal best (imo) great performance by James Daly, father of actors Tim and Tyne.

[@stoogeswoman]

I was lucky enough to get to meet Mr. William Windom in the early 90s. He was a guest at a radio station where I was working. We had a nice chat while he was waiting to go on and I got the chance to tell him in person how much I loved this episode! A great actor as well as a very nice and funny gentleman!

[@adrian-h3d]

Rod Serling combined the aesthetics of art with conscientious social commentary leaving the viewer not only entertained but also edified

[@lovepet4565]

As a girl in the 60/70s i loved this show and Outer limits & Alfred Hirchcock It made my imagination grow... & i think inspired a lot of the great move directors

[@robertreisner6119]

The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery are my favorite shows. Rod Sterling was a fantastic writer that left a great legacy that should never be forgotten. Rest in Peace Rod.

[@rosemarymurray5488]

Serling

[@billwoods9302]

Growing up in the 70's while in grade school, my friends and I recognized Rod Serling only as the TV host of Twilight Zone and The Night Gallery. When we got older, we learned that Mr. Serling was one of the most prolific and creative screenwriters in television history. When asked how he'd like to be remembered 100 years down the road, being remembered as a writer was good enough for him. But let's be honest, Rod Serling's work will be legendary well beyond 100 years from now. Much of his work still holds up and always will because his themes were often universal and ahead of their time. In simpler terms, Mr. Serling's writing was timeless.

[@2packs4sure]

The Caterpillar is the one that got me when I was a little kid,,, that stayed with me for a long long time,,, still gives me the shiver's actually... LOL

[@jdjeep98]

Loved anything Rod Serling did. He was an amazing person and his passing was a huge loss to all of us.

[@meiketorkelson4437]

As someone who has been through trauma therapy, the upbeat ending has to be the original intent. It aligns with a lot of grief therapy. Letting go of painful things. But finding new things to invest in.😊

[@tod3msn]

William Windom was always one of Rod Serling’s favorite actors and with good reason because William Windom was very sensitive and realistic in his portrayals. The Willoughby episode of The Twilight Zone was gentle and profound in its tone and very memorable.

[@scottgebow6539]

Rod Serling will be remembered for 100 years and beyond I truly believe.

[@cdorman11]

Today is Christmas and Rod Serling was born 100 years ago.

[@scottgebow6539]

@ That’s right!

[@ranchokitty1]

That shot of the old TV guide brought a blast childhood memory.

[@ngware8987]

One I still remember is where the guy who had killed a woman was lured to an old house by the woman’s father. Captured in a basement chamber through a trapdoor, after shooting and missing he is caught, desperate, and out of ammunition. He begs for release. The old man tells him there is one way out. And as he closes the cover he drops one bullet inside.

[@Sean-oy8xm]

I watched them all on TV as a pre-teen. Loved them all.

[@paullevine1813]

As long as the world is still here in 100 years Rod will not be forgotten & the best word i can think of is Timeless.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

He was a great writer. One of the best. Twilight Zone (which I saw when it originally aired and then watched in reruns almost every day of my childhood) remains my all-time favorite series. Serling's words, style, voice, perspective, morality have stayed with me, and in my heart all these years.

[@mypalfootfoot9591]

When I was young, I felt an empathetic connection to the plight of middle aged men. Movies like The Swimmer and Last Tango In Paris, had an emotional impact on me. I grew up watching The Twilight Zone, it was certainly my favorite TV show and I admired Rod Serling, not only for his skill at writing thought provoking stories but for his concern about social issues. I was young for so long and now that I'm 74, Its difficult to accept being old. Knowing about Mr. Serling's own fears and concerns makes me feel a more personal connection to him, as if we're kindred sprits. I now see stories like They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar and reflect on the fears and challenges that I've experienced, rather than viewing them as cautionary tales in the way I did when I was young. There are new fears now and I wish Rod Serling was still around to write about them, I believe that he would be experiencing the same fears and concerns, his insights would be appreciated.

[@ParkNarcz]

As a kid, I found "A Stop At Willoughby" one of the most boring TZ episodes. Now that I'm older it's one of the deepest. Thank you for commenting!

[@mypalfootfoot9591]

@@ParkNarcz That happens with a lot of things.

[@DavidTSmith-jn5bs]

You should hunt down "Patterns" and "Requiem for a Heavyweight" on DVD. They'll give you an idea of how Rod Serling viewed the plight of middle aged men when he was a young man dealing with newfound success.

[@mypalfootfoot9591]

@@DavidTSmith-jn5bs I've seen both and really liked them!

[@mypalfootfoot9591]

@@DavidTSmith-jn5bs Thanks, I've seen both and enjoyed them immensely!

[@robertfontaine356]

As a young teenager, I was a huge fan of Serling`s work. I saw the original broadcast of TTDTRB, and I was very moved by it - and very taken with William Windom`s stellar performance. The episode left an indelible impression and it still retains the power to move me when I come across it, as I have a few times over the decades. Your idea that the final "happy ending" might also be a hallucination is an intriguing one that had not occurred to me. Was I perhaps so desperate at this point for a happy ending that I had to take it at face value ? Mr. Serling is one of my favourite television writers. He was brilliant at camouflaging social commentary in the trappings of fantasy/sci-fi at a highly conservative time in network TV. Brilliant !

[@TheTriplelman]

my Dad and I used to stay up at night and watch this, then discuss them. I miss Dad

[@tessaducek5601]

🙏

[@thecolorgreen7046]

My favorite is "The Cemetery" with Roddy MacDowell from the Night Gallery pilot. 5-star performances by all. 💀💀💀💀💀

[@ParkNarcz]

That's a fun one! I love the atmosphere and the performances!

[@Anaris10]

YES, My absolute favorite!

[@michaeleasterwood6558]

For sure the best episode

[@stephenrowe8352]

@@michaeleasterwood6558maybe, but the scariest thing I ever saw put on, not just Night Gallery, but ANY network television series was the episode, “ Sins of the Fathers”.

[@garyhoward2490]

I loved Night Gallery!!

[@stanleycostello9610]

My favorite is "Eyes" with Joan Crawford. Makes you realize all that you have, and all of the dreams that go unfulfilled.

[@ParkNarcz]

A great segment! Directed by Spielberg too!

[@stanleycostello9610]

@@ParkNarcz I didn't know. Wow.

[@davidlee9958]

I'm glad we have the original NBC release of this and all the other Night Gallerys on Home Video after 25 years or so of terrible syndication where they cut Tim Riley's Bar to meet the 23 and a half minutes syndication limit of the time. When Katie sings Auld Lang Syne which was my favorite moment in the show. I hadn't seen that edited portion from 1973 to 1997. Thanks for the memories.😃

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you for watching!

[@wendelinharrison9571]

Thank you for this. Rod Serling was a big part of my childhood - I always “got” what he was saying in his stories despite my young age. He was talented and important and most definitely a Writer.❤

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you for watching!

[@Riley_sd]

A Quiet Town is my favorite Twilight Zone episode. RIP Rod Sterling.💙

[@LovinJamesT]

This was a great tribute to Serling. Well done! And thanks!

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! I'll be doing a star trek video soon too!

[@CameronInEgyptsLand]

Grew up watching TTZ with my family, we're big fans. Rod Serling was way ahead of his time. Thanks!

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you!

[@Kwolfx]

This episode is also similar to the Twilight Zone episode "The Trouble with Templeton" (S2E9). That episode was about an older actor who runs out of a rehearsal and retreats to an old hangout where he meets the ghost of his wife and old friends. He finds out that he no longer belongs with them and goes back to start rehearsal on a new play and restart his life.

[@tonybozzelli287]

Great episode 👍

[@martinrobert6709]

The difference is that it is his dead friends who drive him from obsession with the past and force him to face his present with some courage.

[@mikeadams8027]

Yes, they treat him badly and at first it looks like he was remembering the past with rose colored glasses but as he leaves you can see they were putting on an act to GET him to accept and move on to the present. Great show.

[@charlessperling7031]

@@mikeadams8027 High on my list of "Twilight Zone" episodes which should be better known.

[@dwhitman3092]

Green Fingers was absolutely unforgettable. ❤

[@monilaninetynine3811]

Rod Serling had the best shows on TV

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

Grew up watching this series. Thank you very much. "The Earwig" 😱😱😱

[@paullevine1813]

I remember that one & the ending was not a good one . 🐛🐛

[@lawr5764]

My FAVORITE one, but it's called THE CATERPILLAR

[@lawr5764]

​@paullevine1813 Not a good ending??! The thing laid eggs in his head... just imagine. I love "poetic justice." Story spoiler, though: The brain has no pain receptive nerve endings. You wouldn't feel anything if something was munching around in there.

[@Daisnap]

Wonderful! As much as this episode echoes A Stop at Willoughby and Walking Distance - and to some extent Patterns, his excellent film and teleplay about corporate life - I thought it resembled even more strongly his Twilight Zone The Trouble With Templeton starring Brian Aherne, Pippa Scott and Sydney Pollack. An aging actor visits the night spot of his past. A haunting, beautiful episode.

[@oLENkENT-do4vs]

I was a kid when I saw..the doll...it is still the most terrified that I ever got watching anything ever

[@user-hf8ie8mf3n]

Context is everything. I couldn’t appreciate this episode when I was a kid. It’s very personal now. 👍🤪🏳️‍🌈

[@paulleckner8235]

Reminds me of It's a Wonderful Life. George Bailey bounced back and so did Randy.

[@robertbrasher9082]

I'm glad Rod Serling insisted the ending of Tim Riley be more upbeat, rather than allow for the darker, "dead end" (pun intended) to close that episode. It's also one of my faves, even though Camera Obscura remains my #1 NG, which incidently, ended on the darkest of tones.

[@anjeneenmitchem5998]

I was really little when it came on but I still love it.

[@nicholasklangos9704]

I have a collection of Rod Serling short stories that is from the 70s and contains They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar. In it is a forward by Serling about the story and how the TV show ending was different and this version it’s not happy as the bar is torn down he is left in the rubble... Personally, I prefer the hopeful ending. Windoms acting was great as always in the early days he is quoted saying that when they needed an actor to play a man falling apart etc, they would say “Get Will the. Weeper ” Serling gave us So many windows into mans soul over the years few did it with such class! Thanks for a great video!!

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you!

[@johneyon5257]

a sentimental episode that resembled a couple episodes of the original Twilight Zone - "Walking Distance" and "A Stop at Willoughby" - the first the man wanting to escape his adult life - and visits his hometown of his past - the other escapes the pressure of work by finding a bucolic turn of the century town to escape to - nostalgia is a very potent motivation for storytelling

[@dennishickey7194]

"Kick the Can" was another episode on the theme.

[@kneecapped-n3e]

Thanks for an excellent video & tribute to Rod Serling. I really enjoyed your narration.

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

"The Cemetery" episode is the one I remember best. Using art gave it a Dorien Gray vibe.🤔

[@paulbacchus1015]

There Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar' is my runaway favourite episode of Night Gallery, The Doll, and Pickmans Model are outher favourites.

[@STho205]

His first script for the proto Twilight Zone in the late 50s was "The Time Element" where a patient undergoing psychotherapy travels back to Dec 6, 1941 Honolulu. That was a recurring theme with Serling. To go back to before it all got complicated.

[@ParkNarcz]

Great point!

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

The gallery had a couple of the weirdest, and most horrific TV experiences anyone, anywhere could ever have. Brilliant show 👏😀😂❤🎃

[@CurtisAmusements]

"The Sins Of The Fathers"

[@teebee9232]

​Is that the one where the son had eat The sin eaters sins, his father?

[@malikmcclain7869]

The Tune in Dan's Cafe. an absolute favorite episode. "Congratulations Kelly, You just set the world record for driving in silence. ' "What are you trying to do, memorize it!!?' "If You Leave Me Tonight.....the only song that ever plays on the jukebox. " Classic.

[@tricivenola8164]

Thanks for this. The Twilight Zone premiered when I was nine years old, and I lived for it. I remember wanting Night Gallery to be the same, but it had that cheesy element, and now I know why. I agree with you that this is likely the end Serling wrote. There's an adorable quality to his work that is missing in all the rehashings. His generation needed that optimism to survive the Depression and WWII. I'm very grateful that I got this influence as a kid, Thanks again.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you!

[@rosannacellini2158]

I always liked, William Windom, he was a really good actor. He was also in another NG segment, where he was a nuclear scientist, that has had a devastating tragedy! His little girl got killed, and he lost his mind and was so delusional, acting like she was alive. He would talk to her, and brushed her hair, making the motions with his hands, to feed that delusion. It was sad, but what was really devastating, is what happened at the end. Awesome writing. 👍👍👍

[@PaulHFleming]

I liked the short Story, One Pamela's Voice with John Aston and Phillus Diller, creepy yet Amusing.

[@charlesheck6812]

Excellent. This episode and Walking Distance from TZ are my favorites for the very reasons that you listed I am 66 years old and a fan of Serling’s work all my life.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! And thank you for commenting!

[@sampoernaquatrain1710]

As somebody who finally just recently saw this famous episode, I enjoyed your discussion of it a lot. Windom's performance is fantastic (as is the rest of the cast). To understand another angle of the story, and another of Serling's obvious themes--that of the workplace politics and age discrimination, do NOT miss Rod Serling's under-rated masterpiece, PATTERNS. I think it's on KZbin also. The film is so well-written, it hurts.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! Now I wish I'd included that. Thank you for telling me.

[@IreneSmith]

I love both The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.

[@2loverkids144]

This man was a genius.

[@ButcherSevenActual]

Great video. I was unaware of many of these elements of Serling’s background. I’ve been a fan of the TZ for decades and now it makes so much sense why the nostalgia-based episodes are so poignant. Along with the 2 you mentioned, I’d add “Young Man’s Fancy” and to a certain degree, “Night of the Meek”.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you!

[@charlottemiller7675]

Loved night gallery!

[@thewkovacs316]

he had two obsessions.....the want to return "home".....meaning a simpler time and the war....he used writing to work though his ptsd

[@getshorty7549]

We had to write a paper in college comparing this episode with “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving - the theme was “comparative nostalgia” in late 20th century film and fiction. 🤯

[@Kikilang60]

I used to come home late from work. I would have a midnight supper, and watch Night Gallery before I hit the sack. I remember one episode where a Nazi war cruminal is being hunted down. The war criminal takes comfort in in painting of a man in a row boat fishing. If only he could escape those hunting him, and fish in safety. The man is being chased by those who want to bring him to justice. He runs to the museum, and kneels beneath the covered painting. "Please God, let me be in the painting." He prays. Then he screams, and is gone. The painting is gone. The painting under the cloth is a victim being crusified by a Nazi. His end was to suffer the fate of his victimrs.

[@geraldvanhees779]

Richard Kiley. That was one of the three pilot episodes included was the Rodney McDowell episode, cemetery!

[@ehulbert5]

Willoughby is a street in Hollywood that dead ends at Gower, across Gower on the left is Hollywood Forever Cemetery, on the right is what used to be Desilu Studios (now part of Paramount Studios) where Rod Serling first found success as a writer.

[@mikebasil4832]

Thank you for sharing all this. 👍🏻

[@davidsalas1972]

This was a well-earned ‘well done’!

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you!

[@terryloh8583]

He was a writer all right. One of the best ever. Thanks for the review of this episode, and the commentary on this great artist.

[@ParkNarcz]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@staceyannjustus8245]

We loved watching Night Gallery,we would all gather around the TV set and watch together.

[@TJPenitencia]

This is beautiful homage to an amazing writer and a truly great episode. Great work.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you!

[@williamwinburn6378]

Thanks for this excellent overview of what I also consider the single best episode of Night Gallery, your consensus was spot on and I learned a lot about the production and the episode that I did not know. William Windom was indeed a treasure as an actor and I particularly enjoyed him in the sadly short lived (and ahead of it’s time) series, “My World and Welcome To It based on the New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@gallery7596]

Thanks for mentioning the oddness of Lyn assuming the sound of singing would cause Randy to just wander into the party meant for him. Serling should've had Lyn come up behind Randy and escort him inside herself.

[@michaelhall2709]

Though William Windom will probably be best remembered for his turn on Star Trek, it’s clear from multiple interviews he gave over the years that this was the role he *wanted* to be remembered for.

[@TodaysDante]

He actually had his own TV show. I forget the name, but he played a cartoonist.

[@michaelhall2709]

@@TodaysDante “My World and Welcome To It”

[@TodaysDante]

@@michaelhall2709 - YES!!!! I think it was based on a Jack Lemon movie. The War Between Men and Women???? That's a guess. Too lazy to go to IMDB.

[@fabrisseterbrugghe8567]

Based loosely on James Thurber's cartoons and stories.

[@bkatbamna]

He also played the town doctor in Murder She Wrote.

[@dwingsworld2581]

I pray that from beyond he can see how much he is remembered and loved

[@ivane5110]

Beautifully said. Im a big fan of Serling and especially the Twilight Zone but only saw one or two of his Night Gallery when it originally aired, getting creeped out by what I saw (though being a fan of Roddy McDowell and Ozzie Davis loved that one when I finally saw it). Wish I had given it a second chance then because this one was a gem worthy of Twilight Zone (and even better yet, the lead has been a lifelong favorite).and even if there are none others like that it'd still be worth it for the exciting anticipation alone, like I had each week with TW. Thank you for making this video.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! And thank you for watching!

[@duppyshuman]

The earwig episode was traumatizing. The story showcased a ship's captain who had a earwig bug, a cock roach size creepy-crawly with pinchers for a mouth, crawl into his ear. He's tormented and suffers until it travels through his brain and comes out his other ear. I clearly remember him sweating and moaning and the red circles around his eyes. The final twist: it laid eggs while inside. They are real insects and we had them in the home where I lived. I recall stuffing tissue in my ears for months.

[@clarityofmind7317]

Most of your story is correct, except that it was not a ships, captain, but somebody who reported to a South African Plantation to work for an older gentleman and his young, beautiful wife. He falls for the wife who rejects him and decides that a local who gives him a small creepy crawling that barrows through the brain can get rid of the older man. The younger man arranges to have it done that night in the next morning he learns that he was accidentally infected with the creepy Crawley, not the older man. After all the suffering and agony and surviving it, he then learns that the insect was a female and must have laid eggs. It’s called poetic justice.

[@WarDog793]

Thanks for this review of this wonderful episode, a rarity in TNG.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[@hadara69]

Boy, can I relate to this award-winning story at my age! I didn't know it was so autobiographical. Nice job! I LOVED "Night Gallery" growing up as a creepy 70s monster kid, but "Linderman's Catch" still haunts my dreams as well as "Green Fingers". Don't know if it's as good as "Twilight Zone" overall, but that opening theme music (Black Sabbath TriTone!) STILL gives me chills! Happy Halloween! 🎃

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! Happy Halloween! 🎃

[@xopherzenitram]

I really enjoyed this video. It's an excellent tribute to that particular episode and the man himself. You obviously know a lot about Mister Serling. My father knew Rod Serling very well. They met in a boxing ring in 1943 while in training to become paratroopers. They fought side by side in muddy foxholes and survived the horrors of WWII in the South Pacific together. My father spoke to Rod on the phone that summer day in 1975, shortly before his heart surgery. He called to say he wasn't going to survive the surgery... somehow he knew he was going to survive. Based on my father's relationship with Rod and conversations they had, I know for a fact that Rod's war experiences shaped his writing in a huge way. My father said before they shipped out to war that he and Rod would put on comedy skits for their fellow soldiers. He said at just 18 years old Rod had an amazing ability to write hilarious limericks on demand. Funny... we never read any comedy by Rod Serling. It makes me wonder... if he'd never been in combat, would his writing have been any different?

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! And thank you for the comment! That's amazing your dad knew Rod Serling!

[@xopherzenitram]

@@ParkNarcz I was 12 that day when Rod called my dad to say goodbye... I answered the phone. I knew him, and was familiar with his television shows, but to me he was simply my father's war buddy.

[@ParkNarcz]

That's incredible. Thank you for sharing that. I'd love to interview you about this sometime if possible. I'm thinking of doing a podcast.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

Serling did write a few comic episodes for Twilight Zone.

[@xopherzenitram]

@@anastasiabeaverhausen8220 indeed he did!

[@DeeBlake-p2j]

LoveNight Gallery❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Moweems2-ot2mn]

"There Aren't Anymore Macbanes" starring Joel Grey and the episode with the great Clint Howard who played the boy who could see the future. But my favorite: "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" narrated by Orson Wells.

[@roringusanda2837]

I never saw the episode, but Silent Snow, Secret Snow has always been my favorite short story. I read it as a child and it haunted me ever after.

[@richardzeiders5496]

Given that both Serling & Windom both served as Paratroopers in World War two, witnessed the horrors of war, confronted with a changing harsh reality, & lost their young adulthood for what should have been the best years of their lives speaks volumes. For both men, stories like these were almost therapeutic & cathartic, a chance for a glimpse at what they lost, while away at war time stopped in their minds, coming home to an alien world that passed each man by.

[@candywilliams3533]

Thanks so much. If you've never seen the movie "Patterns", it's a Serling creation that is well worth the watch.

[@CryingSalt-eb5lr]

Its a big bloody shame your non disney stuff doesnt get a lot of views, i think its always interesting when you make videos + you have a really calming voice. Great channel!

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! I'm just going to keep making whatever I wanna make, and hopefully the bigger videos will allow me to do smaller ones.

[@rickjones4133]

Thank you for this,Sir.

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you for watching!

[@civillady13]

I loved the Night Gallery and The Doll was my favorite.

[@scottstallings5029]

YOUR CHANNEL IS AWSOME ❤😊

[@ParkNarcz]

Thank you! I really appreciate that!

[@GaryBailey-hk4ex]

There is also the Donald Pleasance episode where he plays a Professor being forced into retirement on the twilight Zone and as he goes back to his classroom he is revisited by many of the youths who had taken his class in the past!! Also a little reminiscent of Tim Riley's Bar 🍺 !!! GaryBailey 🍀💚🌹🐉🗾

[@ParkNarcz]

Almost mentioned that one, along with several others. It's one of my personal favorites.

[@RSEFX]

I'd vote for SILENT SNOW, SECRET SNOW (which had also been made as a film short). About the decent into a psychological shut down, based on the real life of Conrad Aikens early life. Beautifully narrated by Orson Welles. This episode also shares in the theme explored in your video /deals with a mind that needs to escape from some (here rather nebulous) issue with reality. This may be the reason Serling chose to take this story on as a NIGHT GALLERY episode.

[@ParkNarcz]

That's another great segment! Good point!

[@ratfinkie62]

An early look into childhood autism.

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

It was too grim, and too depressing. The story was also grim and depressing, but this almost felt like watching a small child slowly drowning to death. There was no edification from it, only hopelessness and despair.

[@terrifictomm]

@@maskedmarvyl4774 Some people seem to find comfort in nihilistic despair. Perhaps to escape moral responsibility. Such people also find validation of their opinion about the world and the "true" nature of reality in "Hamlet." "Macbeth." "Othello." Etc.

[@maskedmarvyl4774]

@@terrifictomm , My favorite was "Etc." 400 years ahead of its time.

[@denniswhite7416]

Just finished watching the entire Twilight Zone series and started on Night Gallery. Love the campy stories and the California opulence of the settings. The overacting is great and hokey as hell. Rod Serling might have regretted the lack of social content but this did not diminish the hilarity of the shows.

[@StanTheObserver-lo8rx]

No,the best was the TV premier episode with Roddy McDowell. That painting that changed? spooky!

[@dianacryer]

The cemetery is the one I remember most. I was just a kid when I saw it and it scared the hell out of me.

[@antrygis1]

The hand. And Portefloy? The hand writes? The paintings appear? Excellent episodes.

[@richardking3206]

Thanks for this. I’m a huge fan of TZ, but haven’t seen Night Gallery, which doesn’t seem to get shown here in the UK. Serling was just a brilliant writer. He was a sad loss for such a medium as tv or film, which doesn’t get sufficient creators of his standard. It seems to be a given, these days, that we have a new Golden Age of tv, but I’m not sure we do. Serling would be a standout if he was writing today, as he was back then. There are very few shows which compare with TZ, even now; the revamps of TZ are not in the same bracket as the originals, by a long way. I’m amazed that the UK channels don’t show Serling’s TZ much, perhaps Brits didn’t take to them the same as I did. I’m resigned to them never showing NG. I don’t know what the licence to show these old series would cost, but it would surely be worth it. Can it be that they’re in monochrome? We have a channel which gets lots of accolades for showing old b&w tv series, which is currently screening Outer Limits. I keep hoping that they’ll pick up TZ or NG, but no sign yet. I do have TZ on blu ray, a nice box set befitting its status, which I dig out some times. Are there other series comparable to TZ worth finding that I’ve missed?

[@lolajaramillo4620]

I have the Night Gallery series on DVD, in box sets. I got them from the Barnes and Noble bookstore website, after I was able to only find the first box set, in-store. Don't know if you can still buy the whole series from them, or maybe somewhere. But hopefully they aren't too pricey. I think I only paid up to forty dollars for the most expensive box set, but that was around a decade ago..

[@jimslancio]

There was a season 1 episode about a derelict lifeboat with a sailor in it. It was a Titanic boat, picked up by the Lusitania, which is just about to be torpedoed. The Titanic sailor turns out to be a coward, cursed in the manner of the Flying Dutchman, who is picked up, out of a Lusitania boat, by the Andrea Doria.

[@thecolorgreen7046]

That's a Twilight Zone episode, "Judgement Night" with Nehemiah Pershoff and Patrick Macnee of "The Avengers" TV show. Cool Ep!👍

[@lawr5764]

One of my favorites

[@rozchristopherson648]

Another Twilight Zone episode about wanting to go back in time was “Kick the Can” which did win an award.

[@michaelhall2709]

Another standout “Night Gallery” episode that doesn’t get much attention is the adaptation of Cyril Kornbluth’s award-winning short story “The Little Black Bag,” which was penned by Serling himself. It features Burgess Meredith as an alcoholic ex-doctor who has bottomed-out on skid row, and who comes into possession of a medical kit from the far future. It’s not perfect (the scenes set in 2450 really show the budget and technical limitations of 1970s television), but Serling and Meredith’s depiction of a man temporarily gifted with a second chance to do good really shines, and the finale is as appropriately gruesome as the medium would allow.

[@TodaysDante]

"They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" sounds a little like "The Trouble with Templeton."

[@ParkNarcz]

There are definitely a number of other twilight zone episodes I could have brought up, like Changing of the Guard or In Praise of Pip, but I try to keep these videos as streamlined as I can, but absolutely, good point!

[@TodaysDante]

@@ParkNarcz - That wasn't a criticism, by the way. Only that both episodes had the same theme and tone. Both, very heartwarming.

[@ParkNarcz]

Oh no worries! I totally agree!

[@gregorydenegall]

There are some very good episodes on this show! Especially, "the waiting room"!!

[@rdumontdebeque]

I only remember two Night Gallery episodes. Lindeman’s Catch where Stuart Whitman reels in a mermaid. He thinks he found a way to turn her into all woman. It doesn’t go well for Stuart. And the one where Peter Lawford keeps washing a spider down the kitchen sink, only to have it come back larger each time.

[@ParkNarcz]

Lindemann's Catch is a fun one! The ending is easy to see coming, but it's still fun. The spider one I liked too! Reminded me of that Gilligan's Island with the giant tarantula lol.

[@lawr5764]

Nah... it's THE CATERPILLAR that's the best with the levels of irony. Also, with its top-notch production values.