Rod Serling was an American television and film producer, writer, and director best known for creating the classic television series Night Gallery (1968–1971), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1972), and, most famously, The Twilight Zone (1959–64). He also wrote the screenplay for the feature film adaptation of his 1960 Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." He received five Emmy Awards during his career. And he was an accomplished author whose work included the novels The Comedians, Wild Palms, The First Adventure, The Second Adventure, and The Comedians' Table.
It is difficult to place Rod Serling's work precisely in time. His career spans over sixty years, with beginning to end dates of October 1st 1929 through December 31st 1991
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However, it is generally accepted that Rod Serling's career spanned the years from approximately 1934 through December 31st 1991. And during that time he was best known as a writer for radio programs broadcast on CBS Radio. But by combining the dates of 1934 through December 31st 1991 with his actual broadcast dates of September 1st 1951 to August 31st 1963 there are eighteen distinct periods in Rod Serling's career that are considered "canonical" or "legitimate" by Rod Serling scholars .
During these eighteen years Rod Serling was employed as a radio script writer by CBS Radio.
And he produced over 150 radio programs for CBS Radio between 1951 and 1962. He also wrote many television scripts for episodes of series other than The Twilight Zone.
Unfortunately Rod Serling's canon has been severely damaged by his dismissal from CBS Radio in 1963 due to concerns about his alcoholism ("alcoholism" is not yet a recognized medical diagnosis). And Rod Serling scholars have often used this dismissal as a convenient scapegoat explanation for some of his less popular or less successful works in subsequent media adaptations of his Twilight Zone material.
So during this period of eighteen years in which Rod Serling was employed as a radio script writer by CBS Radio it is useful to examine the actual output of Rod Serling during those years in order to make an accurate assessment of what might be considered "canonical" or "legitimate" output from this period in Rod Serling's career.
In order to make this assessment it will be necessary to break down the period from October 1st 1929 through December 31st 1991 into eighteen distinct annual periods that are known as "canonical" or "legitimate". Each annual period will