Once again I’m running so late with my blog posts for the Television Crossover Hall of Fame. And it’s only five posts a month! I guess after thirty years of working on my Toobworld concept, I’m finally burned out. I find I would much rather be exploring my realm of Wayside, Connecticut. Those stories may not be good but almost everything is mine… almost, and I’m not restricted in the structure of those stories by any limitations on the universe.
Shameless plug time – if you’re interested in reading any of them, I have a Facebook page – “Wayside, Connecticut”. I would suggest reading them via the photo galleries; pick a category and read them in order. And please like the page even if you don’t plan on visiting very often (or ever again!) It helps…..
Let’s move on….
This was supposed to be the final entry in eptember and as we’ve been doing all year, it’s a Real World TV series which has a Toobworld “televersion”. And so….
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
‘The Twilight Zone’ is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, supernatural drama, black comedy, and psychological thriller, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes.
The first series, shot entirely in black and white, ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964.
‘The Twilight Zone’ followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as ‘Tales of Tomorrow’ (1951–53) and ‘Science Fiction Theatre’ (1955–57); radio programs such as ‘The Weird Circle’ (1943–45), ‘Dimension X’ (1950–51) and ‘X Minus One’ (1955–58); and the radio work of one of Serling's inspirations, Norman Corwin. The success of the series led to a feature film (1983), a TV film (1994), a radio series (2002–12), various literature, theme park attractions and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including three revival television series. The second series (1985–89) ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, while the third series ran on UPN (2002–2003). In December 2017, CBS All Access officially ordered the fourth ‘Twilight Zone’ series, helmed by Jordan Peele. The series premiered on April 1, 2019.
TV Guide ranked the original TV series #5 in their 2013 list of the 60 greatest shows of all time and #4 in their list of the 60 greatest dramas.
One might think ‘The Twilight Zone’ should have been saved for the October TV show. But one would be wrong. This show really is more attuned to the world of show business which is depicted throughout the series in one aspect or another.
Besides, there is another show which will be inducted next month for the Halloween tradition.
Rod Serling, the creator of the series, was inducted into the Hall not only for contributing such a vital element to Toobworld, but also for taking part in the show as its host, an Observer, and at least as a participant in the story. (“A World Of His Own”)
For Toobworld, the anthology series not only takes place on Earth Prime-Time – Past, Present, and Future – but also on other planets and in other dimensions. And most Toobworlders only know of that as being fictional, as seen in their televersion of the show that we watch. They have no clue they’re watching actual events being transmitted thanks to the powers of Rod Serling’s televersion. So what we see as the Trueniverse audience is “real life” as it plays out on Toobworld, other worlds, and on alternate Toobworlds. And for the Toobworlders, they’re watching depictions of that, plus a few episodes only to be found in that TV world.
Here's an example of Toobworld’s fictional televersion of ‘The Twilight Zone’:
Saved by the Bell: The College Years:
A Thanksgiving Story (1993)
Alex says that she watched an episode of "The Twilight Zone" that included goat people.
When TV characters mention ‘The Twilight Zone’, sometimes it can be a toss-up as to it being a reference to the TV show or to the actual location/state of being.
Here’s an example in which the Twilight Zone had to be real:
Xena: Warrior Princess:
Lifeblood (2000)
Cyane mentions in disbelief that she must be in the Twilight Zone
Here are many of the shows which have referenced their own version of ‘The Twilight Zone’:
The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis, Mister Ed, The Donna Reed Show, The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver: Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, The Lucy Show, Gilligan's Island, Green Acres, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, All in the Family, Laverne & Shirley, Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, B.J. and the Bear, The Bad News Bears, Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, The Greatest American Hero, Open All Night, Knots Landing, Fame, Hill Street Blues, Cheers, St. Elsewhere, The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, Moonlighting, Girls on Top, Remington Steele, The A-Team, Growing Pains, ALF, Night Court, The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Designing Women, Perfect Strangers, Not Necessarily the News, Beauty and the Beast, The Charmings, Neighbours, Hot Metal, Degrassi High, Quantum Leap, Small Wonder, The Wonder Years, Saved by the Bell, Tales from the Crypt, Northern Exposure, The Flash, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Cool It, Hey Dude, Hi Honey, I'm Home, Ranma ½: Nettô-hen, The Golden Girls, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Get a Life, Melrose Place, Law & Order, Home and Away,
Married... with Children, The Red Green Show, Seinfeld, The Nanny, Beverly Hills, 90210, Ballykissangel, The Vicar of Dibley, Touched by an Angel, Men Behaving Badly, Hang Time, Frasier, 7th Heaven, Homicide: Life on the Street, Red Dwarf, Lassie, The X-Files, Freaks and Geeks, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Dawson's Creek, Gilmore Girls, Queer as Folk, The Dead Zone,
Star Trek: Enterprise, Scrubs, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Veronica Mars, EastEnders, Blood+, Supernatural, Eureka, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Psych, Blood Ties, Mad Men, Flikken Maastricht, Chuck, General Hospital, Entourage, The Good Wife, Criminal Minds, Royal Pains, Pretty Little Liars, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Under the Dome, Revenge, The Vampire Diaries, Red Band Society, Major Crimes, Bloodsworth, NCIS, iZombie, Awkward, Person of Interest, Orange Is the New Black, Frequency, Ray Donovan, Hap and Leonard, GLOW, 12 Monkeys, Take Two, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Outsider
Missing from that list are cartoons, talk shows, remakes, game shows, documentaries, and sketch comedy shows. It could be that some of those which are listed might not actually belong.
Welcome to the Hall, Twilight Zone!
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