We’ll celebrate TZ@60: the Twilight Zone’s sixtieth birthday!
Each day will have a different setting, making this year even more special.
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You can buy an ad in the Serling Fest 2019 Program, and be seen by dedicated Rod Serling and Twilight Zone fans!
The Recreation Park Carousel will be open from Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, featuring restored horses and beautiful paintings of Twilight Zone scenes by renowned artist Cortlandt Hull. Thank you, City of Binghamton!
FRIDAY @ ATOMIC TOM’S
Our event will begin at 12 noon with an official welcome from The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation. We have left the first three hours of our event open for several potential events (awaiting confirmation), as well as to give our attendees time to register, mingle, and get a good look at the Rod Serling memorabilia that will be on display.
3:00 “Rod Serling Rarities”
Rare Serling appearances, interviews, and other footage, courtesy of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation.
4:00 “Talking Twilight Zone in the 21st Century”
Tom Elliot (The Twilight Zone podcast), Wayne Gladstone (The Intangible Quarter podcast), and Paul Gallagher (The Shadow and Substance blog and Twitter feed) discuss the Twilight Zone’s reach into social and other modern media.
5:00 “The Twilight Zone Podcast” Live!
While fans have an opportunity to meet and greet our authors, podcaster Tom Elliott will interview each author live for the audience.
7:00 “In the Beginning . . .”
Author of Unknown Serling, Amy Boyle Johnston discusses Rod Serling’s unproduced pilot script, “The Happy Place,” and the origins of The Twilight Zone.
7:30 “The Happy Place: A Dramatic Reading”
Kate Murray, vice president of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, directs BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) in a dramatic reading of this unproduced, never-before-performed script.
8:30 “The Happy Place”
Kate Murray and BLAST, along with Amy Boyle Johnston, answer your questions about this historic script and performance.
SATURDAY @ THE FORUM THEATRE
10:00 The WSKG Rod Serling Film Awards
The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation is proud to host the 2019 presentation of the Rod Serling Film awards, given to Binghamton student filmmakers, grades K-12, by WSKG-TV. This event is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
12:00 Lunch Break
Take this opportunity to visit a local spot for lunch or any of the several Serling-related sites around town.
1:00 “60 Years of The Twilight Zone”
Arlen Schumer, author of VISIONS FROM THE TWILIGHT ZONE, presents a multi-media journey through the history of our favorite series.
2:00 “Remembering Rod”
Mark Olshaker (Rod Serling protégé, and co-author of MINDHUNTER) moderates a discussion with Rod’s daughters, Anne and Jodi, with contributions from others who knew the man best.
3:00 “Serling and Dickens”
Last year, author Mark Dawidziak delved into the many similarities between Rod Serling and Mark Twain; this year, joined by his wife Sarah Showman, Mark will make the Serling connection to another literary giant, Charles Dickens.
3:45 “A Twilight Zone Marathon . . . of Bill Mumy”
To lead us into our online visit from Bill Mumy, take a look back at Bills three appearances on the Zone: “Long Distance Call,” “It’s a Good Life,” and “In Praise of Pip.” Even if you have seen these episodes a hundred times, we promise that you haven’t seen them quite like this.
5:00 “A Chat with Bill Mumy”
Nicholas Parisi, board member of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation and author of ROD SERLING: HIS LIFE, WORK, AND IMAGINATION will interview Bill Mumy live via Skype, with audience Q&A to follow.
6:00 Dinner Break
7:00 “The Night Gallery at 50”
This year marks not only the 60thanniversary of The Twilight Zone, but the 50thanniversary of Night Gallery’s 1969 debut. To mark the anniversary of this popular and polarizing series, Scott Skelton (author of ROD SERLING’S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR) and Paul Gallagher (the Shadow and Substance blog and Twitter feed) discuss the Night Gallery pilot movie and the history of the series.
8:00 Screening: NIGHT GALLERY
Rod Serling’s original vision, the Night Gallery pilot movie, on the big screen, with Q&A to follow.
SUNDAY @ THE HELEN FOLEY THEATER (Binghamton High School)
10:00 “The Twilight Zone Student Spin-offs”
Professor Chrissy Guest presents films produced by Ithaca College students, each of which was inspired by a specific Twilight Zone episode.
12:00 Lunch Break
1:00 “Four Color Twilight Zone”
Artist Ed Catto presents the Twilight Zone’s long and varied history in the comic book form.
2:00 “Going Nuclear: The Nuclear Age in the Twilight Zone”
Pennsylvania State University’s Abbington Review recently published “A Guidebook to the Fifth Dimension,” an issue devoted to The Twilight Zone. Professor Jimmy Pack will discuss one of the prevailing themes covered in that issue, the Twilight Zone’s view of the threat of nuclear war.
3:00 “A Dimension of Sound: Music in The Twilight Zone”
Author and musicologist Reba Wissner discusses this often overlooked but crucial aspect of The Twilight Zone’s greatness. Through video clips and original production documents, this presentation will give attendees a new appreciation of The Twilight Zone’s unique dimension of sound.
4:00 “What Made it So Good?”
Members of The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, with input from the audience, discuss just what made Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone so timeless.
5:00 “The Best of The Twilight Zone Awards”
As chosen by fans online, we announce the winners of the first official “Best of The Twilight Zone.”
…but first, we draw raffle tickets and give out the prizes!
