SerlingFest 2024 Schedule
FRIDAY NIGHT
06:00: “Grady Everett For the People,” STARS OVER HOLLYWOOD, 09/13/50
Rod Serling’s first script to be produced on national television, introduced by Nicholas Parisi, president of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation and author of ROD SERLING: HIS LIFE, WORK, AND IMAGINATION
06:35: “One of the Wounded” and “The Homecoming of Lemuel Stove,” THE LONER, 10/16/65 and 11/20/65
Two episodes of Rod Serling’s post-Twilight Zone western series, introduced by Tony Albarella, author and editor of AS TIMELESS AS INFINITY: THE TWILIGHT ZONE SCRIPTS OF ROD SERLING
07:45: “The Caterpillar” and “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar,” ROD SERLING’S NIGHT GALLERY, 03/01/72 and 01/20/71
Two of the finest episodes of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, introduced by Scott Skelton and Jim Benson, co-authors of ROD SERLING’S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER-HOURS TOUR.
09:00: “In Praise of Pip” and “Deaths-Head Revisited,” THE TWILIGHT ZONE, 09/27/63 and 11/10/61
Two classic Twilight Zone episodes (one with original bumpers and commercials), introduced by Anne Serling – Rod’s daughter and author of AS I KNEW HIM: MY DAD, ROD SERLING
SATURDAY
10:00: Welcoming Remarks and Video Tributes: Nicholas Parisi
10:30: Serling Unscripted: Tony Albarella
Through an array of interview clips, Rod Serling exhibits his trademark wisdom and insight on topics such as race, politics, The Twilight Zone, writing, and television.
11:45: The Twilight Rounds: Christopher Benedict
Christopher Benedict (boxing historian and author of The Twilight Rounds) explores Rod’s affinity for the fight game, as exhibited in Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Twilight Zone’s “The Big, Tall Wish,” and some of Rod’s earliest works of fiction.
12:30: Rock From the Twilight Zone: Gail Flug
Longtime music journalist, Gail Flug discusses the many times that Rod Serling’s most famous creation crossed over into the dimension of rock and roll.
01:15 – 02:30: LUNCH BREAK
02:30: No Christmas This Year: Tom Elliot
Tom Elliot (host of The Twilight Zone Podcast) dives deep into Serling history, presenting a fresh take on one of Rod’s earliest pieces of work, “No Christmas This Year,” originally produced on Rod Serling’s Antioch College radio series.
03:45: Odes for Episodes: Two Poets Inspired by The Twilight Zone: Chad Boykin and Rikki Santer
The authors of Stopover and Twilight Zone Haiku team up for a reading of poetry inspired by Rod’s dimension of imagination.
04:30: Rod in Ohio: Mark Dawidziak
Author Mark Dawidziak discusses a pivotal time in Rod Serling’s career – his time writing for Cincinnati radio and television, and reveals plans that are underway to honor Rod in the Buckeye State.
05:15: High Values, Highly Valued: Anne Serling, Mark Olshaker, Mark Dawidziak
Mark Dawidziak joins Anne Serling and Mark Olshaker to discuss Rod Serling’s well-known social conscience and how it informed his life and work.
06:30: An After-Hours Tour: Scott Skelton and Jim Benson
The co-authors of the definitive book on Rod Serling’s Night Gallery provide a guided tour through Rod’s museum of the macabre.
07:30: Raffle Drawing and Closing Remarks
